EJ, I love your post and your dresser top! Creating a space you love creates more than a space, it creates a feeling and it is welcoming.

Tybee, I have a found turtle shell in one of my gardens too. Well, actually I know the turtle it belonged to (Ernie) and I leave it there as a reminder to be mindful. I fed that turtle for 6 years. He and his friend would come daily and wait for a strawberry or lettuce leaf or something else tasty like a worm. Then they'd visit my compost pile. He apparently got stuck in one of the pallets around my compost pile and I never noticed and he died. 2 years ago. I left his body to do it's thing and this last summer I pulled it out of the pile and left it in the sun to bleach then moved it to one of my new rock gardens. I carefully check the pallets now because the other turtle (Bert) still comes by to see me.

I love my collection of pottery teapots. They are art pieces not to be used but I enjoy the designs and shapes.

I love my buffet. It was in the old farm house when my parents bought the place in '67. It had been there when the previous owners bought the place in the early '40's. Mom gave it to me when we built our house in '92. I looked up the history once of the builder. A newspaper article is glued to the back of it about the company that built them but I've forgotten the details. It's tiger maple and sturdy. I call it Mae after the name of the wife of the couple that left it for mom.

I love rocks. I have bowls and wood trays of them around the house. There are fossils and dinosaur bones and petrified ancient horse bones and rocks & gems that we've bought or just picked up from special places. I often pick a rock and carry it in my pocket through out the day. I feel grounded that way.