On the road - vintage goodies in regional Victoria

It has been nearly two months since we went to Daylesford and there has simply been no time to blog about it at all. In fact there is a major backlog of posts swirling around in my head that hopefully will flood out when I have some more time. Life has been full, too full in fact for my liking, so it is nice to slow down and reminisce over those Daylesford days.

One of the things I like most about exploring a new place is sniffing out all the op shops and second hand stores. To find something to add to the collection back home and also give fond memories of the places we went to. While we didn't have any luck in the oppies around Daylesford, it didn't matter because just around the corner was the biggest collection of vintage ephemera I have ever seen.

Would you believe that when we planned to go to Daylesford I had no idea that on the edge of town was one of the largest collections of vintage and second hand goods in the southern hemisphere? I'm talking about the Mill Markets of which there are three locations - Daylesford, Ballarat and Geelong.

If you can picture a warehouse the size of a football field and then some,  you get the rough idea. It was so big we had to take a pause half way around and have lunch in the cafe! Trying to choose goodies from this kind of smorgasbord was a little challenging, but knowing I had to squeeze any purchases into a suitcase did help.

When overwhelmed with options only the most special items would be coming home but I was more than happy to swoon over all that retro colour.

So how about the goodies?

A lovely child sized apron for my girl,

An amazing retro pvc lined bag that  knew I have a true passion for pvc lined bags (this is my third),

an amazing hat the exact size for my girl ( this was the one item I chose from the Ballarat store),

a lovely old print,

and a roll of wallpaper that was sealed up and I chose for the colours ( presuming it was florals) but opened to discover it was in fact a bunch of crazy disco floral animals. Check out the 'fro on that lion/poodle creature!

As if the Mill Markets were not enough, there was also the Daylesford Bazaar in the main street but thankfully nothing was calling  my name there.

On the way to Ballarat we stopped at a tiny town called Talbot, population 258. Incredibly there was not one, but two antique shops in this tiny town. It turns out they were owned by a husband and wife, and they each had their own shop. His was enormous and chock full of more traditional crockery and furniture. Hers was more my style with vintage kitchenalia and early Australiana items. Their shops were on either side of their house, where they could pop back for lunch and to see the pets. To me it seemed a wholly ideal scenario for two collectors with different tastes. I not only found the little green egg cup but also this lovely pastel set of bowls.

The unexpected highlight was the drive back to Melbourne on our last day and all those outer suburban op shops. These three pieces of milk glass set me back $5 for the lot.

I was however very restrained and left this lovely collection for someone else.

And then at the final hour I stumbled over a wonderful pink sewing case for $5 shortly before getting on the plane - a perfect carry on bag.

In our last few hours we also made a flying visit to Gleaners Inc in Brunswick, what a lovely, lovely shop ( I may or may not have bought a dress (or two) in here).

A brief visit to the site of  "The Block",

and that was Melbourne and Daylesford and all the goodness in between.

Rainbows and thunderstorms

Oh it is a good feeling to be able to walk. Roboboy brought home this timely artwork from school and it is reminding me to count my rainbows.  Last week I was finally up and about and on the receiving end of lots of friends popping over with cake and sharing cups of tea and school news out on the deck.

Meanwhile the thunderstorms have been plentiful too. Real ones, with thunder and lightning and pelting rainfall at school pick up that reminds me of my childhood. This particular afternoon the sky was the most eery green colour as the storm rolled in, I was sure there would be hail, but not at our place.

I am back into doing kindy drop offs again, always nice to see Liongirl's new artwork on the walls,

and even better to unpack the paint- a-plate masterpiece that finally came home in the kindy bag. Our family- that's me with the liberal application of blue lipstick.

Possibly inspired by the arrival of the blue tutu for the upcoming ballet concert. There was much twirling and taking of bows in this outfit the minute it came home.

 A brief foray to the oppies provided just what I needed. A pile of vintage crepe paper for a rainbow fish piñata. I even love the paper parrot label.

A quick dash to the new pop up shop for Everingham and Watson for a special present. So much colour to swoon over.

