milk glass

atop the mantle piece is my milk glass collection

soothing me

with white soft light whispers 

exhausting me

brash red, green, orange and blue enamel teapots gone

for now

a gift from my girl kat..because i love chooks

photo bombed by sourdough baguettes! 

it has 'avon' on the base but i don't hold that against it

large cake stand (too big for the mantle piece)

my bread needs to get over itself!

chestnut cupcakes with chestnut butter cream

chestnut cupcakes with chestnut butter cream

tea with hazel

makes 12

ingredients 

chestnut cupcakes

3 large eggs

125 gms castor sugar

150 gms almond meal

300 gms unsweetened chestnut puree

3/4 teaspoon (tsp) baking powder

1 tsp vanilla essence (i used my own)

chestnut butter cream

65 gms butter

3-4 tablespoons (tbs) chestnut puree

pure icing sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla essence (i used my own)

extra

finely shaved dark chocolate

method

cupcakes

~ beat eggs and sugar until thick and creamy

~ add chestnut puree, almond meal, baking powder and vanilla essence and mix until incorporated

~ pour the mix into a jug and divide mix between 12 hole paper case lined muffin tin

~ bake at 180 deg c for 30 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer

~ remove the cupcakes from tin to cool on a cooling rack

chestnut butter cream

~ beat the butter and chestnut puree until smooth
~ add vanilla and enough icing sugar to make a smooth, thick, mix

cupcake assembly

~ remove a 2 cm circle by 2 cm deep piece of cake from the centre of each cupcake
~ fill the cavity with a large teaspoon of chestnut butter cream
~ dust with chocolate

the cup, plate and vase are all recent op shop finds

the teapot is a recent purchase from a second hand shop in castlemaine

i bought it to join identical red, blue and orange op shop purchased teapots

i'd love to find yellow, brown, black and white ones to match

handkerchief quilt progress

i haven't managed to get much time nor have i had the head space to work on my handkerchief quilt lately but even so i've managed to applique ten handkerchiefs to their backing fabric..just fifteen to go before i start putting the individual pieces together..a day and a half tidying my studio means i can get to my projects much easier now and the order helps encourage creativity..

one of three handkerchiefs sent to me by the lovely jane at shady baker

the handkerchief my mother had at her debut

do you find messy spaces get in the way of your creativity?

vintage floral enamel

this lucky find was bought for $1 on the weekend!

i store my tea in this lidded pot..it's the perfect size for the one and a
half packets of tea i use to make my mix

i found this little lidded cup among my mother's things..
it fits perfectly in my bathroom cupboard  

if only i'd learned to like floral enamel earlier because unfortunately it's rare to find any these days

where's the bread and butter?

i bought these plates from an op shop this week for $5

royal albert

foley

duchess

swinnerton's staffordshire 'luxor vellum'

ridgeway potteries queen anne 

royal stafford 'blue bird'

aynsley

here's the bread..just out of the oven!

organic sourdough whey (from making ricotta) bread

and a slice cut, buttered and eaten before it's cooled

have a happy weekend x

vintage things

children's vintage handkerchiefs

i've been collecting these hankies for a few years
with a view to making a child's patchwork quilt
with them

 adult vintage handkerchiefs and doilies

i have dozens of embroidered and patterned handkerchiefs
and embroidered doilies..they're also for quilt making..
i particularly like these hand embroidered birds

i also love these hand embroidered animals..there's so
much work in them..the dog's my favourite

vintage towels

i found these brand new towels yesterday..they all
still had their original price tags on them..
the floral ones are a canadian brand by the name of camtex
and the striped ones are made by tara

do you collect any vintage things?

if so, what do you collect and where do you go looking for them? 

random things

from the last few days..

left to right:

op shop doily purchased for $1 to be used in patchwork

op shop purchased johnson brothers plate from a set of 6 bread and butter and 6 dinner plates bought for $8

flowers picked from along a railway line heralding spring

roast pumpkin and capsicum soup garnished with yoghurt, parsley, chilli flakes and marigold petals

young's double chocolate stout, chilli and mushroom beef stew (served with champ)

sourdough bread

op shop treasure

i'd been feeling a bit disappointed with op shopping lately

i used to find treasure quite regularly at my local haunts but in the last few months i'd found nothing that i wanted

fortunately i hadn't completely lost heart because today when i visited them i found something in each three

there were two of these hidden away in a corner
they will join my other enamel cups

i bought these ($3 for the plate) from the same shop as the cup above

i bought this old chopping board ($3) today from an op shop that i had
 virtually stopped going to because it rarely has anything i want
it's in really good condition and according to the sales person
it had only been used to cut bread
i will give the top a light sand though and a coat of orange oil

i rarely see tea pots i want to buy but i love this blue metal pot ($4)
i'll only ever use it for decorative purposes though because
it's made of aluminium 

another aluminium tea pot ($5)

i bought the 2 metres of calico ($2) for christmas puddings
and the printed cotton baby sheet ($0.50) will be
used for patchwork

happy weekend..x

hand made bird cards

hand drawn with pen, ink and pastel on original vintage music scores 

named on the back along with a title reflecting the story portrayed  

even though they're time consuming i love making these bird cards..i often personalise them to reflect the personality, or an interest, of the recipient..for instance i've drawn shells on the sea shore (along with the bird) for someone who loves the beach and on another i did a sunset..