Wednesday 13 October 2010

Adding to my my collection of collections

I am now (a rather young looking) 40-something. If you're younger than me, and when I was smug and younger, I used to hear the perennial phrase -'it'll be like this for you one day', and of course, never believed it. The smugness comes from a misguided sense of immortality, huh. Let's face it, you need to be in your 40s before reality kicks in and you can genuinely start to accept that dangerous sports, lunatic drivers, consecutive late nights and lots of hooch aren't really what life is all about. But of several things that are now 'like this' for me, the one that is most noticeable is my deteriorating eyesight. It's not a matter for glumness, this isn't a moaning post (for a change!). One of the other beautiful things about this age is acceptance of things I can't change. But the need for glasses to facilitate reading, crafting and close work - especially in non-natural light, has led to a collection. I'm telling you about this because several WOYWWers are kind enough to point out that if I can't find my glasses it's because they're on my desk. So they are. But they're also next to my chair in the lounge - usually on top of my phone or a book;

they're on my desk at work, and they're in my handbag. Simultaneously. Yep, I'm a victim of cheap, non-prescription glasses. Love 'em.

Love that for anywhere between a quid and a fiver I can have new glasses to go and to match some crazy need for colour. The proper, prescription specs are the purple £300 pair that don't leave the house because I'm scared of losing them. But to be fair, they were a good investment - they are on the third pair of new lenses in 6 years, so am ok with them. So you see, like the watches and the ribbons and the china and the oh, you get it - they're becoming a collection. Compulsive - moi?

26 comments:

Elizabeth said...

Hi Julia, I couldn't help nodding in agreement reading through the above - I've 3 pairs of glasses too although I need them for everything, long, short and middle distance but then I could give you 20 years or so! I've read The Help by Kathryn Stockett - a great read :) Regards, Elizabeth (Silverscrapper)

Karin said...

I hear ya, I am that age now too and this year I succommed to the reading glasses thing. It's life, is there any other choice? My book club is discussing The Help tonight...Hope everyone liked it as much as I did :)

misteejay said...

I think collecting must be another thing linked with crafting LOL I am lost if I am not collecting something (aqua-promarkers at the moment).

I have both contacts & glasses as I'm shortsighted and have been since leaving junior school...but I'm now finding that light conditions are affecting how well I can read something and have noticed that I occasionally lift my glasses to see if peering that way makes things any clearer LOL

Toni :o)

voodoo vixen said...

Aaaah, the joys of wearing glasses!! I have worn them most of my life if I want to see things.... but never for reading or the computer... its such fun to watch DH struggle with adapting to glasses and always wondering where he left them and I laugh that he needs them for the very things I don't!! My optician doesn't agree with me... he insists I have these no line super duper expensive lenses installed so I can read as well as drive but I never use the reading part... just remove them and away I go!! Julia, there is a series on the telly over here called Buried Alive about hoarders.... OMG you would be flabbergasted at the state of some of these homes!! Our tame little How Clean is Your House has nothing on this... peeps cannot even make a passage through a room because the stuff is piled up taller than they are.... and its filth, filth, filth... it has changed my attitude to my hobby... I am going to use everything i buy from now on.... heck, I don't want to end up on the telly!!

Annie said...

Here is another one nodding as I've read this post :-) Cant see a thing without mine now. I've needed glasses for years now but only really accepted that I NEEDED to wear them when my eldest daughter had to have glasses at age 4....I was too vain to wear them til then! I've solved my problem of losing mine now cos I have to wear varifocals now so they are always on my face :-)
A x

Ohhh Snap said...

One of my best crafting tools is an Ott lite. I'm 53. For my 40th birthday I got a need for glasses (shrunken arm syndrome I call it). 50th birthday type 2 diabetes, I'm afraid to turn 60 I'll tell you lol.

Lovely collection you have there :D. I haven't heard about The Help, I'll have to look around the library for it. I'm mostly a mystery fan (These days mostly Janet Evanovich and Nevada Barr). TFS!

Hazel said...

40 is soooo young!! Just wait till you turn 60 - it just gets even more fun!! (well, some of the time - lol!) x

Rosie said...

Put it there, sister! I'm another one! For years I've worn magnifiers at 150 strength and had so much fun with colours and styles. Have lately had to upgrade to 200, but still (like you) have a pair in every room, if not quite a pair to match every outfit! I do however, have the pink ones I'm wearing today, the leopardskin ones I occasionally wear, the black and white zebra stripe ones ... oh yes, the blue ones, green spots ... need I go on???

Sue said...

In totally agreement with you on that one hun, got the £1.00 shop ones in me handbag, old prescription ones in office, other pair in craftroom, new reactor lights ones on sofa, animal print ones in works bag! lol, sue,x

Anne said...

