Tens years = bragging rights

I have been very spoilt this week. Thursday marked our ten year wedding anniversary. Wow, has it been that long? It’s amazing what can happen in ten years. Looking back at the wedding photos we are starting to look young in the photos, which means we must be looking older in real life. Hmm.  A lot of ups and downs over ten years. I had seven very close family members pass away since I met my husband. The last ten years have been rough, but he has been there for me. On the other hand, we have had some fantastic times. When I was pregnant we travelled to Europe and the UK, me sick the whole time but still very glad we went. It was the first time either of us has been overseas. We now have two children, one born in 2007 and one last year. We feel very blessed. We had paid off our house just to get another mortgage to make it big enough for two children (and maybe three if we are crazy enough). I am hoping to start a blog on what we have achieved with the house and land (just an acre but big enough for us) since we purchased it. The house was once a small dairy and looked it with its louver windows; my brother said it is like a shack. Now it is looking more like a cute little cottage.

On Thursday my husband gave me the lovely flowers in the photo. The old rusty wheel is from the family property which is what is left of the old farm. We have it sitting on our front verandah.  I wonder what machinery it would have been used on.  On the family property there are a few really nice old pieces of machinery that would look great in the garden but a tad heavy to move.

Thursday night we went out for dinner and a movie. It was the first time in 9 months we have been out like that together. It was fantastic. Saturday was my surprise outing. Hubby organised a big, black flashy limo to take us to a fancy restaurant for lunch and then back home again. We had so much fun drinking champagne in the back and for once didn’t worry about the prices on the menu. Thanks for a great day. x 

Nally Ware

 

I love canisters but unfortunately I can't justify buying any more sets. I picked up these Nally Ware (1950's I think) blue and white set at a great second hand store in a local town. They were a great price but because I was so in love I didn't realise until I got home that there are supposed to be five of them. Note to self: try and keep head on straight when you see a bargain. Most likely I would have bought them anyway (that's what I tell myself). They are made of  Bakelite. I had been pronouncing Bakelite incorrectly for a couple of years (how embarrassing). I was saying bake - lite, instead of  bake - ka - lite. Luckily the lovely lady I bought these from corrected me.  I have performed the rub test on them (rubbed a spot on the canister until it warms up causing a strong odour) and it worked. Wow, stinky. Click Here

The other canisters and the tin with the tulip are past sales. Funky

Willow

Shabby Chic at its best!

Cheers!

My husband has just gone to the shops with my son. My nine month old girl is in bed. It is a Sunday afternoon and I am loving it!! I told my husband if he and the boy are out and the girl is in bed I might do a little happy dance…like this…and this…and this. Little Miss found it quite hilarious. I am not a big drinker. Maybe a glass of wine every couple of months or so. My husband finished off his bottle of spirits today (he is not a big drinker either) so I checked the wine rack. Hmm. There is a bottle of wine I bought him for his birthday and some special red wine that I am saving for a special occasion. Hmm. I remember when I was 21 I was given a taste test gift pack. That was over 10 years ago though. Yay! Found it and have already breast fed my baby so am free to have a glass and guess what?! I am going to have REAL Coke with a glass. I have taken a photo of them on top of my working reproduction telephone top keep with the vintage theme. Cheers and thanks Mary for the drink!

Murder by axe!

This article is from our local paper 'The Courier' this last Wednesday.  Today the Hills is quite happening but even when I was growing up here, it was a quiet place. Back in 1934 it would have been very quiet.  My Grandfather would have been young and working on the farm back then. Not the type of place that I would imagine an axe murder occurring. However as you see below I was quite wrong and I guess all towns have their bizarre goings-on. I can just picture Mr Figg riding through the town on a quest with a shotgun in his possession. A very sad story especially since Mr Figg was likely not himself his head injuries. I wonder if it was the murder weapon. What an intriguing story.

 

Time to do some selling...

