Thrifted lately

Another chenille blanket..I know I need it like a hole in the head! I wouldn't have taken it home with me..honestly! BUT we have something special in the pipeline and I've got a vision of chenille blankets spread across our back lawn. Think family, friends and picnic dinner with a kaleidoscope of chenille.

Also found were these lovely wooden spools. They have so much character don't they? Who knew a bag a cotton reels could bring so much joy-organising in arrays, building towers, sorting by colours, shape and size.

Beautiful doilies!I'm thrilled with these. Doilies are few and far between theses days and these ones are gorgeous! Love a 50c price tag too.

I hope you've found some treasures lately too.
I'm linking in with Max and the other show off's. 

A snapshot of July

July has been another busy month with loads of good things for our family.
Lots of special moments and lots of opportunities and rewards for which I am very grateful.

• School holidays with special friends. I treasure these times and the memories being made. 

• We went to the movies to see 'Dispicable Me 2' as well as Ten Pin Bowling. There were park days and playdates, visits to the library and a morning at the Naidoc celebrations. A fun filled holiday that's for sure!
• Our Great Nanna Belle turned 100! Yes! Isn't that amazing! We had a high tea to celebrate with a constant stream of visitors and a three piece band-thanks to our nephew and his muso friends. The oldies smiled and clapped along. It was just lovely. I felt very teary as I watched Nan throughout the day. 100! Just incredible really! While she didn't reallly remember all the family and friends celebrating with her, she soaked up the celebrations and enjoyed being the centre of attention.

• Bonfire and a camp oven roast. Again! Well tis the season isn't it?

• Saturday morning soccer. Bitterly cold. We hit the fields at 8.30am each week.
• A day with baby Harmony.  Love her little pout in this picture. I think it's important to capture the spectrum of faces.

• The Mister got a new job! It is a bit daunting to be leaving his current position but he's been there a looong time and wants to sink his teeth into something new. He has been looking for a while and the stars have finally aligned. It just feels like the right thing and the right time. Fingers crossed.
• Our big girl applied for a scholarship. The very worthy recipient was a high school student but our girl came runnerup! She won an ipad and made the local paper. She did such a great job writing her application and was beside herself with her win. There were over 70 applicants so she did very well. We are so happy for her. It has been a great year for her this year. The past few years have been quite the challenge for her (and us at times!) and so my mama heart is just so happy that she is having some success, has made some new friends and developed a bit more confidence. She is finding her niche and the things that make her happy.
• The children performed for Education Week. Choir for Ollie, dance, choir and band for Boo. On top of this, they had a school disco and each celebrated a friends birthday.
• A bbq at Bunnings for CF. Just over a thousand dollars raised! So grateful for our family and friends that give up so much of their time.
• I have been working between one and three days each week. It is busy. (Remember I have been a stay at home mama for 12 years!) We are managing okay and the children have coped very well with the transition. We had takeaway twice this week(real takeaway too-pizza and McDonalds eww) but I balanced it out with a roast tonight ;)
• We finished up the month with a big night out for G's work farewell.

August, I wonder what you have in store for us.

The Swap Meet and the Best Ever Chocolate Brownie

Last weekend we headed off to the swap meet. I love browsing through the stalls. There's lots of good stuff to look at,some of it pretty pricy and geared towards the collector but there's also a tonne of bric a brac for the rummagers, like myself. I snavelled a few treasures and a couple of bargains.

There were some beautiful pieces of depression glass priced at $50 plus so when I spotted this one on a junky old stall for $10, I jumped on it. It's my second piece now...a collection yes?!

Cheerful linen teatowels, $5 a piece.

One lone doily, $1.00

Some vintage tins, $4.00 for the pie tin and 50c each for the cupcake tins-I picked up two. These old tins will be used in my sewing room to house vintage buttons and other treasures.

Some lovely friends of ours live a couple of minutes walk from the showgrounds where the swap meet is held. It is always SO crazy busy, so lucky for us we have a place to park. Afterwards we headed back to their place for lunch and the neighbourhood children-including theirs had set up a cake stall in their street. It was doing a roaring trade and we couldn't resist buying a few chocolate brownies-straight out of the oven.

My friend Annie happened to have her neighbours recipe and I scribbled down a copy. I made a batch yesterday arvo. The kids got off the school bus to warm brownies for afternoon tea and they have been declared the 'best ever' chocolate brownies. Do yourself a favour and make a batch soon!

