Sydney Welcomes Olympic Athletes

Sydney put on a great parade on Monday to welcome home the Olympic athletes. The weather was perfect, a warm sunny winter day. I'm not much interesterd in sport though I did enjoy the opening ceromony but I love parades and I was there for a special reason.

While waiting for the Olympians to come we were entertained by people in blue wigs? Blue wigs were also given to the waiting crowds.

DaughterS was lucky enough to catch one and models it here. I did tell her she looks a sort of cross between Marge Simpson and Ronald McDonald. I refused to wear mine.

One of the athletes proudly showing his gold medal. To my shame I don't know who he is. Will update this post when I know his name.

Police were on duty for crowd control, suitably labelled so they weren't mistaken for athletes.

Here is the real reason I was there. My GRANDSON was in the parade, here he is leading some of the athletes. His highschool drama class was chosen and they wore white shirts and were able to get lots of athlete autographs on their shirts after the parade. I cheered and waved so much you'd have thought he won a medal. I was able to restrain myself from rushing out for a cuddle but I did tell the Chinese tourists standing next to me that my grandson was there. They waved and cheered for him too.

AND the QUEEN was there with 2 of her Corgis and some Guardsmen. She looked amazing after her jump from the helicopter for the games opening ceromony. More waving cheering etc. etc. A bit disapointed grandson didn't get her autograph on his shirt but at least I saw her and I love those corgis. I want a corgi!!!

One of the athletes managed to smuggle a London bus back to Sydney in his luggage. Hope I can have a ride some time.

Last in the parade was this colourful float reminding us we can look forward to the games in Rio in 4 years time.

EdwardVII Embroidered Coronation Sampler

 EdwardVII and Alexandra were crowned 110years ago today 9th August. Edward's Coronation was all set for 26th June when he became ill and was operated on for appendicitis. The coronation went ahead on 9th August but a lot of souvenirs were sold with the original date. Now I am lucky enough to have this sampler with the right date embroidered. Today is also my birthday, nice of Edward to choose my special day for his Coronation, wish I could have been there. But if I was in London in 1902 I would not have been in London in 2012!!

 Hard to show the sampler in one piece because it is very wide. The embroidery is expertly worked. It might have been stitched from an iron on transfer though I can't  see any sign of such a transfer.

 Five panels in total and here are no's 3 and 4. Although the top states' ye goode childes sampler 1902' I think the stitching a bit too fine to be worked by a child. There is a name on the back edge of the sampler but I have yet to decipher it.

 On the last panel we have the magic date 9th August 1902. It's my birthday and I'm excited. This rare sampler is now the oldest one in my collection. Any earlier sampler would be Queen Victoria and I don't think I'll ever find one of those.

 Here is a wall plate with the wrong date 26th June.

 A teapot with the wrong date. Other souvenirs I have for Edward and Alexandra only have the year 1902 so they were playing it safe.

 This little WH Goss miniature shows the Coat of Arms of EdwardVII. It's one of my birthday gifts and on the base it reads Model of the Pilgrim 'leather bottell' in Canterbury Museum. I have some Goss miniatures for GeorgeV but this is the first one for Edward.

Remember my last post when I wrote about hundreds of motor bikes going through the town. I wasn't exaggerating.
This is the article which was in the paper next morning, so now we all know what it was about.

Coronation Year 1937 Sampler and More from the Markets

 

 This is a 1937 sampler with a story to tell . Eileen, a blog follower in America emailed me and told me it was on Craig's List in America which I think might be a bit like Gumtree here. I emailed the seller Sue, who was more than willing to sell to me. Lots of emails later and I had it in my possesion. When I removed the glued on cardboard backing I found the name and address of the stitcher on a piece of tape. Margaret Hood of Springvale rd Ayr Scotland. So this sampler has gone from Scotland to America and now has a happy home with me in Australia. I think Margaret might have stitched this as a school project. The sampler was donated to a church sale, didn't sell and Sue was selling it on Craig's List on behalf of her church. I must say thanks to Margaret, Eileen and Sue for this sampler I now have on my wall.

 Yesterday I went to my local flea market and bought NOTHING! Today I went a bit furthur to a much trendier market in a trendy little town with prices to match. Not much at the market but there is a shop in this town I love and the only place I know apart from ebay where I can buy Laurel Burch bags. Well I really really needed a new bag And now they sell Laurel Burch Scarves too. I admit I lost my head a bit but it is my birthday this week  so I bought both with hardly a glance at price tags.

 Some of the Laurel Burch bags I already have but these are getting a bit shabby and worn, that's why a new bag was a must. I am never seen out without a cat bag of some sort.

