Diana plates

The plate on the left celebrates Diana's 21st birthday and on the right was made as a souvenir??? of her death. I bought the little votive candle at Althorp where I was able to walk around the island where she is buried, a very peaceful and beautiful place.

Diana dolls

Two of the Diana dolls I have in my collection, they are standing in front of an unusual silver commemorative plaque showing Diana, white roses and the year of her birth and death.

Death of Diana

Monday 31st is the 12th anniversary of the death in Paris of Princess Diana,who can forget that awful day and the emotional funeral that followed. This is just one of the samplers I cross stitched after her death and in fact am still working on another rather complicated one I hope to finish soon.

Charlotte and Emily

Here's Charlotte and Emily in their little crown beds with Queen on the front, well what else would you expect from 2 such grand cats in a Royal household such as mine. Must admit that they much prefer sharing my bed when I'm in it and are usually there first waiting for me.

Diana bargain

Between the birthday brunch and ice cream I browsed a large antique store and found this unusual vase for my collection which I thought a bargain. Vase commemorates her death, it will be 12 years ago this Monday 31st August.

great view

Trip to Sydney today for family birthday brunch, on the way home had an urge for ice cream and this is the view from Sublime Point south of Sydney where I enjoyed my chocolate cornetto.

morning tea sets

Love these embroidered good morning sets, this one worked years ago by the mother of a friend and is the only one I have with matching egg cosy. Pretty cup saucer and plate a gift from my daughter and a royal vase has crept in too.

rescued doll house

Found this doll house in an op shop for a few dollars, it was very dirty and neglected, felt I just had to bring it back to life. Moved the walls a bit, some paint, wallpaper, carpet and lino and new curtains it was all fun to do. A lot of the furniture came from Hong Kong via ebay, lots of bargains to be had there.
This is the second doll house I've renovated, hope I don't find any more as space is a bit limited here with my collections and 2 cats.

pretty apron

All the embroidery is finished on this pretty apron, just needs the edges done. there is a date pencilled on one edge 14/9/42, nice to have such an exact date for it.

lunch

The Duchess wished me a sunny day and thats exactly what I had. This is the view from the restaurant where I had lunch with friends today, a perfect day and the food and conversation was good too. Think I had the camera a bit tilted, all the good food and view was distracting me.

coronation evening bag

Very pretty evening bag done in fine petit point for the coronation in 1953. one side showing the gold coach and horses and the other the Queen and her attendants. Grub roses can just be seen embroidered along the bottom edge. I bought the bag on ebay for only 6GBP, and think its a bargain for such a pretty and unusual item

royal birthday

Today is Princess Anne's 59th birthday, HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANNE. I only have 2 souvenirs for Anne but the sampler is very special, beautifully hand embroidered to commemorate her birth in 1950 it includes a poem by Patience Strong. I bought it on ebay about 2 years ago and I was the only bidder so it was not expensive. The plate, bought at a local antique fair is from the marriage in 1973 of Anne and Mark Phillips. I was living in London at the time and their wedding was the first royal parade I had seen, loved it so much I have been back many times for major royal events.

apron

Completed never worn apron in the same style as the last one. Love the way the skirt and bonnet strings appear to be blowing in the wind.
Gina the coronation picture was done on 14ct aida with 2 strands of thread. It was originally meant to be done as a tapestry on canvas but I prefer to work cross stitch on aida fabric.

apron

Dear Duchess, this is just for you. Charlotte is asleep so now you can see the complete apron, hope you like the next apron just as much.

apron, cat

Another pretty, finished , never worn apron with fold marks showing where it has been folded and stored for years. Charlotte is sitting on the pocket and embroidered garden, impossible to take the photo without her in it. Click on the picture to see the beautiful stitching and colours in the skirt.

royal samplers

Here are the 2 embroidered samplers sent to me from Canada. The one on the left is from the Kings speech in 1939 and on the right is the Kings speech for Empire day 1940. King George VI that is.

I feel very privileged to be given these embroideries and they hold a prominent place on my wall.

royal samplers

Coronation sampler worked by me 3 years ago from an orignal 1953 chart bought from a very nice lady in Canada via ebay. I sent a photo of the finished sampler to Shirley in Canada. She was so pleased to see the sampler had been worked after so many years she immediately sent me the following 2 rare samplers embroidered by her aunt. Aren't Canadians wonderful, thank you Shirley.

my birthday,royals

The mug on the right shows the Duke and Duchess of York-later GeorgeVI and Elizabeth when they were in Canberra in 1927 for the opening of the new parliment building. My pretty birthday card made by my daughter shows the then duchess from the same era. The coronation book which is one I have never seen before was a birthday gift as was the 1(yes only 1 but it is perfect) perfect daffodil from my daughter's garden shown in a coronation jug. all diplayed on a coronation table runner with the Queen's face embroidered.

doll club wins

Doll club again today and a very lucky day it was. The categories were doll in any uniform, a coloured bear and a postcard. I won second prize for my doll in school uniform dressed by my clever mother years ago, first prize for coloured bear which is a merrythought brand bear to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Queens coronation in 1993 and first prize for the coronation postcard of GeorgeV in 1911.

Sunset

Just can't resist these lake sunsets, this one has a pelican just gliding past.

Early birthday cake

Sunday is my birthday, here is an early cake shared today with the women's group I belong to. The cake was decorated by a friend who grew the beautiful orchids displayed on top. Cake has been eaten but the orchids remain and are now in a pretty royal vase on my dressing table.

Miss Australia Apron

Another beautifully hand embroidered never worn apron, the title is on the pocket. Can't remember where I bought this one, i've had it for a few years and it's one of the few I have on display.

pelican

Just took this photo from my verandah, the tide is out and there is no wind so I get 2 pelicans for the price of one.

blogiversary

Today is my one month blogiversary, still lots of improvements to be made but I am having fun. More Q.M. memorabillia and another embroidered coronation cloth from 1937 and crocheted sampler from her visit to Australia in 1958.

Queen Mother's Birthday

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MA'AM and what a long and glorious life it was. Some more souvenirs from her life on display including a lovely embroidered cloth from the coronation of George VI and Elizabeth in 1937. The cross stich samplers at the back were worked by me in 14ct aida, the charts were from English magazines.

cat among aprons

I had hoped to have a bit of a sort through of some of my aprons-a phone call, a moments distraction and this is the result, good help is so hard to find. My Phar Lap apron can be seen, all the embroidery is finished, it just needs some binding on the edges and the the pocket stitched on. I always leave my aprons in the condition I find them so this one will never be finished by me.

Queen Mother's Birthday

Tomorrow another BIG day, the Queen Mothers birthday-couldn't resist a preview of some of the souvenirs from her long life. The lace tablecloth showing the Q.M's face is from the cancelled royal visit to Australia in 1949.

Sonja Henie apron

Another well worn apron, I was told this one shows Sonja Henie, winter olympics champion of the games in 1928-32 & 36 also Hollywood star of 10 movies in the 1930's and early 40's.

First apron of my collection

The very first apron in my collection. Bought at a street charity stall about 15 years ago for only 20cents it was being tossed aside by other shoppers and I could not stand to see such beautiful work neglected. This one shows a lot of wear though still in good condition and of course I have never found such a bargain again.