First in a series: If you have more than one, it's a collection

Let's face it. Collecting things is fun. Finding something that you are drawn to... and then finding another one, and another one... well, you see where this is headed. Basically, it's a riot. And when you put those like things together, it's SUPER fun. So. In the spirit of fun, we begin the first in a long series documenting some of my collections.

First off, I've already broken the only rule this blog was to have, namely that everything is for sale. Then I made an amendment saying it was for sale if I could find it. Now I'm recanting the whole story and saying that not everything is for sale. My collections are not, certainly, until sometime in the future when I decide that they are. Who knows when that day will come, so in the meantime... not everything is for sale.

I should not make rules since I cannot even follow them myself. I won't make any more.

But let's get back to the fun. #1 in our new series is:

The Fur Seal Army.

This is a weird collection. I admit it. When I was about 12, my grandparents went on a cruise to Alaska and brought me back a little seal. I liked it well enough but didn't think about it too much. But within the past few years, I found a few more like it at estate sales (the first one I bought, I did so because I was told it would go to the "seal orphanage" if I didn't) and then discovered that, like every other thing ever known to man, they are sold on eBay on occasion. So, I have accumulated a few. How many? Well..... 38. Is that a few? That does not include 4 that are technically walruses (they have tusks) and one that is upstairs in the seal hospital (aka the art desk) awaiting reattachment of a flipper.


The polar bear (top left of the picture) is a recent acquisition, and I think it adds a little bit of drama to the otherwise mundane seal family picnic.

Seal Stats: Sizes range from 2 inches to 10.5 inches. One is red? 4 are walruses. One is injured. Yes, they are made from seal fur. This creeps me out, actually. So not only is this my favorite collection, but it is also the one that causes me a little bit of guilt. I assume they are made from the fur of elderly seals who lived long and polar bear-free lives until their deaths from natural causes. Beyond that I try not to think about it.

The seal on the right of this picture is the original seal acquired through grand-parental means. It is still my favorite and probably the cutest one of the bunch.

So there we have it. The first collection in this series and also the one that will probably make some people think I am loco. But seriously, they are so cute. Each one is different. One looks more like a swan than a seal. A few have very pretty spots. A couple have seal mange. One is bright red which I think must be a seal dye job. The job of that one is to keep watch over the polar bear. The other seals aren't so sure he's one of them so he stays with the polar bear.

So we love what we love. I love my fur seal army. If you want to blame someone, blame Ralph and Joann, not me.

sara@mantofev.com