Green Treasure

I’m running a bit late with sharing my Treasure this week, but better late than never.

I started collecting Green Depression Glass just before we were married.

As I’ve said before, I’ve always been quite sentimental, especially with things relating to my Grandma.  Whenever we were at her house, morning and afternoon tea would be served on a green glass sandwich plate very similar to this.

Grandma’s has a simpler edge.  The original is still at Uncle Chris’.  I know of at least three different edging patterns on these plates and I would have sworn I had one like Grandma’s but apparently not.  I’ll have to remedy that. 

Just before our wedding I saw a photo in a Better Homes and Gardens magazine of a kitchen with lots of green glass and cream and green vintage kitchenalia.  I commented to one of my friends that I liked it and she and another friend then snuck off and  bought quite a few pieces of glass for my kitchen tea gift.  This was back in the days when it was very plentiful and lovely big bowls cost around $2.00.

The collection has grown from there, mainly from garage sales and white elephant stalls, to the stage that I don’t really look for it now as I have no room to house it.  I don’t know any of the technical side of it, I just collect it because I like it.

However, this vase has very special meaning, as it was Grandma’s.  Uncle Chris gave it to me for Christmas one year, which was just lovely.

I actually have three of this design, but I can tell which was Grandma’s as it has a big chip on the base, you can just see it at the front.  It may be worth less because of the chip, but to me it is priceless.

Pop over to Clare’s to see what other treasures are on show this week.

Sydney Sidecar Rally 2010

We had a another weekend of motorcycling this week.  Now that the weather is warming up there are lots of events around the traps.

This time we went to the Sidecar Rally held beside the Macquarie River on the Bridle Track.  The track was one of the routes from Bathurst to Hill End during the gold rush era and is still quite a narrow, winding, dirt road.  It is actually closed further on due to a rockfall from all the recent rain.

We took “Olga” the old girl this time and she performed well.  The rough roads don’t bother her at all.  Our camping site had water views and everything was lovely and green.

It was a really friendly, family oriented rally and wasn’t too big, which was nice.  The fellows love checking out all the different set ups.  Everyone has a different idea on what will work best.

While Mick checked them all out I stitched.  You can always fit a little bit of stitching in when you pack.

The fellow who owns this one was having a bit of fun.  He comes from Melbourne and puts sidecars on a lot of bikes for people. He won “Best Engineered Sidecar”.

To Mick’s delight, he won “Best Sidecar” at the rally.  He was chuffed.  He won “Best Engineered” with the other sidecar a couple of years ago.

This morning there was a slight mist, so it was nice around the fire.

Unlike yesterday, the sun came through fairly quickly.

It ended up a beautiful sunny morning.

So, once again, I sat and stitched.  I got quite a bit done yesterday afternoon and this morning.  A very pleasant way to pass the time.

The Bridle Track is a rather minor road, but on our way home we decided to detour via an even more minor road,”Box Ridge Road”.   We had to open gates, wait for chooks to get out of the way, go through water, dodge the rough bits of the road and hope the rather meagre brakes held up down the really steep bits.

We ended up on top of the world.  This country is normally  quite desolate, but at the moment looks a picture.

Now that the weather is finally warming up at home the local canola is coming into flower and looking spectacular.

And when we arrived home we were greeted by this sweet little heartsease which has self sown in the pavers.

So, all in all, it was a really enjoyable weekend.

Wash Cloth Swap

My swap recipient in this great swap organised by Jodie of Jellywares was Tracy.  I hadn’t discovered Tracy’s blog before, so spent an enjoyable time reading.

Now that Tracy has received her wash cloths I can share a photo of what I sent.

  

It was fun getting out the knitting needles again, so thanks Jodie for arranging this swap.

Tuesday Treasure

Mick and I met in mid December 1984.  He had been working his way around Australia, travelling in an old school bus with some mates, for the previous 18 months and had come home for Christmas.  At the end of January he was to ride his motorcycle to Queensland to be best man at his mate’s wedding and then continue riding to Darwin to catch up with the bus again. I knew of him, but didn’t know him.

We met through a workmate of mine and hit it off straight away.  On the second day we met he asked me if I would like to enter into “a not so serious relationship until the end of January”. That sounded ideal.  No strings attached, no pressure, just someone to hang out with.

Christmas came and I gave him the usual gift when you don’t know someone very well – a record voucher.  Mick gave me this!

 

I couldn’t believe it.  It was the sweetest necklace with a real diamond.  Did I feel inadequate with the gift I gave him, or what.

The end of January came and Mick rode his bike to Queensland to his mate’s wedding and then turned around and rode home again.  He was the one that was thought to be the least likely to settle back here, but in the end he was the only one who came home early.

We were engaged at the beginning of February, after only knowing each other for seven weeks, and, as they say, the rest is history.

Pop over to Clare’s to see some other treasures.

Tottenham Part 2 – Far Cairn Rally.

