In the Country

Its country music week here in Mildura at the moment, which brings so many visitors into our beautiful city. We have had a lot of them come to visit us and some of them come back year after year. Most arrive with more friends to introduce and leave with promises to return again.

mixed bag

A variety of mixed shots taken today reflecting the diversity of products that make up our store. From jewellery and trinkets to rustic outdoor and then to the antique bric-a-brac.

Antique treasures

This lovely old Victorian washstand is still a very functional piece of furniture in todays world,having a marble top makes it timeless and it could look perfect in the kitchen,bathroom,bedroom or lounge.It has fantastic claw feet,(couldn't quite get them into the photo) ,and a lower shelf for extra display or storage. Everyone should have a tea trolley, being on wheels you can move it from room to room,and some people actually even use them to serve "tea" .

Looking In .......

Most windows are for looking out to the world,this one is for looking in. A very old character filled window that is a perfect backdrop to the huge cast iron chandeliers that have just arrived, don't you love them!

The big green door

We took delivery of this huge old entranceway a few days ago, and we are all so taken with it have decided it will have to be a permanent display feature here somewhere in the garden.

stone and wood

Grey is the new colour for stoneware this season,which is a good thing for most people as it blends in with most decors.

This great worktable/bench would be so versatile for any room,with handy storage space underneath.

floral fantasies

These decorative stands ( don't really know the official technical term for them ) look really great matched with old china on this well loved and worn dresser. You could really put anything in them i.e. birds,figurines,flowers etc.just as a contrast. Lovely old china is still very sought after,and it looks especially nice when mixed up with all different patterns. I am still having trouble uploading photos today, so hence there is only one. More coming soon !!

New arrivals .....

We continued to unpack new arrivals of furniture and other interesting pieces yesterday,eventually finding places for everything. Its great to stand back at the end of the day after having made some changes and admire everything in its new environment. I will hopefully return to the computer tonight with some photos, my blog is not allowing me to publish any this morning, and I will have to spend some time trying to fix whatever it is that has gone wrong!

Gentle Rain

Rain fell gently on and off for most of the day today, which was lovely but made it tricky unloading the van full of new treasures I have been away collecting over the last 2 days. My absolute favourite is the C1870 old tin bathtub,I know it would look fantastic with floating waterlilies and reeds growing in it,or planted as a herb garden, but it is just too nice to relegate it to the garden. I am hoping someone will have a space to display it indoors as it still amazes me that something so old has survived this long and hopefully it will be preserved for more years to come. There are also some very lovely pieces of china old prints and furniture . Two new garden statues( pictured) are gracing our front garden entrance,they don't have names as yet but by the end of the weekend I am sure there will have been many creative suggestions.

All is calm after the storm

We had a wild storm last night, and it left us with a lot of mess to clean up this morning,but the skies turned blue today and everything looks as good as new again.

Faded beauty

I love rusty,

chipped,

frayed,

mended,

mossy,

cracked,

faded,

patched,

peeling,

scuffed

and faded things

quote by Mary Randolph Carter

This dresser housed on our front verandah brings to mind the true essence of the authors words above. Her book - "For the Love of Old" is filled with lovingly kept items that have grown more beautiful with age.

Blissful Sundays

This is a tiny corner of our courtyard which was a very nice place to be today. The sun was shining in, the fountain was splashing, and all of the neighbourhood birds gathered for a singing session.

Hearts are everywhere

There is a definite heart theme happening today. I had not realised just how many heart orientated decorations we had until I started really searching.

The perfect rose

The first roses of the season,very early, but our unusually warm Spring weather has tricked all of the plants into blooming before their normal flowering time.

Elegant and artful

I thought I would gather some images of the more elegant and decorative aspects of our current stock. A love of Victorian times reflects in a lot of our pieces, intricate canework,floral prints and china, rich textiles and soft lamplight ( orderly clutter was evident in most homes of that period) Our feathered friend who is pictured has authentic feathers but actually consists of polystyrene so don't worry that he was a living creature who met some unfortunate fate! He also has lots of relatives in residence around the store who are available for sale.