Today I'm coming to you from vintage heaven, also known as my mum's house!!!!!!! Over the years, this home has been fondly referred to as a museum, a time warp and a place where 'it all works'. Lately my mum has been flinging open her cupboards and getting rid of some stuff. I have been helping her and it has been lots of fun.
Just today I got an email from my childhood school friend who now lives in New Zealand. Nicola is bringing her mum back to our old suburb to check it out and she wrote me the following:
Hi Caz
on tuesday 13th, I'm going to take mum to T to look at the old house etc
do you see your mum on a tuesday usually?
if so, want to meet up somewhere there with mum (as in, with your mum)
and with my mum?
tuesday we will probably be out and about and wed we leave at 5pm for singapore for 3 nights.
nic
When I wrote back and said I'd love to, Nicola replied
cool! will keep you posted and call you sunday night when I am in sydney to confirm etc
yes, lets do morning tea at mums in the posh lounge. Ill bring some cake.
that would be so fun!
nic
So this room seems to have made an impression on one of my little childhood friends
This is the 'posh lounge' that Nicola so sweetly refers to. Full of lots of 60's Nordic inspired Parker furniture, with the odd family heirloom thrown in. It's been the hub of my family home. I recall playing monopoly in there on play dates. I remember sitting in this lounge room after attending my first day of high school, at a very exclusive Sydney girls' school, that I so didn't want to go to, looking up through the massive floor to ceiling windows at a gum tree branch and feeling very alone in the world. I remember entertaining boyfriends as a teenager in here, in a fruitless attempt to gain some privacy, as my parents hunkered down in the family room keeping an eye on things through the not so sound proof wooden louvre doors. I also remember returning from the hospital after my father died, to a bottle of wine and two glasses left on the coffee table, that he had drunk out of for the last time, whilst entertaining a mate. But what I remember most about it, is the good times, namely the wonderful parties.
My parents were fabulous entertainers. Although mum always cooked for guests, my parents were both great cooks and my father was a fabulous recounter of stories and jokes, so they were a wonderful double act. A dinner invitation from them was a highly coveted prize amongst their friends......I know 'cause people used to say so. Things like, 'I didn't eat lunch today cause I was coming to your place for dinner' or 'I just thought yippee, we're going to Marlie and Brian's for dinner tonight' Later as my parents' choice of entertaining become the long lunch, it was not unusual for guests to be still at the lunch table well into the evening laughing and carrying on.
I also believe this may be why I married an older man. I really enjoyed the company of my parent's friends.
So this is how the table often looked. Many courses, the table set elegantly, with every detail just so. As I was mucking around with this setting, mum was saying things like, 'Oh you've got the fish knives out, so you'll need to put out the knife rests for those'. Or 'The table looks bare, put out the silver wine caddies'
After I shot it, I didn't want to put it away, it was so lovely in the moment. Mum and I made up a guest list of people we would love to sit down with for just one more meal. Impossible I'm afraid. But I didn't want it to end. 'That's OK' said mum, 'Leave it 'til the next time you're here and you can do it then'.
After this little play, we went through some of the other stuff. This is mum's mink stole from the 1950's, which I just loved. It fitted me like a glove. My new 10 kg lighter body that is.
And would you believe my c.1960's baby pram. It's a little rusted and chippy but the bassinet was as new after I scrubbed it clean.
Another dinner set, this time Wedgewood 70's retro. I kinda like it!!!!
and one of my pieces that I have recently put into an auction. A saucer chairs and table setting. These are highly collectible and I grabbed this before it went into the skip at a house clearance near the Beach House. It was getting ruined in the salt air, so I thought I might as well sell before it is totally trashed.
And that's it from me today. I hope you have enjoyed my little walk down memory lane with you!!!!!!
I've had a great response to my weight loss tips post. It seems to have touched alot of you. It's been the most clicked on post at several parties this week. I so don't want to sound glib, but it hasn't been that hard and I've lost another kilo since I posted it. It's funny cause up until now, I have always found it very hard. I almost wasn't going to get on the scales at mum's this time cause I had only done it 2 weeks before. But I broke my own rules and nearly fell off the scales when I had dropped another kilo. Not sure if cause I haven't been able to exercise properly because of the school holidays and muscle weighs more than fat. Anyway, next up I will share with you a typical meal that has helped me loose the weight. Lucky I love salad.....Yum !!!!
Today I am Partying here
Show and Tell Friday
