It's arrived!

Look what turned up in my letterbox this week. A gorgeous giveaway from Curlypops! Lovely pictures and profiles of crafty people. Thanks Cam.

Off to Wolston House tomorrow for my usual volunteering. Pop in & say hello if you're in the neighbourhood.

Memories

I love to travel. I would do it more if I could afford it. I have been lucky to visit the UK and Europe and I am about to head off with my daughter for a river cruise through Provence and Burgundy, finishing with a few days in Paris. I have been looking through my travel ephemera to get me in the mood. The picture isn't terribly well focussed, but I'm sure you get the idea.

This picture was taken from Monmartre at dusk; you can just make out the Eiffel Tower in the background, but you can see there is a bit of air pollution happening too. I feel sure that when I get back to Oz in a few weeks time, I will have lots more memories to treasure.

Pop over here to see who else is sharing today.

A lovely day out

On Friday I had a lovely day out in the Fassifern Valley also known as the Scenic Rim, not far from Ipswich and a very pretty area indeed. I travelled by coach with a group of National Trust members and friends. We headed first to the little town of Kalbar (pop. 900) and had a delicious morning tea at the Art Cafe. As well as food there was art for sale along with some very pretty china and bric-a-brac (no, I didn't buy anything- I was tempted though).

After morning tea, we wandered around the corner to the Wiss Emporium. This building is over 100 years old and traded as a general store through to the 1980s. The present owner has restored the building beautifully, (she even won a Heritage Award for the restoration) and it is now open as a boutique gallery, selling hand-crafted jewellry, patchwork quilts, unique rocking horses and felted items as well as a lovely range of clothing. Well worth a visit. After browsing and listening to a talk on the history of the building which also has a restored cottage next door built in the 1890s, I strolled up the road for a quick peek at an antiques & collectables shop housed in an old Melbourne tram. Still no purchases but I can see a Sunday drive in my future.

We then boarded the coach and were off to have lunch at the Roadvale Hotel, a real country pub. After rolling out of there and back to the coach, we then attempted to walk off our lunch by a stroll up the main street of Boonah, the largest town in the area. Just by chance we spotted a gorgeous vintage car parked near our bus and a chat with the owner informed us it was a Model A Ford.

I'm afraid when I got home I really needed a nap. Amazing how tiring it is having a good time!

A favourite aunt

I'm joining in again with Melody's Tuesday Treasures.

This post is about my favourite aunt who was a real treasure. My dad had five sisters and was the baby of his family of eight, so by the time he started his own family, most of his nieces and nephews were grown up. My Aunt Isabel's (Belle) children had left home fairly early, so she sort of took us kids (I come from a family of 5 girls and 1 boy) under her wing.

The photo is of her as a young woman, which is not how I remember her of course. She was a talented dressmaker and always encouraged my early attempts at sewing. She sometimes tended to take over a bit if she thought I might wreck the material, but insisted that I pay as much attention to the inside finish of the garment as the outside. All of this when I was barely into my teens! Her teaching stood me in good stead over the years of sewing clothes for myself and my children and I suppose gave me the confidence to tackle my daughter's wedding dress when the time came. I was always sorry my children didn't get to know her as she died in her mid-seventies and they were too young. It is especially sad because her sisters all lived well into their nineties (one even made it to 100).

After she died, my sisters and I were able to choose something from her estate to remember her by. This plaster wall plaque was always on her wall in whatever house she lived in.

Pop over here to see who else is sharing today.

Good intentions

Yesterday was one of my days for volunteering at Wolston House, a National Trust property at Wacol, in Brisbane. We always serve Devonshire teas among other things, but yesterday was a day for one of our High Teas. Now, I took along my camera, intending to take some photos to share, however, it got horribly busy and I had to take the guided tour etc, etc. The upshot was, that by the time I remembered the camera, all the goodies had been snaffled.

So, you just have to imagine.... three tiered stands filled with delicious scones, mini- cupcakes, pinwheel smoked salmon sandwiches, mini quiche and so on; tables set with vintage china, embroidered tablecloths and napkins as well as beaded milk jug covers. All this set up on the verandah of an historic house shaded by a very old fig tree, with views of open paddocks and the occasional kangaroo or cow.

As a consolation, I thought I would share some photos of my favourite room in my 120 year old cottage. Hope you like it.

Tuesday's treasures

I was inspired to join in with Melody's Tuesday Treasures when reading the lovely Teresa's blog, All things vintage. As I collect vintage china, my family always know what to get me as gifts.

These lovely examples were all given to me by my beautiful daughter, which is what makes them worth treasuring. She knows my favourite colour is yellow and that my favourite china pattern is Royal Albert "Old Country Roses". And yes, I do actually drink out of them from time to time when I'm feeling the need for a little self-indulgence.

Pop over here to see who else is sharing today.

Vintage therapy

Yesterday I felt the need to indulge in a bit of vintage shopping therapy, so I toddled off to the new antiques and collectables centre here in Ipswich. It is in a beautifully restored Heritage building which was formerly the Congregational Church Hall and Sunday School. I haven't visited since the opening last December which was lovely, (lots of yummy nibbles and bubbly) but very crowded and hot in spite of the air-conditioning. It was hard to have a good look at the merchandise.

I was able to have a good browse as well as a delicious coffee with almond bread at the cafe. The nice thing about the centre is that there is a good range of stuff, not only classy antiques but vintage and retro as well as repurposed items.

I found this lovely Colclough china trio at a very reasonable price. Plain but elegant.

Also this very pretty oriental picture made with cut paper.

I think it will go well with my Oriental ladies.

Too good to last?

These photos show the current view from my front veranda which I have enjoyed immensely since I moved here five years ago. When I sit there I am almost able to believe that I'm out in the country and not living in a busy town, although it sometimes takes a bit of effort to ignore the traffic going by.

This morning however, when I wandered out to the letter box, I saw a man busily taking pictures of my bit of bush. Quelle horreur!!! (just brushing up on my French before my trip next month).

My immediate thought was "developer" and the hideous spectre of town houses, concrete driveways and associated images rose before my eyes. Please say it isn't so!

Cross stitch

I haven't posted for a little bit, I'm afraid the recent hot weather got to me. A few day's work relief teaching is also a bit counter- productive for crafting. In the spirit of completing things however, I did get around to framing two small cross stitch projects which have been finished for a while.

I usually have larger ones framed professionally but decided to DIY these two, as framing can get a bit expensive. Of course, even though I have a stash of frames, none of them was quite right, so it was off to the two dollar shop. I ended up having to paint the one for the geisha as the timber frame was too bland.

The geisha will hang in my bedroom along with some silk paintings of Chinese ladies bought in Hong Kong many years ago.