I had a great weekend!

Misschief Maker High Tea at Pialligo with old friend Kellie - YUM.

French and Saunders Saturday night and met a legend after the show!

I am all smiles!

J
xx

The Mother Load that PMM would LOVE!

Do you read Potty Mouth Mama? She is one of my must-reads on a daily basis. You know who your must-reads are, they're the ones who you clear first from your bloglines when you have 200 posts looming to read. They're the ones that are like old friends, and they make you laugh and smile and cry.

PMM had a brilliant time during the hard rubbish collection in her area not too long ago. We were all tuning in eagerly waiting for the next haul in the covers of darkness. The expeditions were rarely fruitless, and only once did we cringe with her:

"This is where it gets exciting. So I'm checking out what I have scored. Old t-shirts (and y-fronts?!) still in their packaging. I was pretty excited about the prospect of vintage fabrics, so I went for the suitcase that was holding this treasure. The vintage fabric...? Well it was a pair of old man pjs. Poop. No - surely this is a bag full of treasure?! I delve further.. Hmph. Not the score I was dreaming of. Another pair of pjs. And you know what else?! An enema kit. Yes, that's right. An enema kit. No sewing paraphernalia. Just an enema kit. " - from Potty Mouth Mama post here

Rachel (mother of Miss M of the shoes and bib) recently saved an old suitcase from landfill for me. Her step-mum was decluttering, and getting rid of childhood items.


Inside I found a treasure-trove of delights in hankies (most soaking at the moment). Some are still in their original boxes. There are tins aplenty, a doll, leather driving gloves, books, sewing notions, all manner of great loot!


Consumption Rebellion came over yesterday and we sorted through it all, oo-ing and ahh-ing a lot. CR loved the driving gloves, but decided that she would need goggles to go with them... Maybe also a hat E!!??

Image from here.

Hankies galore!
Old Hoadley Chocolate box filled with hankies.

Tins galore! Two of them filled with hankies!


Driving gloves - soft leather and great buttons.


Lovely little doll with blinking eyes.


Lovely boxes filled with mint condition......


Hankies! Lovely Irish Linen in lots of pastel shades.

Old Golden Books - Annie Oakley and Ginger Meggs - brilliant!

More loot than I can use so: giveaway alert!

Miss 3 came in the other day from the car helping me carry in the shopping. She was confused why I fell about when she declared: "I carried the watermelon!" (Dirty Dancing, 1987).

To enter, please tell me your favourite movie quote!

MMaM Project One!

So have you bought or borrowed The Book? Everyone is talking about and snapping up Pip's lovely creation!


My mothers' group bought one for the library and it happens to have come home with me (thanks Rachel!)

I had a go this morning of Project One - the Teeny-tiny Goody-two-shoes.


Miss M seemed to think they were ok - I think that the pink buttons I added (Miss M loves buttons!) should have been red, but not bad for a first attempt. Hoping to do 2 more pairs before the weekend for Miss S and Master C just because their feet are tiny enough to fit into them!

Only a teeny bit of swearing involved in this project, so perfect for beginners and confident seamstresses alike. Fabric was left over from obi belt of dress I made for Miss 3 for Mr BBs 40th after being inspired by Little Munchkins. Great project for re-using scraps.

Tourist in your home town

Back in April, we went to Melbourne as a family for a week,to celebrate the birthday of Mr BB. I had a morning to myself in "town" quite early one day, before most shops were open, and I wandered past some of my favourite places just to say 'hi'.

Back in the olden days, "the nineteens" (i.e. 1980s, 1990s; as Master 7 says), I went to school in the inner city. A bus, train and a tram, then a walk, and we were there. This opened up the city to us as we all travelled some distance to get there, and we spent a good deal of time in the city after and before school.

We knew lots of short-cuts and lane-ways, places to go, hideaway spots, parks, fountains, cafes, and shops. The Sportsgirl Centre was being built, as too was Southbank, McDonald's was underground, and we'd meet the guys from the boys' school Under The Clocks.


courtesy Flickr
I love reminiscing as I walk around the streets. The Hill of Content Bookshop where I bought "Joseph and His Technicolour Coat" illustrated by Quentin Blake in the mid-eighties. Pellegrini's where a glass of Fruit Cup is available at any time to go with magnificent minestrone. Where an old boyfriend got Mark Seymour's autograph for me before an underage "Hunna's" concert at the (gulp, how embarassing...) Metro...


Ancient Times' House where I discovered my love of all things Ancient and Egyptian. A mummified cat sticks in my mind. Little Lonsdale Street where Dad took me to my first Archeological dig in 1983, a dig I went on to study at uni ten years later!


Job Warehouse which has NEVER been open when I have gone past! Now For Lease - tragic end of an era. Those moths have been in the windows for DECADES.


The Manchester Unity Building - a gem of Art Deco (sorry Steve, Moderne) architecture.


The Nicholas Building where I love riding in the old-style, hand-operated lifts. Of course one must visit Button Mania...



At the end of the day though, hopping on a tram is the best reminiscence of them all. Catch a tram to This Park , which has old ones that we used to ride to school as play structures for kids. They've been a drawcard for years. Despite numerous vandal attacks however, they are restored and ready for you any time you fancy a picnic. My two thought they were brilliant!