I can't fit THAT in my vintage suitcase

This week was the first of the big winter gales and boy, has it been cold.  I've cried 'uncle' and ordered firewood delivered tomorrow morning, so I guess that means I get to spend tomorrow afternoon stacking it neatly. I was starting to eye off various bits of furniture for their warmth sustaining properties, so I gave in.

The roadtrip up the west coast is but a dim memory now, but did I  mention that we took in 21 opshops and 2 tipshops, as well as an above average antique/vintage shop and some garage sales?
  

There are things waiting for me on a veranda in Perth.  I managed to fit a number of picture frames in my suitcase, as well as some other trinkets, but the bigger stuff will have to wait for a trailer, or a substantially empty vehicle travelling south.

I'm very excited about the old church cupboard with the metal cross, the wooden bits of crayfish pots, and the large frame with the bevelled glass. But as we know, I'm easily excitable.















The Geraldton tipshop gets full marks for both useful and for quirky. The prices are reasonable, the stock plentiful and interesting, and the indications were that it was doing a roaring business. 





















I'm not even going to tell you where the antique and vintage shop is, just yet, because there are too many things there that I want to buy. I have a friend who lives nearby and she can be trusted to go forth and acquire desirable items for me. Sometimes, I'm selfish.

Among their eclectic stock were opera glasses (unfortunately no monocles), wooden cupboards, frames, toys, books...you name it, I was prepared to desire it.  In an unusual burst of rationality, I settled for a few smaller things which we shoe-horned into the car.

                                 

Unfortunately, there weren't any exciting old chairs, settees, love seats or other seating apparatus, but perhaps when I return there will be new things to explore.  In my 'if only I had a shed' dreams, these things loom large. Amongst other things.

A bit deco, a bit mid century, a bit retro.

A happy, happy weekend.  On Friday, I walked into the first opshop for the day and saw an adorable coffee table, needing minimal work.  A bit deco, a bit mid century, a bit retro.  Needs to lose the ghastly brittle varnish, and a gentle resurrection of the surface in a couple of spots, but a Nice Item.

Saturday's garage sales took us to a builder who was selling up excess stock, and among the plasterboard and other stuff we discovered some seriously good, but seriously BIG bits of timber. Some looked ex-railway (still with metal fittings), some would seem to be ex-jetty - is it wrong of me to pick something I'll need a forklift to move?  It's on till next weekend so I'm considering some mid-sized pieces. I know a man with a forklift.

Although I'm sad that Cull's House, on Middleton Road here in Albany has been sold, I'm happy that the contents sale was handled by a friend of mine, who knew what he was doing, and that I got some interesting little bits.  This is one of the oldest and probably most original house in Albany.  Many of the contents were original  and there were some great old quirky bits and pieces for sale.

I hope that someone thought to photograph the interior of the house before the contents were moved out.  It's so important to document this stuff. The house was built by Matthew Cull in 1872, and occupied by the family for 117 years.

For those who want to read more here is a link to the entry for the house on the State Heritage Register.

 

 

 Also gathered was a really nice box full of old PMG canvas post bags. (PMG was the Post Master General -  the post office or what we now call Australia Post) There is even a bag of sealing wax, used to seal the lock on the bag, and some of the little stamps and holders.  If anyone wants vintage sealing wax, I would appear to have cornered the market.

   I found a whole lot of old Public Works Department (PWD) maps of Albany, which make for interesting reading.  I love those old maps, some of these have annotations in pencil with the lot prices  and other little notations.  There's so much texture and feeling to these old documents, so much more soul than a computer generated map.

 

 

There were also some old galvanised  jugs, and old blue enamel pot, and a very old indeed religious picture in a sweet old frame, with the back of old boards held in with handmade nails.  

 

Not to mention a dear little handmade box, looks to have been made from a crate, with a glass top and a black velvet and lace cushion within.  Looks to be depression era or earlier, meant for display because the back was nailed on with the same very old handmade nails.  I don't know why I wanted it but I just did.

There was some confusion about a bench for a wringer - wet clothes on one side, eventually slightly less wet clothes on the other.  No wringer attached but a nice rustic piece.  I may have run out of money. And space.