"Happiness is a warm puppy" Charles M Schulz...

our pup Jed in his Jed bed.

he doesn't look very comfortable in this pic but he does actually sleep in this little old dolls cot I found at a Red Cross op-shop. It still has it's original sticker which says "A Scotina Product W.A."

Thanks for having a look at L.V. this week. Have a happy weekend and good hunting. See you on Monday.



How wonderful is this house?

Yes!

and what about this kitchen?

and this living room?

Designed in 1966 by Bulgarian born Perth architect Iwan Iwanoff (1919-1986). There are quite a few Iwanoff's near where we live and they are all amazing! This home would have to be pretty close to my dream home,unfortunately it is now under offer. Sniff sniff.

These are its real estate listing photos via the wonderful http://www.modernistaustralia.com/ Do yourself a favour and have a look. Gosh I sound bossy!

On other matters, I didn't get around to planting up the terranium today-so no photos. A job for the weekend...

It has been op-shop heaven this week for a fashionista like me! (I am definetely NOT one of those-I don't even know how to spell the word! but I do like vintagey clothes though and so do my daughters) What I'm trying to say is that I found some really lovely clothes at op-shops this week. Particularly at Good Sammies who had one of their 50% off sales. So so cheap! One of my best finds was a black leather pencil skirt made in Buenos Aires,in beautiful condition for two dollars fifty! I was a very happy girl when I found that!

Just a few treasures this week...

Not old just used but I still love it. Doesn't it look pretty with my old cushions (found at a school fete years ago) And have a look at it's underside...

Lovely

fifty cents

twelve little doilies in a little straw box.

snowflakes at Christmas or  pretty bunting?

two dollars

someone's needlepoint project

one dollar 

two old unused notebooks, ex education department I think

for my scribbles

two dollars



I also found three tea towels which I'll show you sooner or later! 

I collect vintage tea towels. I have hundereds of them!  When I go op-shopping tea towels are the first thing I look for-it's probably not a pretty sight to see me rummaging my way through the piles of "small assorted linen" but I can't help myself! I'm also a bit selfish when it comes to tea towels-I rarely leave any behind for the next person. Sorry.

Australiana tea towels are my most favourite and when I find these I always think about the people who bought them and the lovely holidays they were (hopefully) having. Most of them are in pristine unused condition, some still with original price tags stuck on. Too special to use?

Anyway I thought I'd share my collection with you...the graphics and colours are too lovely for me not to. I'm going to post a pic a day in random order. I'm quite excited about this actually (even though I'm sure others have done this before me) because I will be able to rediscover all of the wonderful tea towels I've forgotten about. I'd love to hear about your tea towels too.

O.K. tea towel number one...

Very hippy-trippy! Gorgeous colours. The artist's name is Pat Chambers-can't find any info about her...if you have any please let me know. Check out your star sign I'm a Virgo and it sounds just like me...

Some recent op-shop finds later and that terrarium I was meant to show you on Monday.

When I was a little girl prints like these hung on my bedroom walls...

Big Eyes and Big Hair # 1

David Golding

Big Hair and Big Eyes # 2

I'm sure they decorated the walls of many girls bedrooms who grew up in the 70's like me. Forty years later they've become part of my life again. I found these in an op-shop, couldn't resist them, and brought them home to hang in my daughters bedroom. My collection grew which was fine until my daughter decided that "their big eyes freak me out!"

So now they're all mine again and here they are in all their big-eyed glory...

  These are all by British artist Dallas Simpson who I've read sold them for next to nothing-as long as she made enough money to pay for her gin she was happy!

 I love these two. They were painted by T. Maru. Unfortunately I haven't been able to find any info about him/her. If you know anything please let me know. They look a bit Japanesey to me...

Betty Raphael.

 Someone was crafty with this one. It's done with Hobbytex and must have taken ages!

Big eyes didn't just stop with art, remember these...

Here Comes the Bride.

I found her in an op-shop still in original box.

And here's her bridesmaid!

I had a doll like this when I was little. She wore an aqua dress and sat on my dressing table. I was never allowed to play with her.  Pretty boring really. I wonder what happened to her? I still have most of my old dolls, but not that one...

Our backyard is turning into a concrete jungle!
We found another nine pots to add to our collection at a great garage sale on Sunday (if it was up to me we would have twice as many, but two trips back and forth on a Sunday morning was enough and those suckers are heavy!)
The garage sale was at the loveliest 70's house-the wallpaper inside was amazing! (If I bought the house that wallpaper would NOT be coming down!) It was in such original condition and must have been pretty cutting-edge for it's time. The old lady told me that they'd had 41 happy years living there and you could tell.

Anyway even though there was some good stuff inside I made a bee-line for the garden because I just knew there would be some concrete pots out there and as I've already said there was! Here are pictures (very boring if you're not obsessed with concrete pots like me...)

Too boring if I show you all of them! I love the texture, the peeling paint, the patterns...I even love the old bore stains! Some people say "they'll look great with a coat of paint" but I would never paint them.

These also came home with us

five dollars! Almost impossible to find in Perth and usually expensive. We have two now. Yay!

I'll end today with something sweet...

Belmont Swap Meet.

Last night my husband and I had a picnic on the banks of the Swan River. I ordered a hamper from Bellisa Cafe...

Box of  Deliciousness.



Yum! Talk about a taste sensation! You really must check out Belissa if you live in Perth. The girls make EVERYTHING from scratch. They use top quality seasonal produce and are passionate about what they do. I know this sounds cliche'd but it's true! Bellisa is on Walter Road Dianella, on it's own far from all the usual suspects in Perth, but alot nicer than most of them!

In our picnic hamper there was...

Not your Grandmother's Prawn Cocktail!

Mushroom and Parmesan Tartlet.

Chicken wrapped prosciutto,fig and rocket salad (my husband's fave) and seared beef with cucumber and fetta salad (Yum! Yum! my favourite).

Fresh fruit,two cheeses and marinated olives.

Red velvet cupcakes and chocolate truffles. We were too full to eat these last night, but they've been demolished today!

It was lovely sitting by the river, feasting on our hamper and drinking sparkling wine (part of the hamper too). Unfortunately we had to end the night earlier than we would've liked because we were attacked by the biggest mozzies we've ever seen. Even the Aerogard didn't stop them attacking us!

p.s. dinner looked much nicer in real life than it does in my photos. I have a really old camera-it's held together with sticky tape!

Tomorrow I'll show you some of the wonderful treasures that I was lucky to find on the weekend.