Collections: Crinoline Ladies

This is my favourite collection. Most are made in Germany and impressed with a registration number underneath. Some are candlestick holders, some are napkin holders, some are a combination of both, others are pots and some are just plain figurines. They all sit happily on my little dresser. T

Junking Makeover: Maxi Dress

Remember the skirt and braces that I bought yesterday? Well, as soon as I saw them, I thought of making a mini maxi dress for summer.

Here are the skirt and braces before:



After a quick pin, cut and sew I made this:


***note the fake Freddo Frog tattoos on the arm and top tooth hanging by a thread... he he***

I had enough material left over to make a rosette to add to an elastic hair band:



Mini-me loves it. As soon as I made it she asked if I could make her a pair of shorts...ha ha ha, somehow I don't think that's going to happen. Bye, T

I have a virus...(at work that is) and junking finds

Firstly, thank you for your warm welcome to blogland and for those who have been visiting and posting comments; I am still learning, esp. how to reply etc:)

O.k., while I was at work yesterday click clacking around I managed to get a virus! I'm like, "there is something strange happening to my computer". After I closed down my applications it was..pop! pop! pop! pop!..."OMG!...there are porn icons on my desktop!" I rang the IT department who instructed me to remove my computer from the network..."WHAT?...how do I do that?" Now, I work in a technical group on computers all day, writing scripts and managing databases but as soon as this happened I turned into a teapot...pretty funny.

During lunch, while my anti-virus was running (for the second time) I quickly made a trip to the tip shop (only 5 minutes away). Today there was a fabulous kidney shaped 1950's bar with a studded/padded front and Formica top, a huge deco mirror, loads of old wire birdcages (love, love) and a great metal outdoor setting (sorry no photos the tip man thinks I'm mad!)

Out the back in my favourite spot I hit the mother lode, I found the vintage cement Mary and the Baby Jesus garden statue pictured above :) Just needs a good clean and a spot in the garden.

I also bought a few smalls (click to see a bigger image).


***vintage skirt and elastic braces (check back later as I have a makeover idea for mini-me). Huge crinoline lady table sized food cover, chunky red beads, old bridal hanging thingme with wax flowers, plastic powder pot and funny little mirrored glass figurine***

IT have taken my 'puter away to do a level 2 virus strip. Hopefully it will be all refreshed on my return to work on Monday :)

Hope you have a great junking week :) T

PS. Laura from 52 Flea (click the name to follow the link or select from my blog list) has reached a wonderful milestone of 500 posts! She is giving away a gift certificate or 52 wonderful things from her stash of vintage treasures..you don't have to have a blog to win, just leave a comment to enter :)

Junking Makeover: Cushion Heaven

There is a wonderful little Church fete that is an annual event and always marked on our calendar.



I picked up 6 flour bags and made them into these:


Bye for now, T

Collections: Bonzo

Periodically I will feature some of my collections; starting with the wonderful 1920's comic character Bonzo, created by George E. Studdy.


Off to work, have a great day :) T

Train spotting

We are lucky enough to live across from the train station.



This is the view of our house (with the windmill) from the old train platform below.











The Railway Infrastructure Company have been replacing the wooden sleepers with metal ones so there are amazing piles of pins, bolts and rusty metal everywhere.















The Australian Railway Heritage Society (ACT) run day trips so I will show you some trains in another post. In Spring and Summer bridal parties have their wedding photos taken at the new station. We can see them from our kitchen window. T

SS New Australia and going home......

In 1951, my mother and her family migrated to Australia. They travelled 4 weeks and 4 days and arrived in Sydney onboard the SS New Australia; a re-purposed war ship formerly known as the Monarch of Bermuda. My grandfather recognised the ship as the one that transported him during WW2 to the Middle East.

The family doctor recommended the move to Australia for health reasons....during this period the government was also promoting a large scale immigration policy advertising Australia as the 'Land of milk and honey'.

My grandfather wished to be sent to Queensland but because of his trade (a motor mechanic) the family was relocated to Goulburn. They only spent a short time there when a mechanics position arose at a saw mill just outside Braidwood, NSW.

They moved from Reddish, England, to the Australia bush...and I do mean bush. They lived in a very small community of no more that a dozen houses in Monga. They were without electricity or running water, they read by candlelight and had an outdoor tin loo that had to be emptied everyday by my grandfather. Now the homes and saw mill are long gone and the area is a National Park.

They had never in their lives seen mosquito wrigglers in their water or blowflys that left little surprises on their meat. They saw huge goanna's in the tree, yabbies in the creeks and red belly black snakes everywhere, and heard the strange cries of the Lyrebird. After 6 months they moved into town the of Braidwood.

During their voyage my mothers family befriended a Scottish family who also settled in the area, the Downie's. Mr Downie and my grandfather went into partnership and established D&S Motors that also served as the local NRMA garage. During this time my grandmother ran a local milk bar. My grandfather died in 1957, my mother was aged 17. The D&S Motors is still running today under different ownership, the milk bar closed its doors in the early '60s.

My grandmother gave most of their possessions away as it was recommended not to bring anything because it was 'all waiting for you'. Their belongings were brought out in 2 tea chests, similar to the Bushell's one in the earlier post. One held books, the other held the family china all of which was smashed on the trip over even though it was marked fragile.

In September 2011 my mum will be going back home for the first time in 60 years....