Why do I collect?

I was just blog hopping...I love to blog hop from Magpie Ethels blog, as she has some eclectic blogs on her blog roll, and I stumbled upon a blog called 'I love collecting'.  At the top, she has a paragraph on 'Why do I collect?'.  This got me thinking about why I collect. Next week I may reflect on why I eat bags and bags of chocolate!

I know I have a problem, and although I never collected as a child, I do now. I always try to analyze why, but I thought I'd try to document my journey into self discovery.  

WHY DO I COLLECT?

1. I have unlimited resources, so I want to spend it on stuff others have thrown away.
2. I want to expose my kids to dust, and dirt, to strengthen their immune systems.
3. I hate a minimalist approach to decorating, hence I want to fill every square inch of my home with things that I would never use, just display.
4. I have unlimited amounts of time, so I like to fill it with going from thrift store to thrift store.
5. I believe one day I will be able to retire off the wonderful treasures I have invested my limitless resources on.
6. I want to save the earth, and only do this to prevent this stuff from going into a landfill?
7. I hate ironing, so if I'm too busy trying to clean my vintage finds, I have an excuse not to iron.
8. One day I'm going to make a yoyo quilt, so I have to collect a million vintage flat sheets, so I can have a great variety of prints to use.
9. Who doesn't need vintage Christmas ornaments?  People with cold cold hearts, thats who!
10. One day I want to open a vintage china rental company, so I'm collecting my stock now, at great prices, so I'll be ready for my new business!

This is only the beginning of my journey into self discovery.  I'm sure I'll figure out a few more reasons why I collect soon, I just have to ponder some more...

Some of the craziest things I've bought:

old cameras, vintage rollerskates, scales, union pennants, gramophone records, smurfs, Chrissy dolls (because I never got ONE as a child-MOM, ITS ALL YOUR FAULT!!!), vintage Velvet dolls (ditto MOM!!!), china, anything Charlie Brown, Anything Holly Hobbie, Baileys cups, anthropomorphic kitchen accessories, vintage Japanese flower bouquet containers (you know, the lambs, bunnies, girls), vintage typewriters, anything Queen Elizabeth or Queen Mum, Fire King peach lustre, PYREX and more PYREX, Chenille bedspreads (why didn't you get me one MOM? Now I had to buy 20!), flour sifters, union jacks, children (have four, but I stopped that collection as it got too expensive), elaborate over the top cowboy boots, vintage purses, old kitchen anything,gnomes, clocks, old tins, signs, old furniture, doc martens, old shoe forms, wooden stocking forms, empty Cabernet Savignon bottles (new, very new), Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys books, old mirrors, any old junk,etc.....Is it time for an intervention?

Oh yeah, and phonographs (ok, only one), globes, bottles, mason jars, chinese checker boards, vintage toys, books, musical instruments, old dinerware...and a real strange one - souvenir dutch clogs!

Looking for fellow sufferers of this affliction at the following link parties: