A smashing morning......

With so many dust collectors in my home, cleaning is a constant chore. Some need cleaning weekly, some will wait for a month!

My kitchen / dining area (the blue side), has a few shelves filled with allsorts I have had for many years. Mostly collections of Grindley china, sets of plates, sugar and creamers, odd pieces, and a few pieces from my grandmother. They are dusted occasionally, and washed a few times a year, afterall, most of them are only on display. It is nearly time for that enduring job, Im not looking forward to it, but it gives me a chance to change the displays around.

As I sit at my dining table, finishing some paperwork for my business course Im struggling with, I cant concentrate, and am ready to pack it all in..........when suddenly, a huge crashing sound that seemed to go on for minutes , made me look up to find my timber shelf, holding some of my precious collections, has just fallen off the wall. It was in slow motion, and after the initial shock, I just burst into tears. Why, after all these years, did it just fall off the wall? Was there just too much dust? Did a fly land on a plate? I tried to tell myself,' well it is only crockery, and I still have more', but then it started to sink in. My grandmother's and mother's blue and white Willow pieces, Grindley tea and coffee pots,and jugs, special pieces you just cant go up to the corner shop and replace. My lamp survived, just, and amazingly some plates with just a chip or two.

This is the collapsing shelf.....
As the shelf came down, it knocked most of the things off this shelf too, thankfully only a couple of plates broken and chipped.

Well, I have a bucket full , so I guess mosaics are on the cards!

To put this in perspective, I have lost a shelf of special things. But many people in Melbourne with the fires ( which are still burning) have lost their whole home, and too many have lost their lives. So in my little bubble , I am reminded, these possessions are only expressions of myself. Im still here, my family is still here, and hey, now I have some room for another collection! I will be getting a professional to reinstall the shelf!

....And this is what survived!