After our little detour to the Trash and  Treasure we kept on our merry way to Tottenham.  We were lucky with the weather, after another wet week, but we saw very little sun.

What we did see were lovely paddocks of wheat and canola. They were so tall and lush after the miserable, stunted crops of the last few years.

We stopped for morning tea in Parkes at the park.

Before travelling through Bogan Gate.

There was water over the road at some places. This one was a little deeper than it looked and just moments after this photo I was drenched.  THE CAMERA WAS ALSO DRENCHED. I dried it out as best I could and put up with the wet lap…just as well my jeans were a dark colour or it would have looked like I’d had a little accident.

Once we arrived in Tottenham we caught up with our other friends from Bathurst and set up camp.  The showground was a picture with manicured lawns and excellent amenities…very civilized for a rally…. and  very different from the last couple of rallies when it was so terribly dry.

Then it was back to town where we had a lovely lunch in the one and only cafe.

 

The rally is called the “Far Cairn Rally”, as Tottenham is the closest town to the Geographical Centre of New South Wales.  The cairn is actually about 40kms out of town and Mick and I weren’t going to come all this way without seeing it.  We were a bit iffy about the dirt road, with all the rain they’d had, but it was excellent.

When we reached the cairn we were the only two there, so we played with the cameras.

 

We’d seen quite a few wild flowers on our way up, and to my delight, there were lots around the cairn.  We’d seen drifts of these little white flowers.

When you get up close, they are the most delicate paper daisy.

I don’t know what this bush was, but it was covered in little red flowers.

And of course these delicate little blue star flowers are always pretty.

Purple daisies growing wild, the same ones you can buy from your garden centre.

This everlasting daisy was beautiful and stood nearly three feet high.

  Just gorgeous.

We then stopped for a photo opportunity at a creek.  The reflections were stunning.  I was disappointed that all my photos turned out cloudy.  There must have been a bit of residual moisture in my camera, which fogged up the lens. Fortunately, it seems to have cleared again now.

Back at the rally we had a pleasant evening sitting  around the fire.  Apparently the rally was smaller this year due to two other rallies being held on the same weekend, which was a pity, as this rally is a major fund raiser for assisting motorcycle accident victims.

 

Sunday was just a leisurely trip back home.

It was a great weekend away and we hope to make it out there again next year.  Now it is back to work for another week.

Cheers

Janice

Tottenham and Flea Market Finds

We went to Tottenham this weekend. 

Why?

Well, the BMW Touring Club were having a rally out there, and we’d never been to Tottenham.  It’s as good an excuse as any.

So, we set off bright and early on Saturday with our friends Andrew and Lyn.  First stop was a loo break at Manildra.  When we pulled up I noticed this over the road from the park.

It was a Trash and Treasure Market run by the pre-school.  Lyn and I made a bee line for the hall.  It doesn’t matter that we were on motorcycles, you can always fit something little in.  Anyway, we had packed light, but still had all the panniers on the bike, just in case.

Initially we didn’t see much, then eagle eyed Mick spotted some boxes all made up.  In the $2 box and $3 box he spied some green depression glass.  Well done.

Then, in the $5 box I spied this.

Nah! It couldn’t be. So I turned it over.

I told Mick I was buying this box.  He told me not to be stupid until I showed him what was in my hand.  I was not leaving that box there, even if I had to carry it on my lap all weekend.

It was then that I asked the lady on the desk if it was $5 for the box or $5 for each item in the box.

She assured us that it was definitely $5 for the entire box. I took the 70s Japanese tea set out of the box and said I’d just take the rest.

This is what was left in the box.  I was a little excited to say the least. It wasn’t until I was wrapping it all that I truly started to grasp what was underneath the other tea set.

There is a hairline crack on the base of the milk jug and some slight crazing on the cake plate.  Other than that, apart from being dusty, there was not a mark on it, not one chip.  I think I got the bargain of the century.  I never thought I’d ever own a Royal Doulton Tea Set.  I’m still dumbfounded. 

By the way I also bought two cute saucers for $1 each.

And how did we fit it all in?  No worries, Mick did a bit of a repack and the box fitted just nicely in the top box.  Excuse the dusty bike, but you get that out that way.

 

Now I just have to reshuffle the big display cabinet to fit it in, but I think I’ll manage.

As for the rest of the weekend.  I’ll have to save that for another day.

It has been ages since I’ve had anything to report for Flea Market Finds, so it has been nice to play again.  You’ll find other great finds over here.

Tuesday Treasure

When Mick and I were married Mum made us this cross stitch wedding sampler.

It was a total surprise.  Apparently, I nearly caught her working on it a couple of times, but when we opened the gift we were gob smacked.

The colours are more vibrant than the photo shows. This was just as the craze for cross stitch was starting and is reflected in the style.

It is a lovely reminder of a very special day.

Pop over to Clare’s to see what other treasures are on show this week.