It seems the humble prawn maybe the next decorating icon.

 And then finally on the weekend, some serious unpacking of boxes in a desperate search for household order, personal sanity and the missing camera charger. While none of these were actually located, at least we found the stash of Peppa Pig toys. Priorities.

Lastly, I managed to eradicate two years of small child filth out of my Eames replica chairs. The specimen on the right is the reason why there is a market for replica chairs.  The specimen on the left is the result of some serious elbow grease and gumption paste.

It is strangely very satisfying to make your white plastic chairs look like they have never, ever had the misfortune of meeting a small child. And perhaps an indication that I am ready to go back to work.

After two weeks of doing not much and altogether too much web browsing, can I suggest you check out this very catchy song What does the fox say? (especially if you have a fox mad child like mine) and if you have small children at all, send them over to Triple Zero to play this free game and learn how to call emergency services. It gives me peace of mind to know that if Mama or Dada fell down and would not wake up that both my kids would know what to do.

An oppie reunion

The oppies and I have had a reunion of sorts.

For the last 4 months any spare time I had was spent solely on house related stuff. Bank paperwork, toilet choices, lock shops, deck sealer discussions, demolition yard runs, site meetings about cantankerous old houses and negotiations with four year olds about witch management.

Recently, I was finally able to squeeze in a quick visit to my old haunts. The blue casey ware vase was calling out to me the minute I walked in the door.

And there is nothing I love more than reuniting long lost oppie items. I have reunited pillowcases with sheets, brother and sister chairs, pyrex dishes with their matching lids. Two items meant to be together but often found weeks apart in different op shops.

Just like these two.

It looks like kitty really peeved off puppy before they went their separate ways. (Puppy obviously holds a grudge). I suspect I will have to separate them to opposite ends of the shelf.


And the best reunion of all? Wandering in to the Salvos to discover this unusual shaped case.

Could it be? Could it possibly be the right size to fit my poor girl who has been living in her cardboard box?

Why look at that. Just meant to be and all ready to be carried off to the next sanity sewing circle. Of course that case is not going to stay brownish gray. But you knew that already. Only two more days until Spring and I can feel my mojo coming back.  Plus I have an almost complete kitchen, pics coming soon.

Turquoise pyrex, vintage wallpaper and collaborative embroidery

There has not been much op shopping action around here of late. Decluttering will do that to a girl, but I must say I was missing having a good ferret. There is nothing better than stumbling across a bundle of Little Golden books that are all new to me, titles I have never found before. Only to be topped by four rolls of this amazing blue vintage wallpaper and some turquoise pyrex. Oh happy days.

Behind the scenes there has been some crafty action happening at school in preparation for the school fete. A call out for vintage doilies and embroidery talents. This amazing masterpiece is on show in the school foyer ( way beyond my talents I might add but oh so inspiring).

Having never embroidered before I was determined to have a go and trotted out a few simple ones (no I absolutely did not do those incredible birds, just the words). It is actually quite an addictive past time once you get started, I think I managed five in total. They are all going towards some master plan that a bunch of uber creative mums at school are hatching. I for one cannot wait to see the end results on display at the fete, even the junior school are involved with those amazing stitched hearts above.

And look what just appeared on the oval, now we have the doily tree sharing company with  the crochet tree  from last year. And it is so exciting to rock up to school and see all the new creative contributions being deposited daily at the office.

Goodness, I think Fete fever is starting to take hold. Now I just need to try and behave myself at the Trash and Treasure....

Friends in Far Flung places

I think I have mentioned before that there is nothing like a good declutter to bring out the forces of goodness and goodies. And there has been some serious sorting and selling going on over here, even a few vintage sheets have been sent on their way. Months ago I fell in love with  some retro inspired goodies created by Handmade by Alice Apple and soon after, that cute little sausage dog arrived along side a little shopping bag of goods for miss Liongirl to stock in her cafe.

