Op shop marathon - Part 2

Remember a few days ago, how I did the op shop marathon through 13 of the blessed little stores? Well here is the rest of the haul. Three wonderful tablecloths, my fave is the brown/mustard one. The shop that these came from was off the beaten track and I only found it as the lovely lady from the Lifeline told me how to get there.
It was a massive warehouse, mainly clothes but a decent amount of crockery as well. I also managed to find this plate in the same shop.

I generally try hard to not bring home crockery as I am mindful we are in a decluttering phase but I could already picture the bikkies on this one. Patterns however are always welcome.

And fabric is on the allowable list as well.

The tiny jug and bowl went straight to my dresser- one for lipsticks, one for bobby pins. Easy to justify at $1 each and functional to boot.

So, all in all a worthwhile trek.  I forgot to photograph the bag of doilies for $1 each. The main street in Wynnum has no less than SEVEN op shops within one block. Quite amazing. Some looked like the good stuff had all been picked over, some you had to dig through random piles and some looked like a high end boutique where everything was sorted into colour coordinated sections. I personally find these the least satisfying to prowl in. My favourite are the big barn like ones where there is a vague suggestion of order and plenty of room for ferreting hard and finding things others may have missed. After this serious ferreting fix I am currently going through a detox phase while I plan my next hit.

Just a quick progress update. Remember this curbside find?

Well, after some sanding and undercoating in the spare room, I realized that it needed more sanding (could be slightly to do with the slapdash first attempt at sanding when I was hyper excitable and just wanted to start painting). So I took it back onto the deck for more sanding. And then Roboboy came home from school and found it. Remember how he was plotting to use it as a new bunk bed ?

Of course Liongirl then had to have the bottom bunk. I have come to the slightly disappointing realization that there is NO chance of me keeping this piece for myself. Definitely  not when the favourite soft toys have already been stashed in the cupboard. I did put my foot down about him sleeping in there all night, even though he swears it's the most comfy bed in the entire world. Only 3 more coats to go before the Lego can move in.

Making the most of Mothers Day

The first Sunday in May is the absolute best day in the world to be a mum. Firstly, everyone is under strict instructions to not wake you up until 7 am ( we made it to 6.20) aside from a vague memory of icy cold toes warming themselves up on my stomach at 5.20 am.

Next there are cups of tea and breakfast and magazines in bed until at least 7.30. Not to forget the wonderful presents as well. I think our school art teacher has a sense of humour regarding the culinary capabilities of most dads.

These were not required at our place as Legoman whipped up some pancakes instead. Don't you just love the colouring in on that teapot, not to mention my gorgeous Rainbow Chicken laminated artwork. Roboboy had put extra effort in getting the chooks comb just right, I didn't quizz him about the bonus legs or the fact that the poor girl was stuffed full of eggs. Now that I think about it, they look suspiciously like foil wrapped easter eggs. He can keep hoping.

And these were from my gorgeous girl.

Who'd have thought that a 2 year old could make rose shaped soap. I have obviously been grossly underestimating her capabilities by only expecting her to put on her own undies. Thank goodness her childcare teacher has more faith and a heck of a lot more patience than me. Frankly, with 12 in her class they could be churning these out like a little factory.

 The milk glass bowl was spotted on a recent visit to the Paddington Antique Centre and had obviously been snaffled up and stashed away by Legoman. I love the luminescence of the glass, love the white and the shape is wonderful. Had no idea it was even called milk glass until stumbling across a gorgeous  little collection over at Rosa's Room . Apparently  the opaque or "opal" glass can come in other colours but the white is obtained by adding either tin dioxide or more likely in 16th century Venice, bone ash. Often the pieces are quite textural in shape or form, which is what I really liked about the little bowl. Here is a selection I found when doing a search.




image wikipaedia


 Don't they look amazing as a whole collection against a vibrant coloured wall. Mine looks very much like the bottom row third from the right. Now I just have to make sure it does not become a depositary for lego minifigure parts.