Awakenings

The rain stopped on Friday and the weather was lovely on the weekend, not very warm, but nice spring weather.

Our garden is starting to wake up with our first iris out.

The quince is starting to unfurl its leaves in readiness for the beautiful soft pink flowers. I love how the leaves and stems are slightly furry.

The bees were busy in the apricot tree, providing a constant gentle hum.

The nectarine is just starting to come into blossom.

The bees were also busy in the bulbs.

And our big wattle in the back yard is lovely and golden. The blossoms are so soft and fuzzy and full of bees too.

Now we are back to the working week and it is starting to rain again.

Wash Cloth Swap

I have joined in another Wash Cloth Swap arranged by Jodie. The theme this time is spring.

We only received our swap partner’s details on Tuesday and yesterday I received my parcel!  How’s that for efficiency.

My partner was the lovely Jewells, which was nice, as we chat often.  This is what I received.

They are all gorgeous and the soaps from the blue mountains smell divine.  The scents are “Mountain Mist” and “Earth Haven”.  They will be lovely to use.

Also, if you had asked me what sort of seeds I would like I would have chosen sunflowers!  They always look so cheerful, are easy to grow (a bonus with me) and then the chooks can enjoy the seeds.

Thanks so much Julie for you gift.

Now it is back to finishing off the wash cloth I am knitting.

Tuesday Treasures - Mum

It’s Tuesday Treasure time again and I’m back to my theme of family sewing bits and pieces.

Of course my main influence in sewing has been my Mum.

This is her with Uncle Chris as kids.  They were, and still are, best mates.  Mum is looking rather precocious here in her cherry jumper that Grandma knitted for her.  Mum still has the pattern.

Like her mother before her, Mum learnt to sew when she was knee high to a grasshopper and an essential tool was a thimble.  These are Mum’s first two.  I also used these when I learnt to sew.  They fit my little finger now.  They now live in my thimble collection.

 

Mum and Uncle Chris attended a one teacher bush school as kids.  This was in the 30’s. Once a week while Mr Collett taught the boys woodwork, Mrs Collett, the teacher’s wife, taught the girls sewing and this bag was Mum’s first school sewing.  The seams are all sewn by hand and are French seams.  If you zoom in, you can see the tiny whip stitching on the casing at the top.  I used this bag to carry my sewing for ages as well.  It now lives back with Mum.

Of course all girls need a needle book, so that was also a school project.  I just love the cheerful 30s fabric in this one Mum made, once again all hand sewn.

Mum turned 10 just after WWII was declared.  Her birthday is in October and her family were orchardists.  Grandma bought this sewing box for Mum for her birthday.  The following morning there was a big frost and their entire crop, and therefore most of their annual income, was wiped out.  Mum has always treasured this, as if Grandma had delayed the purchase by one day there would have been no present that year.

Like most other things, when my turn came to do school sewing, this became my sewing box.  At the time I would have liked a nice new sewing basket like the other girls, but knowing the story behind it, I have always treasured this old one.  It is a pity about the Dymo name tag, but if I was to remove it now it would damage the paper lining. Most of the bits and pieces inside I have collected along the way.

When Mum started high school the first item they made in sewing was a desk cover.  This was the first time Mum had used a sewing machine as Grandma had, up until that time, made hers out of bounds to Mum.  Once again, when you look at the back the binding is sewn down with the finest whip stitch. 

This would have been in about 1941.  Mum and Uncle Chris and their friend Charlie had to ride their pushbikes 8 miles to go to high school, and a bit over a mile of that was up “The Gap”, which is a really steep road.  They had strict instructions on what to do if they saw a plane, being war years.  They were the last kids to have to do this, as after the war a school bus was introduced.

When Mum went to school you had no choice of subjects.  Mum would have loved to have done sewing, cooking and typing, however, she learnt French, Latin and English History.  All very handy things for a country girl who would leave school to work on the family farm.

After Mum left school at 15, a family friend showed Grandma some sewing her daughter done at Tech (TAFE) and Grandma thought it would be a good idea for Mary to go along too.  So Mum had to ride her bike the 8 miles to town and if the class was in the evening, stay overnight with some friends.

This photo was taken when she was 18. She made the fully tailored overcoat she is wearing at Tech. She just loved dressmaking and was offered a scholarship to East Sydney Tech to become a teacher, which she duly did and then taught at Newcastle, Lithgow, Bathurst and Tamworth before getting married.

And like her mother she has a lovely silver thimble.  This one is made by the same company as the monogrammed one that Dad’s Grandmother owned.  What a coincidence.  Sorry I didn’t get a very good photo.

Pop over to Clare’s to see what other treasures are on show this week.

By the way, our big wattle tree in the back yard is now in full bloom.  Mick gave himself an early mark on Friday afternoon and got all the lawn paddock grass mown before all the rain on the weekend.  It only takes about four hours!  But, it looks so much better.