 Doll house furniture I bought at the market and cakes are a market must have. In the trendy town in the trendy newsagent I found a magazine I haven't seen before with more Jubilee souvenirs to make.
Best of all, at the same shop where I bought the bag and scarf I bought new scissors. I should have made more of a feature of these. They were expensive and a good made in Italy brand. I ruined all my cheap scissors cutting carpet for the dolls'house. These new ones must only be used for fabric and must be hidden from everyone including me. I tend to grab any scissors available and use in the garden, the kitchen or anywhere then wonder why they are blunt.



  

 The main highway goes right through this trendy little town and today hundreds of motor bikes went through while I was there. The roar of bikes was deafening and wave after wave of bikes kept coming. My photographic skills don't allow me to show more bikes, you will have to take my word that there were hundreds. Fun to watch even if a bit noisey.






 No one was rude to me today Charlotte, everyone at the markets and in the trendy town was out to have a good day in the sun. Even the trendy dogs, and there were a lot of those. But Charlotte will be ready to help me out with tips on how to deal with rude people should the need arise.



Charles Diana Anniversary and Market Bargains

 Charles and Diana were married 31 years ago today and I am still collecting the souvenirs from their Big day. I think I have shown a C and D beach towel before but now I have two. Made in Australia by Bradmill I have been told only 50 were made. So only another 48 for me to find then.

 A selection of my C and D wedding plates.

C and D bath towel and soap. Like the beach towels, never to be used of course

Fun day at the local markets yesterday. Starting from the left I bought a tin of pink paint $3, the last doll house soaked up $26 of paint so I need to spend less. An etching of Buckingham Palace $3, very dirty but I cleaned it up. A sticker on the back says Garner-Bennett Ware. There is a firm by that name in Stoke on Trent, maybe it came from there.
A full boxed set of silver plated teaspoons made in Australia by Grosvenor, Pattern Christine and possibly from the 50's or 60's. I paid $1. This from a stallholder who rarely bargains but does have weak moments.
The spoons in front of the box are part of a wedding gift full set of  silver ware. Some of my guests get a bit nervous about the spoons they are given to stir their tea as they think I might have used them to dish up cat food. Now I have lots of good 'never touched cat food' spoons.
There was food I had to buy, some ginger biscuits and a Gramma Pie. My mother made the last gramma pie I ate about ???? years ago. This one is very tasty but I think mum's pie was better.

Now for the locket pictured above. I bought this a few years ago from the same stall holder who sold me the spoons. I'ts a 9ct gold coronation locket in perfect condition, it opens up so I could put pictures inside. The locket was in a box with broken jewellery bits and when I held it up and said "how much" I was told $7. I dropped it in my bag, paid quickly before he changed his mind and walked away with my bargain of the day. It didn't come with the chain but I already had a perfect chain. The same locket in very scratched condition recently sold on ebay for $85. This is one piece of my collection that I do wear a lot.

I bought the Queen Mother new shoes in London from the Bear shop. She has had to make do with plastic Kmart sandals and has never been happy about them. The new shoes are a silvery blue colour and go very well with her blue outfit. The QM loves a small heel on shoes and so loves the look and comfort of this pair.
There is a small bow on the front set with a sparkley diamonte.
I also bought my Camilla bear some new knickers with Hello Kitty pictured on them. Camilla has always complained about her home made undies, I will show her new ones later.

Doll House Updates

 Remember that doll house I bought at the markets last Easter? At last I have finished the renovations and this little house is rescued and ready to be moved on. I don't have space to keep it and will give it to the op shop and hope the house finds a happy new home. I squared off the round top windows so they didn't look as if pigeons should fly in.

 Inside it has been painted, the floor covered and the top room has wallpaper as I think that should be a bedroom, the lower floor has vinyl  ready for a kitchen.

Already waiting is another market find ready for redecoration. This will be my fifth doll house restoration and I have space to keep two, so unless I find a spare room in my 'crowed with royal stuff' house', this one will go to the op shop too. All these houses are the right size for 1/12 scale furniture. 

 This is the doll house I shared with my two sisters when I was a child in 19??.
My younger sister now has the house  and it still has some of  it's original furniture. We all had a turn of having the house for our children but sister M had the most daughters and grandaughters so the house is still a very popular and loved house.

Greenwich Embroiderers and My Sampler

 Back again after another of my blog breaks. On my to do list while in London was a trip to the Greenwich Heritage Centre to see the Millenium Samplers and the Golden Jubilee Sampler. Do a google search to find out full details, they are amazing, also go and see Ruth's blog. For once I didn't plan my day first, got lost and five buses later found the Centre which is in Woolwich. There are 9 samplers starting from Celtic/Roman times up to the Golden Jubilee. All on display in large glass cases except the Jubilee one which I was told was in storage and I couldn't see it. Well!! I begged, pleaded, said I had come all the way from Australia just to see it. It worked, I think they felt sorry for me as I looked a bit bedraggled and wet in my old raincoat. I was taken through the building to the basement, left alone with the sampler and told to take as long as I wanted. I crawled around the floor so I didn't miss a single stitch. I hope there were no cameras in the basement, the staff would have had a good laugh and I wish my photos were a bit better. The samplers are all hand stitched by local women.  

