colour me pretty: blue monday

Leya over at Curious Bird has organised a week of colour for this week and wouldn't you know it both sets of camera batteries were flat so now I'm ready to get started only 4 days late! I'm so looking forward to kids returning to school and some routine returning to this household! These little fragments of blue and white china were all found recently down by the river, so many different patterns and vessels. Keep checking back as I have to catch up on purple, yellow and pink, then stripes or plaids.

China finds

Two small bowls brimming with old china finds from the last few weeks, starting to find several pieces of different patterns. These pieces still need to be washed and scrubbed clean but they aren't too bad considering they have been around for over 100 years.

Walking socks

One more pair of socks completed, they fit great and will be very useful with the nasty cold snap we have been experiencing lately. Notice the striping is almost identical in each sock, just a nice stroke of luck rather than good management. I have been very envious of my friend Dee's latest socks on her needles so am being a copy cat and making myself a pair too, really great lacy pattern that is so very simple. The pattern 'Spring Forward' is from the latest issue of Knitty and can be found right here, easy to follow instructions and all is going well just about to start the heel flap. Sorry my photo doesn't show the patterning, you will have to wait until I finish one so I can try it on and show you or have a look at Dee's gorgeous stripey one. I am using a plain pale pink Lang Jawoll sock yarn that comes with a small spool of fine wool to knit into the heels and toes which suffer the most wear and tear, what a great idea!

I have been out walking today, round the neighbourhood and then back along the river and I stumbled across a third piece of the same old china vessel, this is the largest piece so far and has quite a bit of lovely blue patterning. Anybody recognise the design? The seas have been really rough which is always good for uncovering more old china treasures for me to spy while wandering along the shores.

Lazy Sunday

We've decided we are going to have a cooked Sunday lunch as often as we can. Dear Husband works every third weekend so 2 out of 3 won't be bad. Even though it's almost winter it's warm and sunny out in the garden most days so we will cook outdoors. We built a pizza oven in our backyard a while back and it still doesn't have a mosaicked bench top but it cooks beautifully. Yesterday we had a pizza lunch with some friends who came bearing gifts and 4 mosaic books in loan including Kaffe Fassetts' which should inspire me to get this project underway. My girlfriend knows I hate getting my fingers mucky so she offered to come and help me with this big project. Maybe I will be able to incorporate the old china I have been finding into this mosaic work? Sorry, I forgot to take photos of the pizzas and yummy salad we indulged in, it was delish. I think we will do a roast dinner for our next lazy Sunday lunch.

1/30

Hot breath.

I have chosen to work on improving my macro capabilities, this opportunity has come about through a lovely blogger named Laura of orange flower where a challenge has been set for 30 days and the photos will appear on a Flickr group. Not sure if I will keep up with the daily challenge but at this stage I would like to so keep your eyes open and you might see some improvements. I use a Canon S3IS Powershot camera and the only photo editing software I have is ArcSoft photo Studio for Canon which I have never used, all my usual adjustments are done in the free to download Google Picasa2. I have so much to learn and am really looking forward to learning how my camera actually works in manual mode and all about lighting. The photo today is from my ever growing collection of old china pieces I am finding locally, an interesting window into the lives of the early settlers of this area and very therapeutic for me to wander the foreshore for a few minutes every couple of days. I think these two pieces are possibly from one vessel and I love the fire breathing dragon warming the naked man. Does anyone recognise this pattern or the maker, the only mark on the back of the floral piece is a blue letter 'C'.

Click on the photos for closer viewing.

Guess what.........it's my 300th post

I can't quite believe I have written that number of posts and my blog isn't even 1 year old. I have been a bad blogger so far this year but the distraction of family home for the holidays really ruined my creativity both on my blog and in my sewing room, even knitting at night in front of the TV.

Now I'm back on track, Surfer Boy and Darling Daughter went off HAPPILY to school yesterday and again today. I was smiling too! A visit to my hairdresser and then a few hours in town doing bits and bobs. Today I have been fiddling around in the vege patch and cooking up a mini storm in the kitchen. I made some really tasty passionfruit cordial, so much fruitier than any store bought cordial without all the additives and colours.

I just went for a stroll down to the river and found a single piece of old china and this made me really happy as I haven't found much lately with all the tourists flocking around down there. When I got home I knew I had another piece of the same design and guess what.................they fit together. Now this is good news as this confirms my suspicions that I know the actual site these come from, they haven't just floated in on a tide. They are both fire damaged and from much reading at our local library and online I have discovered there was a timber mill in the late 1800's alongside our river and it burnt to the ground around the turn of the century bringing timber milling to an end in this area. Was this the lunchroom at the mill maybe or the owners kitchen, still more questions.

So thank you to my regular readers and anyone new. I love hearing from any of you, it brightens my day to make contact with fellow bloggers and blog readers as I live out of town and work from home, I need adult converstaions to keep me going. I promise to get my blogging back on track so you have something interesting to see and read regularly. Thank you also to a kind friend who this morning phoned me before she went off to work to check that I was ok because I hadn't answered he most welcome emails and I wasn't blogging, so very kind.

Old or new

Here are some of the more interesting patterned pieces of old china I have found, just cleaned them up a bit and they are laying out drying off. Does anyone recognise these patterns or know their possible age? Might have to go and check with a local antiques dealer. They look like old designs to me and they appear aged because they have been tossing around in the water and along the shore for goodness knows how long. I don't expect to find a whole piece but the variety of patterns and the 'hunt' just keeps me going and I'm outdoors walking!

Click on the photo for a closer inspection please.

Buried treasure

Been having fun down at the river finding remnants of the past inhabitants of our area. I've been wondering about all the names on the monument at the old cemetery but have never known what there lives would have been like. They obviously had a variety of pottery and china and some is even beautifully decorated with colour. Why is it where I found it? Who knows but I am sure enjoying scrounging around in the sunshine.