Boulton Leigh

I love Toowoomba. It's so pretty. It's how Brisbane could have looked had we protected our heritage buildings and spent some money on beautification not just tunnels and roads.
The houses are 'maintained' rather than tricked up and contorted into crazy Frankenhauses, or worse still, burnt to the ground by property developers who aren't allowed to knock them down.

Let's now focus on the pretty lil' shacks of T-ba.

By the way, I think this one pictured above is currently for sale. Asking price $1,500,000.

 

 

We recently bought our own little piece of Toowoomba. Not quite like these ones above,  but cute, cosy and old.

 

 

Boulton-Leigh was built in 1864 and celebrated her 150th birthday this year. She is one of four houses, all still standing, which formed Toowoomba's first gated community. It's near the hospital and was apparently where the doctors and surgeons lived. Our little house is the smallest by far of the four houses. It's in a beautiful camphor laurel lined terrace.

 

 

The house is made from double cavity brick, and was extended in the 1930s. It now has three bedrooms, two living areas, sleepouts, bathroom, kitchen and laundry. It's surprisingly roomy for a cottage and it has a good feeling about it - definitely no bad spirits here.

 

 

Over the next couple of weeks, the house will undergo what we call a 'tart-up'; fresh paint, a front fence, some new light fittings and some more planting in the garden. Then it will be put up for rent for the time being.

 

Next time you have a spare day, take a trip up to the Darling Downs and have a look around. It' a spectacular time of year. Happy Easter!

 



We've just returned from an overnight stay in northern New South Wales - you know how I'm a huuuuge fan of that neck of the woods.
We stayed with friends at their holiday house called Basil's Brush, at Possum Creek just near Bangalow.
Although it absolutely belted down with rain the whole time it didn't really hamper our visit. We would have spent the entire time grazing like a Fresian regardless.
This is the view. It's amazing.

Our friends have A1 impeccable taste in all things house and homey. This is the inside.

This is the outside.

And....ta da.....this is the pool.

It's about a five minute drive into beautiful Bangalow, and a short trip to Byron or Brunswick Heads on the coast.
Anyone can rent Basil's Brush, all the details are here. I may be biased, but I highly recommend it, especially if you have children. Apart from all the things there are to do in NNSW, the house itself is well equipped for children including a four bunk bed room, accessed via a secret tunnel! I'm not kidding.
Now I'm off to have an early night. I don't want to jinx it, but I think we may be in for a beautiful sunny weekend?
Did you hear the joke about the man who pretended to be a Tahitian prince, ripped millions off Queensland Health and then successfully applied for Legal Aid? So just when you thought things couldn't get much more ludicrous, that means the Queensland Government is now paying the legal bill for the defendant who is charged with fleecing them of millions of dollars. Hilarious. So funny, I nearly cried.

Good enough to spread on a cracker

Greetings to 2012 - I've been looking forward to you. I feel much more comfortable with even numbers.
I began the year, as no doubt Iggy Pop, Keith Richards and Lady Gaga did, by making cheese from yogurt, which I've been meaning to try for a long time.
It's called labna, and it's a soft, white cheese with a sharp taste, excellent for spreading on a cracker, or in this case, a piece of home made Melba toast.

Ít's so easy to make, a monkey could do it. You just take 600ml of plain natural yogurt, like so.

Mix two teaspoons of salt into it and put it into a sieve, which has been lined with muslin, or in this case, a new dishcloth. Place the sieve over a bowl and cover the yogurt with plastic wrap, so the whole set up looks like this.

So it's one less thing for me to remember, I write on top when it will be ready which is 48 hours from when you first start draining the yogurt.

Once the yogurt has drained for 48 hours roll it into small balls, it's easy and less messy if you use two spoons to do this.
Carefully roll each ball in finely chopped fresh herbs, like basil, mint, dill or parsley. You could also use ground spices, and add a sprig of rosemary, garlic or chilli to the bottle.
Place each ball into a wide mouthed glass jar and cover the balls with olive oil.

They'll keep for at least two weeks. Put the balls in salads, spread on crackers or toast. It's really worth trying.
Hoping everyone had a great Christmas and New Year. We arrived home from doing some errands on Christmas eve to find our street engulfed in smoke and all the neighbours standing in our yard looking terrified.
I swear my husband and I were out of the car before it even stopped, however, it wasn't our house on fire, but the one across the road.
With the delay in the fire brigade being able to locate the house, despite having the address, and further delays in locating water, the house is just a burnt out shell. On the upside, no one was hurt, not even the 14 year old blue cattle dog who lived there. The cause is believed to be Christmas lights.

