This is .... a work in progress

Thank you to Debbie from Kept in a Jar for this week's theme - I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's projects!

Our current WIP is our little old house - just fixing up the plaster and updating the paintwork didn't seem like a huge job initially, but that was before G was booked in for surgery, several close family members and friends got very sick, my back started playing up and the cold rainy weather set in. Yipes! We do hope to have the bedrooms finished by the end of this month, and I can't wait to get our couch back from the upholsterer, hang all our pictures and make the place look pretty again!


I think this is what's described as 'character' in old homes ...



Dingy late-80's coral/terracotta plaster detailing - you're outa here!



Modelling the cute apron I received from Shawnee in the Flirty Apron Swap - over several layers of clothing, 'cause the house was so cold!
Plasterwork patching adorns the walls.



Godfrey: "I'm not sure that we should let Gus come in here when we're not around ... he might eat the plaster."

Juddie: "He won't eat the plaster!"

Gus: *...crunch...crunch...cough!*



Undercoat started, and looking brighter already!



Although the hall and living areas are finished now I don't yet have photos as I haven't sorted out the furniture and pictures properly. So glad to be rid of the blue ceiling in the bathroom though!

This is .... my trade secret

- Sunshine in a jar!

I love cooking with preserved lemons - they add a wonderful salty, tangy flavour to many dishes, including lemon and chicken risotto; lemon cous cous with toasted pistachio nuts, cranberries and fresh mint; chicken, lemon, olive and chickpea tagine (stew); broad bean, fresh pea, butterbean, goats' cheese and lemon salad; and many many more scrumptious dishes. They lemons are usually stored in a sharp, tangy juice which may have become syrup-like and is delicious when added to rice or cous cous dishes or salad dressing.


My local area is known for its middle-eastern grocery stores and restaurants, so we have ready access to all kinds of preserved lemons in jars. If you can find Maggie Beer's lemons at your local deli, I highly recommend them for a bit of extra *zing* in your meals. I would be more than happy to receive jars of her lemons as prsents for Christmas or my birthday any time .... but really, preserved lemons are also very easy to make at home!


Thank you to Amelia for this week's great theme, and to our lovely host Angela.
(Pics from here)

This is .... why some people shouldn't sell things online

You may have seen this photo before.... if not, it may take a moment for you to work out why the seller should have perhaps thought twice before using it to advertise his ugly furniture on eBay (and yes, this picture does confirm that the seller was male).
Eeek!
Click on the picture to enlarge it if you need to.

Thanks to Angela as always for hosting 'This is ...' and for setting a free-choice topic! I know my choice was a little odd this week ...

This is .... my best op-shop find

- and a catch-up on a 'This is ...' topic for which I was unable to upload photos a few weeks ago.

I've been lucky to find a few op shop gems over the years, including some vibrant vintage fabric (for about $2.50) and this wooden filing cabinet ($10):

Another much-loved item was bought from a second-hand store (rather than an op shop), but I'll sneak it in here anyway. It's a beautiful Federation-era* cabinet and wrtiting desk, which apparently still contained a collection of 1930s payslips and personal documents when it was found at an estate sale by the second-hand-shop's owner. Unfortunately this photo doesn't really do it justice; I'll replace it with a better one some day when I've cleared the space around it!



* oops - for overseas readers, this refers to the period around the first decade of the 1900s - perhaps similar to the British Edwardian era. The states of Australia became a federation in 1901, and particular architectural and design styles are associated with the period.

I think my all-time best op-shop find would have to be my Newnes Home Management Manual (Volume 1). It has no publication date but it's British and I think it's from the very early 50s, providing young women with all they need to know about fulfilling their biological imperative (as G's grandmother would say). At 752 pages long it packs a punch, is jam-packed with all kinds of advice, and I'm intrigued to know what was included in the second (and subsequent?) volumes. I can't cover all of its wonderful contents in this post but I've decided to include quotes and ideas from this book in future blog entries, which I'll tag 'Home Management'.


Here are just a few of the many treasures held within the pages of this delightful manual:

- a recipe for Prune Mould

- care of the food safe: "Once a week scrub out with a good soap; if bothered by flies, spray the inside of the larder or safe with a D.D.T. atomiser ..."

- illustrated guides to "making a beauty treatment out of domestic chores - housework for the figure"


- two pages of information about keeping a domestic goat

- an entire chapter titled 'Grow your own smokes', to encourage domestic tobacco production, including a little illustrative story which concludes: "His wife left him to get on with his pipe tobacco while she was busy making cigarettes for herself, and excellent in quality they were. The pair seemed very happy in the knowledge that they could not afford to smoke at all except by growing their own tobacco."

- a recipe for Beef Tea, the ingredients of which are:
1 lb. lean shin of beef
1 pint lukewarm water
pinch of salt

(gulp!)

