Life lately...

My orchids are flowering again, two of them for the second time in a 3 month period.  Friends keep sending me photos of miserable and dead wilted  orchids asking what it is that they are doing wrong.  I seriously have no idea what it is that I do right though.  I did write a post on how I look after mine not that long ago if anyone is actually interested.  I wonder if it is the spectacular antique ginger jars they are housed in.  Speaking of which does anyone know where to source genuine ginger jars from in Australia?  Not, the mass produced ones that you see everywhere but authentic antique jars?  My Mum was telling me that when they were buying these in the 1970s,  way back when they were on posting in Cambodia it was hard to source genuine jars even back then.  I imagine it is next to impossible these days but still, I would love to know if anyone ever comes across them.  I particularly would love to know more about mine as well.

Another view of them bathed in a sunset pink glow a few nights ago.  The sunsets in Sydney have been truly spectacular recently.  

My Mother's Day sleep in came courtesy of Scrabble.  It is a new obsession in this house.  I am secretly delighted as the Monopoly Board has been hurled a few too many times lately and Scrabble is something I would actually choose to play.  My friends used to roll their eyes at me regularly whenever we were on holidays together and I would pull out the board games or a pack of cards. So  I must say I am thrilled that I now have willing and able board game buddies at my beck and call, especially ones that are actually able to play the games I want to play.  I am thinking it might be time to teach them 500 or cribbage.  

My darling boys both chose Cyclamens for me from the Mother's Day gift stall at school, they know me well!  I could not have asked for a more perfect gift from them.  I even love how H selected white and N picked out pink!  I have them together on a shelf in the kitchen and they look so pretty together.  

My Mother's Day gift from Ross was this stunning and ever so pretty dress from Magali Pascal.  Ross chose it for me in Bali a couple of weeks ago when he was over there working (again, lucky thing!!) and I love it!  It pains me to admit this, but I think he might be better at picking out clothes for me than I am.  I feel so lucky and privileged, thank you Ross, N and H, I had a lovely day.  

The House

We have been in this house for a few months now and a lot of time has been devoted to re-arranging the furniture.  I really don't want to race out and buy new things until I am absolutely sure it is necessary, so that involves time spent living in the house and truly thinking about how each space is used.  If a cherished item doesn't work in one room it might be able to be used elsewhere for a different purpose!

One of the first rooms that I feel is coming together nicely is the dining room.  Initially the room had a functional but boring Ikea pendant hanging in it which we replaced with these two converted French wool basket pendant lights from A Country Trader.  The shadows and light that they cast around the room is stunning, in particular the reflections on the cathedral ceiling are spectacular.  

R fell in love with the antique Turkish canoe (the big wooden object on the left in the photo above) recently at Garden Life  and insisted on bringing it home.  I could not for the life of me work out how we were going to incorporate it into our house and just had it plonked on the outside table.  The outside table which is currently inside as there is no room on the deck for it outside!  Then my clever sister-in-law V, suggested filling the canoe with orchids.   Suddenly it completely altered the room.  The table now looks like a console or a buffet under the window and the canoe no longer looks like something the boys should be playing in the pool with!  Well, it never really looked like that but they were desperate to give it a whirl!   

We still need to source some more dining chairs to finish the room off though.   At our little cottage we had the table against a window bench seat so only needed 4, of the 5 chairs we have, for the other side.    We are currently using one of the benches from the outdoor setting as a stop gap while we work out what to do.  I would love to try and source some more antique Bentwoods similar to the ones we are currently using but I don't particularly like my chances.  My parents picked them up in  the early 1980s in Malacca whilst we were on posting in Malaysia.  They even have vintage Chinese graffiti on them!    

So the chances of me finding some to match these is virtually non existent! I shall start looking for chairs that compliment them, but I shall also begin the hunt for a whole new set of dining room chairs.  If I do find something to replace my beloved Bentwoods I will then use them somewhere else in the house.  Probably as desk chairs in the bedrooms and study.    

Friends

Nearly 30 years ago, when we moved back to Australia after our posting to KL,   I made two very dear and special friends.  One I met on my first day at my new school, which was actually my old school but Canberra has such a transient population that there were hardly any recognisable faces.  I was allocated a seat at a double wooden desk next to D and promptly handed a Hymn book, a Bible and a sheaf of photocopied Prayers and Hymns that needed to be glued into both.  I must have looked quite bewildered as D kindly offered to do it all for me.  V I met shortly afterwards at Girl Guides.  Come around the back she enticed and I'll let you feel my bra strap.  I have been best friends with both ever since.

Last year for my 40th birthday they gave me a very generous voucher for one of my most favourite shops. 

Black and Spiro.

 As V lives in Brisbane nowadays she was able to accompany me for the grand shopping trip but D now lives in the Hunter Valley and thus has not yet seen the divine things that I purchased with their very thoughtful gift.

Thank you both so very much for my lovely 40th birthday presents.  Every time I look at the Pineapple painting it makes me smile and everybody that visits the house loves it and asks after it.  I use the butter dish everyday and it's vintage gorgeousness makes me so happy, as does the lovely hammered silver trinket box which looks perfect on my bookshelves. 

Thank you for being such marvellous friends, you have both enriched my life in so many ways.

Turning 40

A few people have asked me what I got...  

A framed vintage scarf. 

