frayed at the edge

Tuesday Treasures

This week's treasure is a mixture of lovely memories and a souvenir of our first holiday.  In 1984, Malcolm had earned some extra money at work and we booked a last minute holiday to Corfu.  Stuart was five, going on six, and was just coming to the end of his first year at school (back then it wasn't a crime to take him out of school for a holiday!)

 

I'd forgotten how blond he was at that age!!

 

 

enjoying the evening sun in their matching flip flops

 

Stuart wanted to buy a present for Malcolm, and after much debate, finally chose this bottle opener, which is still in use today!  There are two photos, as it is decorated on both sides ...... I think it's wonderful that someone made so much effort to make a small practical item a work of art!!

 

for some reason I think this is the 'right side' ......

 

 

...... and this the 'wrong side' - what do you think?

 

Tuesday Treasures

Hip hip hooray - Tuesday Treasures is back after a longer than planned holiday!!  Today's treasures are little things that we brought home from Indonesia........

 

These little wooden figures are only two inches high.  They are beatifully painted and haven't lost any of their colour in the nine years we have been back home

 

This vase is only a little bit taller than the figures, but the detail is amazing, with raised flowers and the delightful butterfly

 

Normally this little lady has a glass cover over her, as she is silver and would tarnish out in the air.  It was very hard to take clear photos of her.  Here she is facing you, but when she is turned round, you can see she is carrying a basket of dishes on her back (clicking on the photos should enlarge them if you want a closer look!)

 

This little man and his becak (bicycle taxi) are also silver, and like the lady usually lives under glass.  He is very fine and delicate and you can see the bottom of his stand is covered in batik fabric, which brings us to the last treasure

 

This is a cap (pronounced chap) a metal stamp used to put the wax outline on fabric.   It is very heavy - by the end of a day stamping fabric, the workers must be exhausted!  It is lovely to have these reminders of the years we spent in Indonesia - as I said when I started Tuesday Treasures, these aren't things of great monetary value, just little things which enrich our lives.
 
 
 
 

 

Tuesday Treasures

 

 

Yes, my laptop is a treasure to me (and it's on my lap in this photo!)- along with my broadband connection and my camera!  For years I have kept in touch with friends by e-mail (I have had my e-mail address since 1997!), but once we got broadband, I was able to start writing my blog, and the world has opened up!  When I started writing it in January, I thought it would be read by friends and family who felt obliged to read it ..... but over the months, the number of readers has gradually increased, and I now have blog friends in America, Australia, South Africa, Norway, New Zealand ..... and of course, recently a blog friend became a real-life friend when Sarah came to visit!!

Writing a blog also means taking photos, and although I've always taken holiday and family occasion snaps, I now pay far more attention to my photos, and have developed an interest in taking close-ups, such as this one I took this morning

 

conker and beech nut

 

Also this morning, I took this photo to e-mail to Mattenylou  in America - she has discovered that one of her relatives was born in this building!!

 

Hawick High Street

 

I may have mentioned (several times) that we are off on holiday this Thursday - first to Australia and then to Singapore.  We will be away for five weeks, so my trusty laptop is going with us - mostly to keep in touch with family, but also hopefully to do some posts and let you know about our adventures.

 

But don't worry, I'll be back tomorrow with another instalment of life in the glorious Scottish Borders!!

Tuesday Treasures

If you read my recent 'weekword' for wanderlust , you will know that I love to travel.  Of course I couldn't do that without a passport, and I treasure these two old passports, with their reminders of all the wonderful places I have visited

 

I had these passports when living in Indonesia and just after we came home

 

In 1998 I was staying in Singapore while there was political unrest in Indonesia.  Stuart came out to visit during his summer break from university, Malocolm managed to take a week off from work and we went to Sydney.

 

a busy year travelling back and forward to Indonesia!

 

one of many visas

 

our trip to New Zealand before we came back to Scotland

 

my first trip to Houston to the International Quilt Festival

 

The Indonesian visas took up so many pages of my passport, I had to get a new one, which was issued by the Embassy in Jakarta.  This caused so much comment at Immigration (especially going into America) that I eventually got another new one, which hasn't got many stamps in it yet ...... but of course will soon have lovely Australian and Singaporean stamps, when we go off on our wonderful holiday next week!!

Tuesday Treasures

Having recently mentioned my Dad on TuesdayTreasures, I thought I had better mention my Mum!  It's hard to believe, but it is almost fourteen years since she died.  So let's start with Mum as a young woman, before the Second World War.

 

she could give Victoria Beckham lessons on how to pose!!

 

Mum and Dad going to a wedding in 1946 (I love her coat!)

 

me and my Mum (oh, I'm so cute!!)

