old books old friends

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Full of memories this bookcase

full of old friends that i and others have read

full of odds and ends found and given.

An antique pair of baby shoes, a Fairy catching kit (Professor Dalrymples no less)

some little saying boards from an antique railway carriage.

One proclaims "All the world is Queer,save thee and me and even thee is a little Queer"

From a time when queer didn't mean gay and gay meant happy. Where there were endearing little tomes such  as "Those two and the queer folk" a children's tale.

The William Shakespeare travel set of books from 1867 handy it says to take on your travels.

The enquire within about everything book.Very handy wiill see you from birth to burying, Then theres a girls story with the swastika emblazoned on the side from a time before Hitler when  it was just a symbol of good luck and not fear.
When noddy and big ears weren't accused of anything except friendship and golliwogs were funny little toys and not politically incorrect,Theres a gorgeous butterfly scrap sticker i framed because i couldn't bear to use it,there are so many magazines my other house was in.See memories and they are all good and all there behind the glass of the display cabinet marked believe (and i do).So here is tour number two the bookcase,

 Dear Little baby shoes over 100 years old Mystery ball game with numbered balls and bat
and dont you love the embossed spines of these old books.

Catch a fairy NO problem !

 

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goodness how did Poppy get in

on her antique footstool (she has discerning taste and eats off a slightly chipped chintz plate)

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Cupboard love or shelf dreams

 

okay okay we established that even in a small apartment (unit ,flat) that i am no minimalist.Even i know however in order to have my things and decorate and still maintain some feeling of space i have to be organized and tidy.I love nothing better than decorating arranging rearranging etc and now that all my furniture is in it has been a joy to me.First thing i did was get some wall words you know like big letraset stickers peel and stick .I however am renting so i put these on the drawers below my three display cupboards.The words on each drawer say dream .believe and imagine.I bought these cupboards because they are so versatile wherever i move in the future they can become a china cabinet -a linen press-a bookcase which they are now,They could easily become a wardrobe a pantry a craft cupboard.So o think i did the right thing.There is no linen cupboard here so i have the  linen in my wardrobe this display cupboard means the quilts and white linen and lace and small decorative items can be stored here while looking beautiful.I have put lace along the shelves in the linen one and sweet smelling sachets.i love its its peaceful and calming.

.love the miracle bottle $2 whole dollars.I have some small vintage baby items in here as well.

 

you have to love vintage lace all crisp and white.The love tin houses sewing things,

 Dream wall word

 

 Box of candles bought on sale cant bear to use

A baby romper sits with spare bedcushions/

Spare Quilts and yes a spare kitty who loved the open door she usually just looks in.

.That concludes the linen cupboard tour next up is the bookcase.

Before and after (or how a maximist girl is filling her minimalist space)

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OK I'm really doing it here and blogging away so don't faint at another post so soon.
I really really love before and after shots so here are a few from my apartment.
Take note that when i moved here it was so bland and the previous tenant had a balcony

setting for her dining room and i thought omg this place is sooo tiny now even i am amazed how much i have fit in.

the kitchen was a blank canvas thank god after some of the sights i saw when i was looking for a rental a blank canvas was heaven. However optimistic one may be a purple wall above orange cabinets is never going to be a dream kitchen.Where the previous tenant had an ugly BBQ stored in front of a non opening part of the sliding doors i now have a display cabinet for my royal albert and special china that would not fit in my compact kitchen.I also managed to sneak in a slimboy chest of drawers just outside the kitchen on a small wall.It houses my tea towels and my place mats napkins etc The little wooden chest of drawers my son and his partner bought me used to house jewellery on my dressing table it now houses medication and cake supplies such as patty pans etc on the kitchen bench below a french notice board.I love multi functional things like that i have ordered two more display cabinet's as bookcases for my lounge room.I feel wherever i move in future these may be used for housing linen kitchenware's books and so on.

before an unloved alcove that i think must have housed a linen press (which means i don't have one)

now looks like it was made for my new buffet and hutch. I filled this with vintage children's books and annuals and toys from a simpler time where pick up sticks was entertainment.I guess my friends are right no matter how much i got rid of a minimalist i shall never be.

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oh where did this come from (any chance to see my boys) what a difference 10 years makes here's before and here's after.Boys to men in a the blink of a mothers eye.

New Apartment new style

Okay so i have moved and i got rid of soooo much stuff,I gave away heaps i sold some stuff i threw away stuff and i kept far too much stuff.I am trying for a simpler style although minimalism will never be me no matter how much i try.I am just a gal who loves stuff. There are some things such as my dice collection and vintage xmas decorations i could never part with.This time most of my furniture is brand new an unheard of word in my world.Its all white and very french provincial.Living in a small space the whote makes it lighter and i feel calmer just looking at it. am not allowed to hang curtains believe it or not, It has vertical drapes ugh i hate them.I bought a lovely french screen to combat the problem and i am so happy with it.

