Thread: What's on your bookshelves other than books? Board: Oblivion / Ship of Fools.
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Posted by Sir Kevin (# 3492) on
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Looking just over the computer, adjacent to a high window are six Japanese bronze horses. They are all in different poses, from lying down to standing up and getting ready to gallop. I think they are very old: I inherited them from my mother. The tallest is about three inches tall, maybe less. There are also six tiny dinosaurs including my favourite, the triceratops.
A bookcase in the front room adjacent to the dining room door was built by my father-in-law; it has a large scale model of a wooden sail boat with brass fittings built by my paternal grandfather. He had a large workshop, the size of a four-car garage, under his house in the Westwood hills near UCLA about fifty years ago. There is also a solid silver bud vase with a copper base that he made.
Posted by Pigwidgeon (# 10192) on
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I don't have room for all my books, let alone anything else.
Posted by Ariel (# 58) on
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Dust. Lots of it.
I really should do something about this.
Posted by cheesymarzipan (# 9442) on
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on top of bookshelves no. 1:
a vase (currently not containing flowers)
2 racks of cds mostly belonging to Mr Marzipan
photos
a used printer cartidge I've been meaning to recycle
lights from Mr Marzipan's bike
in front of books on bookshelf no. 1:
photos, magic: the gathering cards & decks, some books that won't fit on the shelf
on top of bookshelf no. 2:
a fruit bowl
some more books
on shelves bookshelf no. 2:
dvds, computer games, more magic cards, a box of sewing things (actually there's no books on this bookshelf exept on the top of it so perhaps it doesn't count as a bookshelf?? to be fair the shelves are at a fixed height which is shorter than most of our books)
there's another set of shelves that used to be a bookshelf but is currently holding clothes that won't fit in our wardrobe/drawers
my books mostly live in boxes under the bed!
ETA: one day, I will have a Library. Or at least wall-to-ceiling books in the living room. One day...
[ 03. September 2012, 18:27: Message edited by: cheesymarzipan ]
Posted by leo (# 1458) on
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Miniature toy buses. I love buses and have various liveries and makes.
Posted by WhateverTheySay (# 16598) on
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A painting that is resting on the shelf.
A couple of ornaments.
Top up cards for my phone and utilities.
A coaster.
Some sewing thread.
Posted by Bene Gesserit (# 14718) on
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1. Folders full of journal offprints
2. A dish full of fossils
3. Chunks of rock
4. An alarm clock which stopped a couple of days ago.
Posted by Chorister (# 473) on
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quote:
Originally posted by leo:
Miniature toy buses. I love buses and have various liveries and makes.
Same here, but mine are all Devon buses.
Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on
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Do you collect bus tickets ? I ask because we used to collect them when I worked at an Oxfam - I was told for collectors, but I never met anyone who did.
Posted by beachcomber (# 17294) on
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An icon of Theotikos and Jesus, pinecones.
Posted by tessaB (# 8533) on
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A bobble-head Jesus!
Posted by Adeodatus (# 4992) on
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At first, I thought "Nothing! There is nothing apart from books!" - but then I realised I do have things on top of my half-height bookcases (except the one that has more books on top, held by two colourful wooden bookends shaped like clowns).
So ... in the room I'm in, on top of the bookcase there's an oak mantel clock of c.1920 for which I lost the key several years ago; a gold lacquer bowl where I keep all my computer cables (or I'd lose them); a kitsch resin jar covered with cherubs in which I keep incense sticks; a small incense burner; a glass penguin; and a couple of candles.
I can't help thinking all this says something about me, but I an't imagine what.
Posted by Vulpior (# 12744) on
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I have one shelf given over to various sentimental ornaments and trinkets, including a couple of painted eggs done by a university friend for me; sometime I must ask her to do the other two for the set (I have water and fire, but need earth and air).
There's a couple of incense holders (two for sticks plus a small thurible), a few collected stones/shells and other oddments.
