Thrifted dilemma

Remember the phone table?

We had a similar one growing up except, if memory serves, it had metal legs and a dark olive green lino upholstered cushion.  Ahh, the good ol phone table.  

Ours was positioned right outside the bathroom so lengthy phone calls were at the peril of regular toilet visits by other members of the household (Dad was the worst offender! Pee yeew!).  And the olden days meant no cordless phone to wonder off to have secret pubescent girl conversations ("Oh no way! Donnie is the best, Joey is such a little boy" NKOTB fans would know what I am talking about, but you probably liked Jordan!).  Back before texting, facebook and email!  Two of my friends had fax machines because of their parents' businesses and would fax eachother- I felt so out of the loop . . . but I digress.

I have been feeling very poorly of late, battling yet another day care germ special.  Pah.  But using my onion trick, and night time cough remedy we seem to be getting through it without chest infections and antibiotics.

So feeling like I did this morning, I didn't really feel like checking out Vinnies or Salvos like I usually do after Wednesday kindy drop off. . .  but I did.  And this is what I found.  I thought it would be good for the boys for when I am trying to shod them before they head out the door.  Good height as Dean can't move once perched on it.  And I am sure the draw will become a treasure trove of crap boy's treasure dirt.

Do you think I should paint it?  To match their activity table?  (Which happens to also be the colours of the floor rug)

Or should I leave it as it is in its retro gloriousness?


xx

A little thrifting and cabinet filling

I warned Rick that I would be on the look-out for new old china to fill the cabinet he built me.  Why did I have to warn him?  Because when we moved last year I gave away and sold (for a pittance) most of my beloved thrifted china.  I was in a bad place in my head and my hasty decisions have come back to haunt me.  It is only stuff though (so I keep telling myself) and now they are being loved by someone else.  I did give a very special teacup away to a lovely friend and that one is the only one that hasn't haunted me.  I know it will be adored and used which makes me happy and melts away the anxiety of that time.

Rick took me out for Mother's Day on the Friday before and indulged me in some op-shopping/antique store browsing.  He was remarkably patient.  The lady at the antique store asked if we were together.  I said "oh, really?  You think he'd be in here without me?  Of course we are together" to which she replied "He's good, husbands usually wait outside!".  Sigh, what a hubby.

I only found this beautiful plate (pictured above).  I actually don't mind coming away with only one thing, it makes it more special.  Sometimes if I find numerous treasures, I have to share the thrill across each item.

These are the only teacups that didn't get abandoned last year by me.  The front left teacup set was given to me by my mother when I was in my early 20s.  She stumbled across it in a little antique store on the north shore of Sydney and despite being on a low income, she spent a pretty penny on it.  It touched my heart that she would do that.  I love it and can't bear to part with it e v e r.  The middle one I found years ago in an antique store, somewhere in Sydney.  It is not the same brand as the one Mum gave me but it is quite similar inside and I imagine one day a friend will visit and drink tea from it with me.  And the set on the right is the last remaining teacup from my Granny's wedding china.  Apparently my mother (her daughter-in-law) smashed almost the entire set over the years but this one remains.  It makes it even more special because I have a giggle when I think about my mum's clutzy ways and how my Granny would have tsked tsked tsked!

So you see, the cabinet is filling up nicely.  There are only a few thrifted items in it, the rest are from my Granny or Mum.  Below decks I proudly keep a knitted blankie my Granny made for my offspring (before I was even spoken for!  Years before in fact).  Some yarn, yarny craft books and my circles quilt.

And today, while out and about I popped into Vinnies.  I am on the look-out for vintage sheets for a new venture I am planning.  I just adore vintage sheets, don't you?  I can't wait to get my collection in order and processed.  I am continually thinking about the quilt designs I want to make with these treasures.  Yes, I think I am obsessed.

What are you obsessed with? 


xx

A Walk Down Amnesia Lane

My parents are hoarders.

Dad is the worst offender by far.  Collects bits and pieces from circuit boards to oil bottles.  He finds value in them and collects with the intention of churning them over, extracting the valuable component to sell and then discarding the rest.  He isn't too good on two things . . . the extraction process (collects more than he can handle) and the discarding process . . . it just never seems to end. 

My Mum, on the other hand, is simply a clutter bug.  Just loves to have 'things' around her more for looking at than for purpose.  And she too struggles to throw things out . . . having lived too long with my Dad perhaps or simply struggles to make that final decision. 

It has taken me years, but I have now come to a fairly healthy point of deciding what to keep and moving things along.  Last July, when we were preparing for our move to Hervey Bay, Rick and I literally gave away half of our belongings.  We didn't sell anything, just gave it away. To anyone who was interested.  It was the kerbside collection the week before we left so we had hoarders combing the streets and we happily contributed to their obsession.  We also gave to people who genuinely needed the items. 

What a feeling!  Seriously, it is liberating to simply give away your belongings.  In hindsight, selling probably would have been the smart thing to do as the money would be handy, but we have been on the receiving end of the generosity of family and friends that we simply couldn't sell.  I also would have liked to have been able to see into the future so that we wouldn't have donated almost all our winter clothes, thinking that we wouldn't be needing them anymore . . . I am missing a few warm tops as this is a cold spring.

So, it was a strange thing to find myself in an Op-Shop last week.  I saw one of my donated items still on the shelf but had no desire to re-purchase it.  What I did purchase were some sheets and pillowcases.  I'm still learning this whole quilting thing so cheap fabric is less stressful to work with!

But then I remembered my Mum has a stack of unused sheets at home.  So off I trotted down to my childhood home in Sydney and op-shopped there!

Sheets, kitchen utensils and a painting.  Woo hoo!  And Mum was only too happy to give them away.  Perhaps it was having someone else decide what to let go of, and knowing it wasn't just getting tossed.

And yes, that is a Smurf bedspread!  It's got a few stains on it but I think I can use it to make two little boys quilts!

And don't you just love that old icecream scoop? The melon baller (or so I think it is) and the cherry pipper?  I'm pretty sure they belonged to one of our grannies.  The forks and knife are the what's left from our family cutlery that we had when I was little.  Can always use more forks in the picnic set.  And I simply love the colour of the handle of the whisk.  The whisk is definitely not needed but adored.

The painting?  Well, Mum said that it turned up at the house and she didn't want it. . . ?  But I love it.  I love the colours, I love the 50's box frame, chips and all but I haven't got a spare hook in our rental . . . .

Apart from behind the dunny door!  But you know, the toilet has become my escape from my micro fellas, even though they are little toilet stalkers waiting impatiently outside the door!  At least I have something to look at now while I am hiding.