I love this Depression Glass vase (with frog), it's my favourite. The gravy boat I picked up a few weeks back and I am still trying to find out who the maker is (may be a keeper). I am wondering if it is SylvaC but I am not an expert so with have to check with someone who is. The roses are from our garden which is a bit exciting as in the 10 years we have lived here we have never grown flowers (apart from Agapanthus- but they don't count). I only picked two because I couldn't bring myself to pick any more.


I am going to try and sell some of the things that are clogging up the cupboards in our shed and put the money towards a new lens for my camera.  I used to sell things regularly, but it I don't seem to get the time these days and don't seem to have as much motivation as I used to. This could be due to the fact I have a 9 month old that likes to party at night. I will be starting with the two items below. An Australian Pottery Raynham lustre vase and the enamel 'tea kettle' that still has it's original instructions and looks like is hasn't been used. I will let you know how I go.

Oh dear! A bit crooked, but hey it's only eBay.

The leg bone connected to the knee bone...

I am on maternity leave at the moment, but my day job is one that some would find very boring. To me it is interesting and I love the fact that I learn something new every day. Although my co-workers and I are not medically trained professionals we are expected to understand anatomy and medical terminology including the process of diseases and surgical procedures. Basically understand everything that you would see in a hospital medical record. I have come to realise that I find medical and surgical history fascinating. As a child I visited an exhibition called ‘Devils, Drugs and Doctors’. I was captivated. We went to see it as part of a school excursion and I remember dragging my parents to it later that week for another look.

About eight years ago (before my current position) I worked in medical records in a in a small country hospital. I once had to review some old birth records and there were some from way back in the 1920s when the hospital first opened.  Very fascinating but so sad at the same time. Each page contained limited detail but it was clear that a lot of mothers and babies never made it out of the hospital.  

I find it so intriguing how they used to treat disease and injury in the past compared to how we do today. How techniques and procedures have been fine tuned over the years or completely changed. How breakthroughs in medical science would have altered treatment. Read some of the old medical history stories and you will be thanking your maker that you live in this day and age – believe me. Scary stuff!!

If the patient can get himself into the position in the picture below then he has the best of both worlds - heat from the oven and ventilation from the window. Good luck with that!

Although most of my books are a look back into history the book in the pictures is one that I bought for a reasonable price at an antique shop a few years back. I think it was printed in about 1895 as this is the only date I can find on it. It just blows my mind. I have photographed some of the plates for you. It is titled ‘Home Handbook of Hygiene and Medicine’ by Kellogg and it is HUGE. Enjoy!

Interesting exercise apparatus

Diagram with pop up guts!

Love the old school desk.

Going my way?

A 'Shower Bath' can be easily made at home with a colander (apparently).

A rose by any other name...

Not a lot of bargain hunting going on in my world at the moment. We were busy on the weekend and my husband had to take a drive to pick up some sheep fencing that he purchased online. He told me that he passed ‘tons’ of garage sales on the way there. Yeah, yeah, rub it in. As I have nothing new, I thought that I would show off a little painting that I picked up at work. We have a small tin shed Op Shop as part of our volunteer service. This probably sounds terrible, but I will say it anyway – it is WAY over priced. However occasionally there may be a gem or two. This painting is quite small in size but just beautiful. One of the things that attracted me to it was that it looks to be painted in the same era as one that my Mum has in her hall way . When her parents passed, she said she didn’t care what she inherited in household contents as long as she could take home the painting (she has four siblings). It was painted by her Grandmother who was quite an artist. I will try and get a photo of it later for you. I was a little unsure about this painting at first, but  because I couldn’t stop thinking about it I  decided I had to have it and luckily it was still  for sale. It has such gentle beauty and is almost calming to look upon. 

I believe the frame on my painting is Oak (please correct me if I am wrong)  It does have a signature on the back but it is pretty much indecipherable, at a guess could say 'Mrs Rulpitt'. There also seems to be part of a recipe written in lead pencil on the wood frame work on the back which is a great touch don't you think.