The rest of the shelves are generally full (or overfull) of books.
Posted by jacobsen (# 14998) on
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Bookcase no.1
Two large pottery jugs
Bookcase no.2
A candelabra. An Italian pottery jug in the bookcase itself.
Bookcases 3-6
A wooden horse with brass ornaments, various china
figures and more Italian pottery. A lamp
Bookcase no.7
Another lamp. A wooden nutcracker as in the ballet, wooden cats, cockerels, and a set of nesting wooden cats.
Bookcases 8-10
My Swedish wooden horses, all eleven of them.
And on the walls, the ancestor worship section, going back to great grand parents on one side and great-great-greats on the other.
That is, photographs rather than mummified body parts. ![[Ultra confused]](graemlins/confused2.gif)
[ 03. September 2012, 23:29: Message edited by: jacobsen ]
Posted by piglet (# 11803) on
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Small bears.
Posted by Nicolemr (# 28) on
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Many things, too many to list. But one I'm particularly fond of is an amethyst geode. Also a photo of my daughter from Halloween quite a few years ago dressed as a black cat. And a set of Starsky and Hutch action figures. And a bunch of other stuff.
Posted by jedijudy (# 333) on
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A Hufflepuff crocheted neck scarf that Daughter-Unit made for me to wear to the last Harry Potter movie.
And dust.
Posted by angelica37 (# 8478) on
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many things including a whole shelf of computer games (not mine) family photos, jar of pencils, guitar tuner, dead mobile phone, 'congratulations on passing your exams card' (also not mine) some small pots, a money box with no money in it, a painted jam jar full of odd bits and pieces and a plasticine snail. all of which are covered in a layer of dust!
Just noticed there is a Christmas tree bauble hanging from a hook at the top of one bookshelf with some spare keys, might as well leave it there until next Christmas now
[ 04. September 2012, 07:52: Message edited by: angelica37 ]
Posted by Pyx_e (# 57) on
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Turbine Blade from a Harrier Jump Jet.
Fly Safe, Pyx_e
Posted by Welease Woderwick (# 10424) on
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quote:
Originally posted by Adeodatus:
...a glass penguin...
You keep a penguin in the house!!
That's terrible! - They are trying to take over, you know.
- - - -
In my case there are lots of photos and CDs and DVDs and soft toys - including Pete's Teddies that winter here rather than face the cold of The Great White North. There is also part of my collection of Ganapati [Ganesh, the Elephant Headed God] idols.
And flags of some of the countries we have visited.
Happily the shelves are all built in and made from reinforced concrete so no bending or warping. I have room for about another 10 metres of books.
Posted by PeteC (# 10422) on
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Books, pictures, books, knick-knacks, books, books and books.
10 metres - that means it will be all filled by the time I get there this winter, eh, Wodders?
Posted by Zappa (# 8433) on
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False teeth. No, okay, I'm lying, but I'm sure it won't be long. In the mean time anything else that fits. Coins, pictures, socks, shoes ...
Posted by Mr Curly (# 5518) on
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Pictures of offspring, several years old
Model cars
Lego Architecture model of Fallingwater
Pens and other bits and bobs in plastic containers
A pencil sharpener in the shape of a cat, that meows when you put a pencil up it's rear end and twist
Small framed pictures by Howard Arkley and Reg Mombassa
Speakers
It goes on . . .
mr curly
Posted by cheesymarzipan (# 9442) on
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quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:
Dust. Lots of it.
I really should do something about this.
quote:
Originally posted by jedijudy:
A Hufflepuff crocheted neck scarf that Daughter-Unit made for me to wear to the last Harry Potter movie.
And dust.
does dust count? surely that's a given - it's a horizontal surface after all
Posted by Chorister (# 473) on
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quote:
Originally posted by Doublethink:
Do you collect bus tickets ? I ask because we used to collect them when I worked at an Oxfam - I was told for collectors, but I never met anyone who did.
