ABC Wednesday - Z.

Here we are on the final letter of Round 5 of ABC Wednesday.
Although after today I shall no longer be part of the Team, I shall still try to produce a weekly contribution. Why? Because I enjoy the challenge and the friendship. Thanks Denise for this great idea!

For this week's post - the letter Z - I'm returning to my collection of stones and gems.
Z
is for
ZOISITE.

Zoisite is a green mineral used for gemstones or carvings (Wiki article here.)

I'm showing my specimens agianst two different backgrounds because of the way they alter the appearence of the colours.

These stones are natural and unworked. They'd look much brighter if they were polished. The chunks of red in the green are actually ruby!

More Z posts can be found through the ABC Wednesday page.
Enjoy!

ABC Wednesday - Y

This week we've reached the letter
Y.

I have so little beginning with Y in my collections!
There can be no doubt, however, that I have a large collection of all kinds of jewellery. Some of it is yellow, and one necklace in particular is Y-shaped!

I also have this little glass and metal ornament, which I intend to call a Yacht!

And that ends my offering for this week. Next week is Z .....
More Y entries can be found through the ABC page. Y not go and enjoy them?

ABC Wednesday - W & X.

I didn't manage to post at all last week, so I'm giving you a double post this week. I'm so generous!

So here I go, starting with
W for WREN.
I love the wren, it's so small and lively. I have a few items in my collection.

This is a horsebrass designed like the old Farthing (a fourth part of a Penny.)

Here's a framed embroidery of a wren, made by a friend, with an ornamental trowel hanging beneath it. Yes, there's a wren on the handle.

This is a close-up of all the detail of that wren.


Now for this week's letter, the letter
X.

As my husband was a Radiographer in his younger days, we have several X-ray radiographs in the house. The ones I want to show you today are linked with my S post - Skeleton and Skulls. They are x-rays of bird skulls.

Gannet.

Swan.

We also have a tungsten target from a Coolidge Tube.

This is about 2 inches/5 cm long, and once formed a vital part of an x-ray machine. A stream of electrons was fired at the target, producing x-rays. You can see the marks left by this in the lower photo.

Well, that's it for this week's double issue. Thanks for staying to the end!
You'll find more X words on the ABC page.

ABC Wednesday - V.

This fun weekly idea came from Denise.

And this week we've reached the letter V.

I'm still posting about parts of the collections in this house, and I've found V in the camera collection.

V
is for
VOIGTLANDER.

Two Voigtlanders, to be precise.
The one on the left, a Voigtlander Vito II A, was probably made in about 1955. I bought it second-hand in (I think) 1968, when I received back-pay after qualifying as a nurse.
The one on the right, a Voigtlander Brilliant, was given to my husband by my favourite-ever aunt, who was also my Godmother. It was made in about 1935, and belonged to her elder brother before he was killed in a motorcycle accident.
Both these cameras still work, but film for the Brilliant is hard to find and harder to process.

Here's the Vito open.

And the Brilliant with it's viewfinder open.

And this is a photo of the Vito seen through the viewfinder of the Brilliant.

More and varied takes on the letter can be found through the ABC page. It's worth a visit.

ABC Wednesday - U.

This week's letter for ABC Wednesday is U.

Staying within the confines of my collections (and those of others in the house) my first two words are
UNTIDY and UNSORTED.

These are some fossil and geological specimens on a cupboard shelf, waiting to find a proper display space.

If you look closely, you might even be able to see a piece of paper in the above bag which reads UNAKITE.

The amusing ornament below is a Harmony Kingdom Treasure Jest. It's title is "Too much of a good thing"

I think the poor cat looks extremely UNCOMFORTABLE.

Denise started this fun challenge well over two years ago. Visit the ABC page for more contributions, or to join in yourself.

ABC Wednesday - T.

I had a hard time finding something in my collections for the letter T.
Then I thought of this jug from the old Llanelly Pottery. It dates from the second half of the 19th century.
Why post this for T?
The rich brown glaze is sometimes called a TREACLE glaze!

I love the colour, and I particularly love the handle of the jug. That dog seems sure there's something interesting in the jug!

More T posts can be found through the ABC Wednesday page. Why not see if something there tickles your fancy?

ABC Wednesday - S.

This week's late entry is for the letter S.

S
is for
Skeleton and Skulls.

In his youth my husband collected skulls and skeletons. He gathered any he could find on his country walks. He even picked up small corpses, and buried them until they rotted clean.

We have very few left now, although his collection was carefully documented and recorded, and the drawings and notes still exist.

This first photo is of the skeleton of a Guillemot, a sea bird, carefully assembled from the bones found above a beach.

The skull in the second photo belonged to another sea bird, a Gannet this time.

This rather stronger skull once belonged to a fox.

All the above photos were taken by my husband - on my kitchen work-surface!

More S posts can be found through the ABC Wednesday page.

Abc Wednesday - R for Reclining Dragon.

This week's letter is
R

I'm showing you another of my dragons - well, they do rather fill the house, and they make my most important collection!
This one is a very dozy dragon - and you can all stop saying he's like his owner!

This is meant to be the front of the ornament.
The dragon is
RECLINING
on a crescent moon, holding the favourite jewel of his treasure.

He looks very RESTFUL and RELAXED.

This is the REVERSE.
I think it's easier to see the REALLY sleepy expression on his face.

To find more R posts, visit the ABC Wednesday page, and enjoy the entries.

ABC Wednesday - Q.

Q
is for
QUINTUPLETS

My quintuple dragons have even arranged themselves in a quincunx.

Such helpful baby dragons!

For more quintessentially Q posts visit the ABC Wednesday page.

ABC Wednesday - P.

P
is for
PHOENIX

You all know about my dragons, and last week I told you about my husband's owls.
This weekI want to show you a small collection belonging to my youngest son, who feels a particular affinity with the legendary phoenix.

Above is part of his collection - horse brasses, a fridge magnet, and a small plaque.

Here's a deep blue china thimble with a gold phoenix.

These are two old Chinese snuff bottles, both decorated with the Fenghuang (the Chinese form of the phoenix.)

Finally there are two pewter pendants. The one on the right shows the Egyptian phoenix.

You'll find many more P posts through the ABC Wednesday page.

ABC Wednesday - O.

Denise is the originator of this theme.
She is very unhappy at the moment, having suffered the sudden loss of her dog.
You are in all our hearts, Denise.

This week we have reached the letter O.
In this house, O can only be for OWLS.

Yes, I know I am a dragon addict, but my husband is an owl person. His earliest memory is of an owl hooting, and he has always loved them.
This is the first owl in his collection. It came from an old hotel in Swansea, very many years ago, and has stayed with him since. It normally lives in a glass dome, but my camera refused to focus properly because of the reflections. So here is Spook, exposed to the world.

All the family looks out for more owls for his collection.

Small...

...and large.

Sometimes I wonder how we find room for ourselves, with all the collections in the house!
Please see the ABC page for this week's participants. MckLinky misbehaved earlier, so you may need to check the comments to find everyone.

ABC Wednesday - M and N.

I missed last week - not at all well.
So I'm doing two weeks in one.

M is for MUG.
I posted a new egg-cup for E, and later I found a matching Mug which I now use all the time for my coffee. The dragons are irresistible!

Now for this week's letter.

N is for Nailvarnish.
I love nailvarnish and I have many colours.

And here are some painted Nails.

Denise started this fun idea, and more entries can be found on the ABC page.

Wilma is in my heart, Denise.