Vintage bottle found at the Dump over 40 years ago!

Mum discovered this bottle wrapped in an old cane basket at her local rubbish dump about 40 years ago. Actually I think she was pregnant with me at the time... (do the math) - Anyway, she asked the guy at the dump if she could have it, and it ended up being proudly displayed in our living room for my entire family life. Both my sisters and I used to roll around on it on the carpet when we were very little. I borrowed this beautiful bottle for our Inside Out Magazine photo shoot as I knew Mum would get a huge thrill if it ended up in the mag. (wait and see!)

My new Blue Demijohn. Hestor the Cat likes it too!

Then during one of my recent visits to Three Card Trick I spotted this stunning Demijohn Blue number and had to have it. My purchase decision was mainly inspired by my Mum. Not that I really need a big bottle, but Mum has always been a bottle collector and so maybe, just maybe I am taking over from her?

From the Angaston Hospital 40 years ago.

When I phoned her to let her know about my bottle find, we started talking about glass in general and how amazing it is and how it can be sterilized and reused over and over.

It made me think of a bottle that I found in storage that I had saved from Mum's original collection, and told her how I am now using it to store my olive oil. I asked her if she remembered this bottle with the embossed measurements running in both directions on the side - so they can be read if the bottle is hanging upside down.

She told me the bottle was given to her full of baby formula when she left the Angaston hospital after giving birth to me!!! How amazing is that...! And now it sits on my kitchen bench and I use it everyday.

Not quite a "message in a bottle", but a pretty good story and I treasure this bottle even more now!

Toodle-pip!

I found this useful 1950/1960s clothes rack on the side of the road last week. Sorry, but I forgot to take a 'before' photo prior to cleaning it... but basically it was showing signs of rust, probably from sitting outside for some time, and was pretty filthy too!

I just couldn't let this one go to landfill, so with a bit of elbow grease and sandpaper I was determined to bring a sparkle back to this beauty.


I simply covered the coloured plastic coated bars with paper to protect them from any over spray. Traditionally the frames were painted in a dark green, but I had a can of black paint lying around so thought that would do.


I am thrilled with the result. Almost as good as new. Quite a handy little fellow that folds down neatly. Looks like I will also be using it as a prop for a fabric / homewares photo shoot next month too! YAY!

Toodle-pip!

It Begins

The jaws go straight in...

No mercy...

Dreams turned to rubble.

The sun was shinning, but there seemed to be a grey cloud hovering over my street today. Sadly the house 2 doors down from us was demolished. I walked past a couple of times to take the photos above, and felt an overwhelming sense of sadness coming from the remains of this home.

It is amazing to think that this lovely home was once someone's life dream, would have probably taken months to build, and yet within a few short hours the only thing remaining is a pile of rubble.

I was disappointed to know that the owners and demo company in charge did not salvage anything from the building. I don't understand why, there were beautiful floor boards, windows, solid wood internal doors, and the original 1950s bathroom with pink tiles and blue bath! Oh yeah, did I mention all of the original hardwood and stone that would have been useful for other building projects. WHAT A WASTE!

On the weekend I went through the house. The blinds and light fittings were still all in place and there was a cute little sewing room with 1950s cupboards and laminate bench. I was imagining the previous owner sitting at the little bench sewing up a storm.

Sorry, no inside photos as it was getting dark when I was sneaking through. The house was crying out to me for help and I felt absolutely helpless - after all, I was kind of trespassing and there was little I could do. I did manage to salvage a couple of things but will talk more about that in a future post.

This land is now the future dream of a new couple with plans to build a brand new home.

Look what we found when we popped over to see our new place today. A skip bin full of treasures!

The previous owners hired a skip and had a big clean out...luckily we were able to check it out before being collected this week. We salvaged a few boxes of books - not entirely sure what I will do with them yet! It's a wonderful range of hard cover novels and encyclopedias. Seriously, how could I let this lot go to the dump!!

There are a few boxes to sort through, plus a suitcase, but will wait till we have moved in a couple of weeks to go through it all.

Picking up the keys on Monday, very exciting!

We were driving through Largs North today and out of the corner of my eye I saw a flash of orange. "STOP THE CAR!"

In the middle of some hard rubbish outside a house I spotted an orange typewriter case. Excited, I jumped out of the car and grabbed it not even noticing what else was there. To my delight the case was heavy so there had to be a typewriter inside. I quickly opened it in the car, it was like revealing the hidden treasure! Made in Japan, immaculate metal case, and in working condition...

Memories came back from my old school days when I studied typing in year 10. I remembered how to load the paper and adjust the line spacing! It probably needs a new ribbon but I still managed to do some typing.

Thank you to the person who put it out on the side of the road for me to find. It made my day!

To my delight I found this cute old ladder in the last hard rubbish collection, someone's trash and now my treasure.

I originally grabbed it thinking it would be useful for product displays at a market or in my studio window. Then after catching up with an old school friend recently I worked out a new use for it...

I already own an authentic bus blind from Auckland that hangs in my kitchen so I just had to have one of these matching tea towels especially considering they feature the main towns of the Barossa Valley! Thanks for my tea towel Cherie!

Last night Denis and I did a quick drive by the Hard Rubbish collection in Henley Beach and started a new chair collection. Once we got started we couldn't stop! Back in NZ I had a chair fetish, and at one stage owned 36 dining chairs!!! Don't ask why, I just like the design of chairs.(I am lucky I have a very patient and tolerant husband). We sold them all before moving back to Australia, and now suddenly my collection has grown again!

Anyway, I am keeping these teak chairs for a project, not sure what yet... I am considering recovering them with matching fabric for our dining room. I could design the fabric myself and have it screen printed. This delightful collection has the potential to look quite stylie.

We found this outdoor furniture on the side of the road during our council hard rubbish collection, (yes we are scavengers!!!) and just couldn't see it end up at the tip. So after pondering for a while on colours and 3 pots of paint later ($90 worth), here are the results. Denis and I think we are likely to keep this set forever! We are now on the hunt for a similar set so we have more chairs.

Considering we live near the beach this outdoor furniture is perfect as we don't have to worry about weather damage because it was free! Plus it was a fun project!


What else did we find during hard rubbish collection?
- Mid century lounge / day bed (to be restored)
- a perfectly good spade
- some artificial grass that I now use as a feature on my table at markets
- 2 x beach umbrellas
- outdoor coffee table (pictured above), and bench
- wooden boxes to display greeting cards
- a dust cover for my guillotine
- a door to make a work bench in the garage
- 6 x louver doors to make a card stand and headboard for our bed (still a project to do)
- 5 x deck chairs
- an old ornate picture frame