The rest of the best day in the year involved extremely well behaved children, a picnic at New Farm Park and some serious white painting of walls. Eternal gratitude to my mum who despite being a full time working single mother, managed to pass on to me her intense desire to learn, to share knowledge with others, to be creative and always believe that you can do anything, especially if others say it cannot be done. Love you Mum.




my Liongirl, and my gorgeous mum



Brisbane to Bayside op shop marathon- Part 1

Miss Liongirl has been ready to move out of her toddler bed for quite a few months now. I had been holding out looking for an old cast iron one like this. They don't come up often in Brisbane but seem to be a dime a dozen in  Melbourne or Sydney. I had a black one as a child ( not as ornate and lovely as this one) but I still have fond memories of that little bed. I had been wondering if I would have to consider buying one interstate and having it sent up here somehow. And then ebay provided, down at gorgeous Cleveland of all places.

I love the bayside suburbs of Cleveland, Wynnum and Manly. The streets are wide and quiet with lots of huge established trees. To me it feels like everyday life is still going at the same sort of pace as a  beachside suburb in the 1950's. The air seems clearer, the breeze fresher , with a hint of salt and the sun is absolutely shining brighter down there.

Now given that it's about a 40 minute hike from Betsy to the Bayside, I decided the sensible thing to do would be to take the opportunity to sample the local op shops while I was down there. All 13 of them. Because I was unlikely to be back down there for another 6 months or more. So, I checked the maps, plotted my journey, packed a hamper and set off on the op shop marathon of all time.

And goodness, was it worth the drive. The very first one ended up having the finds of the day, particularly a super stash of vintage sheets.

Including a gorgeous complete flannelette set still in the packet. And I thought finds like that only happened to other people.

A dress from BabyGap- size 3, looks never worn, light denim type fabric with a sheen through it. I have plans for this one.

Then  a good bit of time was spent rifling through boxes of old patterns. Crochet patterns are actually not that common compared to knitting patterns so it's always exciting to find one. This one is going straight over to Oxford for Theo the Crochet bloke to whip one up ( and hopefully post some photos of himself in it). He designs amazing crochet inspired by manhole covers and skulls and has previously told me that mens crochet patterns are hard to come by. He may live to regret those words.

And these were for me.

Well, this was just from the first two ( incidentally the best as well), more coming from the other nine when they come in off the washing line.

Five dollar finds and fresh eggs

It's all about all things white and red over here at Betsy's today. Thought I would share some recent op shop finds with a sum total of $5.80. 

White pyrex dish with teeny handle 80 cents
White jug with teeny lip $1.50
Georgeous red handled heavy scissors $3
Red gingham fabric offcuts 50 cents
Learning how to crochet teeny tiny hearts............Priceless.

 Pop over to  Lucy in her Attic and click on her Teeny Tiny Hearts tutorial to learn how. I was completely sucked in simply by the "Teeny Tiny" title and had to have a go. So pleased to realize that my uptight crochet style makes them even more petite and adorable than ever.

The other exciting news is that all of a sudden we have eggs. Three at once to be precise.

Sooty started laying earlier this week. And now Rose and Dora2 have come to the party. Sooty's egg  is the big one at the back. The other two petite deliveries are from the new girls, now we just have to work out who is giving us the little spotted number (front right). I can feel french toast coming on for breakfast, with lashings of maple syrup.

Grateful for sharing a good wedding



I love a good wedding. In fact any wedding really. The frock, the flowers, the statement of positive intention.  The fact that Wills and Kate have chosen to share their wedding with me and several other billion people has had me reminiscing about the best parts of  my own wedding back at the start of the millenium in the year 2000.

Our wedding was in New Farm Park, in November, under a cascading shower of Jacaranda flowers. The above photo was within an avenue of Frangipani trees, the flowers dotting the ground like fallen stars. To me it looked like a fairy wonderland. For a girl who loves trees, this was a magical place for a wedding.

I arrived by horse and carriage- how wonderful to be able to breathe in the perfume of hundreds of roses and wave to strangers as you trot past. The carriage driver (with his 3 missing teeth) even offered to step in if the groom got cold feet. My 13 year old sister, my two oldest and best friends and one newer friend were my bridesmaids. My 11 year old brother joked for weeks before the wedding about deliberately dropping the rings, then actually did drop them and was mortified.

