Thursday, April 10, 2008

Teddy bears and menfolk

I love teddy bears! I used to collect them but I had to get rid of most, some going to my first granddaughter after she was born. (I wonder if any survived this long?) When we moved to this smaller house, I knew I had to have at least one room for the guys... that being our family room.

Not that they don't like the "English country" living room or the "English Victorian kind of" dining area. My husband has this office which has a decorating style that can only be described as... "what was he thinking?". We won't even go down the road of Christopher's room, he who prefers to walk on his clothing rather than walk a foot outside his door to the clothes hamper... teenagers. :)

So, we keep the family room with old and comfy furniture, the bigger TV (about twelve years old but still works fine) for watching The Tennis Channel, The NFL Channel, The Big Ten Network, ESPN in all of its' original and subcategories, and of course... The Chicago Sports Channel.

However, here... in one little corner of the room... sitting on a small baker's rack... are my remaining bears... my favorites for various reasons. The pictures are on the dark side but I think you can see them. There was a lamp on next to them, too! When you click on the bottom two pictures, they appear bigger.

Yes, they are a little different than the picture above, which I took before Christmas. I like to put everything away when the grandchildren visit so when I brought everything out again... I "tweaked" the arrangement. I also placed the items on the floor next to the baker's rack in another area of the room. They just didn't look right there (out of balance).

As with all things in my house, it is a work in progress.

I used to have the little guy who is sitting on the chair located on top of my frig. She (?) made me smile. The Coca Cola tray reminds me of my sisters when they were younger.

The little, light colored bear was brought home in my husband's briefcase... purchased at an airport on a business trip in Germany. I had to keep him just as a reminder of how that had to look... a tall American placing a teddy bear in his briefcase because he had asked what she wanted as a souvenir from Germany... "a teddy bear and Bavarian chocolate".

Sigh... I've had a computer break while eating lunch. Now I must return to organizing the garage. Fortunately, the rain outside makes raking out of the question... not to mention the fact we may be placed under a tornado watch soon. Did I mention there is snow in the forecast?

6 comments:

Heather said...

Thank you for sharing the pictures of your delightful 'friends'! I enjoyed visiting your blog today. Blessings ~ Heather

meg said...

As a lone female in a house of "manly men", I can sympathize with the need to keep a corner of femininity in those shared spaces. Like your guys, mine appreciate & enjoy the prettiness I try to bring to my home, but the reality is that it needs to be comfy & "teenage guy" proof.

Anita said...

I also love bears and have a few. I'll post mine later. Bears give a loving, homey feel to a room!

sherry said...

One of my sisters collects little bears. They all have names and favorite places in her home, especially hear heart. :o)

Vee said...

Tornados and snowstorms? That's ridiculous! Stay safe.

Did you see what Dawn did with a teddy bear at The Feathered Nest? Oh my! Too sweet.

There are several teddy bears who live in my bedroom now that the grands love them a bit too much. I also have a few out for them.

I think you do a very nice job of keeping the balance in your home!

Anonymous said...

We also have a small collection of bears plus one or two moose that looked kind of lonely in the stores where we found them. Ours live on the guest room bed and they sure wish we'd stop using it as a storage room so they'd have a nice place to play when we aren't looking. I enjoyed seeing your display.