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I love nothing better than turning a negative into a positive and tahts what i did with my lounge room

it had an awkward alcove in it where a double linen press at some stage had been removed,I saw its potential and now it houses a buffet and hutch for my craft supplies and to display  vintage childrens books and toys.All those important things like my jars of dice and my vintage party toys and candle holders.Then there the knucklebone or jacks collection.The spinning top collection.Well you know all the usual or should i say my usual.

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Its not Home without a cat !

I know i know i havent posted in an age ,too much has happened i didnt know where to start.
I have moved am now single again and living with my son in an apartment (or a unit or a flat)
depending on how posh i am feeling at any given moment.Have never lived in an apartment before
i dont mind it im still getting used to it (they are renovating apartments above ,next to and across from us and the noise ugh) and its been horrendously hot, But i have been missing my cats that had to stay behind with my ex because they are outside type cats and it would be cruel to keep them inside,
Its not who they are,So i have shed many tears at leaving them behind.Anyway the other day i accidently went out and got a kitten.i mean i have been thinking about it as i just dont feel like a home is a home without a cat,Alex and i just didnt feel like a real family anymore and well now we have POPPY and we do,
Look at that little face when we saw her we fell in love.I say her but the truth is the vet cant be quite sure as she is so small.The ex thinks she is a he,In any case we dont care we love poppy very much already.She makes us laugh her legs and neck are so long for such a teeny cat that she looks like a wobbly baby giraffe cavorting around the place.She already has run of the place and our hearts.No accidents at all she straight off used the tray we were so proud..She is asleep in her basket wth her teddy and finally this place is HOME !

My Blog Banners - trip down memory lane

A Maximist in a minimalist space

Can you believe i have decluttered

all this AND MORE

Well folks its official Brambly Cottage is losing its soul (me) and I am moving to a rented apartment in Penrith at the foot of my beloved Blue Mountains.I just keep thinking me with all my stuff living in a two bedroom apartment yikes.Alex will have a bedroom as will i meaning my craft room will now become a craft cupboard.I have sold so much stuff  ( my friend sue has for me at any rate she has been a true Angel check out the sale she had for me on her blog Junkit Junction )given away even more thrown away quite a bit and donated more than i care to admit.But wait theres still more folks too much more and before the move is over there shall be more unclinging of me from my stuff.I am going for a lighter decorating style no more dark colours and dark furniture.This Space has to be light and airy and lift my spirits.So far i have at the apartment a large bookcase that even has a ladder.My first purchase as a single person again.I am mixing my old things with new white furniture going for a paris apartment feel..As such next year along with this blog i will be starting a new blog of my apartment adventures in decorating and storing heaps in a small space.Sale pics courtesy of Sue -Junkit Junction blog.I'll move soon so watch this space!

Yesterday he was only 4 now he is a husband !

Congratulations are in order ,I am a mother-in-law  why do they call it that awful name,
Seems to me after witnessing the Marriage of my son Tim to his beautiful bride Megan it should be mother-in-love
As they are -so in love i mean just as it should be.The day at Mt Tomah botanical gardens was just too perfect.
Well actually it was just perfect enough.The groom was handsome the bride looked like a princess and the wedding party looked like a film set against the background of our beautiful Blue Mountains.

The mothers cried and when they played Guy Sebastions" Angels brought me here ",one mother really cracked (hmm it could have been me) .You see yesterday he was only four ,so full of life and trouble and hugs.Now he is a man ( and he is her problem now hehe) I guess i did my job really and what a job that was. I cant believe the happiness a mother holds when her children find THE ONE and you know at last they are truly happy.He did
he found the one and what a lovely one she is , I am a lucky mother-in law I finally have a daughter (in-law, in-love) after four sons she was a long time coming.
PLEASE CLICK any PHOTO TO ENLARGE IT !

see In the blink of an eye it happened ( I guess 10 years will do that to sons! )

Thinking of you

Five years since you said my name and yet i love you just the same.
Sometimes suddenly i sing one of your songs and i know you are somehow here.
I still think of you every time i see an ambulance and everytime someone says cancer.
Everytime i look at the jewellery you made me and everytime one of my boys is almost as stubborn as you (or i dad as you passed it on) and dear God i wish you were here sometimes
to fix stuff like you always did,I miss your glue and your capable hands.And on the first day of spring when you went away thats when i think of you most when the snowdrops and forget me nots are in bloom.Forever you are in in my heart but you already know that,
your loving Daughter
Jullie