16th of January 2015 - I Didn't Throw It Away

Hi all you lovely people,

Today is a very special Note to Ginny. 
Agatha Lee of Green Issues by Agy (Website) started a blog train to find out why people throw certain things away so readily, yet keep others for many years. Today I will tell you something about things I didn't throw away. 

And you may have seen the post I did on the 9th of January (Note 9th of January 2015) in which I asked your input for a new series. I will start tomorrow with this new series: it will be about secrets you kept for a long time, and about memories you kept close to your heart. Prepare yourself for heavy and heartwarming stories during the upcoming weeks!

And now without further ado: I will show you some of the things I didn't throw away!



The first thing I want to show you if my old stuffed animal. I have it since I was a few years old, and it always stayed with me. He is called Dombo, and originally he looked something like this (but with a red hat).




I got this stuffed animal in a store, and I can't remember a moment where he left my side ever since. I used to take him with me wherever I went, tugged under my armpit or in my bag. It gave me a sense of security and confidence as a child. As you maybe can see, Dombo needed a couple of stitches over the years, which my mother did as good as she could. And as you can see, he's still happy :)
I could never throw him away, as he reminds me of so many lovely feelings and great memories that it would seem careless to throw that reminder away. 

The second thing I didn't throw away is this old coffee grinder. On the picture you see me (7 years old, cute hmm?) and of course Dombo is there as well, on the boat. My grandparents used to have a boat (a flatboat, de Willemien) and my mum and I used to go on vacation on the boat. This picture is taking during a holiday when it was raining all week long, and there was an ankle's deep pool where we entered or exited the boat. We sat inside all week, reading books, playing games and apparently grinding coffee beans. 
I don't know where the coffee grinder originally came from, but it has been in the family for quite a while. After the boat, it stood at my grandma's but a couple of years back (when she moved houses) she gave it to me. 
I didn't throw it away because it reminds me of all the weird and funny stuff that happened on the boat, it reminds me of the freedom that those vacations meant to me, and it serves as a way to remember my grandmother (whom is a lovely woman) and my grandfather (whom I sadly never really got to know, he died when I was half a year old, but from stories, was a wonderful person as well).


I hope you really enjoyed reading something about my past, and about why I didn't throw these items away. 

This post is a part of a blog train hosted by Agatha from Green Issues by Agy on 'I Didn't Throw It Away'. We have become such a throw-away society, but there are some things in our households that we still keep. Why is that so? Perhaps this blog train can unlock the reasons behind it! Follow the daily posts on this blog train and read about the stories behind the things we have kept for many years and why we didn't throw them away.


And be sure to check Notes to Ginny tomorrow, for a new special Notes to Ginny series about memories and secrets that we didn't 'throw away' will start!

Lots of love,
Ginny.