Happy new year to you! It's going to be a good one, I can just tell!

Northern Disclosures

We have just returned from a couple of days in northern New South Wales. That must be one of the most beautiful parts of the world.
We based ourselves in dinky little Brunswick Heads. It's quaintness has not gone unnoticed, the gentrification has certainly set in, although its not that obvious on the surface. We investigated the notion of a weekender there, but tiny, rundown cottages sell for 750k, and they aren't necessarily anywhere near the beach.
There are some great little shops there to have a poke around in. I found one called The Fabulous Mrs Fox, but it was closed, and then we left town too early the next day to get in there. Has anyone checked it out? It looks fabulous indeed.

I had a very thorough look through the window. It's chock full of what my friend Fi calls 'whimsical f**kery'  - just what I love. If anyone has been, let me know if it's worth the trip back. Me thinks, yes it is. I found a blog of theirs, but it had no posts on it.
We also dropped in to see our friends and neighbours from Red Hill. They have a second house at Possum Creek just near Bangalow, which gets rented out. Check out the details here, it's called Basil's Brush (guess who's just nailed links).
Kitty, with her wonderful local knowledge, gave me a list of all the antique/vintage/retro/second hand shops in Northern New South Wales from Alstonville to Yamba, from Ballina to Woodburn. Apparently Lismore is where it's at. I visited Carrington Street Bazaar, which was particularly good.
Back to pretty old Brunswick Heads.The beach is so beautiful, I could almost turn. As they say in that hideously corny Byron Bay ad, 'her beauty changed me' (temporarily at least). I nearly wanted to go for a swim. We went for a walk along the river and down to the beach yesterday at twilight.

If you haven't been to northern New South Wales for a while, get yourself down there pronto. It'll do you good.
Before I go, here's the list. It would be inhumane not to pass it on.
Alstonville
Gingerlily Vintage Wares, 76 Main Street
Ballina
Summerland Antiques & Collectables, Cnr Smith Dr & Pacific Highway
Leah's Secondhand Furniture, 19 Moon Street
Bangalow
Heaths Old Wares & Collectables, Station Street
Little Peach Japanese Collectables, 17 Byron Street
Lazy Bones Emporium, 16 Station Street
The Little Antique Shop Jewellery, 30 Byron Street
The New Collector, 64a Byron Street
The Retro Shop Bangalow, Shop 5, 1 Lismore Road
Vintage Eastern, 87 Byron Street
Vintage Retro & Collectables, 14 Station Street
Brunswick Heads
Clem's Cargo & Collectables, Shop 1, 38 Tweed Street
Resould, 48 Tweed Street
Secondhand Rose Emporium, 8 Park street
Sentimental Treasures, Shop 2, 38 Tweed Street
The Fabulous Mrs Fox, Park Street
Byron Bay
Byron Bay Furniture, 8 Grevillea Street
NV New Vintage, Byron Arcade, Shop 3B, 13 Lawson Street
Polish Antiques, Centennial Cct
Casino
McKee's Old Bakery Antiques, 99 Centre Street
Olley's, 153 Canterbury Street
Ian Norris Antique Brass Beds, By Appointment Only Tel 02 6662 4532
Chinderah
Ray Evans Chinderah Bay Antiques, Cnr Waugh St & Chindera Bay Drive
Clunes
The Old Romantic Shack, Main Street
Coraki
Secondhand & Old Wares, 93 Richmond Terrace
Federal
Jatana Interiors Antique Tiles, By Appointment Only, Tel 02 6688 4048
Kyogle
Lewie's Portal, 7 Stratheden Street
Plum Vintage, 143 Summerland Way
Lismore
Alba Vintage, 40 Carrington Street
Books  & Stuff Cnr Magellan & Keen St
Carrington Street Bazaar, 40 Carrington Street
Lizzy's Furniture, 59 Wyrallah Road
Rosemont Collectables, 91a Molesworth Street
Vintage & Antique Boutique Stores, Star Court Arcade, Molesworth Street
Maclean
Penny Farthing Antiques, 151 River Street
Mullumbimby
Cedar House Antiques, 140 Dalley Street
Country Spirit, 3/104 Dalley Street
Open House Mullumbimby New & Used, 22 Tincogan Street
Down the Alley, 59a Burringbar Street
Murwillumbah
Gabriel's Closet Antiques & Collectables, 130 Main Street
Newrybar
Country House Antiques, 19 Old Pacific Highway
Old Grevillia
Calamia Cottage Collectables, 8 Calamia Road (off the Summerland Way)
Tyalgum
Tiny Shoppe of Memories, Coolman Street (next to the Flutterbies Cafe)
Tumbulgum
Junction, 26 Riverside Drive
Ulmarra
Contrary's on Clarence, Pacific Highway
Old Codgers Antiques & Collectables, Old Norco Building, Pacific Highway
Uki
Re's Intrigues Old Wares & Bric-a-brac, The Old Butter Factory, 1454 Kyogle Road
Woodburn
Vintage Clothing & Collectables, 81 River Street
Yamba
Angourie Road Secondhand & Antiques, 8 Angourie Road

