PROJECTS.... 13

PROJECT F: THE LOFT 9

This strange material item is a sorta dress-skirt. I purchased some material and got my mother to create a dress for me - alas her sewing skills and my imagination came up with....erm..... this! The yellow elastic straps go over the shoulders to hold it on. The waist came either just above or below the bra-line, and the skirt itself flew wildly in 70's style. I used to have to tuck it between my legs when ringing church bells....

Another assortment of childhood memories that my parents hung onto - perhaps only to embarrass me with. The toilet seat was used by me as a child to roll marbles around. I used to pretend they were on a ship or in a school and moving between classes....

The chocolate box is full of magnetic letters. The milkman board is broken or I could have sold it perhaps. In olde world England, one put it out on the doorstep to inform the crack-of-dawn milkfloat how many bottles of milk and other dairy products you wanted.

That leaves us with a toy telephone that was once used as a coin collecting box as well as a toy and a TV set. Obviously it is a toy TV - no other TV would have a wallpaper-roll style picture and the same 'Old McDonald' song playing incessantly.... The TV might be worth something, but....

PROJECTS.... 12

PROJECT D: ROSE ARCH 2

I have now chopped back all the growth of weed, leaving stalks to be dug up and roses to be trimmed back. Here is the plan I need to follow to erect the rose arch, as soon as I pull down the old one, dig over the area, prune the roses and have half an hour free....

PROJECT F: THE LOFT 8

Next up is a collection of clothing including several pairs of extremely long gold-yellow socks. I assume these were my school hockey socks, but they might have been everyday school socks, as the first high school I attended had a blue and gold uniform. There is also a blouse-shirt-thing. I am uncertain as to where it came from, but assume it was either part of my pre-Australian wardrobe or an old shirt of my parents that I used for painting classes. I do not really want to share my bright red silky frilly undies with the world at large - but hope you will take it to be an amusing teenage fad of mine...

 

 

Oh dear - more undies! This time a frilly lace bra and brightly printed panties. Um, the things one wore in the 70's..... blush, blush! Also on show are a pinny and some other rather overly-patterned items of clothing...

PROJECTS.... 11

 

PROJECT F: THE LOFT 7

Here we have a dolls house that was made for me predominantly out of matchboxes. I am uncertain if my grandfather or father did the honors. Although the roof is in good condition, alas the walls/floor and contents have been the home of a mouse rather then doll family for several months, if not years and have been severely chewed. I managed to rescue a few small items that I may be able to sell - including a few baby dolls, however. 

This is Gina - my walkie-talkie doll. She appears to be wearing a kiddies rain-mac and home-made dress, but may still be worth a few pounds if I can sell her to a collector or kid. I recall she arrived one Christmas or birthday after my begging and nagging for a walkie-talkie doll......

This is Neddy. Apparently he arrived on my 3rd Christmas when I had a bad dose of flu so that I wasnt interested in my presents for a few days. I used to ride Neddy up and down the garden path when I was aged 12-13 - which caused amusement in the neighborhood - but I preferred to have fun and ignore those social norms...

PROJECTS.... 10

PROJECT F: THE LOFT 6

I do recall the first of this trio of books the clearest. I used to have a lot of books, but this one was a favorite at one point of my pre-school days! When I say I had a lot of books, I really do mean this - I had a 7 shelf bookcase AND a 3 or 4 shelf bookcase loaded with books by the time I was a mid-teen. I have the 7 shelves case filled now - but old books of mine are also stashed in 2 boxes, 2 stool-boxes, and a case - as well as having given away a box full and these newly rediscovered loft books!

As you can see, I had plenty of opportunity to read as a child. Would you believe it - I even had a bird book as a kid! No wonder I grew into someone who wrote a book and writes a blog about ornithology!

 

What resembles a pile of old rags is actually my needlecraft. I don't recall sewing much of this, but I do recall the floral-blue item. This was a skirt for a small girl - I was convinced I would have a daughter some day.... I doubt my son would ever fancy wearing this -especially not at 21! Ha ha.

PROJECTS.... 9

PROJECT F: THE LOFT 5

Continuing the massive export of loft-junk, a fairly old baby doll and some theater ticket stubs. Strange things my parents hoarded on my behalf. 

Next, another badge, a doll with growing hair, my toddler-aged PJ's, and a bundle of papers including an old bus timetable. 

Then 'Dobin' a broken-tailed toy horse and a PJ case that I have no recollection of whatsoever - maybe I kept dolls clothes in it? I seem to have had a LOT of dolls. Though why my parents kept any of them I do not know....sigh. Oh well, hopefully I can sell them for a few bucks.

Finally, for today, a few of the old books my parents stored for some reason or other. I recall that my first ever published letter was printed in a kiddies magazine called Jinty.

PROJECTS.... 8

PROJECT C: SUPPER BASKET 2

I have yet to locate a suitable replacement 'basket' to contain my father's supper tubs, so currently they sit on his dining table without a container.

