The Hobbit Hole

When we moved into this house (which we had built) some 45 years ago, it had a small closet that went under the stairs.  It was only half height, but deep since it went under the stairs.  We decided it looked like Hobbit hole and so I had a sign made and hung it over the door.

At one time, we tried to cover the walls with egg cartons and let Ned use it for practicing drums.

That didn't last very long!

Over the years it has become a catch-all storage place, with lots of stuff packed into lots of boxes.  I don't think anybody has really examined it in more than 20 years.

The Hobbit Hole was Ned's project today.

Everything came out and what treasures were unearthed! -- like the Star Trek quilt I made for Paul one year, using pictures he had drawn.

I had taken a quilting class that year and made quilts for each of the kids for Christmas.  I don't remember what Tom's, David's and Jeri's were, but Ned's was a giant Superman quilt, the best quilt I ever made.

We found a coloring book that apparently Jeri got when we were on vacation.  The quality of the coloring itself tells me she wasn't very old when we got it...either that or one of her brothers did the actual coloring.  She would have gotten it when we were on a trip to Colorado, which  was when David was 5 months old.

From the era of "stuffies" around here was this one, whom I don't really remember, but Jeri thought enough of to save.

There were several years worth of the Smithsonian magazine from the 1970s, which came from Walt's mother.

There was detritus from a trip we took to China (which will make a nice edition to the new "random journal" I am putting together)

And then lots of other stuff--puppy related towels and blankets, puppy toys (including the "mother bear" that raised several litters of puppies for me).  There was a Star Trek puppet I'd made (we decided it was McCoy, since he's dressed in blue and does not have pointed ears)

There was a whole box of 78 records, most of which were kids stories, including this dust-covered Bambi.

Ned worked like a dog all morning cleaning it out and separating it into "throw away," "save," and "donate" piles.  I wonder if the SPCA thrift shop wants a box of 78 records....

It's a project I've been thinking about doing for years, and he managed to get it done in only half a day!