Kitchen treasure from another era

I always check out the books when I pop into my local op shop. More than anything, I'm hoping to find a treasure that someone has discarded as trash. I've built up quite a collection of recipe books from the 40s, 50s and 60s.

So, when I saw this little beauty I just had to have it.


And at the princely sum of
20 cents I couldn't pass up such a bargain.

A quick check of google told me this little book is nearly 60 years old (so 20 cents isn't bad inflation over that time!)

While I love reading the recipes, I adore the ads. I laughed out loud when I saw this one. I've had to split it in two to photograph it ....

Bottling fruit in the lounge? What a marvellous idea !

If you own a Fowlers vacola, you can do your bottling in the lounge, or indeed any room which has a power point. You're not tied to the kitchen. You relax, happy in the knowledge that your bottling is going on.

And don't you love the lady of the house relaxing in the lounge, with her book while her bottles full of lovely preserved fruit bubble away beside her.

Check out her high heels, lippy and perfect hair .... all ready to receive her hard working husband at the end of his busy day ...

Is it like that at your house ????

I DON'T THINK SO !!!!!

Something I whipped up

I'm mad for the hook this winter and in between clusters of trebles for my granny stripe that I'm making for Eliza, I whipped up this scarf for James.

Gotta share the love, you know.

It's a simple pattern made with rows of double crochet.

I started this scarf when we were at the snow for a week but pulled it all out because it was too short. Oh well.

The wool is gorgeous and so soft . The pictures don't do the colour justice, but it's a lovely grey/sea greeny colour which looks very distinguished on my distinguished man.

He's a little bit shy!

The colour tones nicely with that greying stubble don't you think?

Oh baby baby

Back home from my friend Caroline's baby shower.
Simply gorgeous.
Her clever sister- in- law Michelle was the charming host and she completely excelled in creating the perfect afternoon to celebrate the impending arrival of a new little person. We don't know if he's a he or if she's a she ... so Michelle themed the afternoon with red and white spots.
We sipped bubbles, nibbled on tiny treats and played party games.

A really special afternoon.

Everyone say 'Awwwwwww ...'

My friend Caroline is having a baby
and today is her baby shower.
We're off to her mum's house for a special afternoon tea and I'm sure I'll have a glass of bubbles as well.

Caroline is one of the most creative people I know.
She is totally awesome and I know she loves some
crafty goodness so I've been racking my brain what to make for the baby shower.
After spending nearly a week in bed with a bad back (I'm sounding so old aren't I), time was against me .... eek!

What to do ?
What to do?

So last night, in between cooking dinner, doing the washing and updating facebook, I found a brilliant idea (Thanks Martha!)



Can you guess what I'm making?


A gift card ...

Isn't it the sweetest thing?
Perfect for a precious new arrival.

The template for the nappy makes it all so easy peasy.
I stamped the message, but of course you don't have to ....
Take the idea and make it yours.

Hope you're having a lovely Sunday! I'm looking forward to that glass of bubbles and a tiny cupcake (maybe two).

Granny Stripe - Work in Progress

A quick blog post to show off the granny stripe to date.

Progress is being made!

It's sooo easy thanks to Lucy's instructions at Attic 24. Check out her blog if you haven't already. She has inspried me with her gorgeous creations.

I try to fit in a couple of rows of crochet whenever I can.

We made a trip to Bendigo for a family birthday this weekend and I made good use of the 90 minute drive by adding several more stripes

I'm making this blanket for Eliza ..... but I am loving it too much!

Do you think she'll understand? Maybe she'll be prepared to share!

Best homework ever!

We've been busy today.
After a couple of days in bed with shocking neck and back pain (voltaren how do I love thee ...)
I was a lot more mobile today and eager to leave the bedroom!
Eliza needed some help with her homework and I was happy to oblige.

The task
Bake a loaf of olive bread.

This is my kind of homework and so much easier than year 5 maths, thankfully.

The homework also consisted of designing a flow chart to demonstrate the steps of baking a loaf of bread. Actually, making the bread was an optional extra, but who I am to stop an enthusiastic masterchef in the making.
Stand back!!

The recipe was an easy one from taste.com and of course the steps were already on her flow chart.

She made the dough, and let it rise til it doubled in size. She cut the dough into 2 and added olives and spring onions to one loaf and olives and rosemary from our garden to the other. Into the oven they went for 35 mins.

Mmmm .... the smell of bread baking was toooo good. We couldn't wait to get them from the oven.

Soooo good!

We sliced the bread and ate it warm ....
There's some left for dinner tonight - we'll serve it with homemade soup - and tomorrow Eliza will take the other loaf to school
(that is, of course, if Mum doesn't eat her homework!!)

The promise ...

slowly

softly

she comes

on tippy toes

without a fuss

delicate buds unfurl

testing, testing

is it time?

nearly there ...

heavenly sent

heavenly scent

It's the promise ...

of spring

Hooked on .... stripes

My love affair with the hook continues. I've been totally inspired by Lucy at Attic 24. Her gorgeous granny stripe has got me hooked. So I checked out my stash of wool and thought .... I can do that!

