A 100 hundred years ago, or so it seems, I wrote this poem to the "love of my life" for our first valentine's day:

We've already begun our lambing and kidding season. Twelve babies, so far. 'Uncontrolled Management' is what it's called. Really all that means is we didn't get the big boys out of gen. pop. until just a few weeks ago, and now we'll have 5 months of birthing instead of 2 months! It's an amazing time for us, filled with joy and laughter, and sometimes sorrow. Nearly every moment is a photo opportunity.

It is also a study in patience and quiet. Witnessing the births, hushed conversations and new observations for us to record, for future reference. We built a small office/waiting room in the new barn addition, where the warming box and medical supplies sit next to the TV monitor. We're trying out a surveillance camera in the pens, so as to be able to keep an eye on things, without making the new moms nervous. That's about as high tech as it gets, for us.

When I first started analyzing developments in the antiques and collectibles field, I assumed there was a logical progression of a collecting category from a small niche category to a full blown collectible category that eventually evolved into an antique category over time. This is not true. All collecting categories – niche, collectible, and antique – are subject to the whims of the moment. No collecting category has a guaranteed infinite life.

As an author and editor of price guides, I developed a five tier approach: (1) garage sale price guide for those items whose principle value was reuse; (2) flea market price guide for those collecting categories entering the collecting sphere and affordably priced; (3) collectible price guide for collecting categories of more recent origin; (4) antique price guide for established middle to high-end collecting categories; and (5) Country for items fitting the one decorative look that is constant in America. Deciding what collecting categories appeared in each or crossed over into two or more was a subject of constant discussion between my staff and me.

Queen Nefertiti tried on one necklace, than another, and another. All were hammered pure gold, befitting royalty. As she was. She chose one with an amulet made of crystal found in the dessert, The amulet was three inches long. By today’s gold value, the Queen wore $200,000 worth of pure gold on her long, slender neck.

Her servants held the huge mirror so she might see herself in full regalia. No, those earrings were wrong. She needed spirals, and longer, to her shoulders. Queen Nefertiti had a very long neck. Graceful. She was 23 years old.