Vintage doilies love & The Fabric Cave in Sydney

Found in Bentleigh

Found at the Fabric Cave in Ryde, Sydney. Excuse the lack of ironing.

Why don't we have a charity shop like the Fabric Cave in Melbourne? 
Or do we? 


If you are heading to Sydney, it is worth the drive to Ryde 
(about an hour - depending on the traffic) from town. 
Warning it is only open on Monday and Friday and from 10am  - 2 pm.  


Due to a 4 hour delayed flight and losing my luggage and heavy traffic from the airport,  
I only had 15 minutes to look through the two little stores. One has fabric and the other has buttons, threads, patterns, doilies and other bits and bobs. I could have spent much more. 
The ladies are lovely and they do not over charge. 
You can park easily outside and sometimes inside. The shops are near the oval. 

Vintage sheet from an Opp Shop (Charity Shop)  in Botany.




This little shop was one my late mother visited often because we both lived not far away. 
I dropped lots of stuff off there before I left Sydney. 

Big babies in Melbourne

Angels-Demons. Parade by Moscow art collective AES+F.


Giant babies part of the Melbourne Festival 

Angels-Demons. Parade out side the National Gallery of Victoria

I have to go and find the other three babies in Swanson Street.

One more day before Term 4 starts. 

Day 7 - Students and scissors

Purple sprouting broccoli - oh sew pretty but where is the rest?

I love my garden. I am always looking for new things to plant in my tiny space. For years I have been watching British TV programmes with Purple Spouting Broccoli. No one sells the seedlings, so I had to grow these from seed. I had 6 beautiful large plants over winter and this is the result. One tiny head.

Now I can buy it from my local farmers market. Next year I will grow 'broccolini' or 'broccolette" again. I have much more success with that.

Farmers Market Purple spouting broccoli

Being the good Home Economics/Food Technology teacher that I am, I spent the morning with two students at the Wheelers Hill Library. Their complicated -  3 term folio is due Monday and like most kids  much of the work has been left to the last moment. 

I then zoomed across town to Northcote to a 'Scissor Sharpening' lunch party at the lovely Nicole's design studio.

I met up with crafty friends and made some new. I always find it weird meeting bloggers.

Don't get me wrong. I read their blogs, I look at their photos of their homes and kids and I feel like I know them but I don't.

I met up with Bec (who I have know for 4 years and is also ex-Sydney), Brianna,  (South Side Brown Owls and Michelle (from Pearl 8 and South side Brown Owls).

I met for the first time Lara and her girls, Claire, Karen, Melanie and Juddie. I met a few more girls but I can't remember their names and blogs. I am too shy to bounce up to everyone and introduce myself.

I must say Melbourne crafty girls are a very friendly lot.

These lovely seedlings were grown by Nicole's sister  and were being given away downstairs. 

She works in a nursery and had planted far to many Diggers seeds. Many thanks Leonie and Nicole. They will be planted out in the next couple of days. 

On the way home I spotted a couple of my pom-poms in Pip's window. 

Day 6 Spring Garden

Spring in my Melbourne garden

Wedding bunting

I am very excited because a few new things are growing successfully in the garden this year. 

Elder flowers - hoping to make Elder flower sparkling wine. Can you call it champagne?

Snow ball bush (virburnum) which reminds me of my mother. She always had one growing in her garden. 

Sweet peas - part of my tiny cutting garden. 

Raspberry flowers and tiny fruit forming. Better get the nets on before the pesky birds get them.


Off to do some cleaning (boring), much needed pruning and finish the wedding bunting for a friend from work.
Need to gather all my scissors for a crafty catch up and 'sharpen' afternoon tea, tomorrow in Northcote.

I am late but determined to join in Blogtober

I have been busy and away but want to join in Blogtober. I finished this lovely summer quilt for Deborah who turned 4. I forgot to take a photo of the finished quilt which is now in Sydney. Back in Melbourne town.

Pom poms in the garden

My garden in Melbourne.

 I live in a small and quiet South East Suburb of Melbourne that people love to buy into because of the excellent high school and two lovely primary schools. 

There is a particularly good quilting shop nearby. 

People are friendly and the children stop in the morning and afternoon to pat the dog. My main garden is in the front. My backyard is just a courtyard with a small garden bed and pots.

My garden used to look like this.

Now it is lush and green and has raised beds.

I grow aspagarus, a number of lettuces, mizunas, mibuna, herbs, raspberries, flowers and have 3 fruit trees. The fruit trees have lost their leaves but I can see the little buds appearing on the 2 plumbs and the White Mulberry.

Now when people look through my gate to pat the dog and peer into the garden to see what I am growing they will see pom poms and foam butterflies as well.

Looks like a macaron pom pom.

Cavello Nero - Black Tuscan Cabbage loved by White Butterflies. The foam butterflies attached with fishing line are there to confuse the real butterflies. I have had less attacks and the cabbages and purple sprouting broccoli is doing incredibly well. 

Made with fast plastic templates.

Made the old fashioned way with a ring of cardboard.

Many thanks to Tania for the inspiration. 

Wool and Sheep Show Bendigo 2011

Australian Wool and Sheep Show 2011 Woolcraft, wool for spinning, felting, knitting and crochet.

Farm supplies, produce, rides for the kids and lamb to cook.

Goats

Black and Coloured Sheep

Competitions and serious business

Wool for felting from ewegivemetheknits, Glenoraweaving - beautiful superfine merino 'twists' and

Lara-downs from Fitzroy. 

But where were the cute Alpacas? http://www.alpaca.asn.au/ 

There was plenty of their wool to buy but no Alpaca tent. 

Preparing for competition.

Seriously, a fun day out with the lovely Mary who drove. The weather was gorgeous. 

I supported local suppliers, had a yummy Yabby Pie (would have gone back for the bisque) in the sun watching the sheep dog trials and added to the stash. 

What am I making today? A pom pom. Something I have not made since Year 9. I remember making 3 large blue pom pom's to wear on a clown costume for  Oh What a lovely war - musical.