Tuesday's Treasures & Things

Thank you for all your comments on our progress here. I'm really happy with my living room. I wasn't sure how the new furniture would fit, but I think it works really well. In our family, I am the one who throws things away, my husband the opposite. To make matters worse, because he remodels homes, of course he is the first one owner's ask when they want to get rid of something. And he can't say NO. So over the years, we have accumulated a whole bunch of stuff, some of it nice and useful, the rest not so much.

This is Tuesday's Treasure for this week:

It was very difficult to photograph. I took so many pictures and this is the best I could do. I see some dust at the bottom and the perspective is out of whack, but it does show the different woods and their colors best.

Once upon a long time ago, I used to go hiking in the Santa Monica Mountains most weekends with my then boyfriend. We'd usually go in the morning right at dawn. We saw coyotes in the early morning light, rattlesnakes, and all kinds of birds. Sometimes, we'd go in the evening and stay as dusk fell over the mountain and the owls came out. As we waited close by a field, we would without fail soon see large owls flying above, searching for and catching their pray.

It was a magical experience for me, one that I have never forgotten. Then one Christmas, my boyfriend gave me this owl, which is an amazing piece of art. At least that's the way I feel about it. On the back it lists the different woods that went into creating it: Oak, maple, gum, tiger wood, and ash wood. It is signed J. M. and above it says: SMM (1982) and advises the owner to apply tung oil each six months. From now on, I will make sure it at least gets dusted.