Six (un)important things I love

I have been tagged by Katherine with the following rules:
Pick 6 unimportant things you love
Mention & link to the person who tagged you
Tag 6 of your favourite bloggers to play along
(don’t forget to comment on their blog to let them know they’ve been tagged!)

Well I have changed the title a little bit because everything I love is important to me even if it is not that important in the grand scheme of things. Apart from life's essentials anything can be important to someone. I am not including my family in this list because they are essential and come before sleeping and eating if needs be. After that:

1.Music
For me music has inspired how I look at and respond to the world and even how I think. As a little girl, music made me dance and my days were filled with song. I loved standing by the piano at ballet class with my hand on the sound board. I was able to identify songs and ballet music and at a very early age was fascinated by anyone with the ability to play an instrument. It should not be surprising that most of my formal education prepared me to be a flutist. This path was derailed by a serious hand injury and my Father's early death but was not completely abandoned. I am married to a full-time musician who played violin professionally for the first twenty years of our relationship and has added the viola for the past two. He also conducts a community orchestra that I usually play in.
With his multiple disabilities, Number 1 does not seriously study an instrument but has benefitted from music therapy and enjoys experimenting with a variety of instruments. He is happiest when listening to music. Number 2 started to play the 'cello at four years old and became skilled enough to be learning some of the Bach Suites for solo 'cello a few years ago. She started to play the french horn at eleven in her school band and it has become her principal instrument and of course, she loves to sing and sings well. Number 3 started the violin at six and endured his lessons for a year. He was never satisfied with how it sounded and asked to learn to play the harp at eight. This past year he also started percussion in the school band and singing in the Choir of Men and Boys. Number 4 has yet to start formal instrument training. We have suggested violin or piano as we have those instruments and the ideas have been met with no sustained interest. He heartily enjoys singing in the choir and has expressed the desire to play the trumpet. Number 4 will likely start lessons on the cornet (related but slightly different than the trumpet) when we return from the choir's trip to England.
While I grew up listening to and still enjoy almost all types of music, I inevitably have favourites. If I found myself on a desert island with an old fashioned phonograph (desert island -no electricity or batteries) and one record to last me all my days, I would pick one with a Mahler symphony on one side (maybe number 4 or 5) and Richard Strauss' Four Last Songs on the other. I have done a little you-tube surfing but have yet to come up with the specific recordings that I might want.

2. Books
Books, and more importantly reading have been (along with music) a salvation in my life. As a child, I suffered from chronic poor health and experienced more than a little social isolation. Both of these situations were made manageable by the reading of books. The physical act of looking at books engaged me long before I could read and some of my earlier memories involve the illustrations in my favourite volumes. We lived in a remote community but my house had a rich library and books were often treasured gifts. Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House series was a childhood favourite that helped me connect to my own Grandmother and develop my love of history. By the eighth grade I became a lifelong fan of Jane Austen and Thomas Hardy. I still do not quite understand my love of Hardy at that age but the Austen makes sense. I am not capable of picking a favourite but a small library of favourites contains many of the classics of English Literature, some more contemporary fiction in addition to as many art, design and other reference books as I can afford and store.



3. Flowers and plants
For beauty (and practicality), plants are the winners. I cannot really describe my appreciation of and for flowers and other plants. Working beside my Mother in her greenhouse as a school-age child contributed to it as did observing my Father keeping bees but words cannot fully express my admiration for the plant kingdom.


4. Useful things with history
Aprons, tablecloths, kitchen utensils, buttons, sewing notions, travelling trunks, pillowcases, utilitarian furniture -difficult to specify all but if it was a useful object that shows its age and could be used as originally designed or repurposed I want to rescue it and find it a home. A careful line needs to be walked here because I could wind up with a pile of junk. My husband requires me to state a very strong case for said object and such scrutiny usually leads to something pleasing in the end.




5. Tools for creating My sewing studio, sewing machine,fabrics, notions,my batterie de cuisine, my laptop, camera and everything else involved in the creative process delights my senses and sparks ideas for new projects. For me,whether it is mending kid's clothes, making a meal, or working on a long dreamed about art piece, a creative life is essential and the correct tools help make that possible.



6. Sparkle with patina
This last thing is a little newer to me than the other (un)important things. I have always tended to wear very little jewelry and have slightly understated clothes but in the last few years I have often added a vintage brooch to whatever outfit or outer-wear I might have on. I have a few new pieces made in a vintage style that I use for winter coats, etc. but I really enjoy the vintage brooches best. I like that I am giving new life to something that was previously enjoyed and they just make me smile when I look at them.
Here is just a few of my collection.

I would like to see what these other bloggers love:
Fine Hand
Little Lovelies
Tweed Thoughts
Two Pink Possums
Thrifted Treasure
Fuzzy Dragons