Two by Two

I came back from the UK with one more suitcase than we went with..

It was mostly filled with bargain finds from the fifty two charity shops in my parents' town - and Cheltenham Racecourse Car Boot.

Here are some of my favourite finds - they all came in pairs!

Two Kathie Winkle plates - five pounds for both from the car boot sale

Nice editions of Little Women and Little Men, two pounds each from Oxfam

Two lovely old cameras - an Agfa Box Spezial - three pounds from the car boot sale (I beat him down from five pounds) and the Instamatic is my mum's old camera and the first camera I ever took a photo on. 
Unfortunately you can't get film for it any more but you can adapt 135mm film to fit - not sure if I'm going to try this or not...

A Very Long Drive and Three Amazing Things

Western Australia is big. Really big.

It's twelve times bigger than the UK, and twenty times bigger than England....

I'm starting to understand the sheer scale of the place after today.

I asked Mark to take us somewhere we hadn't been, so we looked on the map and decided to go to Wave Rock.

It was a little bit further than it looked on the map.

Four hours later we arrived at a big rock - Amazing Thing No. 1.

It is a pretty impressive big rock.

Amazing Thing No.2 - we drove a few km down the road and found a cave complete with real ancient cave paintings - 

It's the only cave I would consider living in - nice high ceiling and natural light - and these amazing wall paintings -

Amazing Thing No. 3 was a bonus - we got out of the car and Mark nearly climbed a tree when he thought he saw a snake...
It wasn't a snake - can you tell what it is?

 It's a chain of 55 furry caterpillars following the leader to a new tree -

We watched until they were all safely up in the tree.
(I just googled them and they are called Processionary Caterpillars.)

Oh - and then we drove four hours home...

Painting, more painting, and a fantastic find!

Painting progress report: after 52 coats of paint the doors are beginning to look more white then blue... I'm going to tackle the window frames on Friday.

Look what Mark brought back from the city yesterday!
OK, I asked him to - it was a real bargain on Gumtree.

It's a real beauty - all the original handles - and the glass is as good as new. I'm thinking it would go perfectly in the Art Deco house...

It needs painting..... join the back of the queue please

On the wall

I love this mural - it's a numbat - painted in Fremantle, Western Australia by Roa, a Belgian street artist. I can't believe it but it only took him a day to finish... quick work!


And some less famous artwork in Weston Super Mare ;)...

Cloudstreet

I just finished reading Cloudstreet by Tim Winton which was great.
Just thought I'd share that with you... (Go read it)

Photo a Day - Smile

I found this cow in a charity shop - he casts a great shadow and makes me smile each time I walk past him 

Jason Rydquist

I love Jason Rydquist's photos of abandoned homesteads in Oregon - you can buy prints here or flip through his portfolio here. Some of the interior shots are very sad, whole fridges of food left behind and family photos still on the walls - makes you wonder about the circumstances that led to their abandonment -  go have a look.

Beach Find

I love this Clamshell book from Odelae on Etsy - such a good idea!
I'm off to tidy the house for a viewing this afternoon - have a great weekend everyone!

Spotted...

...at the weekend..

Sea Glass

This weekend's beachcombing finds- Bill found the bottle stopper -we were very excited!

The Midnight Sun

Hands up if you want to go to Iceland now? Beautiful.

(found here)

PS Watch it in full screen..

Bye Bye Blue Sky

It's windy, cloudy and a bit chilly today- Autumn is back!

In other news I'm swimming the Channel.

In small increments and in the comfort of my local pool.

Have a look here to set your own swimming challenge- it's great if, like me, you have a serious will power shortage...

Some fab stuff...

..I've found today

Dear Photograph (via the Etsy blog) such a simple yet brilliant idea - take a photo of a photo from the past in the present - it's sort of like seeing ghosts...

You can contribute your own photos here

The Tate Movie Project, also known as The Itch of the Golden Nit

A new animation from Aardman created completely by children - the website's great and there's a little film about it here. It's going to be shown around the country in the summer

Life in a Day - this film looks amazing - it only seems to be on release at Vue cinemas - have a look for one near you here!

PS The website's here

Happy Father's Day

We bought Mark this print from Bear Graphics - it pretty much sums up his philosophy in life :)

However, today he can't surf - he's fixing the boiler - there's no job he can't do!

(Or won't attempt..)

Car Booty!

Happy day in the Moody household - Car Boot treasures from this morning -

A little sugar pot from South Cerney pottery - £1!

Old cotton reels- 40p each!

Love the 'Frivolous Pink'...

..which I used to sew this little card.

And Mark managed to fix the dishwasher - my happiness is complete!

Romancing the stone...

Bill and I went on a Fossil Hunt yesterday - here.

Amongst the loads of belemnites and oyster shells (and a couple of nice ammonites), I found this stone and when we got home I gave it to Mark. (This was quite an unusual romantic gesture on my part..)

Complete waste of time - he said ' Oh.... thanks....a pebble...'

?!

A mystery...

I found this card inside an old copy of Sense and Sensibility I bought in Perth last year - I think it's an invitation to a funeral - of the very suave fellow on the front I think. He's very elegant with a little moustache and a cigarette holder!



Inside it says,

'The Pleasure of the Company

of Miss Sue Ann Turner is

required at the farewell of

Garrick S. Hendy

A Respected and Admired friend of every-one'

I wish I knew who he was - he looks like an intriguing character!

Loglike and lovely

For Christmas I bought my sister and her boyfriend one of these gorgeous upcycled candlesticks from Loglike (only their one is blue and spotty)




They have a great website and blog, and their packaging is really cool!

Paper planes and Mince pies

I love this Paper Plane brooch from WhiteSquare on Etsy - really simple but effective!

Smallest Moody and I are keeping cosy scoffing mince pies - I'm still waiting for the Christmas Visa advert to come on the telly - the one at the airport that always makes me cry - then I'll feel properly Christmassy..

Decoratively speaking

I'm beginning to feel a lot like Christmas, so here are some lovely decoration ideas...

Reindeer Star Garland from Little Pieces

Paper Angel Garland from Pete's Patch

Paper Wreath from Bookity

Two festive stars from Little Brick House