{pretty, happy, funny, real}

Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life

With Like Mother, Like Daughter

{Pretty}

I had some luck thrifting yesterday.  The Salvos had their plates on special for 50c each.  I picked up the top plate for a fruit plate for Ginger and I to use for morning tea, and six of the rose plates.  The rose plates are to go in our caravan.  Um, that would be the caravan we don't actually own yet.  Because we are planning to buy an old, though not sufficiently old to be retro, actually the sort of late 70s / early 80s bad taste old caravan; DH gave me carte blanche to embrace my inner kitsch.  So fun!

{Happy}

A lovely old picture book picked up for a matter of cents....I think this would meet Auntie Leila's criteria for a suitable reading book - wide spaced text and simple pictures!  I know we have a while yet before Ginger starts to read, but when collecting secondhand one can never start too early:) 

A refrigerator pyrex dish I have been searching for for ages.  I saw one a couple of years ago on Beauty that Moves and have been on the hunt ever since.  This is the first time I had seen one for a reasonable price - $2 at St Vinnies.

{Funny}

Now, the reason for my thrifting adventure!  With mum staying because DH is on exercise, she offered to look after Ginger for me while I went for an overlocker (serger) lesson and checked out some of the charity shops. 

I bought my overlocker off ebay 2 years ago, it was my birthday present.  We arrived here and I tried using it, concluded it wasn't working properly and put it in for repair at our local sewing shop.  I got it home again, failed once again to make it operate and decided I needed lessons.  Cue, yesterday's trip to town to the local sewing shop.  In preparation for the lesson, I made a start on the bloomers (above) for ginger so that I could get advice on how to overlock the seams. Only, when my instructor tried using my machine she had the same problem as I did with the needle hitting the shaft - something I had just concluded was the result of my own incompetence.  Consequently, my machine is back in for repair, my lesson is postponed and I got more time for thrifting.

I thought this was a tiffen.  My Mum thinks it is a pudding steamer.  What, dear reader, do you think it is?

{Real}

 Ginger's full cream milk was going out of date so I wanted to use it up.  Consquently, Ginger and I made cheese muffins this morning.  She loves to help - even if it means eating the raw mixture.

These are so simple.  1 cup self-raising flour, 1 cup grated cheese and 1 cup milk.  Add anything else you want - I added paprika and chives.  Mix and pop in muffin tins.  Bake in a moderate oven for about 25 minutes.

Lifeline Bookfest

Many people who come to our home comment on how many books we have.  The removalists regularly complain at pack-up and un-pack that we have too many books.  Frankly, to have too many books rather than too few is the condition I prefer.  Anyway, to this end as we have posted around the country we have tracked down secondhand book shops and Lifeline bookfairs.  Lifeline is a mental health charity that raises money by having huge secondhand bookfairs.

We have been to Lifeline fairs in Sydney and Toowoomba but this past long weekend we decided it was worth the drive down to Brisbane to visit the fair there - the summer one was cancelled because of the floods.  Sob.  The Brisbane fair is the biggest secondhand book fair in the Southern Hemisphere.  It is held over four days.  Because we had been up the coast for the long weekend to visit my best friend, DH decided to take the Tuesday off so we could go.

Oh my goodness.  Three convention hall rooms were taken up with books and this was the last day.  Because it was the last day the books had been rather picked over but gems could still be found for a song.  In the bargain hall it was fill a giant shopping bag for $5, the middle hall fill a plastic bag for $10 or 3 for $20, and the high end books were all half price (at most about $3 each).  Thankfully Ginger was feeling in a good mood because we were there for four hours.

Ginger did best of all, but my haul came a pretty close second.  Because we have access to these fairs I rarely buy any new books these days.  I did particularly well for children's books in the cheap hall because I tend towards older titles.  It seems most people are after the disneyesque.  DH was happy with his finds but he is fussy reading only classics and history so his choice is limited.

Here is all our loot as my husband calls it!

Here are some of the children's gems.

Just love Shirley Hughes' illustrations.

 I didn't have this as a child but I hear from blogland that it's a classic.

Some Little Grey Rabbit books to add to our collection for when Ginger is older.  Somehow between DH and I we ended up with two copies of this title and when we got home we already had it!  Good thing I have now started a children's books catalogue.

By Astrid Lindgren the author of Pippi Longstockings.

 The two boardbooks we were missing from the Martha B Rabbit series.  We found the other two in a charity shop back home and I wanted to get the rest of the series because one of the character's shares Ginger's real name - given her name is rather old fashioned this is unusual.  The only other children's book character with the same name we have found appears in Beatrix Potter.

 I got so excited about finding an Elsa Beskow I forgot to check its condition.  It is like this throughout with the exception of one or two pages.  So Sad.  I have decided to cut the good pages out and put them away for hanging in any future little boy's room.

Again, this series was brought to my attention the my blog wanderings.  So far I have managed to track down Winter and Autumn at charity shops and now Summer Story.  Just Spring to find!



Here are a few of my choice adult picks:

I read about this years ago in the New York Times book reviews and have wanted to read it ever since.

Teresa of Avila fascinates me.

I love Salley Vickers' writing and have read several of her books.  Her books marry the spiritual with the ordinary.

I read White Gardenia by Belinda Alexandra and it was fascinating - all about White Russians in China when the communist revolution began.  I look forward to Wild Lavender.

Just looked fun.

Now we just need shelving for them.  Luckily our neighbours are going back to the UK in a couple of weeks and since they are not being replaced are shedding their worldly goods - we are buying their bookcase:)  Meantime they are stacked on top of our current bookcases.

So, what are you currently reading or looking forward to reading?

Thrifting Loot

DH and I had the best morning thrifting on Saturday.  DH is very indulgent and comes along with me on these creative excursions to look after Ginger while I browse.  I don't think thrifting is actually his thing!  Me, I enjoy the thrill of the chase.

First stop was our church garage sale, then the Salvation Army and Lifeline thrift shops.

At the church garage sale - where lots of local people had stalls - we bought Ginger a beautiful dolls bed.  We had actually already thrifted one previously ($9), but this one ($15) was just so much nicer, being less clunky, and from DH's point of view didn't require hours of paint stripping and revarnishing in order to be ready for her birthday.  We know this one's origin, a local craftsman makes them and they sell new for $50.

We also bought some books.

I had already started reading Something More - the Lonely Planet is DH's.

Not much luck at the Salvation army, I just picked up a educational toy for Ginger.  Different coloured spools for threading ($4).  No picture because it is in her cupboard and she is asleep.

At Lifeline I found some beautiful prints by Cecily Mary Barker (more famous for her faries) and, though they were a bit a pricey because they were being sold as a set of three, I couldn't resist.  As it was, the volunteers dropped the price for me and included my pyrex finds in the price.  DH has hung them for me in the spare room.

So satisfactory.  Though, we didn't find the playpen we were looking for.  I guess we will just have to go again another day.