Thursday, May 8, 2014

What a Wonderful Weekend! Part 2

Ok, so I pretty much covered the sewing get-together part of my weekend in my last post, but I didn't get to talk about Kim and Alby's house.

They live in what appears to be a old house built in the Queenslander style, except its not.  It was actually built not that long ago, and the interior was finished by Kim and Alby in an almost perfect reproduction.

Decorative timber archways, thick and lush draping curtains...

Antique furniture and artworks...

Stained glass, antique style power points and light switches...

A kitchen filled with antique and vintage kitchenalia and collectables


And an antique telephone that opens to reveal....

A modern telephone and a clever place to put stuff!

The house was just amazing, and what was under the house was just as good.  Alby is a serious mid century collector and there is SO MUCH STUFF in the shed under their house - from records and magazines, to furniture, jukeboxes and a caravan that is currently being restored.  And then there is the shed part way up the driveway that contains three antique cars for restoration!

There is one car that has been fully restored (a Chevy Bel Air - my favourite!) and that is the one that we took to the Garterbelts and Gasoline festival on Sunday!

We left fairly early to drive the 30 or so minutes up the mountain to the showground, and when we arrived the sun was out but it was cold and the wind was blowing an icy gale.  I was completely unprepared for the weather, and all I had to wear was my vintage hawaiian dress and two cardigans.  Mind you, I was dressed appropriately compared to some people!!!

After we parked the car for display on the showground, Kim, my new friend Chelsea and I wandered around the market stalls.  And thats when Chelsea and I spotted a gorgeous vintage coat.  There may have been elbows and some shoving involved, but Chelsea must have way more practice at this kind of thing than me, cause she made it there first.  It fit her perfectly, and she bought it for the princely sum of $35.  But being the lovely person that she is, she let me wear it.

That's me in the bargain coat in the middle, with Chelsea on the left and Kim on the right.  I can't remember the other lady's names... I'm really bad at remembering names...

After the shopping, we headed back to the car to sit in the sun and warm up with a cup of tea.  Alby broke out the picnic chairs and Kim opened up the 1950s vintage picnic basket and made tea.

There was even SAUCERS!  It was so civilised!!

Kim and Chelsea enjoying their cups of tea (and the sunshine!)

mmmm sunshine!!!

After that we did the other thing you do at a car show - we wandered around looking at the cars!

I took off the coat for this photo - so you can sort of see my vintage hawaiian dress.  Its amazing!!!



Believe it or not, this car was built and is owned by a member of the sewing group!  And when you have an opportunity to sit in a car like this and have your photo taken - you take it!

There were also a few vintage caravans on display.  I was particularly taken by the paint job on this one


This is actually a fiberglass caravan and the edge, rivets and rust are part of THE PAINT JOB!  It was seriously incredible!!

Best fairy lights ever!

After the wander we went back to the car for another sit in the sun and our picnic lunch of leftovers from the day before.  Why is it that some things just taste better the next day???

We might also have added a bit of kick to our soft drink... shhh!!

On the way home we stopped for 10 seconds so I could have a quick look at the view.  Any longer than that and I think I would either have a) blown away; or b) frozen solid!


I really had an amazing weekend.  It was lovely to meet new people, make new friends, and see new places.  Thank you so much to Kim, Alby and their family for letting me stay, making me feel welcome and driving me around.

Back to sewing this weekend, and regular programming of sewing blogging next week!

Beccie
xxx

5 comments:

  1. Wow that house is just amazing! Its so great that people are creating new houses with faithful vintage touches, just like we do with our sewing. I've always wanted to see more homes like that. There's absolutely no reason not to do it. Not everything built new has to look new does it?

    What I'd love to see, is all those big apartments we get around Melbourne going up that are part of the need for higher density housing, to be made in the Art Deco style. So many of our inner suburbs like South Yarra and St Kilda have amazing Deco apartment blocks which are highly sought after for their high ceilings, timber floors and those big bay windows. Why can't we make new ones of those too? With modern kitchens and proper insulation?

    Anyway - ramble ramble. Looks like you had a great trip! The sun I guess was deceptively not warm that day! Hehe

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    1. You really are a girl after my own heart Esz!

      I love Art Deco and it would be amazing if they could make those modern apartment blocks look much nicer with a few hints from back then! It might cost them a little more to do but boy they would sell for more as well!!

      And yes, the sun was light only... no heat what so ever!

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  2. This house is gorgeous! I love the wedgewood-blue cupboard and the matching tiles in the kitchen... How special it must be to live in such a place - you can tell they put a lot of love and work into everything. And I am always amazed to see other people's homes, especially when they are so tasteful and unusual like this one.

    I particularly love the hairstyle you wore that day. You should make some hair-tutorial. I couldn't make it with my hair (stupidly frizzy-curled), but I'm always eager to know how other do their hair. You look fantastic! And the other ladies too - you all had a lot of fun.

    And I spotted your new shoes! Hope you like them as much as I love mine.

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    1. They sure have put a lot of work into their home, but its paid off because its just wonderful! So many little details!!!

      And I decided to put all my hair up because of the wind, and I'm glad I did because it would have driven me insane other wise. And it must have looked good from all angles because it was photographed a lot!

      And the shoes Doris, are FABULOUS!!!! Thank you so much for putting me onto them!!!

      xxx

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  3. The house looks really amazing. I can see that it took a lot of work in order to achieve this amazing final effect

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