I used to (when the tickets were actually interesting, not looking like supermarket receipts). But they are in the loft, not on my bookshelf.
Posted by leo (# 1458) on
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quote:
Originally posted by Chorister:
quote:
Originally posted by Doublethink:
Do you collect bus tickets ? I ask because we used to collect them when I worked at an Oxfam - I was told for collectors, but I never met anyone who did.
I used to (when the tickets were actually interesting, not looking like supermarket receipts). But they are in the loft, not on my bookshelf.
Ditto, but threw them all out a long time ago.
Posted by BessHiggs (# 15176) on
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Empty beer bottles on the top of the shelves ( I collect 'em), multiple boxes of various caliber ammunition, duck calls, a very full keyring contining keys that neither my husband nor i know what they go to, but just in case, we don't chuck them, several stone rhinos and nine times out of ten, a very destructive kitten.
And dust...lots of it...
Posted by TonyK (# 35) on
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For the big bookcase in the study, starting from the top:-
A thurible
Two framed photos - my previous church and a bridge on a back-road in Walsingham
A reconstituted stone celtic cross
An asperger
A photo of a gargoyle on Notre Dame and a miniature model of the Eiffel Tower, courtesy of a shipmate
4 small wooden boxes
2 mugs - escapees from Mrs TonyK's collection
A miniature mead flagon
A small bottle containing coloured sand from the Isle of Wight, as filled by myself on a long-ago holiday
A matching barometer and thermometer set
A polished orthoceras paper-weight
Four pieces of stone - holiday souvenirs
An origami dove
A full shelf of computer CDs and DVDs
Assorted board games
Spare folders
There is also one shelf holding books that are too big for the small bookcase in the study.
The other 5 bookcases in the house really do hold books, and hardly anything else...
Posted by Eigon (# 4917) on
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I've got a small stuffed dragon (called Fafnir), a Klingon dagger, a couple of jugs which double as flower vases, and a stuffed orang utan (the Librarian of the Unseen University, of course) wearing a badge that says Fabricati Deum, Pvnk
Posted by leo (# 1458) on
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quote:
Originally posted by TonyK:
A thurible
Me too, forgot to mention it earlier. A little one with bells on which I purchased at some 'holy shop' in Jerusalem near the church of the Holy Sepulchre.
[ 04. September 2012, 18:59: Message edited by: leo ]
Posted by jacobsen (# 14998) on
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Did I forget to mention books?
All my other stuff is on top of the bookshelves. Except for the Italian jug.
Posted by Aravis (# 13824) on
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In the bookcase next to me (IKEA with extra wide shelves):
A selection of felt tip pens in an old dried milk tin.
A postcard of David Hockney with Alan Bennett.
A small gift box with two of the Lush items which are kind of nice but I don't actually use (i.e. sugar soap scrub, which manages to be slimy, sticky and scratchy at the same time, and a massage bar).
A cube you can fold out to learn the anatomy of major body systems.
Diary.
Hairbrush.
Very stupid blue pen with wobbly plastic blue crown and feather on the end.
Praying Hands sculpture kindly given by ex vicar who was evidently trying to get rid of it. The hands are sharply ridged but it is made of shiny varnished olive wood, which looks weird.
Posted by Graven Image (# 8755) on
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Bookcases 1 and 2 in the hall have only books, except for glass jar with a tight lid on the top shelf. It is filled with cat treats and has proven ( so far) to be out of the cat's reach.
Bookcase #3 in my den has a plant in a copper pot on the top shelf. Also out of cat reach.
Bookcase is painted white to match the wall but has a very bright yellow/orange back, and a lot of empty space so you can view the background color.
First Shelf holds my red and orange books and a small abstract painting of a lady bug in the grass that Mr Image just recently painted for me.
Next Shelf down Black and Silver books and a silver framed icon of Mary Magdalene along with 5 other tiny icons one for each of the churches I have served.
Next we have white books and two light green and one white vase that holds an assortment of bookmarks.