Save yourself from heartache and take a ute so you don't have to leave anything behind.
If anyone's got any to add, leave a comment and I'll amend the list.

A bunch of lillies, two topiaried ficus, tomatoes and a wire setting

Oriental lillies are beautiful at the moment. I got these ones from Rosalie Gourmet Market.
Coincidentally, they were $15, the same price I paid for each of these topiaried ficus-es-s. Some might say that the topiary should have been left behind in 1995, but I disagree. I think they are a classic.

We got them this morning from the Caboolture Markets. There were lots of plant stalls there and I would have brought home more, but we had to curtail our visit due to Peach's having a meltdown. She decided to wear a long white dress and a white fur coat (it looks like its made from harp seal), just perfect for some dirty country markets on a hot morning. Although the temperature was getting up there, and her face was obviously flushed, she refused to remove it  in a typical Peach's style stand-off, which are always totally devoid of logic.
Let me tell you, the bargains don't stop there with the ficus-es-s. I also got these pretty cherry tomatoes for $1. One dollar! I actually detest fresh tomatoes, but they make great kitchen bench decorations. I can also just bear them in a salad smothered with fetta cheese and olive oil.

Cherry tomatoes. Boring, I hear you say.
Well then, feast your eyes on this.

This is my 1970s wire setting, which actually has three chairs and a table. It's in A1 condition and it was only $59 on Ebay. That'a bargain, no matter how you look at. It's perfect for that area. The chairs are comfy, it's not bulky and the sun can shine through it easily so the grass doesn't die, and it goes without saying it's a first rate afternoon g & t spot.

Found: Lost World

For many years my husband and I have dreamt of having a weekender. I'm sure when he thinks of this he pictures himself with an axe in hand, chopping up some firewood or looking out thoughtfully over the rugged landscape.
For me, I picture myself sitting dolefully in an Adirondack chair, white obviously, under the shade of a 200 year old tree, with an army of peacocks prancing around the perfect lawn.

I may even drift off into dreamland briefly, only to be woken by a gentle pecking about the head from one of these.

Too much? While I'm at it, can I add a tennis court? It's not that I love tennis, but I think there is nothing as luxurious on a steamy Summer afternoon than the sound of a tennis ball being lopped back over the net, not by me of course.  Anyway, back to this weekender idea. We love nothing better than a good pipe dream around here, so quite often on a weekend we explore various parts of South East Queensland.
Last weekend we were sniffing around one side of Lamington National Park, and we came across a beautiful area. It was called the Lost World, can you believe it? You can have a good look at it here.
These are our photos.

It was far more spectacular in person, of course. We pulled up a blanket under one of those trees and had ourselves a picnic. Peaches got into the spirit of things, but Mim didn't like the way the cows were looking at us.

So she took her lunch in the car, and spent the whole time eyeing off the cows suspiciously as though they may be concealing bows and arrows? Mim gets visibly uncomfortable when we go bush, she's thoroughly a city girl.

My job is going well, I enjoy it, but I'd have to say my domestic chorin' has suffered. I didn't have the bar set terribly high pre-job, but the house has really gone to hell-in-a-handbag over the last month.
There are shelves in our fridge (that's shelves, plural) with absolutely nothing on them. I tried to take a photo but the camera was flat! I have not one, not two, but three laundry baskets of ironing.
It takes me half an hour to make up the lunch boxes in the morning because I have to scrounge around so long for something to put in them.
I have an actual 'pile' of school newsletters and information that I'm yet to read.  I can't remember the last time I vacuumed the floor, and let me tell you, you can tell that's how long it's been.
I'm just about to go off and write a shopping list....on a roll of toilet paper, and tomorrow I'm doing the biggest grocery shop the world has ever seen. Look for a picture of me in the paper!!