Recently, Alice had a giveaway and I was lucky enough to be the winner. How exciting to have that pink stripy parcel turn up at Betsy's front door last week. And inside,  these marvellous postcard creations that she has just released. If you haven't been over to her Shop , take a peek, I for one am now seriously coveting those fridge magnets.

And because it was a week of parcels arriving, a very thoughtful package arrived for Roboboy as well. Lovely Kylie from Lucy Violet Vintage sent him some wonderful bird tea towels tucked inside this super cute tea towel bag which I have completely snaffled.

The tea towels were right up his alley too, birds and rain forests, how did you know Kylie?

And obviously because we have been taking bags of stuff away  for the school fete, it would then be the trifecta of goodies coming our way. So, remember recently when I lamented the lack of turquoise pyrex around the traps? Specifically, that missing little turquoise ramekin? Well, would you believe that lovely  Karlyn from Rosa's Room had that exact turquoise ramekin, all by itself, with no friends? And she, like me, really wanted it to be united with the rest of its family.

Sigh. Can you see how happy it is now? Perhaps that's just me, as I get to gaze on this glorious colour combo all day. So, on that lovely note, I thought I would ask you all, what is your turquoise ramekin? What lovely vintage item are you missing from your collection, what would you break into a sweat for if you spotted it in someone else's hand at the oppie? Do share, and you never know, I might have one to send your way as the big cleanout continues over here. Or perhaps someone else reading may have that elusive piece of pyrex or milk glass you are after. ( I'm envisioning little parcels of coveted goodies zooming all over the place). Anyway, I'm off to do some more packing, and sorting and packing......

A hive of activity

Yep, this week it has been all stations go, go, go over here at Betsy's. We all of a sudden made the horrific and exciting realisation that it is only  a matter of weeks until the renovations start. In response, we have been a precision machine working together to ruthlessly cull the house from top to bottom. I am in charge of ebay for the easily postable and Legoman is heading up the gumtree sales for larger items. After dropping off a huge sack of parcels at the post office, a small reward was in order. Laura Ashley had these lovely hook sets for sale at half price, I think this will be for hanging up aprons in the new pantry.

Legoman has been badgering me to let him cut down this tree every day since his chainsaw arrived. I finally relented and he was a happy, happy man. This tree is right where the new double carport is going. The old carport is going to make way for a new laundry. If you fancy a new old carport, holler, this one is for sale next.

Roboboy was in heaven with all these new opportunities for critter rescue. That would be three praying mantis and one silk worm cocoon all saved from a trip to the dump and re farmed around the garden.

And try  and keep children away from the natural peeling options available with paperbark trees. Poor, poor tree. The end was swift,  even though it looks like the trunk is bleeding. We cannot believe how much more light is coming into our bedroom with this one gone.

In a moment of sleep deprived insanity, Legoman installed a new cat door into a wall that in about seven weeks will be torn down. We have small animal issues over here. If we leave the window open so the cat can get out, we get visitors. And as they raid the cat food, they they never wake me up, only Legoman.

If we shut the house, then the cat has issues and demands to be let out at 4 am. And the sound of her claws on the front door only wakes ME  up. So every night has been an argument over whose turn it is to get up. It is ironic of course that this is when our children are finally both sleeping well at night. I won't show you the bodgy outside bit but this is just a heavenly image for us both. The cat wears a radiofrequency thingy on her collar so the door only opens for her alone.

There has been a small op shop visit of course. With mountains of stuff leaving the house, a few items back in is quite acceptable. Some new additions to my glass collection.

A stationary box full of paper and envelopes for my girl.

And a lovely little table with angled legs. I think it looks like something from the Jetsons. This is the last custard corner in the house and it glows for only a few minutes in the very early morning when the sun is at just the right angle. Every other minute it is there mocking me with the fact that it is not white.

And amidst all the chaos, a bit of birthday party planning. Roboboy wrote me up a suggested schedule for his party. So nice to see that mid way he has thoughtfully  allocated time for " chit chat for the mums" after the hosing on the trampoline and before the sausages.

Back soon to show you a nearly empty granny flat and why renovations in the nineties should have been banned.