They are actually called Speedy Chocolate Brownies but of course we have renamed them at our place.

8oz melted butter
3/4 cup cocoa
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 1/3 cup gluten free flour
1/4 tsp baking powder (gluten free)

* I used regular flour and baking powder

Place all ingredients in a bowl and mix together with electric beaters.
Line 20x25cm tin with baking paper.
Pour mixture in and bake at 170 deg cel for approx 40 minutes.
Test with a skewer. This recipe is best undercooked.

The end result will be a lovely moist brownie with the perfect amount of crunch on top!
Enjoy!

Making, baking, photo taking

Firstly, thank you for your lovely comments on my last post. I'm a little unsure where my blog fits these days and I often wonder about my sporadic posting, whether to blab on about life as we know it or not. While I tend not to share too many details here...both my running and my returning to work has been a big deal for me so I thank you for your encouragement. I have been trying to nurture me a bit a bit more this year and both these things have been dolly steps towards that.

So, I thought I'd share some recent making, baking and photo taking...after all that's what this blog is really about isn't it?!

So as well as pj making I stitched up an easy peasy skirt for the littlest love. A marriage of new and old-new fabric teamed with a thrifted doily and trim made from floral sheeting.

A spot of bunting is always fun to make too. Was great to snip into some of these treasures.

Sunday breakfast is like a cafe at our place. I cook for everyone and because they are all a bunch of fusspots, I usually make three or four different breakies. There are usually hasbrowns and blt's, omlette and french toast. Sometimes there's caramel apples. The Mr does the coffee. Always.
Recently, I baked a Blueberry Breakfast Cake. I will definately be adding this one to our breakie menu. It is absolutely divine.You will find it here. Definately worth making and best eaten still warm.

I've been very slack with my photo taking lately, opting for the handy iphone in my back pocket. I love the ease of snapping a quick pic and have had a bit of fun playing with an app or two. A real mish mash of images but each spoke to me in one way or another.

 Have a great weekend! I am off to the swap meet. Hopefully I'll have some spectacular show n tell to share.

A snapshot of May...and June

• Family day at the races
• Our boys had a weekend in Melbourne cheering on their team.
• Mother's Day-Lulu's first preschool present, spilt porridge and many tears from my big girl who wanted everything to be just perfect for her mama.
• CF Clinic review for the big girl
• 65 Roses Day fundraising
• We enjoyed the last of the autumn colour.
• A wonderful weekend with our special friends Yvette and Tassy-cooking, laughing, eating and more!
• The kids had a great day with their Daddy and Grandy in the vintage car rally.
• The cool weather required a spot of pyjama making-3 pairs with plans for more!
• Fresh farm eggs gifted from one of Boo's school friends.
• Unexpected happy mail from thoughtful blogging friends.
• I ran 10km. I have never been a runner but I have been learning. Slowly but surely I am getting there. 
• I had my first day of paid work in 12 years! Yes. It was a big leap for me after being at home for sooo long. I loved it though! 
• We went to watch Monsters University at the movies.
• We watched Boo's band concert.
• We took the big kids to a fabulous concert at our local theatre and watched our drummer boy nephew perform.
• Our big girl represented her school in Public Speaking and came 2nd place. She was totally thrilled. We were so proud of her efforts and so happy to see her shining. 
• Last but not least...Bonfire at the farm with family and friends. The stuff the childhood memories are made of. 

 Phew!

Collections

How many chenille bedspreads is too many?
My collection has grown. I might have too many.
Sometimes they make home on the children's beds. The boy likes to snuggle under one on the couch. They make a nice picnic blanket and a colourful cubby.

 They make a lovely, snuggly quilt back as well.

I remember having lolly pink chenille on my bed when I was tiny. Maybe 4 or 5. Did you as well?

Thrifted lately

1. Apple glasses...oh my goodness! these were picked up at an old wares store. A little more than oppy prices but a couple from my set had been broken so I was very happy to find these.
2. Fabric. The navy floral has already been fashioned into some jarmie pants for the little one.
3. Doily love.
4. Burnt orange florals. I can feel a Summer wrap skirt coming on.
5. Pottery jug, made in Italy.
6. Fabric and buttons, always room for more of both.

Have you been thrifting lately?
Linking in with the lovely Max.