GRIMBLES VIEWS ON COLLECTING

I think that there's a smidgen of OCD in our family somewhere! We are all into collecting or arranging things, some of us into both! Mind you a lot of it is governed by great sentimentality too.I have collections (not the same thing as collecting) of things that children and family members have given me or made for me. I didn't choose to 'collect' them, but how can I discard a gift of love? On more than one occasion I have shown one of my children something that they made for me 35 years or more ago' I carefully lift it down, blow the dust off and say. 'Would you like this now?' Expecting them with a tear in their eye, to gently take it from my hands, kiss me gently and say 'Thank you Mother, I shall continue to treasure it' But NO! All I get is 'What do you want this junk for, I'd bin it if I were you' With a tear in my eye, it goes back from whence it came!

I must own up to a measure of collecting though. Sindie was quite right, her and I do have a lot in common. Boxes are beautiful objects whether empty or full. I have lots in my craft room. My most recent 'good buy' was a quantity of semi-opaque plastic boxes to hold peel-offs. They are the same size as say, a sheet of peel off butterflies. By the way, not only do I collect peel off butterflies, which go in the semi-opaque plastic box, which is labelled with the help of a Brothers labelling machine...But they are sorted into silver, gold, coloured, glazed, 3D etc butterflies!!! Oh what fun. I digress. All these lovely boxes are labelled with the name of whichever type of peel-off is inside. If I want a letter, or a leaf, or a frog, or some choice words. I know exactly where to go for them. I call that being organised !

Sandie mentioned her unmentionable handbag. We once compared them and weight for weight (and they were weighty) they were about the same. A family member once played the " I bet you haven't got a ... in your bag" game. They gave up in the end in hysterics! I won every call of, a screwdriver, scissors, tool kit, extendable tape measure, stain remover, elastoplast, loo seat cover, toilet wipes, antibacterial hand liquid, spare tablets, comb, brush, toothpicks, magnifying glass, sewing kit. I could go on forever. I know if I haven't used any of these things for a year I should remove them, thus easing the pain in my arthritic knees when I carry my bag around! But having carried these things for years, it must be time soon for them to be needed.

Don't laugh at poor Livvie. She is held in the grip of genes from her mad OCD family members. Even Mo, who is not genetically connected to our mad mob, used to collect (and probably still yearns for) dozens of plastic plants and flowers. It took great courage on her part to break this hideous habit, but she succeeded, and is now a very repectable non-collector. I was thinking we should all try to be like Mo, but I have recently discovered she has replaced platic plants for audio cassettes of her own voice! I rest my case.