It had rained the entire week before the wedding so the park was a quagmire. Here we are squelching our way across the park watching carefully so we didn't get bogged. It fined up in time for the wedding but a massive storm brewed over our heads. Fortuitously, the storm only hit just as we made it to the reception and the light was spectacular for photos. We had thunder and lightning which is apparently fortuitous for children and check check, yep, we ended up with two of those.

 The most amazing part was that the best roll of film, which contained the top photo and several others of my favourites, was lost somewhere in the park and subjected to the full brunt of the storm. I was devastated and the photographer went back the next day, ferreted through the park and managed to find it. The film had some water damage which added some authentic white spots to our sepia photographs. Sometimes, luck can just be quite extraordinary.

 Also, instead of an aisle, I walked under the most beautful rose arbour in the entire world. It was removed not long after my wedding and the roses moved to another part of the park but the arbour has been  forever captured in my photos. (I did also manage to capture a large assortment leaves and twigs within the tulle of my skirt which seemed to have a secondary function of a giant street sweeper)  And the best part, not only did I get to marry the boy of my dreams, every time we go back to that park for a picnic or a play, my heart goes straight back to that magical day.

Congratulations Duchess Catherine of Cambridge, I bet that every time you kiss on a balcony you will be straight back to this magical day. Joining in with Maxabella loves to share the wedding magic around. Apologies for the photo quality, this wedding was way before digital media and our scanner isn't working.

How to make a turkey trap

Step one. Invite the neighbours over to hang out after school. The neighbours 2 doors away have 3 boys age 6,8 and 10 who could be best likened to polite, articulate siblings of Dennis the Menace, on speed. They are high energy, love animals and nature and are always scheming up a new plan of some sort. They currently have  a dog, several pet mice, a skink and tanks of numerous other creatures.

 They have whiled away hours in our backyard scaling trees, designing treehouses, building rope bridges,  loading each other into our garden wagon and doing wild laps around Betsy's perimeter and running their heads around the inside of our trampoline in order to give each other electric shocks. I LOVE them as no apologies are required for Roboboy's quirkiness and he adores them as they mastermind even better plans than he comes up with. Together the four of them make up a posse of hardcore trouble. Oh yes, because I am not their mother, they are unfailingly polite, well behaved and listen (mostly) when I tell them off. Well, otherwise they get sent home, a threat I can actually followup on.

Step two. Obtain large quantities of rope. Spend 20 minutes watching 8 year old menace attempt to throw rope up into massive tree for 10yo menace to catch. Give up on this and move on to smaller Frangipani tree. Scale this tree faster than Balinese monkey pick pocketing a tourist. Ignore own mothers reminder to only climb onto branches bigger than your own arm. Bellow requests for more rope, assistance, a box  while mother checks Private Health fund details to ensure that visits to Emergency departments for fractured limbs will be covered with no excess. Draft copy of waiver for Menace's father (solicitor) to sign to ensure any fractured Menace limbs will not lead to litigation.

Step 3.Decide on technique for trap. Emtpy ikea storage box previously full of musical instruments and percussion items. Take a break to sample all of these items simultaneously while discussing plans for a  street rock band. Wiggles guitar, Sesame street saxaphone, maracas, cymbals, tamborines, pipe whistle, recorder etc etc. Flush out neighbour with this hideous cacophany to check that there is actually adult supervision. Er, yes that would be me.
Rig up simple box on a rope type trap. Bellow further requests for seeds and puffed rice, on a dish.

Step 4.Carefully place seed tray under trap and lure unsuspecting little sisters over for a trial run. Success obtained as little sister caught under trap. Sorry, no photo. Relief as this was mutually enjoyable for all involved parties. Unsuccessfully attempt to stop little sister eating stale rice puffs from trap.

Step 5.Vigorously debate the best trajectory for the rope and required height of the trap above the tray. Pause and become quietly contemplative when asked what the plan is for the said turkey once trapped. Vigorously debate over keeping turkey as a pet or feeding it to their dog. Realize that the said turkey has not actually been seen in the yard for over an hour. Decide to first trial the turkey trap on our pet chooks instead.

