March 24 Photo: an animal

Okay, now I remember why I questioned the wisdom of sharing a personal blog. Is the polite word to describe me "quirky"?  Here is a small part of my miniature menagerie. I collect small things. Mostly small animals and birds. Mostly sheep, cats and birds of all kinds. The sheep are just an extension of my sheep postcard collection. (so if you are ever anywhere that you see a sheep postcard, please keep me in mind!)  The cat - well I can't have the real thing and don't intend to go the hairless cat route (shiver!), so I have a few. And the birds. Aren't they fun! But small and I don't want this to become a "thing". You know how you find out someone likes monkeys so then every time they have a birthday or it's Christmas, you buy them something else MONKEY. And then how what was a small monkey statue becomes monkey pajamas and monkey backpacks and monkey dishware and monkey towel sets? Yeah, like that.

Because this is just something I do. And it is small. And when I do get the OCCASIONAL small animal, I can be happy, instead of thinking - "oh not another one... where will I put it and will he like the other monkeys".

That said, this little collection above as most things in my home, comes with some stories. Only I've forgotton some of them. So if you gave me either of these two sheep, please remind me of the story because I remember the stories of the sheep from Sam and the sheep I bought in Jerusalum at Jimmie's Bazaar (not pictured). 

The cat is from a bazaar in Egypt - just as we were leaving Alexandria, I spied it in a corner of the shop in a cubby hole with packing materials and some pricier - out of reach items. It was so tiny and looked like just the kind of treasure I would like to take home. Who knows where it came from. The shop keeper kind of scratched his head and said it was very old and had been there a long time but it could just be the kind of story they tell a tourist. I was already buying papyrus and pens as souvenirs for the nieces and nephews and I asked if he could just add it in to the price I had already negotiated. He did and I slipped it in my pocket to be my own Egyptian good luck charm. 

The little felted owl was a special Christmas present from my niece. (or should I say my sister?) It was a fun thing Madi and I had found as we were browsing around Etsy together and she remembered and got her mom to order it for me for Christmas. Isn't he great? Made by Lauren Alane who has all kinds of sweet birds and other crafts that you can check out on her blog (which will lead you to her shop) Take a look at the little valentine owls! They go SUPER fast so if you want one, you have to be quick!

Oh no, I can't remember the story of my little orange bird. Utah? Seattle? Banff? As I go to write this, the memory just snuck off to have a peanut butter sandwich and got stuck somewhere in the back of my brain. Oh well, he's awesome too.

Tomorrow's challenge is Breakfast. Better go grocery shopping or all you will be seeing is Cheerios!