Daytripping Issue - Summer 2020

Lake Huron
MI
ONTARIO
NY
Are you a collector? I am and am
proud of the fact. In days gone by, many
people collected thimbles, spoons, salt
shakers, coins, stamps, stuffed animals,
books, rocks, dolls, video games, movies,
records, Coke bottles,
marbles, antiques, cards,
pens, magnets, beer cans,
lemon squeezers, hub
caps, tools, and miniature
tea sets. The number you
have and whether you
can move comfortably
through your home will tell you if you
have too many and are close to being
a hoarder.
I am of the miniature tea set collectors,
and derive so much pleasure from
mine that I whole-heartedly suggest
taking up this hobby. My collection
started when I was about 10 years
old. An older lady in our village had
both her knee caps removed, and was
restricted to a wheelchair for her time of
convalescence. I was hired to look after
her, keep her company, and retrieve
things that she dropped, etc. Nurses
came to visit for her physical needs, but
I was there for the in-between. It was
not a difficult job, but it sure was boring
for a ten year old on summer holidays.
Mrs. Harper had a beautiful home
with many lovely pieces of furniture and
art, but the thing I most enjoyed seeing
were her collections of miniature tea
sets in a large wooden china cabinet. I
would peer at them every day, and once
a month I was allowed to dust them very,
very gently. Dusting was a big job, and
I was entrusted to do that in among all
the vases and knick-knacks that virtually
littered every flat surface in the sitting
room. I would wheel the tea cart into
the sitting room, and one by one remove
everything from each table, dust the
table, dust the items and place them back
on the table in more or less the same
order. This was pretty heady stuff for a
ten year old, who up to this time mostly
babysat children, cleaned house and did
dishes. Some of these items were very
fragile and priceless, and I was scared to
Daytripping to DRESDEN, BOTHWELL, WALLACEBURG, SOMBRA & MOORETOWN
Collector or Hoarder
By Agnes Burroughs, Dorchester
death I might drop them or crash them
together. Mrs. Harper didn’t seem too
worried. I guess she was just grateful
not to be alone, and enjoyed my quiet
company. Once a month, I reverently
opened the large china
cabinet, and thus began
my geography and history
lesson from Mrs. Harper.
She would point out each
piece, and tell me which
country it came from and
how she happened to
bring it home to its present location. She
and Mr. Harper had travelled to many
countries, and she always managed
to find a tea set to commemorate the
visit. Some were of the finest porcelain
from England—so fragile you could
virtually see through them. Others were
wooden, and were hand carved on one
of the poorer islands in Malaysia. Metal
intricately carved into miniature works
of art covered some of the lower glass
shelves from Italy. Tiny little tea sets with
tea pot, cream and sugar and always two
cups and saucers on a wispy tray might
only be a little bigger than a toonie coin
and oh, so delicate. I loved listening to
the interesting stories about how these
mini gems came from all over the world
to this little village in Ontario.
When the summer slowly waned,
and school beckoned, I was allowed to
choose one of the tea sets for my very
own to take home and start my own
collection. It was a difficult decision as
no two were alike, so I was unable to take
one and still leave one for Mrs. Harper to
enjoy. I peered at their shiny orbs, and
finally settled on a little brown tea set on
a round glass tray. I was truly grateful to
Mrs. Harper, her history and geography
lessons and her generosity for letting me
take home this lovely glass treasure that
I still have today in my collection of mini
tea sets, that I visit several times a day on
a shelf by my kitchen sink.
Whatever you choose to collect, do it
for the joy, the love and the beauty of
things all around you and you won’t go
wrong.
Moore
Museum
12-building
heritage village, plus
Lionel model train room
“A museum… and so much
more for you to explore!”
94 Moore Line
Mooretown, Ontario
519-867-2020
www.mooremuseum.ca
Three Museum Getaway
Wallaceburg
Museum
Home of the Baldoon
Mystery, the Glass Gallery
and much more.
Reopening in progress -
looking to resume our regular
Tues-Sat 10 to 4 Year Round
505 King Street
Wallaceburg, Ontario
519-627-8962
www.wallaceburgmuseum.ca
Sombra
Museum
Glimpses of
Victorian Living
Marine History
& much more
Open Through September
Please call ahead
to confirm hours.
3470 St. Clair Parkway
Sombra, Ontario
519-892-3982
sombramuseum.webs.com
facebook.com/sombramuseum
Please refer to individual websites for most current re-opening hours & updates.
Author
You Tell on Yourself Unknown
You tell on yourself by the friends you seek
By the very manner in which you speak,
By the way you employ your leisure time,
By the use you make of dollar and dime.
You tell what you are by the things you wear,
By the spirit in which your burden you bear,
By the kind of things at which you laugh,
By the records you play on your phonograph.
You tell what you are by the way you walk,
By the things of which you delight to talk,
By the manner in which you bear defeat,
By so simple a thing as how you eat.
By the books you choose from a well-filled shelf.
In these ways & more, you tell on yourself.
So there's really no particle of sense, in an effort to keep up false pretense.
PARKS
Blueberry Farm · Café · Bakery · Country Store
www.parksblueberries.com
berri
es Fresh F h Blueberries b i in i Season
S
(Mid M
d
July J
through h
o
u
h
September) e
t
embe
e
e ) Check c k
website e
b e
for o
dates.
a
t
e
Frozen Blueberries es Always in Store
Fresh Strawberries June e til i
Frost
s
t
OUR BAKERY
FAMOUS for Pies,
Muffins &Scones
• Gluten G
t
Smart
r
Scratch-Baked a ch-B
ak
Goods
• ‘No Sugar g r Added’ de
d’
SelectionsS l
ecti
Our Homemade Fudge is a must!
OUR CAFÉ
• Creative e t
v Recipes i
p es
• Always A w
Fresh
• Blueberry b r y Accents
ce OUR STORE
• Kitchen i h n Gadgets, Tools,
Accessories c so
e & Cookbooks
ks
• Women’s ns Apparel
pa
l
& Accessories
sori
• Gift Baskets t & Certificates
te
es
• Children’s h
d
Toys y
• Prints
t
Preserves
r s rves
• Lang Calendars
e • Cards d
• W Wall l Art
r
• Wedding W Favours
v Open Daily 8 am to 6 pm • 519-692-5373 • Toll Free 1-866-901-5373m • Located 7 km East of Thamesville on Hwy. #2
SUMMER 2020 “Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer.” — unknown
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