I am so so envious. My glasses are for distance, which means that I can't buy the off the shelf glasses. Boohiss. If I could, I would have loads and loads of pairs - both so that I wouldn't keep losing them, and because I want lots of different lovely designs and colours. Instead, I am stuck with my one (expensive) pair, which I can never find. Grrr!

Ann said...

I'm 52 Julia and 'it'll be like this for you one day': My glasses cannot leave my face 'cos I can't see without them, the stairs are getting harder to climb as my knees crack, the waistline's expanding exponentially, and I can't remember what job I intended to do 10 seconds after deciding to do it!

Liverpool Lou (Anne) said...

I too have a collection of them but shouldn't have. What happens is I get new prescription glasses and keep the old ones just in case. I always intend to find where to send the older ones to pass on but forget. Now I have 4 pairs with as many cases plus prescription sunglasses and another pair of large sunglasses that I used to wear over my previous glasses :-/
Anne x

Hope and Chances said...

To reply to this I had to find my glasses! I too have the 'proper' pairs but lots of cheapie non-prescription ones too - especially the massively strong ones in the odd pot in the kitchen purley so I can read cooking instructions on packaging! :-)

Angie said...

I have just posted a LONG comment and it dissapeared ....sorry ...I now need a strong coffee before a second attempt xx

Pam said...

I've worn glasses since I was 7 and now can't get out of bed without them except in he middle if the night when I have to go for the night time wee when I stumbled around the bed because if I put them on it wakes me up too much!!! My kids have always wanted glasses until recently when Jake was prescribed some , he was devastated! Hugs Pam x

Daniele said...

I'm with you on the glasses front, I've just invested in 2 pairs 1 Pair upstairs in my craft room and 1 pair downstairs and my old pair left at work...think I've covered all areas, on the plus side my long vision is improving, so I can see a stamp at 50 yards but can't see it if its under my nose...lol.
hugs

Morti said...

You, compulsive? Never! But I think we need to see a pic of the purple pair so we can ooh over them. Last night, on the way home from swimming, we drove past a plastic garden trug bucket thing that someone had left outside their house and was purple, and Mr B offered to acquire it for me - I pointed out that that wasn't quite the meaning of the term "scrap-lift", and as far as I know, it's still where we drove past it. He does understand our love of purple....

Diane said...

You go for it girl!
If I was able to I would use the non prescription glasses too and have a pair in every room and in every colour to go with every outfit. sadly mine are varifocals and cost a fortune each time. I hope one day they start to do the varifocals in the cheapy ones, I will be first in the queue.

Cardarian said...

I have 4 pairs in my bag at any time - one for reading, one for the computer, one for driving when it is cloudy and one when it is sunny! Yes and it all started in the late 40s....he, he now getting to the middle 50s I will soon probably need a few new pairs!!!
Don't worry, be happy......:-)
Hugs,
Cardarian

Carmen said...

Mine are for long distance but they are soooo good. They were expensive but have lasted me about 4 years now, no new lenses (my optician is a good 'un in that he wont try and get you to buy new ones if you don't need'em) and they are purple too :P

People say to me about laser eye surgey - apart from the fact that I don't think the words 'laser' and 'eye' should ever go together in the same sentence - they just don't seem to get that I really do love my specs :P

Artyjen said...

So wish I could still get away with those! Even the 3+ ones can't put close up work in focus :(
Sounds like I must have jam jar bottoms!!! But honest they are not LOL
xoxo Sioux

Chrysalis said...

When I can't find mine, I just pat my head! No, not some strange superstition or ritual but that's where I usually find them!! x

Lesley said...

Hi, the other night I had a wonderful meal cooked by DH, but I also downed nearly 2 bottles of wine. I fell asleep doing embroidery on CQ. DH thinking he was being helpful, took them off me, but unfortunately the next morning he forgot the 'safe place' that he had put them. (I think he'd been at the vino too). I still haven't found them, but I'm due for a new pair anyway. By the way, as to age I am coming up to 65, and have just become a great grandmother....of course, that' ridiculous because inside I'm still 16. Believe me life gets better. After a very long career as a newspaper editor. I'm now enjoying sleeping in, and stitching wheneverI want to, Old age is wonderful! I love it Blessings

Chrissie said...

I have one very expensive pair of glasses which stay on my nose ALL the time. If I didn't keep them on my nose all the time I would have to be like you and have a pair in every place I frequent... 'cos I sure as eggs wouldn't remember where I had left them!
Chrissie

Lyn said...

I too have have a collection of non-prescriptive reading glasses for when I'm wearing my distance contact lenses ..... If you think being such a young looking 40-something, just wait 'it'll be like this for you one day', heh, heh, heh ....

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