PROJECT F: THE LOFT 4

Here are some more 'goodies' I found. An ancient pencil box without a lid, pottery face and tile print from elementary school, dolls pram cushion, 2 cube-picture block games, and a mouse tile and metallic pot from school pottery classes. Hmm.... WTF did my parents keep this junk for?

A doll's bed, an ugly glove puppet that my mother made, another tile from elementary pottery classes, and a pair of badges - oh dear. I do recall belonging to the Famous Five club and the Tingua and Tucker club, but honestly... this is my history - not my present/future.... why would anyone want to hold on to such stuff? I don't.... and it was MY stuff!

A cloth doll with a rather large head in a plastic dolly carriage, a closer shot of the two badges, and a colorful paper bag. PARENTS! How on earth could they store such JUNK? I am a parent also, but one who knows when one stage of life is over and done with and it is time to move on - a digitally stored photo of a favored childhood toy is far better a keepsake than the actual thing decaying in dust-ridden places. Oh well, maybe I can sell the badges and dolls bed/carriage....

PROJECTS.... 7

PROJECT F: THE LOFT 3

Continuing with the exploration of decades old trash from the loft....

A few lists my mother wrote out - that appear to be things to suggest I could do when I become bored. I do recall saying 'What can 'we' do?' rather a lot as a child. A newspaper style story of The King and I that I have no recall of having owned. A cycling proficiency certificate - blush blush. Some kiddies 'things to do' books....

 

Next we have a pile of numerous dolls clothes, blankets and other accessories for doll-games. I recall that tiny - and absolutely ancient - teddy bear that is now in pieces and must be about 100 years old! I once named it Richard.  I also recall my one and only non-school tie! I wore it to the only funeral I have ever been to (other than pets) - Grandpa's.

Finally for this posting, a photo of my toy-mice collection. At one point my best friend and I used to take boxes (beds) of toy mice to school to play with. The one on the left was homemade as I did not have any mice at first - but I soon collected a half dozen or so!

PROJECTS.... 6

PROJECT G: THE CARPET 1

One of the household matters I am always nagging my father about is that he never steam cleans his carpets. I explained that in Australia, it is the norm to do them every 5 or every 10 years - though he NEVER has!

Recently, he complained that there were too many stains on his hall carpet, and I managed to talk him into letting me use some of the housekeeping money he gives me to get them cleaned! YES! We have a booking for the end of next week and the hall & stair carpets should look much better than THIS afterwards! 

The stains came from my son mostly, who had a habit of making coffee in the kitchen then spilling it whilst traveling to his room - therefore, there is a trail of brown spots all the way along the lower hall, up the stairs, and along the upper hallway to the store room - formerly a bedroom.

PROJECT F: THE LOFT 2

With the accumulation of black sacks in the store room/spare room, it was necessary for me to start sorting out the JUNK & TREASURE my cousins managed to carry down from the attic for us. This is what I found....

The first sack contained a card, party invite, colored paper, somebody else's school book, a book of puzzles I forced my Mom to make for me to do, and a copy of the Highway Code from the 1970's.

Next, a fold-out on British butterflies that may be quite useful, school books, cards, a texta-design I made as a kid or teen, and my old swimming certificate.

 Nothing yet that I cannot live without, but the Highway Code might amuse, the butterfly flyer might inform, and the swimming certificate I had completely forgotten about! I remember we had to swim one length of the school pool and I flunked - but then as we all got out after our lesson, I was given another chance and made it! We also had to swim a width in 2/3 different strokes and jump in...

PROJECTS.... 5

PROJECT F: THE LOFT 1

My cousins Howie & Graham lugged a huge stepladder upstairs, erected it, and utilized it – enabling them to bring down the stored junk from my Dad's loft... I then had the task of searching thru all the bags of junk – primarily to locate ONE book and ONE photo that my Aunt wanted – but also because my Dad was never going to get up there again, seeing as he cannot even manage the stairs any longer – and I do not approve of using lofts, as I prefer the little creature friends that live in them to have undisturbed peace. My son, being in Australia, was not likely to come all the way to England just to sort out the contents....

 

Therefore my cousins delivered the storage items to the spare storage room and I began the enormous task of sorting through every single item - one by one - accompanied as usual by a glass red wine.

PROJECTS.... 4

PROJECT E: COMPOST 

It was time to move the compost bin. It has only been moved once since I movedto Dad's place almost three years ago and Dad will soon need some for his garden tubs out front. I decided to give his old compost to him for his tubs and start afresh with the bin in a new patch.

Previously I had been putting his scraps in his compost bin and mine in..... suet pellet food tubs! Now dad doesn't use the back yard, or put scraps in his bin, I figured I could do it all in the one bin as he wouldn't be putting anything suspicious in!

 

Here is the pile left behind after moving the tub... & the new set up.

