Monetary value is not a true measurement of great antiques.
Such objects not only open the door to yesterday, they help to shape tomorrow.

                ~ Unknown author

Each chapter in this book is a story of  our treasures - many of which originated last century, and just a few from the century before.

Remember that the most valuable antiques are dear old friends.           

                                ~  Jackson Brown Jr.

My take on these words is that it's the antiques that become the friends, but I think he really meant it's the old friends that become the valuable antiques. I think we're both right.

Here are small synopses of the chapters (some completed except for fine-tuning, some still in the ‘to do’ stage - sorry, you’ll have to wait for those) so you can choose to read them sequentially, or leap right into the stories of your own most favourite things.

**NB  Until I edit them, most of these chapters started their life as articles I wrote some time ago on Ezine Articles. They are NOT being repeated as they were then. The plan is to edit them, embellish them, maybe add more chapters? Much work still to be done.

PART ONE: GRAND OLD GOODS AND CHATTELS

Our Grandfathers' Clocks
The first time we saw our Grandfather clock, it was in the background of a photo of our 80 year old grandmother, at her home in Denmark. Now it's us who are the Grandparents, and over 100 years since he was born, this Grandfather clock lives with us in South Australia, the other side of the world. Meet our treasured and timeless timepiece - our Grandfather clock.

Meanwhile, ‘Downunder’
Below the Danish clock live some more exotic beauties from that land ‘Upover’ - most comfortably nestling atop an antique Aussie Oak writing desk, rescued at a farm clearing sale many years ago. They have hung out together for some decades now.

A Multi-cultural Mystery
Amongst our many wall-hanging decorations there are two colourful oil paintings living side by side - with a charming story, that includes a meeting with a young Danish painter. His signature is indecipherable, so fame and fortune status are unknown. But the memory lives on... Vive La France! And Australia, and Denmark... (a born-again Ezine Article from a previous life, when it was called 'A French Connection?')

A Talented China-Painter
My amazing mother took up this artistic pursuit when I started work and she was left with the 'empty nest syndrome'. Even she had never suspected the talent dormant for fifty years. When she died, family and friends were astounded there was nothing I wanted of her work. Why? My many treasures had her name and the year of their creation AS WELL AS a personal message to me - maybe a Happy Christmas, or Happy Birthday... and each had been made especially to match something I already had or something I'd talked about liking. How good was that?

Why not a Whatnot?
And what is a Whatnot, anyway? Come read this chapter and learn - not only what it is, but also why mine prides itself on displaying even more antique treasures.

Shadowboxing?
Well-ll… perhaps not the kind you imagine - but most interesting, as some tiny treasures (and you guessed it, a story or two about them) are displayed on what is a treasure all by itself.

PART TWO: STITCH WITCH AT LARGE

These days I don't stitch tapestries any more. But once upon a time, I was passionate about 'keeping myself in stitches'. Several large framed pictures and a few cushions testify to my creative urges of that time - and rolled up in a drawer are several more 'wish-they-were-still-works-in-progress'. Unfortunately, this particular area of 'get up and go' seems to have got up and gone - without me! But I still own enough stitches to remember.

Don’t Lose Sight of the Big Picture
A few details about my ‘tapestry’ period, weaving itself in amongst many other pursuits over some decades. Gorgeous photos of the results of amazing patience and persistence (… and I resumed writing because I thought it would be easier?? Huh?)

The Writing’s on the Wall
At first, you chose these beauties for the particular charm and appeal of their 'meaningful messages' - then they became indelibly printed on your heart and soul as you painstakingly stitched them. Each and every stitch of each single letter of each word makes them unimaginably special from the moment the 'project' is in its embryo stage, until its full fruition.

Stitches in Time
There are a large percentage of wall-hangings that are mass-produced with often amazingly poignant and emotive photography and/or 'messages'.  Few will match the feeling engendered by their hand-made with love counterparts. These are exceedingly beautiful, producing every emotion intended. In this case, our old-style ‘bell pulls’ hit the mark with a bullseye... as intended.

Knitwit Extraordinaire  - and - All in Stitches
are two chapters that may become one… time will tell.  
Both are about my knitting/crochet years, and may make this one more pictorial with captions than wordy, to give my reader a little light relief.

… And then there was Beading
I have no idea how to handle this chapter - when/if I get to writing it. It’s seriously HUGE… and right now, demands more courage and brain-strain than I’m prepared to spend here… and now!

PART THREE: ALL THAT GLITTERS IS NOT GOLD

Jewellery from the Past
From both our mothers, and even a piece or two from their mothers (even grandmothers?), added to my collection, many have small but wonderful stories - all yet to be written. Now this one could take quite some time.

PART FOUR: LAUGHTER IS THE BEST…

Calendar Recyclers
Selecting a Husband
Ageing Disgracefully
Angels Come

PART FIVE: ???

            I will be master of what is mine own:
              She is my goods, my chattels; she is my house,
                My household stuff, my field, my barn,
                   My horse, my ox, my ass, my any thing;
                      And here she stands, touch her whoever dare.

                         ~ William Shakespeare  'The Taming of the Shrew' (3.2.13)