Simply Neutrals Tuesday # 5 Vintage linens, a wall hanging and a vintage recipe

Greetings everyone! My, the weeks fly by when they are measured by a Simply Neutrals Party! Tanks Wen for hosting it again.

This week I had a play with adding some frames to some of my photos. Here are some vintage linens in grey and cream and white, with a lovely jug (not vintage). I use it as a vase.

I especially love the cream jewellery box with the girl on the lid...

I had my first swim of the season a few days ago when it was hot, but now it's jumper weather again! Here is our local school bus stop beach with rainbows, in neutral cloudy weather. What a delight it is to wait for the bus here!

I passed these sailing boats moored so artistically every now and then for a few weeks, but there was nowhere to stop the car for a photo. The road runs alongside the river. One day the boats were in perfect formation, so I stopped further on and walked back to take this photo... on the Moruya River looking towards the Deua National Park.

I noticed these old boots stuffed with bottle brushes (a native Australian plant) on a bushwalk - I wonder what happened to the boots' owner... did he go barefoot? (Not many women with feet this size!) Slip out of the old boots into a new life, faking suicide? I had to take a picture...

Here's a photo I took at our Moruya Museum of a handwritten cookbook from 1895. I love it! The old wooden spoon is so worn, and the white stock was just perfect for the era. You can see recipes for pikelets, melting moments and Dundee Cake.

This rose book tells the story of Pierre-Joseph Redoute. Sadly, there are no pictures apart from the magnificent cover. It's not quite neutral, but the old pale pink mixes well with neutral colours...

I have started some pages for a new lace book. Here's the first one. I need to buy a new printer as mine has died, and I have almost run out of pictures to use!

If you like neutral colours, drop over to Wen's blog, Apple Apricot to join in the party or see more sumptuous neutrals.

Enjoy creating,

Jesse

Simply Neutrals # 4 - Some Furry Friends

The Spring school holidays have flown past in a blur of visitors, taxi-driving children to fun activities, and gardening. And before I knew it, it was time for the next Simply Neutrals Party #4. 

I thought it would be nice to share some of the furry friends we have looked after for the RSPCA. Here's Nova: 

Here's Ebony asleep:

And awake...

The first two cats we looked after became our forever cats... Willow (grey) and Gypsy (ginger). We took in Willow forst, and she was very timid, having been mistreated and abandoned as a kitten. She still hides under the couch when visitors come. Then we minded Gypsy, who was a lovable and bold little hussy. We found that Willow relaxed and felt more comfortable with Gypsy around so we adopted them both. They are still with us after several happy years.

All the others also found forever homes.

We minded quite a few more cats, but Willow became upset with every new cat so we stopped taking in temporary orphans.

Now a couple of bears I made a few weeks ago. I dyed the dress with Parisian essence to age it and make it a more subtle hue. (Thanks, Suzy for that great tip!)

And lastly, a lovely rose fabric in muted tones which covers my lounge. My children think I have a grandmother's taste in home furnishings... and I do!

It's been hot here today - 35 degrees Celcius - and the same is predicted for tomorrow. A swim in the ocean will help us cool down, I'm sure. Ocean temperatures are still lagging behind by a season and it will be brisk! Have a lovely week of creating, playing and photographing. 

Don't forget to hop over to Wen's blog at AppleApricot to see more lovely neutrals and join the party. I think I'm last again!

Bye for now, 

Jesse 

More Neutral Beauty - Old Letters and Cabinet Card

It's Week 3 of the Simply Neutrals Tuesday party, and I have been thoroughly enjoying taking part. Everyone's images images have been so exciting and different.  It's funny how a set theme with limits can give you more freedom than a blank piece of paper! I don't think I'll ever get sick of neutrals!


Thanks, Wen for featuring some of my pictures on your blog, too.

Here's a cabinet card I bought off ebay a while ago. I like to keep the originals and use a print of them in my artworks. 

These letters are a special find at Kiama Markets. I haven't opened them, I just love them as they are, another person's private thoughts... The snippet on cardboard isn't finished yet.

This huge moth flew into our window and I took some photos before letting it go again. It's a giant bogong moth, considered a good food source by indigenous people. I'm not tempted!

Here's a view of our nearby coast just after sunrise.

I spotted this old cottage from the road as I drove down the coast to visit Suzy when we were working on her video. I stopped on the way back to take some pics.

This is a simple fairy child I made. They look so sweet around my craft room...

If you'd like to join in or see some more gorgeous neutrals, pop across to AppleApricot 

Simply Neutrals Tuesday #3 linky party time

What neutral coloured beauty did you find or make or buy or receive?

Post anything in neutral colours,

be it cream, white, grey, beige, silver and/or brown.

A creation you made or received, home decoration, a statue or architecture, or anything out there that you were allowed to take a photo of.

You have till Monday 28th noon CET to link up.

