"Herman the German" and a WINNER

I had never heard of Herman the German ...that is until today.......

I was gifted it by a lovely playgroup mum...

She thought it might be just my thing....

I think she could be right....

After reading The Friendship Bread last year I wondered if it could be fun....

    So Herman the German...( I know ...a strange name indeed) is now living on my kitchen bench for the next ten days....I will endeavour to follow the daily instructions so that by day ten I can share it with 3 friends and also bake a loaf of the this sourdough cake for us to enjoy.....

I'll let you know how it goes...how it tastes  and if you are lucky enough to know me in person you may even find me sharing this crazy caper with you.

 

  You can check out all the details and fun of Herman the German at it's own website.

Now for my Treasure Chest Giveaway.........

MANDY  from FELL4U...... thanks Fraser for your help.....

Let me know which bag you liked the most and I will send it on it's way.....

Thanks for all your lovely comments and joining in the fun.

You never know I have a few more treasures to go there might be something else I need to pass on.  

Treasure Chest Finds No 8

I am still sorting through the contents of my Glory Box....

Of which you can check out the other finds so far, here.

The latest discovery is  family heirlooms that belong to my husband......

A beautiful lace bassinet quilt and pillow case....  

 Tucked away with those two things is his Christening gown.....

He is quite bemused that his mum would have put him in such a delicate and beautiful gown.... complete with under dress and lace.....

 

We missed the chance when Taylor was dedicated to have her dressed in it...

But did time it right so that Meg was able to wear it for her dedication service..... 

It wasn't even an option with our huge baby boy's turn...besides it really did seem too too pretty for him....

It is even still hanging on it's original hanger ......

 I think this one is a definite keeper......I am sure there will be other little ones that one day will continue the family tradition.....

If you missed my giveaway last week you still have until tomorrow night to leave me a little hello.....and you could have a little bit of my treasures too.

My Creative Space ....and a giveaway

You may remember when I was digging around in my glory box I came across these.....

So I thought seeing as I am trying to not be so much of a "keeper".... I would make something with a couple of the tea towels ...... 

They are beautiful unwashed linen tea towels...

the first featuring ...Australian Galahs 

 and just because,  it has a doily feature on the front......

The second was a beautiful print featuring a gorgeous Bouquet of flowers...again crisp new  linen (well at least 25 years old new)

also with a little doily feature....

 They are both lined with pretty fabric from my stash...

So all round a great stash busting project...

which I am keen to share....

Seeing as I have just clicked over to 103 followers ( me thinks amazing for this little ol blog)

I thought I would give one away....

You can choose

Australian Galahs 

or

Bouquet of flowers

Just say hi in the comments and let me know which one you would like and I will draw a random winner this time next week.  I will post anywhere.

Joining in with      Show and Tell  and   Creative Spaces. 

Treasure Chest Finds No.7

While exploring the contents of my Glory Box although sentimental, my goal is to decide whether something is going to be a keeper or if it is time for it to go....

So today I am showing you this...... 

It contains my wedding keepsakes.....

you know the ones ...something blue, something borrowed, something old and something new......

I found a garter......I must have had two because I distinctly remember having one taken off my leg by some male  at the wedding reception!!!! Who does that now???  

 

 There was the little bag that my mum made using wedding dress fabric......it carried my handkerchief given to me by my nan......

There was of course the collection of horseshoes given by friends on the day .....

and this pot pouri fan that I must have carried as well.... 

 

These things feel distinctly 80's...We were married in 1988 so they are somewhat dated...

None the less they are memory keepers and for that reason I think they will be a keeper, going back in the box for that day when I can share with Meg on her wedding day some of the treasures that I carried down the isle at the tender age of 20 1/2 years old.


You can see all my other Treasure Chest finds here. 

Treasure Chest finds No.6

 

 

Vintage handkerchiefs in a sweet vintage linen pouch is what I have to show you from my Glory Box/hope chest this week.

I don't know much of the story behind them except to say that one of the set has my mum's initials on them "J" for JILL..or could that be my grandmothers initial "J" for  Joy

They are so delicate...the blue one is even finely hand painted,  with the words

"Greetings from Busselton" ... a coastal town south of Perth.

These are a keeper .

You can see my other treasure Chest finds here. 

Treasure Chest Finds No.5

I come from a long line of very proficient knitters......even my two sisters have the knitting gene.....

Not so much me....I can knit and purl a scarf....or granny square  crochet....that is the extent..

So this week's show and tell from my glory box/hope chest is the one and only jumper that I have ever completed........

my mum encouraged me to knit it and was with me for every stitch dropped and knitted.....

 Looking at all the piling on the jumper I wore this lots.....It was before I was married....so at least 25 years ago.....strange shape and large but still ...I knitted it!!   

I am thinking it is time to give it up , find a new home for this beauty..... 

 Also found .....my poncho made in lovely pure wool...knitted by my mum when I was a tween maybe 11 ish...oh too many years ago to remember....

She was a fast and fancy knitter....could knit talk and watch TV at the same time.

Would have something started and finished in the blink of an eye....

This may be a sentimental keeper.....

AN UPDATE....

"Mum ? who's is this jumper......Can I have it?...I really like big and baggy????"

Sure Meg.....she laughed when I told her the story and asked whether I was ever that shape??

Hmmmm 

Looks like it is hanging around a little longer.   

You can see my other Treasure Chest Finds here.

