pilgrim: ten things you probably didn't know about me

image from boopsiedaisy

i was working on another post for today but it wasn't really happenin', you know? and when writing something is like pulling teeth, its probably not going to be much fun to read either. so inspired by pip's list of ten things i thought i'd join the fun. so here are 10 facts you probably didn't know about me:

1. i'm an only child and loved it. my son will be an only child too, and so far he seems ok with that.

2. about a month after growing in my adult teeth i knocked my front teeth in half swinging on the front gate. i've had the same caps (crowns) on since i was seven. i attribute this to careful brushing and a hatred of toffee/candy apples.

3. i've died my hair every color but green. i've even died it grey!

4. while living in england i unknowingly moved into the street where my great, great, great grandparents had been born and raised. i found out after living there for about five months and could then visit where they were married and where they boarded the ship to sail to south australia 166 years previous.

5. i've never learned to drive or ride a bike. i like staying in one place. except for when i don't!

6. when i was little i used to pretend to be a stylist/photographer, and i'd collect various themed objects from the house and then arrange them to photograph with a dodgy disposable camera. inevitably the photos were blurred and the concepts really hokey but i like to think i was limbering up for eventually blogging.

7. i play the cello and also the piano accordion, but never at the same time.

8. i love spooky stuff and the 'paranormal' but have a terribly overactive imagination. this = staying up late reading spooky things, and then staying up even later too terrified to sleep because my mind is inventing things to see.

9. my middle finger on both hands is crooked and curves toward my index finger (like i'm doomed to forever slightly be doing a vulcan hand sign. click for photo of proof). its a genetic quirk i inherited from my dad.

10. i only ever wear one ring: an opal ring made by my dad for my grandma rowie (my mum's mother)

draw! pilgrim time machine: a look back at oct '09

once every month, i invite you to step into the draw! pilgrim time machine to look back and recall a handful of posts you may have missed from six months ago. the engines are fired, the clocks calibrated and the calendars are revved.. back to october '09 we go!

its the very first 'as seen one etsy' post, featuring birds, butterflies and a walrus. not a combination you see everyday, but on this blog is pretty run of the mill. pass me another walrus!

i had a black and white theme week to give everyone's eyes a rest from all the color, and showed my vintage children's picture book 'the garden of abdul gazasi' by chris van allsburg. its filled with fine graphite pencil illustrations!

my lovely boy peter from i heart guitar wrote about some cool retro revival electric guitars. if you like guitars that look like rockets, cars or refrigerators then you'll enjoy this post.

and another part of my black and white theme week was a series of graphic black and white fashions.

and finally, here is a look back at a silly post on some fab '70s sears catalog fashions. shame this time machine won't go back far enough to snag me some of those dresses!

as seen on etsy: pretty sixties flowers

green mail sorter ✽ pyrex casserole lid ✽ flower mirror

pink juice glasses ✽ green plastic planter ✽ miami floral dress

trash basket enamel ✽ flower brooch

pretty sixties: a spring fresh palette with a twist of flower power!

can someone buy that green planter. i've been eyeing it off too long and i'm about 5 minutes away from caving in and buying it and putting it in my bedroom and filling it with fresh daisies! please, won't someone think of my hay fever! mercy!

7by7: April 9th 2010

eep! this is going up a bit late, but the last few days have been pretty busy and spent just dithering around the house. here's what's been going on:

have you seen my house? actually its not mine. but its near mine, and on easter sunday we went and had a picnic in the grounds of ripponlea estate. it was very idyllic.. except for the 200 other families doing the same thing!

this is the boating lake in ripponlea's grounds. isn't it pretty? imagine having a boating lake in your yard! sounds like too much work.. i'd have to feel guilty about not going boating. just as well i'll never need to worry about boating-lake-guilt in this lifetime!

and across a section of the boating lake is this pretty bridge. its all too much really. we crossed it and birds came and landed on us and we sang a song and then deers and other woodland creatures gamboled about with us, but when we got back to our picnic we found seven dwarves had eaten it. i guess thats the downside of having a fairy tale bridge in your garden.

extreme daisy close up!! it was such a sunny day a lot of the eggs hidden for the easter egg hunt had melted by the time the kids found them.

and the last precious stash of my favorite eggs. these used to be called 'noggi eggs' and were available in bags when i was a kid, but now they only come in a little kinder assortment box at easter. so when i get some they are very treasured. mmmm praline filled!

i can't remember if i've mentioned the kids room re-do i've been working on for far too long, but this rug is part of that. it arrived from urban outfitters a totally different color (grrr!) but after two rounds of fabric lightening and one nerve wracking die job its exaaaactly the color i wanted. satisfying!

hmmm what's going on here? you'll have to wait until next week to find out. can you stand the antici................pation?

sweet suite: vintage teen-dream bedroom set

as i was randomly wandering around the internet i discovered this amazing bedroom furniture set on retro renovation (i vicariously live through that fab blog)! please click through to see more pictures, its just incredible. the flowers, the typographic details, the awesome telephone booth seat!! excuse me.. i'm having a seizure of furniture related joy.

i see these sorts of vintage things online and just about hyperventilate. australia really doesn't have treasures like this. our small population has always meant a small range of consumer goods and so teenage bedrooms of the 60s were furnished pretty traditionally. there is no way something this far-out and groovy would've been mass produced here. so three cheers for the internet for giving me a peek into the hippest, grooviest teenage room styles of the american teen!

and now, if you'll excuse me, i'll continue that furniture-joy seizure...

images via retro renovation

book pile: 123

this vintage children's book comes from my lovely friend peta pledger who was kind enough to share her amazing stash of vintage treasures with me. over the next few months i'll be showing you some of the gems from her collections, and of course continuing sharing my own favorites.

having a little kid of my own has honed my appreciation for counting and alphabet books. previously i thought they were a bit meh, but now i adore the simplicity of a good ABC or 123 book. i'm a connoisseur of pre-school readers!

what immediately attracted me to this very simple book is the great type and colors. its all so bold and bright, and the icing on the cake is the fact that every page is slightly off-register, meaning the pages moved about during printing so the cyan, magenta, yellow and black don't line up and you get that trippy kind of 3D effect.

dig the groovy chairs and bells. yeah, so there is no story, and obviously i have a lot less to tell you about this book, so feel free to skim my inane chattering!

how many dollies can you see? and how many dollies come alive at night and eat your precious eye jellies? that's right! five!

i want all of those mugs. all of them. come into my kitchen, mugs, and i will look after you.

these houses are so cute! if only my neighborhood was filled with houses this colorful. we rent, but i don't think our owner would mind if we decided to paint the exterior vivid lilac, hot pink and lime green, do you think?

i just love these big chunky numbers! there was a house in our street that had a big number seven in this 'playbill' kind of style, and i kept forgetting to take a photo of it until last month... but they've replaced the fence and the number is gone!! so let that be a lesson to ye. fascinating story, non?

as seen on etsy: three fruity outfits

yellow cape ✽ apple babydoll dress ✽ color block dress

yellow and navy checkered scarf ✽ red white and blue purse ✽ blue and green shoes and bag

'times' tote bag ✽ apple buckle mary janes

three outfits, for your consideration. one lemon, one apple, one lime! fruity.