Sunday, July 10, 2011

Treasure.

Well it seems i'm on a roll, i found another chance to go thrifting & not once but twice! First up i went into an op-shop in town, for some reason i never seem to find much in this one - today i did manage to buy these three vintage sewing patterns. I particularly love the little overalls & will have to sew some up for Scarlett.




 My local salvo's, however, never disappoints & it's so huge - i'm always bound to find something to take home.
I found this tiny little glass vase & pink-edged doiley, which is in great condition.

And a cross-stitch of pansies - love the frame too, but thinking i may paint it.......any ideas what colour would look best? Then i found these beauties......

Two vintage pyrex bowls! Vintage pyrex is something i'd never thought i'd find, i know how collectible it is, so i snavelled these two & stashed them under the pram as quick as i could (don't worry i paid for them, i just didn't want anyone else laying their eyes on them, hehehe). I found this site Pyrex Love which is a wonderful source of information on all the vintage pyrex patterns, values & ages. These two are from the 'Spring Blossom 1' range & are from the 1970's. I never knew there were so many patterns made & saw many that i liked...........something else to add to my thrifting list!
I'm linking up again with Sophie, pop on over there & check out what fantastic finds her & many others have found on their thrifting adventures. *Next week i'll share the goodies Amity & i found on our special little oppy crawl.......we bought so much, it deserves a special post all of it's own.*

Saturday, July 9, 2011

Grateful Saturday.

Linking up with Maxabella again, it feels good to focus on the positive, it can be too easy to reflect on all the negative things happening around us........so today i'm grateful for this girl, my middle child Amity.

Yesterday we got to spend some one-on-one time together, we escaped for the afternoon & went a-thrifting! She declared "i love op-shopping mum, it's fun".......now that's a girl after my heart. We came home with bags & bags of goodies - the thrifting gods were looking down on us yesterday (will share our finds next week). And tonight i was cooking dinner & chopping a particularly fierce onion, with tears & mascara streaming down my face - "have a drink of water mum" she tells me.  Apparently her nan who is a chef told her this. So i did & it worked! 
So i'm grateful for my little chatterboxing op-shopping companion today & for her kitchen tips too. 

Thursday, July 7, 2011

A cake party?!

a cake party
{source}
Oh my goodness, is this not heaven? I saw this fab cake party over at Cakies blog & thought it was an awesome idea - invite some lovely friends over for a cake party, each guest brings a yummy cake on a pretty cake stand. I so have to do this. Nothing like a pretty pig-out session. Go check out Ruby's blog for more photos & details of the party (unfortunately she forgot to invite me....hehe). 

p.s.......see those round yellow flower thingys in the bottle on the left - anyone know what they are? i have been seeing them over at pinterest & am wondering if they're available in australia. i want some!

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Comfort food.

You probably all know by now how much i dislike winter & i'm sorry but i will be whingeing about the cold weather until summer. I am a summer girl. The one thing i do not mind about this dull time of the year is the excuse to indulge in some delicious comfort food. It warms the soul & i love my food!
So around here we've been enjoying some yummy, yummy comforting stuff lately. Lots of soups, roast chicken, homemade pasta, banana bread, creamed rice in the slow cooker, breads & a divine lemon meringue pie.
(please excuse my fancy pie dish, think i need to add one to my thrifting list)
This lemon meringue pie was delicious & actually quite simple to make, i'm no good at making pastry, so the simple biscuit base is perfect for me & yummier too.  I thought i'd share the recipe with you. (i'm not sure where i got it, but i had written it out a while ago & found it in a book i never finished reading, glad i decided to re-read it!)

Lemon Meringue Pie


Base: 50g butter - melted,
100g digestive biscuits - crushed.
Method:  Mix butter & biscuit crumbs together & press into the base of a small pie tin. Chill in fridge for 30 mins.


Filling: 2 egg yolks,
3 tbsp caster sugar,
3 tbsp cornflour,
juice of 2 lemons & zest of one,
50g butter - softened.
Method: Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar & cornflour until they are pale & smooth. Put lemon juice & zest in a saucepan with 200ml water & bring to the boil. Pour it over the egg mixture, beating constantly until the mixture has dissolved in the water. Pour the lemon mixture into the pan & return to a gentle heat. Cook until thickened, stirring constantly. It's ready when the spoon leaves a visible 'wake' as you stir. Fold in the butter & pour mixture on the crumb base.


Topping: 2 egg whites,
100g caster sugar.
Method: Beat the egg whites until they just start to set & add caster sugar, one third at a time, until mixture forms stiff peaks. Spread over lemon mixture & bake pie for about 20 - 30 mins. The meringue should be slightly browned on top. Serve cooled.


Nothing like good old fashioned home cooked food to warm the soul & fill the belly!

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Treasure.

I did it! I finally had the chance to have a quick poke around in an op-shop this week. Chas had to tag along with me, much to his disgust (op-shopping is only for girls apparently) so i tried to get him excited by saying we were like pirates going on a treasure hunt..........he wasn't too impressed with the treasures we looked at, but i did manage to find a few.



Added to my collection was another pretty little china saucer, a lovely embroidered doiley & two vintage books (one from 1942 & a classic old Lassie novel). I also found a school pinafore for Amity for $3.00, which normally value around $60 brand new, so i was pleased with that one & also Chas found the sequel to 'Gone with the Wind', 'Scarlett' - so that one definitely had to come home with us.
When we ducked into this op-shop we were on a quick time limit before school pick-up time, so when i entered the store i hastily went through my mental 'thrift list' -- the things i search for & hope to find when op-shopping. Here's what's on my list..........

  • vintage baby/toddler knitting books
  • vintage babywear
  • old golden books or Enid Blyton books
  • nice fabric
  • buttons
  • vintage crockery & vases
  • good quality kid's clothes
  • vintage deer/fawn ornaments
  • ornate picture frames
  • retro sewing patterns
  • haberdashery items
  • doll's clothes
  • embroidered doilies
  • out of print Ion Iddress books
  • milk glass
  • vintage bevelled edge mirror with a pretty etching
And anything else i find that i love is a bonus! At the moment i'm really hoping to find the mirror - i desperately want one for above our bed.........i'm still searching. So what's on your list? Which sections do head to first & what item are you desperately hoping to find?

Hopefully i'll get another chance to go thrifting again asap, (and with a bit of luck i'll find the mirror) i have really missed it! In the meantime i can check out Flea Market Finds & see all the goodies that i have already missed out on.

Saturday, July 2, 2011

Grateful Saturday.

Yesterday i wrote a 'woe is me' post, a whinge about all the things that have tipped our lives upside down at the moment..............then when i re-read it, i felt it was just a pity post. So deleted it i did.
Today i'm linking up with Maxabella Loves & sharing what i am grateful for this Saturday.
A couple of kids who think i'm the best mum in the world for buying them $5 shoes from kmart.
A week of warm winter sunshine & a chance to do a bit of reading under the rays while the munchkin slept.
We are also grateful for doctors & nurses who are making our Bloke better, so he'll be back home with us very soon we hope.