- suggestions for using a self-timing oven .... place the meat or fish for your evening meal in the oven in the morning. The timer will automatically switch the oven on in the evening so you don't have to think about it until it's ready. (Hello salmonella!)

- recipes for "drinks grown in your own garden", including parsnip wine ("like champagne"), nettle beer, potato wine, and celery wine.

- instructions to help you "learn to relax and vanquish worry"

While many of the articles are amusing and sometimes confusing, the book is also full of very practical advice on how to create a comfortable home - a wonderful insight into a lifestyle that contrasts dramatically with today's over-consuming, endlessly disposable culture.

The book also makes me think about how daunting it must have been for young women who lived with their parents until they married at around 17 or 18 years of age, then were expected to manage competently every aspect of their household and family. They would certainly have needed the help of books like this!

This is .... what makes me happy

Sunshine! Sunshine! Sunshine!


1. Golden glowing shell - sunlight sparkles!, 2. The Kelp Forest in Sunlight, 3. Sparkles, 4. forest_sun4, 5. Sparkle, 6. Sparkles, 7. On Golden Pond, 8. Sparkling Morning, 9. Forest-15th Jan 2008

Thank you to Angela for hosting 'This is...', and to Jacinta for this week's happy theme!

This is .... what gives me goosebumps

I love the way stories of significant events have been passed down throughout history in poetry and song.

Twenty years ago, Australian musicians Paul Kelly and Kev Carmody wrote a song to celebrate the story of Vincent Lingiari, whose demands for wages, land, and respect for his people evolved into a much larger battle for Aboriginal land rights.

No matter how many times I listen to the original version of 'From Little Things, Big Things Grow', with Tiddas providing back-up vocals, it always gives me goosebumps. Paul Kelly's rendition of the song is compelling, triumphant, hopeful and, for me, very moving.

I haven't been able to find a free online recording of the beautiful original version, but the lyrics and guitar chords can be found here. I do recommend that you try and find the original if you haven't heard it yet ...

Here is a famous photo of then-Prime Minister Gough Whitlam pouring soil into Vincent Lingiari's hand, in a symbolic gesture to acknowledge his people's traditional ownership of the land:


At that point in the song I always get goosebumps and a lump in my throat!

photo source and details: nga

A very big thank you to Three Buttons for letting me choose the theme/s for this week! I'm looking forward to reading everyone's posts .... (you can see who else is playing on the Three Buttons blogroll).

Post script - After reading many of the comments on this post, I was browsing through various live versions of the song on Youtube, feeling a little disappointed that I couldn't find the original. Because I love that recording so much I didn't think the live versions would give me the same goosebumps, but sure enough ... as soon as Paul Kelly started singing on this recording from the Live Earth concert, there they were, all up the back of my neck, down my arms and all the way to my toes! Yipes!

This is .... my most treasured childhood posession

Among my most treasured childhood possessions are my photo albums and scrapbooks (the real scrapbooks, on grainy, unbleached paper, in which I stuck all kinds of things with Clag glue - not the modern concept of scrapbooking!). I love the way photos and collected ephemera are little windows into all kinds of memories that might have otherwise faded away.

Many thanks to Danielle for this week's theme - it's fun to see everyone's treasures. Thank you also to Angela for the weekly hi-jinks, and for asking me to suggest next week's theme!

Hmmmm .... Can I flout the rules and offer two themes to choose from next week? I was thinking of these:

This is ... what gives me goosebumps
and
This is ... what scrambles my brain when I try to understand it

With the goosebumps, it could be the good sort (warm and fuzzy tingles of joy), or the opposite, icky creepy kind. I hope the second topic is self-explanatory.

Looking forward to seeing your responses!


*
(I'll have to come back and add pics to my posts later - still trying to find my camera cable)

This is ....

... the space in which I would like to post pictures for this week's theme from Lino Forest, 'My Best Op Shop Find'. Unfortunately our house is being replastered and painted this week, and I don't know where I put my camera's USB cable in all the frantic packing. Boo!

My camera is also hoarding some pics of the pretty apron I received from Shawnee in the July 4 Flirty Apron Swap. I love the apron but unfortunately the pictures will have to wait a little bit longer for their blog debut.

For now I'll post these pics of gorgeous ceramics by Aida Dirse, found via Dear Ada. I totally agree with Dear Ada in her appraisal: "Such happy patterns, happy palettes, extra happy forms and finishes. And now happy me."

This is .... my most favourite outfit that expresses my individual style

Another difficult choice this week, and as I haven't been doing my hair properly or dressing up lately, I don't have any appropriate pics of me to show (might let some fabulous models do their thing on my behalf ....)