And after seriously hurting my back and neck (by stretching - of all things) I was confined to bed for two days . It was too painful to lie down so I propped myself up on pillows, heated the hot water bottle, threw back the painkillers and got out the hook ....

Lucy's instructions are very straight forward and I quickly got the hang of it after the first couple of rows, which are a bit tricky. Then it's just clusters of treble, clusters of treble, clusters of treble - the rhythm is quite mesmerising (or perhaps that was the painkillers!)

And the wonderful thing about crochet is the progress you make. It's soooo quick. I'm making this granny stripe blankie for Eliza who just loves the colour combination. It will be perfect for her to snuggle in front of TV, take in the car on cold mornings and as an extra cover on her bed.

I love it all ready.

Three cheers for three hats

The three little crocheted hats are all finished and this afternoon the little girls tried them on.

Getting everyone to stay still, smile and look at the camera was a challenge ... but you get the idea.

I'm very happy with how they've turned out. Retro Mummy's pattern was easy peasy (which is so my style) and I'll certainly whip up a few hats for friends' children in the future.

The girls love the colours - and what's more they're wearing them - always a bonus I think.

Even Georgia kept hers on!

Hooked on hats

I'm a little bit obsessed about crocheting at the moment and when Retro Mummy shared her pattern for her gorgeous crocheted hats I couldn't resist.

And it's dead easy. No tears, no tantrums, no unravelling .... phew!

I managed this hat for Eliza on Sunday afternoon.

She loves it and is actually wearing it! Yay me .

There's no stopping me now ... Despite some long days at the office I couldn't wait to get out the hook in front of TV and get cracking on another one. So over the next couple of nights in front of Masterchef I produced this one for my niece as a little surprise for when I see her this weekend.

Corrie's pattern is super fast and super easy for beginners like me.

And don't they look lovely?

I've got one more on the go for little Georgia .

I can't wait to get a picture of all three girls in their hats.

Run Melbourne

We're feeling pretty pleased with ourselves (and a little bit superior too). Last Sunday, Eliza and I joined the seething crowd to Run Melbourne.

Well .... 'run' might be overstating it, for me at least.

Eliza can rightfully claim to have run Melbourne. For me it was more like brisk walk Melbourne..

So while others were enjoying a Sunday sleep in and contemplating a cooked breaky, we were limbering up for a quick 5ks on a freezing morning, with rain threatening and an arctic wind that ripped right through us.

We joined other families from our school at the start line ...

Boy was it a long way to the start line!!!

About 17,000 people were at the start line .... that's that red banner in the distance. Squint and you can just see it.

The run was started in waves. Finally it was our turn. The horn blasted, the crowd surged forward and we were off .... The little girls started to run and so did some of the mums. I had nooooo hope of doing that so I chatted the whole way with one of the dads. We figured our job was to bring up the rear. And that worked well.

Here we are at the finish line. Eliza loved getting a cup of powerade around the track. "That's a great service!"she reckons.

I finally caught up with the mums at the finish line.

Special mention to Donna for keeping up with the girls and a big shout out to Niki who ran a PB for the 10k event.

But a 5k walk (as brisk as it was) was enough for me.We made it back home before the rain came down. A hot bath to warm up and then a cup of tea .... and then some crafty loveliness.

Ahhhhhh

Come back soon to see what I made.

Thrifting Gold

Is there an Op Shop God? If so, she was smiling on me this weekend. In a child free moment (because I was doing the supermarket shopping, which is 'soooooo boring Mummy') I ducked into the retro shop across the road to check out their goodies.

Look what I found!

.

Successful Dressmaking - The Complete Book of Dressmaking, fully illustrated with step-by step instructions, by Ellen and Marietta Resek.

Well I couldn't leave it on the shelf. Could you??

Again there was no publication date, so good old Google had to help me out. According to the national catalogue this book was written in the 50s, possibly 1956 and published by Colorgrave Publications - the printing arm of the Herald and Weekly Times.

The illustrations are priceless!

I love this picture. She's so pensive looking at the pattern - her lipstick is perfect and she's sitting so ladylike on the floor - with her high heels on. A quick check of what I'm wearing today reveals a more casual style - no high heels, no lipstick .... and a lot of fleece material!!!

Anyway back to the book. The introduction says it's intended to be a guide for dressmakers young and old, who's interest and keeness exceed their practical experience and confidence. Hellooooo ...... that's me!!!!!

The book is divided into three parts - pattern making, making garments, then creating and assembling a dress. And just as the cover promises, there are plenty of step by step illustrations to give me lots of help along the way.

The book itself is in excellent condition.The dust jacket has a bit of wear and tear .... but not too bad really. When I took the dust jacket off to see the hardback cover of the book, what a surprise.

Isn't this illustration gorgeous? A perfect pattern to embroider. Looks like that's my next project .... or one of them anyway.

Pop over to Her Library Adventures to see what other folks have picked up at the op shop this week.