Shelf 4 is blue and green books and a small silver lizard.
Bottom shelf is an assortment of children's books for grandchildren.
Posted by comet (# 10353) on
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Graven Image: you sort your books by color? I've never heard of such a thing! how do you find anything?
my shelves are horribly overflowing - here in a few weeks I'm hiring a contractor to just put in built-ins along two walls in the living room, floor to 8 feet up. currently my two large shelves have stacks of books on the floor next to them.
on top of the shelves:
- 2 model tall ships and a dhow
-2 sets of binocs and a spyglass next to the bird book
- 2 vases- one an heirloom, one with lizards on it from a yard sale many years ago
- 2 short swords, a riding whip, a kuhkri, 3 daggers, 2 throwing stars, 5 throwing knives, and a hatchet. Dont judge me; also, don't try to break in. (away from the shelves are the 4 bows)
- a stack of old playbills from my various shows
-3 plastic dragons that dont belong there
-2 hunting horns
-5 camels from the Souq in Doha (model ones, not live) in various sizes and a candle holder made of brass and covered in camels. when my mom lived overseas, she bought us a lot of camels.
-and a thurible. ( yeah. me too. I just didnt know it was called that until joining the Ship.)
I can't WAIT for my new shelves.
Posted by jacobsen (# 14998) on
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quote:
Originally posted by Graven Image:
Bookcases 1 and 2 in the hall have only books, except for glass jar with a tight lid on the top shelf. It is filled with cat treats and has proven ( so far) to be out of the cat's reach.
Bookcase #3 in my den has a plant in a copper pot on the top shelf. Also out of cat reach.
No,no, no, GI. Nothing is ever out of cat reach. Unless you have those genetically engineered moggies with specially short legs who can't jump high.
Posted by Graven Image (# 8755) on
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Comet posted quote:
Graven Image: you sort your books by color? I've never heard of such a thing! how do you find anything?
Works for me. I sort all my fiction that way. I can remember the color of the book easier then title or author.
Non fiction is stored on my other two book shelves by subject. I do still also tend to think of them by color rather then title as well, oh yes the blue cookbook, or the yellow book on St. Paul. Much easier then turning my head to read the spine for the title.
Posted by Sir Kevin (# 3492) on
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quote:
Originally posted by Eigon:
I've got a small stuffed dragon (called Fafnir), a Klingon dagger...
Isn't Fafnir an off-duty dragon from a Wagnerian opera?
I wonder if my old high school classmate, Michael, who plays a Klingon on television and in the odd Star Trek film has any Klingon hardware on his book shelf...
Posted by Meerkat (# 16117) on
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Would that, perchance, be the wonderful Michael Dorn?
Posted by The Intrepid Mrs S (# 17002) on
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Comet posted
quote:
you sort your books by color? I've never heard of such a thing! how do you find anything?
When my friend V, who lived in Australia, was trying to sell her house and move back to England, the woman they hired to help make the house more saleable made her hide most of their books in a neighbour's garage (one lawyer, one doctor, you can imagine their joint library!). The few she was allowed to keep had to be arranged by colour.
V. said of all the ways one could arrange books, that was the very last one she would have thought of.
Mrs. S*, shaking head in disbelief**
*ex-Librarian - Oooook!
**at the thought of having to hide one's books to sell a house!
Posted by cliffdweller (# 13338) on
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My shelves, too, are stuffed full of books. Hubby and I have an ongoing feud re: whether books should be placed all the way to the rear of the shelf (leaving space for decorative items in front of the books) or w/ spines lined up evenly along the front edge of the shelf. I'm the back-of-the-shelf gal, so in front of my books are framed family photos and a collection of whimsical wind-up toys.
Posted by Ethne Alba (# 5804) on
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On my bookshelves?