For years I have worn a flower in my hair every day: frangipani, phelanopsis orchid, camellia or hibiscus - all retro flowers that I love, and they still attract a lot of comments (even from complete strangers). If I don't wear a flower, I wear a gingham bow hairclip. When I'm not being totally lazy, I wear my hair rolled at the front in forties style (modelled beautifully here by Phoebe and Gwen):



At other times I just go for the good old pony tail or sprouts of touselled hair at the back with a sleek fringe. At the moment I have dark hair - a vague approximation of these, although not yet quite as long:



If I had a smaller, bombshell figure I would be tempted to shop exclusively at fabulous sites such as Daddyo's, Red Dress Shoppe, My Vintage Hut, and My Baby Jo. When faced with reality I'm happiest in wide 40s-style pants or dark turned-up jeans (here's a way-too-skinny version):


... also gingham shirts with puffed sleeves, arm warmers in winter and quite a lot of black. This outfit from Revamp Vintage appeals to me for casual wear too:



If I could fit into their beautiful dresses, I would by dozens from Stop Staring. Daddyo's has a fine collection of their lovely dresses - here are just a few:








That's enough from me .... so much for 'one favourite outfit'! More fab outfits can be found through the 'This is ...' blogroll at Three Buttons. Thank you Miss Kitty's Kaboodle for our theme this week!

This is .... my favourite travel memory

Ooooh! I have way too many to pick just one, so here are a couple of random thoughts (and please excuse the cheesy 'holiday snap' poses):

One of the most profoundly moving experiences I've had was listening to a beautiful frog symphony as we sat in the dark at the edge of a lily pond, waiting for the sun to rise behind Angkor Wat (in Siem Reap, Cambodia). I can't remember many times when I've felt such peace, or my senses were heightened so intensely ...




Travelling with G is always an absolute joy. We spent the first week of our honeymoon in Thailand gently gliding up the river from Bangkok to Ayuthaya in an old teak rice boat (that usually catered for 12 people) - just us on the boat with two marvellous cooks, the captain and a guide. So dreamy!


We followed this with four weeks of island-hopping and total relaxation on pristine beaches.



On one of our trips to Thailand we met this little guy .... someone had scribbled on his face with a texta, but he seemed pretty cool with it!



Thanks to Hila for this week's theme, and of course to Angela at Three Buttons for hosting 'This is ...' every week!

This is .... my pet

My family had so many pets while I was growing up, I truly can't remember all of them! I now share my home with a dog and a cat (and we have lots of lovely worms in our compost bin.... do they count?)

Here are some pictures of Dudley, who died much too young a few years ago while we were on our honeymoon (forever traumatising my lovely friend Alan, who was looking after him at the time). Poor Alan!

This was taken on his first evening at our house (he looks quite serious in this picture but he was a very happy little chap):


I miss his cheeky, sweet character and those big muppety paws! (and I'm sure he and Gus would have been the best of buddies ....)



Thanks to Kyla for the theme this week - check out Three Buttons to see who else is playing along.

This is .... something I got but still haven't used

I feel so guilty, but it's time to fess up. When we received a beautiful little pasta-maker for our wedding in 2004 I was super-excited about the prospect of making delicious, fresh pasta whenever I felt like it. Chefs and cooks such as Maggie Beer always make it look so easy.

Somehow the years have passed and the dear little set is still in its box..... but not for much longer! Thank you to flossy-p for her 'This is ...' theme - it's prompted me to crack a few eggs into flour and get this baby rolling!


Check out the 'This is...' group at Three Buttons to see what other bloggers have got but not yet used....

This is .... my way of recycling

~ I'm a leaf thief!*
In our household we recycle as much as we can, in all sorts of ways, but the other day I think I embarrassed my beloved a little bit by gathering several sacks of the beautiful golden leaves that pile up along Royal Parade in autumn.
They're detrimental to local aquatic ecosystems but wonderful for the garden and our compost worms!

(don't tell G, but I might gather some more this week, taking Gus as my accomplice...)

Don't forget to check over at Three Buttons to see who else is playing 'This is ...' this week.

* Thanks to Annie for this great description

This is .... what reminds me of my mum

- fringed beach umbrellas, because as kids we spent a lot of time sitting under them with my mum, or playing near them in the scorching summer sun. The beach umbrellas I remember were sometimes floral, often yellow and orange and brown, or combinations of purple, blue and green like my Gippsland op-shop fabric. Succulent Designs have reinterpreted this idea with their pretty, modern fringed umbrellas.

BTW, here are some pics of my mum:





Her name is Sophie, and people say we look alike.

This is .... my favourite pair of shoes, which I would sleep in if I could

Please ignore my shuddering sobs of dispair as I illustrate some of the shoes that I really love, which (like most) are not produced in my size. Curses on my long feet!






If Minx and Camper were to increase their sizes just a little bit, all you'd have to do would be point me toward their stores with a bit of brass in pocket. Dangerous stuff!

I also found these lovely shoes on Flickr (posted by Swelldesigner, Archangelli, Juleslovespolkadots and Tiffanyinthetrees). There seems to be a bit of a theme going on here ...