Home is family and this family bookcase tells the story of those who live in my home. Our individual and collective interests sit side by side on the simple white shelves.

On the top shelf  lie the heavy tomes of architecture – an absorbing passion of the Writer. 

The next shelf holds art catalogues, travel stories and some language dictionaries – the Writer and I travel every year, love seeing great art and have taught ourselves some French and Italian. The Writer says he’s speaks 4 languages, English, French, Italian and fluent gibberish!

In the corner is the little ceramic cat that our then 12 year old son choose as a souvenir in France where he befriended many a cat – enticing them into our holiday homes with scraps of ham and saucers of milk. At 20 he rescued a kitten that had been dumped and she’s become a loved family member.

Then there’s the shelf with the speakers – our home is filled with music from the moment the Writer gets up to the moment he goes to bed. We have R & B, classic, baroque, rock and jazz – and a library of 4000+ CDs to choose from. He carefully curates a sound track for all our holidays and particular songs are irrevocably linked to certain places and bring back sharp and clear memories every time I hear them.

Then there are the family photos of parents and grandparents no longer with us – their memories cherished, stories told and lives remembered.

Also a  few simple ornaments that bring back memories of far away destinations.

Stashed on the bottom shelf is a collection of classic reads enjoyed by us all- Wodehouse and Christie. Some of these have been read and reread over the years. We’ve spent many a night chuckling over a Bertie and Jeeves video or guessing “who dunnit”as we watched Poirot unfold the clues.

A few tubes of paint hint at my passion for painting.

A trio of games are the flow over from a huge stash of boardgames  which are the glue that bonds our family together in difficult times, when we need to destress or to celebrate someones achievments. The eldest son owns many of these – he eschews spending money on frivolities but feels games are a basic necessity of life.

So there you have it – my home on the shelves of a bookcase!