Simply Neutrals Party #2 Vintage Wedding

Welcome fellow lovers of vintage style decor, pretty stuff, old lace and neutral shades! 
Today I'm joining Wen Sylvestre's Simply neutrals Party at

www.appleapricot.blogspot.com 

First up, a photo of Lillian Pearce the lady whose wedding dress I featured in my last 'Simply Neutrals' post. I've been volunteering to take photos at my local museum in Moruya, Australia. You can see the Moruya Museum here on Facebook 

https://www.facebook.com/MoruyaHistoricalSociety

Lillian Pearce married William Hunt in Newtown, Sydney in 1913. She is wearing a cape over the dress, so it looks different here. You can see it peeping through at the bottom.

Some vintage lace and a rose up close...

Next, a collage of neutral objects and vintage lace. The vintage scales are an op shop find - sadly they don't work.

Some vintage doylies and a cotton reel....

A little glimpse of my craft room with the vintage scales....

I love this image of a pattern in the sand as the waves retreated from a rock half buried 

on the beach...

Finally, I had a play in Photoshop with a beautiful frame from 

http://www.thecoffeeshopblog.com/p/coffeeshop-storyboards-and-frames.html

I love to sing traditional Irish, Scottish and English ballads and folksongs, and I hope I might pick up a few singing hints from this old book. If you'd like to hear me, I have just one recent recording of a simple folk song called 'Laddie Lie Near Me'. You can hear it here:

https://soundcloud.com/ballyhooley/laddie-lie-near-me 

Our band, Ballyhooley, are playing at the Turning Wave Irish Music Festival at Yass (NSW Australia) this weekend.  Ballyhooley's Facebook page is here:

https://www.facebook.com/Ballyhooley-NSW-South-Coast-Folk-Band-437627379646953/timeline/

Thanks Wen for hosting this Simply Neutrals Linky Party. Have a wonderful week, everyone. (smile) Spring is here - hooray! 

You can check out Wen's blog AppleApricot

The theme is neutral coloured beauty, found, made
or bought this week. You can post anything in cream, white, beige,grey, silver and brown. 


Until next time,
hugs,
Jesse

The Surprising Colour of Avocado Dye

Exploring the Internet one day I stumbled on how to dye with avocado. Since the colour was so improbable, I thought I'd give it a go. It was around the end of last Summer ( February, I think), when the roses were blooming beautifully.

First I sorted through some fabrics and doylies and sorted them into baskets - one for coffee, one for tea and one for avocado.

I'd been saving every avocado seed and skin as we ate them - I put them in the freezer in a ziplock bag. I'm not sure if that changed the result, but it worked, anyway!

So I boiled them up for about 30 minutes in a large saucepan, until the water turned a pinky brown. I strained out the avocado mess and put it the pink water back into the pot. Then I threw in a few pieces and pushed them under the water.
Here's a peek into the pot...

Instantly they turned a gorgeous shade of antique pink, which dried slightly lighter. I hung them to dry naturally on an airer in the bath - this meant they looked aged - speckly, with darker patches where the water ran. So I did some more, and dried them in the clothes drier. These were more uniform in colour.

Drip-drying avocado dyed laces

It's not a strong dye, so the original colour of the fabric still shows to influence the new shade. It mellows and ages strong colours, depending on the fabrics. The cottons took well, but the synthetics were not affected as much.

The colour lightens as it dries.

I love the natural antique look it gives - very subtle. I even tried dying some white fake daisies -you cans ee it on the edges of the petals.

The pinker doylies were white to start with, and the slightly browner shade were cream or beige before dyeing

The perfect match - a rose from my garden.

They look great with this antique hat box lid and my David Austen rose.

I just happened to have a vase full of another favourite rose - a gorgeous pale apricot, so I had a play with my camera...

Here's a little wall hanging I made using some of the laces.

Vintage lace wall hanging

 The colour looks different indoors... I tried to adjust it a bit below.

Vintage lace wall hanging

So, start eating those avocadoes... guacamole (mashed avocado, lemon juice and crushed garlic) is great with corn chips!

Thanks for visiting.
Jesse

Gorgeous Neutrals Linky Party # 1 Vintage Wedding Dress

Wen Sylvestre of 

www.appleapricot.blogspot.com 

               is having a linky party...

I'm joining in with some of my cherished neutral bits and pieces I've been collecting for years, some natural objects and some photos I've taken recently at our local museum.

I've been volunteering to take photos at my local museum in Moruya, Australia. My first few pictures are of a gorgeous wedding dress called 'Lillian'. It was worn by Lillian Pearce at her wedding to William Hunt in Newtown, Sydney in 1913.

Next, some beautiful sticks I found while walking on the beach...

I'm not sure if a black background is 'neutral'?

These scales don't work, but they are so beautiful...

I love this picture in its silvery frame.

A couple of special old books...

The theme is neutral coloured beauty, found, made or bought this week. You can post anything in cream, white, beige,grey, silver and brown. So pop over to wen's blog to see more at   www.appleapricot.blogspot.com http://appleapricot.blogspot.com.au/2015/09/simply-neutrals-tuesday-1.html

Thanks Wen for giving us this opportunity to share our beautiful neutrals!

Take care,

Jesse