 My Bothy Threads sampler is finished and framed. Happy to have finished this one with so much backstitch then beads and sequins to be stitched but I am happy with the result.

I bought the frame at the op. shop, it had a painting of a Dead Gumtree in a Storm. I wonder if in about 70years time someone will come along, throw out my stitching and rediscover Dead Gumtree in a Storm. I use double sided tape on the back to hold the sampler in place, a piece of old blanket for padding and now will tape calico on the back to tidy it up.

 Charles and Diana would have been married 31years this month. Has everyone forgotten them? There are certainly bargains to be had in C&D souvenirs. Like this clock I bought on ebay, no one else bid and I bought it for an almost giveaway price. A very unusual piece for my collection.

A sad day today, grandson's little green budgie Butter passed away. Butter, shown on the left, joined the family as a very young bird with her partner Fred on 3rd March 2007 and so was over 5 yrs old. I bird sat Fred and Butter for a week 2 years ago when this photo was taken. You gave a lot of joy to the family Butter and will be sadly missed especially by your partner Fred who is still in good health. A private burial service has been held.
                                R.I.P Butter. You will be remembered always.

International Cat Box Day and Souvenirs

 Charlotte has just found out that she missed International Cat Box Day (again). Lucky for me an ebay parcel arrived  today so I was able to provide a box. The day was 19th June but I've convinced Charlotte that cats can celebrate boxes all week. Thanks to Brian at http://www.brianshomeblog.com/ for alerting me to such a special day.

 Sorry Charlotte that box was the best I could do at short notice, I hope you like it. Emily won't even get out of bed to have a look at the box.

So you don't like the box Charlotte? Yes I know other cats around the world have better boxes and more choice, I'll go out tomorrow and find lots more boxes and I've already marked Box day on next year's calendar so we will be ready . 

Meanwhile back to my Jubilee visit. Hamleys had a Jubilee bear for sale 35GBP and I thought it rubbish. The bear was wearing a very poorly made dress and nothing else. I bought this bear at Kensinton Palace for one third that price then crossed stitched EIIR and the years 52-12 and added a circlet of diamontes to the crown.
In the background is a cushion with portraits of the Queen I bought at a souvenir shop in Picadilly Circus.



Had to have a corgi, this one has I Love London on it's cape and I added EIIR. I think I should add the year 2012 too.

Diamond Jubilee

Well, I was there in London while history was being made at the Diamond Jubilee and while I was away I made front page news which was a bit of a shock/surprise. I was met at Sydney airport by my 2 children holding up the paper. I was interviewed and photographed before I went away but thought I would be hidden in a middle section somewhere. This is my 10 minutes of fame, not being followed up by book and movie deals. You don't really need to see what I look like, the paper has has put enough details in including my age which I think is a missprint.

Even my bed was pictured on page 2 with me sitting on it. I am only sorry Charlotte and Emily weren't sleeping on the bed at the time.
I had a wonderful and exciting time in London. Despite the weather I saw and did everything I wanted to. Front row at the Flotilla, 7 hour wait with my little stool. 6 hour wait at the top of Whitehall for the Parade on the 5th. It was cold and wet but nothing stopped me. I took about 250 photos and being the world's worst photographer about 10 are worth showing. I will tell all in time but am still recovering from a bad case of Jet lag. Travel time is 30 hours each way incl. 21 hours in the air each way and the rest of the time travelling to or waiting at airports incl. 2hrs at Hong Kong. All this and I am afraid of flying!!! but once again I suffer for my obsession.

One of the souviners I bought is this pretty mini teaset, I have one for the Golden Jubilee but this one is a slightly different design.

To prove no souvenir is too tacky for me to want is this figurine of the Queen. Her hanbag is a solar cell and when placed in the sun she waves. Plenty of sun here even if I saw none in London.

A tea pot is a must in any collection and I managed to get this one home safely.

To prove I was there here is the Queen, I waved and cheered so much my flags fell apart. I was at the top of Whithall just where the parade turned into the Mall and though it seems there is no crowd the whole area was packed. The space opposite seemed to have been kept for disabled groups who never came.
          Pictured below is I think one of my very favourite things to see. The big silver drums, so heavy they must be carried by the big shire horses.
I went to the Ballet at Covent Garden (Prince and the Pagodas) and have decided I don't like men in too tight tights hopping around the stage and feel no need to ever go to a ballet again. BUT- men in uniform on horseback in a Parade in London, love it and can't get enough.