Yesterday I found:

a treasure chest

so pretty...

I wonder what GBC stands for?

Do tell if you know...

and some treasure to keep inside it



there's more. Look...

Wow!

I wonder who she is, this lady with the pretty smile?

What's her story and how did her cameo end up in an op-shop? (this  completely freaked-out my daughters when I showed them and I can't bring myself to wear it either!)

I also found a bag of old postcards

snow capped montains...a girl can dream!

it's been so hot here!

I thought I might turn them into Christmas cards..

I also found an old leather handbag

and lastly a fifty cent t.shirt which I just couldn't resist...

(DON'T look if you're offended by any of the "B" words)

I will never leave the house in this, but if you live in W.A. or have ever holidayed here, I think you will probably understand why I had to buy it (even though I don't drink Chardonnay)

No prizes for guessing what comes next...

Margaret River is just down the road... 

Well the long weekend has been and gone. One minute it was nice and quiet, peaceful and relaxing...the next, crazy and slightly manic! On Sunday our faithful hound Jed, was stung by a bee and had a serious anaphylactic reaction. It was very scary and let's just say there wasn't much wow  left in our little Chihuahua by the time we got to the vet! Thankfully all it took was a quick jab of adrenalin for him to recover (and to return to his normal size which had almost doubled!)

Anyway despite that drama I still had plenty of time to hunt for treasure, one of the things I found was this book

It's full of beautiful things made by Australian women, often with very little money or resources. Like...

This was knitted by Mrs Gertrude Pepperell from odd balls of wool when she was in her eighties! She was almost blind but kept up the tradition of never being idle! Amazing!

When I saw this picture I thought how lovely it would be to have a blanket like this, and then by chance (no lie!) I found one. Slightly wonky and a little bit crooked but to me still beautiful. Have a look...

Not a patch on Mrs Pepperell's! But mine has doilies AND granny squares!!!

I also found some very pretty old tablecloths and a pile of unused tea towels (including a Rodriquez)

This mirror and china lady vase



And this too

It's a writing set. Made in Italy. Love that scarf and red bikini!

I think that's enough show and tell for today-I'll show you more tomorrow. Before today's tea towel a quick memo...If you are crafty (or more like me, a crafty wannabe!)have a look here http://sarahhodgsonblog.blogspot.com/ to find out more about a brand new

charter Sarah and Megan are starting in Perth. You can also learn more about Brown Owls here  http://brownowls-members.blogspot.com/ Should be lots of fun and the more the merrier!

And without further adieu the tea towel

One of my favourites!



As I mentioned yesterday, after we finished being arty-farty at Cottesloe we found time to stop at a little op-shop that we'd noticed on our way. It was having a Summer Clearance Sale so we had no choice, we HAD to stop! Have a look at what we found...

I love this old print. It may strike you as being a bit strange that the same girl who loves those flower paintings can love something like this just as much, but I do. Here's some detail

 I love the colours, the texture, everything!

What do you think they are?  Bottles?

Then hiding behind it was

It's a piece of an old (the movie was released in 1940) movie poster! You can still see the signwriters pencil guide marks! I think it's very special even though it's only a sliver of the whole. Love the red letters, and the purple ones for that matter.

We also found...

This one is made of cotton instead of wool.

(I'm sending it to you Galit!)

And this



A breakfast tray cloth. I've got a bit of a thing for Tex-Mex things...anyone for tequila?

And (even though my husband strongly advised me NOT to buy this!!!)

I couldn't leave him behind? There must be hundreds of paintings of this old man floating around...he comes from one of those teach yourself oil painting books so popular in the 60's and 70's. I know because my mother-in-law has her very own version (much better than this one!)

The last treasure we found is alot prettier than the others...

Yes. It's another tablecloth.

And following on from that here's today's tea towel

What were you doing in 1975?



If I gave my posts titles I would probably call this one something daggy like Flower Power or maybe even Everything's Coming Up Roses because today it's all about flowers. I have been collecting flower paintings since I was fourteen (so I've got a few!!!) Yesterday we rescued my pretty pictures from their dusty home for the past year, The Shed (Everything we own is in The Shed!) and decided to "French Hang" them in our bedroom... well I think that's what it's called...ours are probably more of an Australian hang! Although it remains a work in progress here's one corner

and a better look.

And here's the painting that started it all...

Very old. Very beautiful. Painted on tin.

Now have a look at these...

R.M.T. 1907

R.M.T. 1903

And some blurry detail.  Sorry.

There's more...

A present from my husband. No artist's details but the back is stamped Winsor and Newton's No 2 Quality Prepared Canvas, Rathbone Place, London, W.

Vida Gibson.

`Some are more contemporary, but just as lovely...

Pene Beston.

P. Surian.

Texture and such vibrant colours too. This painting is slightly crazy!

Love this one. Signed but sadly illegible.

For the crafty among you, there are some tapestries on the wall too, but I seem to remember saying something like "less is more" yesterday (Ha!) so I'll only show you one, my favourite...

So many pics. Thanks for looking. Which one did you like best? And I know the detail photos are clumsy but I just couldn't leave them out!

And now for something different. I'm going to buck the floral trend with today's tea towel...

A L-o-n-g Drive! I know I've done it!

Continuing on from yesterday, here's the last of our Friday finds...

orange,purple and mustard...say no more!

One of those "things" for storing plastic shopping bags in. I bought it mainly for the lovely strip of bark cloth in the middle. Behind it you can see one of the real Lucy Violet's apron's. More about her soon.

And while we're talking cooking...

Don't you feel like this sometimes?

We especially liked the font on these cannisters.

More orange. A pair of flanelette sheets. Already worn-in for us.

Sticking with orange, and it is the first day of Autumn here (although you wouldn't know it!)

This sweet deer print also came home with us

It's very faded but when I turned it over I knew why...

Artist's Colourmen. Love it!

And then found we a rabbit too

or more correctly a hare. The Hare. 7/10. Giles 1977.

There is more, but "sometimes less is more" so I'll end with one more pic, not of something we bought but still treasure... 

 The rest of this Pub had been badly renovated in the 80's. Don't know why they kept the original sign...I'm glad they did though.

And today's tea towel



Speaking of tea towels, Patricia from www.modernistaustralia.com/ has let me know of a project they are currently working on about Melbourne designer John Rodriquez. He produced tea towels and wall hangings in the 40's-80's. If you have any of his tea towels in your linen cupboard I'm sure they would love to hear from you. I haven't come across any of his in my collection... YET!