PROJECTS.... 3

PROJECT D: ROSE ARCH 1

The old one needed replacing due to weather damage so I suggested to dad he get a new one, which he agreed to order from the Betterware catalog. I have yet to erect it as I have yet to clear the ground, remove the falling to bits old one, and prune the roses, but.....it's another project. I actually began snipping some of the brambles and weeds away this morning – but did not get far as I only had 10 minutes and it was spitting with rain anyways. 

PROJECT A: BREADBOARD 2

And there is my replacement board....also ordered from Betterware in the other box! This is what it looks like outside the box ...

Granite, marble, glass – these are all good materials for rolling pastry, kneading chapatis, and chopping vegetables....NOT WOOD! Wood comes off with a sharp knife and gets on the food – especially after 40+ years of use - ew yukky!

PROJECTS....2

PROJECT B: PANTRY 2

Here are my efforts to fix up the pantry.... This is not how it ended up – but the first attempts. Since this, I reshuffled things again – and then had two large packages – a Holland and Barrett delivery & my father's harvest festival hamper.....

PROJECT C: SUPPER BASKET 1

This was a Christmas hamper my father got a couple of years ago – since then it has been used to stash goodies in for his daily supper tray. However, it got crumbs in and.... emptying it and dumping it was a new project. Instead, I have 4 plastic tubs into which all goodies now go (two savory and two sweet).

Spring cleaning in fall & other projects

I have not written in this blog for some time, not because I have been lazy but because I have not done anything other than 'essential-only' regular chores for a while. Finally, I have started getting the itch to get going again. This time, I have intentions to not only spring clean inside but also out in the yard!

Starting at a time when many Australians are spring cleaning, while most locals are squirrelling up for the year, I have a few small projects started in September, that I would like to complete by the end of the year. I shall label them a,b,c, etc....and as I continue/complete them will post updates.

PROJECT A: BREADBOARD 1

THIS is the disgusting, warped, stained, bitty, wooden breadboard that was in use when I was a little girl. Obviously, it has done its time and needs replacing after more than 40 years use. I suggested dad buy a new one when I first moved back here to take care of him – but he refused. Replacing it became a pet desire....

PROJECT B: PANTRY 1

Oh look – my favorite chore gets done again – time to spring clean the pantry! Here is some of the stuff being removed in preparation. For some reason, removing and reorganizing pantry items has always appealed to me.

More projects and continuations to come..... soon!

My father's new table & bed -3

With the table set up, it came down to the bed. This arrived a day or two later. For once, I neither had to use the housekeping money nor my brain and hands to buy or assemble the item. It was purchased from a shop with workmen to deliver and erect.

The old bed had been my father's sleeping place for more than 60 years - having shared it with my mother throughout their entire married life together at this house. So to have a new bed was an adventure for my father - but once his sentimentality had been overrided by hospital advice, accepting mother would not be sharing it with him any more anyway, and that a bed was just furniture, he accepted having a new one.

On the morning of the arrival of the new bed, I took the old one to bits - recollecting how just over a year earlier I had done much the same, and carried it downstairs from the upper bedroom to former lounge for my father with my son's help.

 

The new bed arrived on time, was erected, and has been used by my father since. Alas, we had to politely shoo our visitor into the kitchen while it was assembled.....

My father's new table & bed-2

The instructions were simple - if the diagram was complex and miniscule. I soon had the three leg chunks together and the two top poles inserted in the table itself.

 

All that remained for me to do was insert the steel poles into the black sockets and screw in a pair of handles in order to produce a table.

 

This allowed the former chairside table to hold the bedside essentials -

 

- while the new table held the daytime/nighttime extra supplies.

My father's new table & bed -1

During my father's recent hospitalization, he was advised to purchase a new bed - one that was higher and with a firmer mattress. After circa 60 years of using his former bed, he agreed to dispose of the double dark-wood bed that he had shared throughout his entire married life with my mother - in order to purchase a brand new single bed, that was higher and with a firmer mattress. He wrote me a check after I had researched online, and taking the money from my bank account, I set off to buy his new bed. DONE!

Additionally, on return he renewed his desire for a hospital-style table that could be wheeled about to attend to his needs whether in his recliner or bed. Due to hassles with a specific bank, he had to get someone else to purchase the table and write them a check - the stupid bank had blocked his debit card as he was unable to talk to the idiots at the fraud section on the telephone in person due to being hospitalized/unable to pass the banks security checks - and the bank - of which I am departing as soon as my next statement processes and I can therefore apply elsewhere - would not talk to me on his behalf as all other dept and institutions will.

Suffice to say, my father has recently acquired a new table and bed at inconvenience to himself and others. The table arrived first - in 'to-be-assembled' pieces.

 

This was to replace the former wooden bedside cabinet - 

 

- and chairside table, originally created from a cheese carton lid by my father's father.

 

I got to work...