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Wednesday 13 June 2012

...Pinning?

So, we recently started a Pinterest account for WMS, we've been filling it with wms goodness of course, but also with other beautiful images, for inspiration, If you'd like to check us out, you can do so here:

http://pinterest.com/wmstamps/

Waffle

So it's been a while since we chatted. I've been up to my oxters in family stuff, and now that I'm getting a little time to ruminate, I'm reflecting on something that has carried me through in no small way - Kindness.

I've been the recipient of a thousand little kindnesses lately. Some kindnesses arrived in the shape of beautiful cards, made by folks I've met through WMS. It might interest you to know that I keep them all, every one. I have an inability to part with things handmade, right down to the scrap of shiny green paper, in a vaguely triangular shape that a visiting child once glued a single sequin to and presented to me as a Christmas tree ornament. I have kept that little scrap. I dated and preserved it, and strung it and hung it on the tree every year. I get all philosophical about the feelings it represents and I can't bear to think of the good intentions that scrap carried, being discarded like a piece of rubbish. It's as if a moment of that child's life is preserved forever in that little piece, and the moment I discard it, that piece of life, that memory will disappear from the face of the earth forever. Can't do it. All this ephemeral guardianship is very noble until you realize that I'm probably a prime candidate for 'Hoarders'....

DH on the other hand keeps nothing, this is why we are the perfect match. I get to stuff the house up with all my 'memories' and all he needs is a strip of bed to sleep on....

Posted by Unknown at 1:30 am

9 comments:

  1. Unknown13 June 2012 at 05:22

    I'm with you on keeping things people have made and given me. I have pictures from kids made 50 years ago and still have them. Some are even framed. I can look around me, see what others who are special to me have taken their time to make, conjure of stories and memories and always feel they're there. Yup, I'm a sentimental slob -- and proud of it. ;-)

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  2. Lynn W.13 June 2012 at 09:05

    This made me smile so much as I am totally with you on this one - I hoard everything! I keep every card I'm ever sent too as they represent someone's love, which should never be discarded or taken for granted.
    My family also call me a Magpie as I collect all sorts of "shiney stuff" or anything which might be used in my artwork, like pretty packaging, scraps of ribbon etc. I'm glad I'm not alone in this - although my DH does object to only having enough room to sleep sometimes!

    Lynn Wild

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  3. Tara Cardwell13 June 2012 at 10:06

    Unfortunately, we have two horders in our house - which means that after 10 years of stuffing the attic with stuff, the ceilings collapse.......

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  4. Unknown13 June 2012 at 14:22

    Oh, Claire! I swear we are kindred spirits, lol. And our husbands are very much the same...though mine occasionally surprises me with a little something he may have saved, that I never would have thought he'd give a second thought to. It's usually something our girls made for him...or even occasionally something I've made for him. I'm totally the sentimental one in the household, and I too, have little paper ornaments that adorn our tree, but it is fun to see how the ornaments have evolved from age 3 to 5 to 7, etc. Kindness is an amazing thing, isn't it? Yesterday, I was having a grumpy kind of afternoon, it was raining, I had a toothache, and I just wanted to go home, but had promised my 8 year old I'd take her to the library to sign up for a summer reading challenge. Well -- we got to the library, and sign ups don't start until Monday...so I was now even more grumpy, and wet, etc. My 4 year old picked me a flower, and that little bit of kindness made all that icky stuff go away. Wishing you a great week!

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  5. Mandy P.13 June 2012 at 19:31

    I am a hoarder of the sentimental variety, can't throw out any of the kids artwork. Way down there on my scrappy to do list is to take pics of their artwork and make a (not so)mini book of each child's art in the hopes that I can part with at least some of it. Oh and there might be a little issue with scrapping supplies, but oh well. My hubby is of the throw it out mindset, except for his bonsai pot collection. So glad to hear that you have been showered with kindness. Scrappy people do kinda rock like that!!

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  6. LaurieJ13 June 2012 at 19:46

    Oh Claire, I just love your waffles. You always make me smile. Though I'm pretty good about cleaning out, I'm with you on handmade things. It just seems wrong to part with them! And with the store bought cards that I'm sent, I may not keep them, but I'm always stealing bits and bobs from them to recycle.

    I have kept every card and letter that my DH has given me. Can't bear to part with those! In fact, I have a box of printed out emails - every email that he sent me when we were doing the long distance relationship thing prior to his moving "across the pond" to me. I think it will be fun to reread those someday.

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  7. Super Jen14 June 2012 at 13:46

    This sounds like our house! You are not alone here :-)

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  8. Sian Ridley15 June 2012 at 11:29

    Maybe it's an attribute of creative people to hoard things? I'm exactly the same! I try so hard to have a clear out and end up looking at everything that's been sat in a box for years and remembering just why I kept it :)

    My other half however would bin everything given half the chance and cannot understand why I would keep such a lot of useless stuff! Having said that, I did find the other day that he has kept every card I have ever made him which was surprisingly sentimental for him :)

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  9. Helen L17 June 2012 at 06:05

    Hoarders, hmmm.... well I've thought that if I keep going I'll be in the same situation!! And my teen-agers do let me know that I have too much!! But I'm the same: can't throw out the hand made gifts and cards: like you, it seems like i'm throwing out a bit of that person! I guess when awe make something we put a bit of ourselves in it, so we feel the same about the things we receive. Hugs to you, and hoping that peace comforts your heart.

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