 R confessed me to me that he had no idea what to get me and I pointed him in the direction of the Table Tonic shop in Avalon.  A few weeks ago Jane from My Pear Tree House wrote a lovely post on blue and white scarves and included a photo of a divine framed scarf available for sale in the Table Tonic shop.  Lovely I thought but almost certainly snapped up already!  Then just before we left for Byron I was having a quick coffee with Carolyn and her lovely Beach House Brat in the cafe just outside Table Tonic and spotted it immediately.  If R hasn't bought me a present for my 40th this is what I want I announced to her and well... now it is hanging in my kitchen and looking beyond fabulous!!!

I only picked it up on Tuesday but it has already given me so much pleasure!!  Thank you R!! xx

One man's trash is another man's treasure!

A cliche, but oh so true in my case!  It is council clean up in my neck of the woods at the moment and I have been very busy street shopping.

The lamp and shade I found at the bottom of our street when I was out for my evening run with the Captain.   The Captain is such a gentlemen that he carried it all the way back up our street for me.  His father's reaction was not so genteel.  Nevertheless, it is here to stay, especially now that I have discovered it is in perfect working order.

This divine split cane shelf was just a few houses up from ours and was filthy but look how beautifully it has cleaned up.  The little wooden boat on the bottom shelf is from the same rubbish pile and is so sweet.  It was handmade by someone, probably many years ago and is just too precious to end up in landfill.

I have been on the eye out for bedside tables for the spare room and I can't quite believe that I managed to find such a fabulous one on the street.  Now I just need to find something interesting for the other side of the bed.

I often have people visit and ask me where I found bits and pieces in the house and invariably the things that I get asked about are the items that I have scavenged from the kerb, inherited or are op shop finds. The greatest pleasure I get from street shopping though is the feeling of rescuing something beautiful or interesting from ending up in landfill.  It is the ultimate in revamping, reusing and recycling!

The red bed...

We had the Captain's old iron bed powder coated red and I can't begin to tell you how thrilled I am with the end result.  I wanted the bed to be a little pop of colour in amongst everything else and it most definitely is!

The powder coat guy thought that I was crazy choosing red.  He questioned my husband when he dropped the bed off and even rang me to confirm that I was going to spend "good money powder coating a bed lipstick red."  Oh yes I happily reassured him, although I do prefer fire engine red as a description for it!

Now I just need to hang some art on the walls... what to do, what to do...

I seriously can't stop grinning at how good that bed looks and I have now got my beady little eyes fixed on the bed in the spare room!

John & Ginger in Freshwater

Home Beautiful arrived yesterday and as I was quickly flicking through,  as I won't have time to properly read it until after Dec 11th or when the majority of the work will be finished,  I was captivated by this image:

I was so enamoured of it that first thing this morning, ie. after I dropped the Captain off at school, I raced over to Freshie to have a look.  I was desperate to get those blue and white cushions as well...

mmmmm, look how lovely they are! 

Imagine, my disappointment when I found out that they were sold yesterday.  Some smartypants obviously got their copy of Home Beautiful before I did...

Nevermind, the trip to John & Ginger was well and truly worth it.  It is one of the most beautiful shops that I have ever visited and the owner is just gorgeous. 

Street Shopping

Behold the latest street shopping finds:

And... yes!  That is a Le Creuset pan.  Seriously, who chucks out a Le Creuset pan?  Both in the same pile along with a whole bunch of vintage tools.  Luke, one of the apprentices working on our renovation, as soon as I mentioned that there were tools in the same pile jumped into his ute and drove around the block to claim all the tools!

The fry pan has a new home in our kitchen.  I will have to show you a photo post-reno as that is currently a construction site.

The little guy's new toy box. 

I love council clean up!!!

Two lovely things happened to me today!

Which is especially lovely as I have a horrible flu like cold at the moment! 

                         Lovely thing number one:

In the mail arrived my first giveaway win ever, infact my only win ever!!!! I won a copy of The Outside Boy on Julia's fabulous blog and I am so looking forward to reading it!  Thank you Julia!

 Lovely thing number two:

I popped into our local Salvo's store (my favourite shop EVER) and look what I found!!!!  A perfect, unchipped immaculate Carlton Ware single flower plate.  AAAAHHHH!  Rufus Wainwright was singing the chorus from Hallelujah in my head as I walked out of the shop!!!!  I have been collecting Carlton Ware since my early university days and I have been looking for one of these plates for a LONG time.  I feel better already.

A trip down South to Milton

 We have just returned from a weekend away on the south coast of New South Wales.  The highlight of which for me was a trip to nearby Milton, a tiny little village up on a hill loooking over the coast.  It is a lovely little spot full of charming cottages, cafes, boutique homewares shops and best of all some great  antique shops.  I have been visiting Milton for years, (although as a kid I was more into the Scarecrow Festival they have annually than the antique shops), and have watched the gentrification of the town with interest.  At the moment I think it is just about perfect and definitely not too touristy like Berry is nowadays.  

A lovely cottage in the main street of town:

The view from where I parked the car:

 I spent Friday morning exporing several antique shops and there were numerous items I desperately wanted to bring home with me but considering the amount of luggage that our car was literally stuffed with I was obliged to "look and not touch" (as I warn the children every time we enter a shop in a steely voice). 

How I would have loved this old lobster pot to decorate our back deck with.

I can't stop thinking about this rustic meat safe, with it's crackled old blue paint.

I already have way too many of these old suitcases, but I still adore them!

I don't have any of these old trunks however and surely they would make great storage for something...

Lots of divine items here...

and here!

Tretchikoff prints can look amzing in the right houses and this one of the "blue lady" against the wall paper looked fabulous.

Looking forward to my next visit and this time I will make sure that there is some room in the car!