* split stones,
* sea scoured wood,
* holed out pebbles,
* rocks,
* leather tankard,
* paperweight,
* shells,
* eyeliner,
* crotchet hook,
* ball of wool (not connected to earlier item)
* a copper leaf
* few pictures
* and endless beautiful or memoryfilled broken -handled mugs containing pens/ pencils/crayons/ feltpens/ pencil crayons/ markers/ ink pens
Posted by Circuit Rider (# 13088) on
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I have about 1,300 books on my office shelves. Amid these I have nine communion sets (chalice and paten), a seder plate and kiddush cup, a pitcher for water to be used at baptisms, pillar candle holders (and a couple of candles), framed photos of my children at various ages, two desk nameplates given to me over the years, three die-cast model Ford trucks depicting vehicles made the year I was born (gifts from my mother to remind me how old I am), a shofar horn, a large shell used at baptisms (and a smaller one for pouring water), two thuribles (one hangs from a plant hanger at the end), an olive wood carving from Israel depicting the last supper, a pyx for ashes, containers of frankincense and myrrh (along with one with fake gold made from gold-painted gravel), my ordination certificates, a torah scroll and ten commandments plaques, a crown (for Christ the King), nine "Duplo" blocks used in illustrations about relationships, a facsimile of a "widow's mite, framed, and an assortment of six crosses. There are also boxes of service bulletins and liturgies from previous years on the bottom shelf.
Posted by Yerevan (# 10383) on
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Various glasses, mostly unusual ones 'liberated' from various pubs I used to frequent as a student. I had a competition going with a then boyfriend as to who could gather the best collection. I won with an Erdinger glass that's about a foot high retrieved from a very pretencious Dublin nightclub
Random things picked up on holidays (there seems to be a bit of a rock theme...bits of Berlin Wall/Mount Etna)
Various baby toys
A little picture of a church I used to belong to. They were presented to departing members as keepsakes.
Photos (wedding mostly)
Posted by Sir Kevin (# 3492) on
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quote:
Originally posted by Meerkat:
Would that, perchance, be the wonderful Michael Dorn?
Yes he would! Interesting guy: he commutes from southern California to Star Trek conventions in other parts of the country in one of his three fighter planes! One is from the Korean police action and the other two are Vietnam-era. We played American-style football (junior varsity league champs) at school in Pasadena. I saw him last at one of those conventions. My brilliant wife had me wear my old letterman's jacket and he called me out of the crowd to be first up for an autograph which I still have somewhere about the house. He made me promise never to publish a photo of him in his high school days...
Posted by Sir Kevin (# 3492) on
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quote:
Originally posted by cliffdweller:
My shelves, too, are stuffed full of books.
In the dining room, I have Playbills from almost every touring Broadway show I've ever worked on. Some of our shelves have double rows of books, one behind the other. I am trying to get my wife (Zeke) to get rid of five or seven books every time she gets a new one that's not an E-book, but with little or no success. At least all but one or two of her Young Adult (YA) books are now at her new school. A professor when she was in grad school gave her more than a dozen to review for a scholarly journal, making her a published writer.
Posted by Eigon (# 4917) on
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How wonderful about Michael Dorn!
(I do like Worf)
I don't think my Fafnir would be very good in Wagnerian opera - he's a bit too cute and cuddly for that (he looked at me while I was Christmas shopping one year, and I had to go back for him! I'm not normally a cuddly toy sort of person.)
Posted by LutheranChik (# 9826) on
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Unbooklike things on/in our bookcase include several of DP's Maine mementos (a model wooden kayak made in painstaking detail; a whale sculpture mounted on a piece of driftwood), a stained-glass accent lamp and a heart-shaped box from back in our courting days that we use as a divider/bookend on one of the shelves.
Posted by The Intrepid Mrs S (# 17002) on
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Eigon wrote quote:
(he looked at me while I was Christmas shopping one year, and I had to go back for him!
Reminded me of how I acquired a cuddly polar bear one year. He was one of those toys that the book people used to leave at offices, for the bored inmates to purchase, and most awfully cute, but I said to a friend that even at his modest price I couldn't justify yet another polar bear.
