My Two Passions

Genealogy is one of my passions, collecting is another. I thought that I would combine the two in this blog. I have, since I was young, been interested in anything that was "old". I started out collecting fossils and coins, I saved any coin that was older than me. I was always on the look-out for Indian arrowheads, although I never came across any.

Now, I collect things like my grandmother and great-grandmother might have used in their kitchens, mixing bowls, sifters, a range set, some enamelware, etc.. I have a lot of depression era glass as well as some antique transfer-ware, and I couldn't pass up a couple of baby bottles that were made the year my dad was born.

I started collecting flowerpots, because they reminded me of all of the violets that my grandmother used to grow all over the house, they were always in full bloom. I also have my grandmother's mahogany lamp table, and a couple of old oak school desks with all of the dents and scratches of years of students use, one of which my youngest grandson sits at whenever he's here.

I have a cradle that is really primitive and rustic, it looks like it was home-made, it must be at least 150 years old. I don't know who made it, but I like to imagine all of the babies that were rocked to sleep over the years in it. It is well-worn and it still works, I used it for my youngest grandson to nap in when he was small, he used to like just sitting in it, rocking and playing with his toys. When he grew out of it, he started keeping his toys in it.




Another item I collect is books, history, local histories, Canadiana, and I have some old local newspapers from the early 1900's, too. I have some that used to belong to the first mayor of Leamington, which have articles about his elections and the greenhouse industry from WWI era.
When you think about it, genealogy is just another kind of collecting, collecting family history.