Treasure Chest Finds No.4

Needing to get a move on with re packing my Glory Box so that it is not taking up much needed room in the house.....(ie it needs to go back into the wardrobe out of the way) has made me look at some of the contents with new eyes.

Much of what is in there I have had for many years....long before it was "trendy" to have and  certainly any thoughts of  re purposing any of it.  Now all these many years down the track I have a much keener interest in the items and see that many of them have so many new lives to live.

So this week I am showing you a stack of linen that I have stored away and with my new eyes I am thinking that it all doesn't need to go back in the box and stay in a pristine, mothball smelling state.

Even the lovely damask tablecloths and matching napkins still in their original boxes need to come out and see the light of the day....

maybe they just need to go on my table....or maybe they are destined for something more grand.

All I know is that I think both my mum and grandmothers would be pleased if I was using them and showing them off in all their glory in stead of trying to preserve them in a chest at the back of my wardrobe.

I think the same goes for the supper cloths and crocheted doilies and table runners.

You can see all my other Treasure Chest finds here.

Treasure Chest Find No.3

If you have a clown phobia, you best not read on.....

I have been sharing the contents of my newly opened hope chest that has been in storage for many years...

Today I bring you this very old and very "odd" clown.

He serves...or served as a Pj's holder. His legs are hollow and this is where you stashed your bed clothes when not in use..

I remember having him as a small child sometimes on my bed , sometimes hanging on my door and then stuffed kindly into my hope chest....given to me by my grandmother.

I know what you're thinking why only ONE EAR!  I don't know....he has always had one!

He is quite fragile now and the fabric is very delicate, faded and slightly vintage marked...

The embroidery on his face is so beautifully and cleverly done and I like that he has a smile. The felt hands and feet are in great condition seeing as usually felt is the first to be nibbled on by silverfish if there are any around.    

anyways....

unlike my previous weeks discoveries here and here I don't think this little guy will be hanging on our bedroom door any time soon......

But thought he was worth the share. 

 

Treasure Chest find No.2

Last week I showed you some of the contents of my hope chest .

Thanks for the suggestions as to how to put my tea towel collection to good use.

Well this week I thought I would show you a REAL treasure......

The hand crocheted bedspread made by my maternal grandmother for my parents bed...... 

 

I knew it was tucked away but have never had it out to use because I never thought it would fit.....

You see my parents bed was unique.....

It was  double sized, brass and stood about 1metre high to the mattress. Now those measurements are a guess ...I was trying to picture myself as a child and remembering we could never climb up it was so high.

It always ensured that they never had little people climb into bed in the wee hours of the morning.

It also had the most awesome storage space underneath.

Mum was always the talk of her friends as to how much she had stored underneath the bed.....we even knew as kids that there was some cool stuff tucked away that sometimes we got to check out.

Visitors would catch a glimpse of mum and dad's bed through a slightly open door and be fascinated and end up having a  closer look......lucky for mum she was a stickler for making the bed and having a tidy room.

...and she had an awesomely talented mum who made this incredible spread.  

 So as I am exploring the contents of my hope chest I thought it time to trial it on our bed...being a queen and nowhere as high as my parents I am excited to see that it fits almost perfectly. There is just one small repair that needs doing but apart from that it is in perfect condition.

I think that it is at least 35 years old, so to me priceless.

Now just to convince my sweet that it does look really cool...I think I am winning!

Treasure chest find No.1 here 

Treasure Chest finds

Back during January , I was part of a school holiday programme that my church ran for a week.....the theme was treasure (pirates)

We were gathering props when I suddenly remembered in the back of my walk in wardrobe I had my "glory box", "hope chest" or whatever you may know it as.......

It was the perfect pirates treasure chest ...and so it got hauled out....emptied and used for the week.

So now because I really need to repack it and tuck it back away I thought I might show you some of the treasure that I have buried inside of it....  

My paternal grandparents gave me the chest when I was a young teen, for the purpose of storing and collecting all things that would set me up for living as a married woman one day or maybe even a single one at that....

My grand mother took great delight in gifting me for birthdays and Christmas' all manner of goodies.....towels, linen, crockery.....the idea caught on and soon I had other family members feeling that these were appropriate gifts too.....and so my hope chest filled.

By the time I married at 20 1/2 years old all the contributions, along with the things I had saved and bought myself were the  little bits of treasure that helped to begin our humble first home.

 Over time I have used alot of the treasures and have replaced them with other sentimental items from this journey of life....

when we moved into this  home 14 years ago ..we never quite found the right spot to have the chest out on display...it takes up quite a bit of space....

Over time it has found it's home in the back of the wardrobe.....very rarely opened... in fact probably never in the 14 years......

Until now...I didn't have the time a few weeks ago to be too sentimental but....now I really need to rehouse it and thought I would take some time to carefully see what I had tucked away and any stories attached to the treasures....

so firstly this pile of brand new, pure Irish linen tea towels....

 They are crisp and new...smelling of camphor....collected by family...mostly nan and some from my parents of places they traveled....

They are true Australiana... vintage???

Maybe...... to me they seem old ....they would be at least 25 years old..... 

Sorry for the unironed appearance....I can't bring myself to iron them just yet and take away that stiff new linen feel.....

What to do with them and the other twelve just like them from iconic places around our country...not sure...maybe they need to be out being used  rather than stuck away in the treasure box.....

Any suggestions?

I'll share more of my treasures next week if you'll indulge me.