A gift

My lovely sister n law Em gave me this gorgeous basket of goodies on Friday.

It's a thank you gift as I've started looking after my nieces one morning a week while Em returns to part time work.

It was such a nice surprise - I certainly was'nt expecting it.

The basket contains all home made cleaning products:

Cleaning paste
Antibacterial spray
Lemon dusters (lemon soaked cleaning cloths)
Hand cleaner

Em has handmade all these goodies using the recipes in one of my favourite books - A Home Companion by Wendyl Nissen.

 

My favourite gift in the basket are the Lemon Dusters.  These strips of cleaning cloths have been
soaked in water, vinegar, lemons and lemon essential oil.  The smell that these little cloths leave in the room is just amazing.

Here is the recipe:

½ cup water
½ cup white vinegar
3–4 lemons
6 drops lemon essential oil
6 to 8 dusters (made from old towels, nappies or sheets)

• Mix equal quantities of water and white vinegar in a bowl. Add lemon essential oil, soak your clean dusters in the bowl for a few minutes and squeeze so that they are damp.
• Peel the rind off the lemons and lay a couple of pieces on each cloth. Roll up cloths lengthwise, then roll the other way into a ball. Place these in the jar one on top of each other, throw in the occasional extra piece of rind and screw on the lid.
• Take the dusters out when you need to use them, and if they aren’t too soiled you can roll them back up and use them again.

I love a handmade gift.  I can't help thinking about all the care and time that went into making these.

Thank you so much Em xo

An evening walk

Last night after dinner we went for our first evening walk in the vineyard since the warmer weather has started creeping in.

 

We bundled George up in a warm blanket and into his pram as there was a coolish wind blowing.

 

Tom and puppy Charlie ran ahead so excited to be running about outside as sun set over the hills.

 

I can't wait to make this an evening ritual.  A nice ending to the day.

 

 

 

 

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Anyone for tennis (sets)?

I mean Duraware tennis sets..............

 

Making it's first appearance in the early 1960's this crockery was made of a dense tough plastic which would not break when dropped.

I found 4 Duraware tennis sets (does anyone know why they call them this?) and within a week of having them I dropped the cups on a tile floor and broke all but one of them - I think I may have cried.   I thought they were not supposed to break!

I have since replaced a yellow cup and am still on the lookout for a maroon and army green one.  This week I found two more sets, another yellow and a very gorgeous pale baby blue set.

I love these - they are so cute and the colours so vibrant.  They are great for children to use, Tom likes using these for his milo and biscuit.

Back in the day I think they were mainly used for picnicing.  Today people are snapping them up (if you can find them) for the same thing and they are of course popular for fitting out retro caravan kitchens with.




Image courtesy of Bach54

 

I would love to fit out a picnic basket with Duraware!  Do you remember family picnics with Duraware or something similar?

Have a lovely weekend!

The postmans been....

I've had a few treats come in the post this week.

These days I tend to shop mainly for the kids.  So I thought it was time I added a few things to my wardrobe.  I'm a beginner sewer so dream of the day I can make a few of my own clothes.

We don't have any big shopping malls here or lovely big department stores.  We have some great shops in town but I tend to shop online when it comes to clothing for me.

My favourite arrival is this dress below.  It has an amazing fox print all over it.  It can be worn as a short summer dress (with cute tan strappy sandals I thought) or as a tunic top over leggings or skinny jeans.

 

 

What has the postman bought to your door lately?

A vintage quilt

A recent find..............

This gorgeous vintage quilt.

 

 

It is so nice to find a boys quilt as these types of patterns don't come up very often.  Most quilts I come across are more suited for girls - pretty florals etc.  I'm always on the lookout for old quilts in great condition - especially for the wee men in my life.  Sadly Bell is very set on what she wants in her bedroom now.  Currently on her wishlist is a "GLEE" duvet cover.  No more pinks, purples, butterflies and fairies for her.

 

The colours are still lovely and bright. The inner is no longer thick but the material is lovely and soft. It looks like it may be barkcloth.

 

 

The colours are a great match with the bunting I have in the playroom.

 

 

 

I have it on a couch in the playroom at the moment but once the heavy blankets come off Tom's bed I think I will use it in his room as a summer bed cover.  This lovely quilt is also a really decent size so will look great on Tom's bed.

The Vineyard

A few photos of the vineyard - it is'nt ours by the way.  Just very lucky to have one "over the fence".

It is changing so quickly at the moment.

The vines were pruned just over a month or so ago and they are alreading showing buds and lovely green leaves.

There are often tractors buzzing around - the guys always wave out to the boys and often stop to say hello which the boys love.

When there is no one about it's a safe place for us to go for walks with our puppy Charlie and the kiddies can run around with out the worry of cars about.

Amazing to think that these will one day be holding grapes which will eventually be made into lovely wine for me all to enjoy!

Sunshine and icecream

It felt like summer here over the weekend.  The temperature reached 23 degrees.  We applied sunscreen for the first time in months.

Mr H took the boys out Saturday morning so I got to go into town for coffee and a bit of shopping. And picked up my lovely chairs!

Homemade pizza for dinner Saturday night.

Bell was at a friends farm all weekend riding horses.  She arrived home Sunday night saddle sore but very happy.

We ventured out to the beach for sea air and ice cream.  It was so beautiful out there.

The boys played outside each evening till it got dark.

Daylight savings started.....................

 

 

 

First week of the school holidays start today. Looking forward to the warm weather staying around for a bit.......................