Flowers

 I used to dry all the flowers anyone gave me, primarily from high school. At the time, I probably thought it was nice to have these mementos (typically my train of thought- pretty much how this whole thing got out of control in the first place). In reality, their unique shapes mean they collect more dust than most items. Colors all fade to muted tones and various shades of brown. Petals and leaves fall off pretty easily leaving behind nearly naked stems. They are not as pretty as you would hope. I actually got rid of a much larger collection years ago. Here are the ones that still lingered.

Junior year prom corsage

(That Sprite bottle that it rests on looks so fancy because it is from Europe. Yes, THE Europe. I went there twice in high school. You know you are cultured when you travel 3000 miles to drink the same soda you have at home, except now it is measured out using the metric system. You are extra classy if instead of throwing away your trash, you bring it all the way home and put it on display for 12 years.)

Senior year corsage.

These ones were my favorites:

These are the roses I got from my high school boyfriend Mike for our 6 month anniversary. Kind of a big deal when you are 16. See what I mean about them loosing a little of their luster over time? What did keep it's color where the ribbons and tags he attached to each one. Each one is labeled for a specific month we were together. Pretty smooth for a Junior who had never had a girlfriend.

These photos were taken last week. These flowers have long been lost to the wood stove.