LITTLE THINGS MEAN A LOT - 1

.. and can teach us a lot, too. Bear with me, for I am going to have to do this post in two parts.

When Sicilians visit my apartment, once they have come to terms with Simi sitting on their heads and the fact that there are books everywhere, two of the items which fascinate them are my printers' trays, filled with nick-nacks, on the wall. Some of you will know that I am a lover of ornaments and little things, and I have possessions displayed in these trays that I have had since I was five years old, including the "hatbox" ornaments I used to save my pocket money up for, buying them in a dark little shop in Stapleton Road, Bristol. Then there is my "Coronation crown" which, like all good children , I treasured [till I found out that you could only become Queen if you married Charlie - how I cried at that thought!] and a child's dictionary given to me before I could even read. I love my mini-tea-chests and later I saved my political campaign badges. [There is a "Free Nelson Mandela" one which I can't take even a passable photo of because the background is white, a Greenham Common one and a "Don't Attack Iraq" badge - much good that did!] There have to be Sicilian carts, of course and I bought the silver one some years ago in Agrigento [apologies for the photo quality.] There also has to be a depiction of my favourite Dickens character, Mr Micawber [my attitude to money being perilously akin to his, reader] .

In the next post I'll get to the point.