Happy 34th Mr T

The kids made brekkie in bed, vegemite toast of course and a cuppa tea. Getting ready for a quick trip to the Tarago Car Boot and then the kids are off to another birthday party after lunch, a ride around Lake Ginniderra, Canberra weather permitting. Followed by a nice dinner??

Happy Birthday Mr T!!!!

Another Big Thank You Cate @ A Vintage Mum

I had another fabulous unexpected surprise today waiting in the post. Cate @ A Vintage Mum made me a gorgeous brooch! Wow, to think that somebody would make something special for me! Thank you so much, I love it!

Cate has recently opened her fabulous on-line store, Vintage Mums Treasures, where she is selling her wonderful handmade boxes. They are very reasonably priced for the work that she has put into each one.

Thanks so much Cate, again, it is truly appreciated :) Tamara

A Big Thank You Pam @ Bayside Rose

Hi everyone, my hand surgery went well, and I am at home recovering and not doing much at all. Being right handed, it has been quite frustrating, as Mr T found out when I flung my lunch across the room..hehe...I blame all the drugs.

I am getting better with my left hand though. I can slowly type, but with lots of typos, but find that I am always closing things by mistake when using the mouse..Doh!

This morning I had a package dropped at my door, it was from Pam @ Bayside Rose who sent me the most wonderful gift! I loved the little crinoline lady bag, and she sent it to me with two gorgeous smelling soaps. Pam made the little bag from a recycled crinoline doiley and the beautiful soaps. She has recently opened a Made-it store where you can buy her handmade soaps, bags and cushions.

Thanks again Pam, I truly appreciate it, Tamara

NSW Drought is over and a quick note

Hi everyone, hope you are all well.

I just read in the paper this morning that state of New South Wales is officially drought free, the first time in 9 years! Our water restrictions will be eased and we may even be able to water our gardens without the odds and evens scheme..yay!!

On another note, I am having my finger surgery tomorrow, I have to be at the Canberra Hospital at 6am, so an early start for us. My sister has graciously offered to have the kids overnight tonight and take them to school in the morning and my parents will pick them up after school.

Depending on my hand I may not be posting much over the next week or so (I do have a few drafts though), I may be around but probably won't be leaving too many comments.

I am hoping for an incredibly long time off work..hehe

See you all soon, T

Do you have a Headache? I have just the thing!

I actually do have a headache this morning...boo. I think it is going to get worse as soon another 2 giggling gerties will be coming through the door to have a play date with Indi...I had better get dressed otherwise they will rock up and I will still be in my pj's...now wheres that aspro??

Hope you have a great weekend, T

The 8th Wonder? of the World

***image source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly***

Why is it when you talk to your children they don't hear a word you say and you have to repeat yourself 10,000 times a day?

But as soon as you are having a private conversation.. BAM! they could hear the wings of a butterfly.

Master K, 8 years old, has an uncanny knack of doing just that. Yesterday while we were talking about my father's tow ball cover that he left at our house, Master K came in halfway through the conversation.

"Who's was it?" he says
"Poppy's." I replied
"Poppy's what?"

...arghh.... make that 10,001 :)

Some recent finds

I found this cool ceramic cream and green clock at the Tip shop, I just added a cheap battery clock kit. A Josef Originals birthday girl.This is the infamous thermos that I have been raving on about to Mr T (if you had read my earlier post).

Green depression vase, pink fabric tape measure (made in England), silver spoon, 6 crochet needles (this is one thing that I regret not learning from my Gran) and two sets of faux tortoise shell knitting needles.

Two vintage wooden black rosary beads above. I popped them on the dummy next to my bed to take the photo but decided that I liked them there, so they are staying. (I have since added another 3 ..he he)

Huge silverplate trophy/champagne cooler.

My favourite find at the Tip shop was this little jug above. Its not marked, but I believe that it is an early English Georgian lustre ware jug, c1820's. The handle has been repaired. Why would anyone throw this away? It beats me.

I'll be back later with some finds for the garden. Happy treasure hunting:)

Collections: Crumb Brush Ladies

Hope you have a wonderful weekend. :) T x

You know its Spring when....

Image by Aviceda Wiki commons

We can't walk down the street without being dive bombed by a magpie....little blighters. We had one safe route to the shops on foot, now apparently that has been compromised too...great!

We have to watch out for these. The Bungendore area is known for Tigers Snakes. They are venomous. We had one in our backyard when we moved in and are quite often sighted at the school...nice!


Image by Teneche Wiki commons

You hear the distinctive call of the plover....I pity the poor sole who marks the nests with little flags in the grass around the building where I work...they have a spur on their wings...nice!


Image by D. Gordon E. Robertson Wiki commons

We also have one of these, a blue-tongued lizard, which we do like. They eat the snails. They don't bite unless you pick them up but they just give you a fright when they are rustling around the garden.


Image by WShipway Wiki commons

Spring...if only we could enjoy the lovely weather a little more :) T

Map Door

While I was flicking through my stash of magazines in bed, I came across this idea in the March Country Living magazine, UK edition. Ooohh, I thought, what a wonderful idea for the plain door in the granny flat, next to my craft corner. I have been collecting vintage Atlas's for a while too, I pick them up for a $1 or so and I love the pastel pinks, greens and yellows in the older maps. I simply added some double-sided tape to each corner and stuck down firmly. They can be removed easily enough later on if we so desire. Looks so much better don't you think?

Chip box battle helmet

What do you do when its school holidays and miserable weather? Camp out in the lounge room, make a battle helmet from a chip box and stay in your pj's for 3 days.

Sounds wonderful right? Have a good one, Tamara

Guest Blog: Collecting runs in the family

Hi Guys, collecting seems to run in our blood; my sister, brother, mother and uncle all are collectors of sorts. Above are the pictures taken of part of my sisters collections. She collects Vegemite, Coca Cola, Disney in particular Mickey Mouse, Noddy, tins and kitchenalia (which I will show in another post)....

....she also has a collection of Titanic memorabilia (the movie) ...he he...which has probably all been sold in a garage sale. That was kind of a joke collection bought for xmas presents...she raved on too much about the movie...ha ha.

If you mention that you like something in our family...BAM!!!..every xmas and birthday you are sure to have another addition to your latest craze. Mum liked elephants, now she has about a 100! Nope, she doesn't want any more.

Every xmas we have a budget of $30 for each person (sometimes we spend more) and buy little bits and pieces...collectables, tins, boxes etc, picked up at garage sales, op shops, auctions and ebay. I don't think we have bought anything from a shop for a while have we Trace? The kids get real pressies though...speaking of which I had better get cracking with the xmas collections now....

Happy collecting :) Tamara

My New Craft Corner

We were lucky enough to have a long weekend this past Monday as it was a public holiday in Canberra (Family and Community Day). Although we live in New South Wales, we work in Canberra, so it is the best of both worlds :)

This is how I spent my Monday morning, arranging my new craft corner in our granny flat. Now India's friends won't mistaken our computer/playstation/dining/come everything room for our garage again...

and we are lucky enough to have another long weekend this weekend (Labour Day in NSW & ACT). Two in a row! woohoo!