Thursday, July 30, 2009

Raindrops on roses....la la la....these are a few of my favourite things..




Just as I have never been too sure of where to start with this house, I'm also not sure where to start to tell you all of our interesting finds.
Perhaps the best starting point, is to show you som of my favourite things.
At the top of the list is the pink lamp. I first saw it when Mr Baby showed us through the house. It was sitting on a pink meat safe out in the sleepout.
The sleepout used to be Mr Baby's room as a boy, and he would do his homework by it at night. I can only assume, it has been in that room for nearly 80 years.
On a couple of occasions, Mr Baby visited the house before we moved in. Once he took his son, so his son could have a quick look and take anything as a momento. I was sure the pink lamp would be gone by the time we got the keys.
But, thank goodness, there she was.
While going through the old sideboard on the first day, my mother in law also found this beautiful ta da da - can't
remember for the life of me what it's called.
It's a silver stand with glass containers for mustard, relish, etc. It's still in this condition, Í haven't cleaned it up yet, but it's definitely a keeper.
Once spruced up, whenever that will be, it will sit forever on our table during special occasions. I can't wait.






This beautiful teapot is silver with a bone knob on top and it's very old we think.

Does anyone know anything about it?

I am planning on taking it to S Cook & Sons (?) the local silversmiths, and hopefully they will be able to tell me a little about it.

There is quite a bit of silver, and I know very little about it. I couldn't possibly sort the good stuff from the rest.


At one stage, possibly for their 21st birthdays (?), I think Gwennie and Doris received Mikimoto pearls. Maybe they lashed out and bought them for themselves?
The necklaces are very dainty, something I imagine would have been suitable for young ladies of the day.



Friday, July 10, 2009

First a tiny tour....

This is the John Broadwood & Sons piano. It's staying in the house, pretty much right where it's been for the past 90+ years.






Aove is one of the washstands, one of my favourite pieces. Sitting atop is a jug & basin which will soon be making its debut on Ebay!



Left, is the sewing room. Piled high with reels of cotton, tins & wooden boxes of sewing paraphenalia. I found old napkins to embroider which had a sticker on them advertising an embroidery competition which closed December 1931.






Av
Above is the sleepout, which is used to be Mr Baby's room when he was a boy. The large dark piece of furniture at the back is a pipe organ - also soon to make its Ebay debut.
Left is one of the other washstands, marble topped with pretty tiles - it's fate is still being decided, but it will probably stay with us.










Pictured right is the furniture as we cleared it out of the rooms, we put it on the front verandah. This was the only way we could sort the house - take everything out and then decide what should go back in.















To the right is the kitchen. The yellow dresser is still in there. It's about the only storage we have!
Pictured below is the house's hallway and timber arch. It's my husband's favourite part.