Step 6. Bellow further orders to 6 yo menace and girl from across the road to lure the chooks down to this part of the yard. Realize with dismay that said chooks have found a trail of spilt seeds courtesy of little sister and have no intention of coming near the trap.

Step 7. Lose 10yo menace to Star Wars Clone Wars on TV. Lose Menace 6 to a blood nose (self inflicted). Despite rapid appearance of nightfall, Roboboy and 8yo menace settle in for whatever wait is required  to enact the trapping. Further debate over ideal height of trap and who would hold the rope. Roboboy does not give in. Almost manage to catch Dora2 under the trap while photographer is inside peeling potatoes. Agree that height of the trap does need to be modified. Plan return to trap at 0630 hours tomorrow before school to complete trapping assignment.

This post is in honour of all things BOY. I love having all this happening over here at Betsy's and the Menace's mum loves the fact that all things Menace are welcome at someone else's house. Apologies for no further painting photos, I was too busy today on a MASSIVE Op shop spree. More on that soon. Over and out.

Addendum. Apparently "Over and Out" is incorrect and obviously from watching too many MASH re- runs. Have been instructed it is just "Out" and since this post is all things boy, military accuracy is imperative. Apparently, that last sentence ruined the whole post for Legoman. Also must add on re- reading this post checking for spelling errors and giant paragraphs have realized that a turkey trap out played animated star wars o for 5-8 year old appeal. How awesome is that? I love anything that involves my kids being outside with nature and animals getting dirty. I love it more if the option of cool TV is on the plate and they spontaneously DECLINE.

For anyone with girls in the house. If you have  a trampoline with a net all around it and your girls run as fast as they can with their heads constantly touching the net, tremendous static electricity will be generated. Hairstyles will suddenly appear very 80's. Do not stand within arms reach or they may delight in zapping you with every lap.
Out.

Custard be gone, hello full cream milk

Well, Betsy and I are very excited to announce that the Great Custard Purge of 2011 has begun. Here is a before shot to truly capture  how much custard we are swimming in every day. Note the fastidious preparation of dropsheet on floor, sheet on precious new silky oak table and plastic over the peekaboo window into our bedroom.

 Completely out of character but necessary as I could hear Legoman's voice in my head as I was about to do my usual slapdash approach to preparation. Actually, he did suggested the plastic over the peekaboo window to protect our bed but this of course was complete overkill as I am quite a tidy painter. Took it down as soon as he left the house it was no longer required.

It recently dawned on me that it is almost a year to a day to when we first met Betsy and placed a contract to buy her. And even allowing for the 3 month settlement that means that we have been living with the custard trifle for 9 months. With some sunny weather and Legoman at home to play with the kids, it was time to make a start.

Goodness, isn't that a wonderful sight? And that's just the undercoat. Looking up through Betsy's super deluxe awesome hallway towards the front of the house. Betsy has been generously gifted an ample 1.8 m diameter hallway and it was one of the first things that made me swoon upon meeting her.

There is has been significant pontificating over the ideal white paint. Four sample pots seems to be pretty standard for me.  I wanted a warmish white which was not showing obvious yellow or grey or peach hues. I quite like plain Vivid white but as our lounge is north facing thought it could be just a bit too bright. White on white was a little too stark/blueish, Whisper white a little too greyish. So Dulux Natural white it seems to be.

To me it looks just like the white of a full cream milk. Nice and rich but no hints of blue (skim) or yellow (cream). Or perhaps even a bit like a polar bear- they look white until they are standing on the snow and then you notice they are actually creamy coloured. Great thanks to the gods of daytime naps who kept my 2 year old asleep for two whole hours while I slapped the final coat on today.

 

I'm hoping to have this corner of milky goodness knocked over and dressed up by tomorrow. Apologies for the poor photo but with the flash it was blinding. Embarrassingly, I have been choosing seating positions at the table and on the lounge in order to gaze only into this corner. Children have been getting limited eye contact as well.

Lots more to share soon. Some vintage finds and  a cast iron bed for Liongirl. Just too much painting (and singing cause that's how good painting makes me feel) for any photos to be taken.