She looked at me and said 'You HAVE to buy him - if you don't, he might end up on the streets as a Rent Bear'.
Which is why, about 15 years later, he is sitting on my chest of drawers
Mrs. S (S is for Soppy - or Sentimental - or Silly?)
Posted by Jane R (# 331) on
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<tangent on how to arrange books>
Judging by the number of people who used to come to the library reference desk and ask for 'the big green/pink/blue book', Graven Image is not the only person who finds it easier to remember the colour rather than the author or title... <\tangent on how to arrange books>
The top of my half-height bookcase just behind the computer chair has the following things on top of it:
- Whiteboard for making notes about work
- Several ornaments, including a lighthouse, a dog, a snail and a ship
- Aladdin's Lamp (the magic must have worn out; I keep rubbing it but the genie never appears)
- A wooden cross
The bookcases downstairs mostly have books. Lots of them. However, my daughter has a habit of leaving toys perched randomly in front of the books so there are probably a few of those as well.
Posted by The5thMary (# 12953) on
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Drumsticks. I have a nice drumstick bag but I'm always pulling some sticks out to drum along to the radio and somehow I forget to put them back... cans of incense, old bottles of prescription medications I can't seem to part with (what if the medicines get dumped into the water supply?! Ha ha, can't have that!), disposable cameras with a ton of pictures that I still haven't developed from last year, a battery operated mouse with a remote controller that looks like a piece of cheese (the cats love it but the damn toy sucks battery power so fast), twenty billion bank statements I've never even looked at because I hate reconciling my checking account, a plastic Spongebob Squarepants figurine whose head pops off... I'm sure there's a purpose for that figurine... it can hold all those expired pills! A deck of cards with possibly the nastiest pictures of these satanic looking kittens on the backs... I don't know why my wife keeps them around--they give me the cold creeps. Various bibles....
Posted by Sir Kevin (# 3492) on
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I've got drumsticks, too but they are nearer to my drum kit than my bookshelves. I do have photos of family starting with late grandparents, parents and ending up with my aunt, nephew and nieces. My aunt will be ninety next year - so will our tax accountant!
Posted by ChastMastr (# 716) on
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Well, I have a --- oh. Better not mention that.
Okay, I also have an -- no, not that either.
How about the -- ah, never mind...
Posted by Sighthound (# 15185) on
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Just in here, where I work:
A 7mm scale model London tram.
A tiny (about 2mm scale) Gresley A4 Pacific loco.
Pictures of two of my olod greyhounds.
Speakers.
A box of old magazines.
A cube calendar.
A small plastic golden crown.
Five cereamic greyhounds.
Plus about 20 books!
Posted by Sighthound (# 15185) on
:
Just in here, where I work:
A 7mm scale model London tram.
A tiny (about 2mm scale) Gresley A4 Pacific loco.
Pictures of two of my old greyhounds.
Speakers.
A box of old magazines.
A cube calendar.
A small plastic golden crown.
Five ceramic greyhounds.
Plus about 25 books!
Posted by Eleanor Jane (# 13102) on
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As we only moved into our flat about 2-3 months ago, we only have three shelves of books (including some CDs and DVDs I got cheap on sale from the library).
The bottom two shelves are misc bits such as an 'important documents' box and concertina file, umbrellas, a lap top bag, router, cables, etc.
There is a printer on top of the bookshelf (nowhere else for it - it's a small flat).
There is an empty glass vase, an empty green glass fruit bowl, a box of pens, a memo cube, a letter holder (full of takeaway leaflets and other bits, some memory sticks, a train pass, a big padlock and a variety of other detritus scattered about.
PS - I scandalise my husband by putting library books on the same shelves as our books. Also, they're not sorted in any way except height. When I get enough of them, I'll sort them by genre as I tend to go to the bookcase looking for a fantasy book (or whatever). But having left far too many books behind in New Zealand, I'm not keen to weigh myself down with hundreds more.
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