 

she lived in this house all her married life

 

I regularly gave her a shampoo and set!

 

celebrating one of her last Christmases with us .....

....... my Mum, one of my greatest treasures.

 

 

Tuesday Treasures

Today's treasure is Malcolm's.  It's a very special clock that I bought him as a Valentine Day's present in 1996 - a beautiful antique!!

 

It's so precious it sits on top of a tall cupboard in the dining room

 

You can see how the face is crazed with age

 

would you like to see the back

 

ok, so I lied, it's not some extremely valuable antique ..... it's a cardboard clock!!! ..... but Malcolm wouldn't part with it!

Tuesday Treasures

From just before Christmas in 2005, until he died at the end of March 2006, my poor old Dad was in hospital.  It was a very difficult time - having recovered from the problem he was initially admitted with, and having having survived c. difficile, he then contracted and died from MRSA.  During that time I was a member of Greenpark Quilters in Polmont.  Going to the group on a Friday morning and having the support of my friends there was a great help.  We had a challenge to make a fabric postcard and post it anonymously to another group member.  We then brought in our cards to show to the others, and to try to guess who had sent them, when we then signed them.  This is the card that I received

 

It is beautifully made, mainly with silk

 

with lovely shaded fabric for the sky and machine quilting with gold thread

 

delicate hand embroidery along the bottom

So why does this card, lovely as it is, mean so much to me - to answer that we have to look at the other side (and you will see that it did come through the post!)

 

it's the kindness of the thought that at such a horrible time, I could have my own tranquil place to escape to.  So when I look at this card I really can say "it's the thought that counts"!!

Tuesday Treasures

Today's treasure isn't a personal one, but it's something that I think we should treasure.  Every morning when I'm out for my walk, I pass this wonderful old gate

 

It just has such style, as do the gate posts, although the right hand one has developed a bit of a list!

 

the left hand one proudly shows the manufacturers name

 

I just like this gate because it shows that in the past people took pride in making things that looked good, as well as fulfilling their practical purpose.  And if it's a choice between the old gate and this new one

 

well, I know which one I would rather have!

Tuesday Treasures

When I was little my Granny and Grandpa used to stay with us for several months every summer, and one of my early memories is of being shown how to do some simple embroidery stitches by Granny.  I wanted to be able to make traycloths like hers

  

Especially with lovely crinoline ladies and pretty flowers

 

These tray cloths are over 50 years old and were in regular use for years - and they were washed in the washing machine!

 

The flowers are so fresh, they could have been stitched yesterday

 

I also have these three white-on-white embroidered tablecloths - I think they were embroidered by my great-aunt Mima (Granny's sister).  On special occasions, the diningtable would be covered first with a large white linen tablecloth and then one of these cloths would be spread on top.

 

Some years ago we had a Victorian house and the cloths were always in use, covering small tables.  Now they are folded away in the airing cupboard.

  

This butterfly is so delicate - it must have taken hours to stitch.

My Granny was always a prolific knitter.  So I guess sewing and knitting is in my genes - wonderful talents to have inherited.  I just wish I had also inherited my Mum's talent for baking.....

Tuesday Treasures

I come from a very small family.  My Mum was an orphan, and I have no relatives on her side.  So I grew up with just one Granny and Grandpa.

This is my gorgeous Granny

 

and this is my handsome Grandpa

 

I don't know exactly when they got married, but I know they were married for some years before they had children.   My Dad was born in 1919, so that makes this last remaining plate from their wedding china very old indeed

 

The pattern is almost worn off on the rim, but it had a Greek key design on the gold bits.  They had two girls and a boy, but sadly one of the girls died in childhood, leaving my Dad and my Aunt Anne, seen here with my Grandpa - who by then had lost quite a lot of his hair!

 

Talking of hair, this photo has a lot to answer for - my Mum decided that I should have a fringe like my Aunt's - unfortunately she cut it with the kitchen scissors and by the time she got it straight, it was about half an inch long!!

My Mum and Dad were married in 1946

 

and I don't think they had wedding china, but when I was little, they bought this lovely teaset for 'best'

 

They too produced two girls and a boy and here we are all together, except for Dad, who took the photo!

 

I'm the cute little shy one on the left!!  So when I grew up, did I too buy a favourite teaset?  I did indeed - mine is a Susie Cooper design for Wedgwood called Keystone.  I don't use it very often - only for the most special of visitors!

 

One of the teaplates was broken a long time ago, so taking the photo yesterday prompted me to have a search online for a replacement.  I discovered that I could buy a plate for £10 (with another £5 for p&p)  I sat and looked at it there in my ' basket', but in the end, I decided that not only was that a lot of money for one plate, but also that it would always be a replacement, not part of the history of my teaset......