Show us a retro corner of your home

The retrolicious girls from Lucy Violet Vintage and Hung up on Retro are hosting a link up where you show off a retro or vintage corner of your home. How could I not participate? Retro is my middle name. Ms Bris Retro Mod.

I have lots of retro corners in the Sow's Ear but they generally get cluttered with the children's things. Yes, in real life we have toys galore scattered around the house. So today I flung it all out of view (just to the left) and snapped this small, but favourite corner of mine. I'd have done more but there was only so much flinging I was up for today...

The shot above is in our lounge room. It consist of a small 1950s homemade desk which I found in a carpark, the boys old Stokke tripp trapp chair, a large 1975 screen print by the late Gold Coast artist Veda Arrowsmith and a numbered Inaluxe giclee print (this is now sold through ikea).

In this next photo is a close up of some random objects which we've accumulated over time. The orange Bitossi style lamp I bought from Katherine at Theoldboathouse, the teeny West German bud vase was a gift from a friend, the vintage red art glass vase is an eBay buy (I think it's 1960s Japanese) and the tiki was bought in the Papeete marche when we were visiting family in Tahiti in 2009.

And there you have it - a retro corner among many retro corners in the Sow's Ear.

We made the front cover!

That made you look!

I know it's not the cover of Inside Out or Vogue Living however one has to start somewhere..The cover of the kids' school recipe book seems like a respectable start. 

(It also helps that I am the only serial vignette snapper available and an enthusiastic one at that)

The kids saw the photo and asked at whose place was it taken. When I said it was taken at the Sow's Ear they seemed genuinely surprised. "Oh really? It doesn't look like our place."  

They thought the photo was at someone else's place because of the old rotary hand whisk, which I had borrowed from a friend. Funny how one thing can throw them...

Aren't those vintage whisks awesome? I want one now. I was almost going to steal it but my friend had already stolen it from her parents-in-law. You should really only steal things once...

So, anyone make the cover of something recently? 

rough mock-up of school recipe book cover page...it could still end up on the cutting room floor so maybe this post was premature! 

p.s And thanks for all your sympathetic comments about my little run-in the other day. I feel better after reading your similar stories. xx 

Why you should open both gates...

You know that opening scene from Four Weddings and a Funeral where the first words uttered were different intonations of the F word? Well that kind of describes my weekend.

Saturday morning was going to be a busy chock-a-block day. I had lots of jobs to do, places to go and people to see. I walked down the driveway to the front fence and opened  the right-hand side gate. I checked to see if there was anything in the mail box and was momentarily distracted by the frangipani tree, which was still in flower...I smiled and picked a small bud for my hair...because it was so pretty...

Then I walked back to the car, started the ignition, put the car in reverse and 

BANG! 

I slammed straight into the gate that I had forgotten to open. Yep, the left-hand side gate was still closed when I was reversing.  I was on complete autopilot and didn't check my mirrors. If I had, I would have seen the gate in the rear view mirror.

F@#$!

Jason checking the busted fence post

So, the damage: a split fence post, crumpled bumper bar and loss of face with the boys. The actual gate itself is still intact, although the gate bolt did fall off. The fact it is a relatively brand new fence just breaks my heart.

The boys are giving me heaps of flack over the flower picking...the most expensive flower I have ever picked I would hazard a  guess. My brunette hair colour is even being questioned! Nooooo!

damage to the back bumper bar

It's not like we don't have enough to do around here already...but when I'm responsible for creating more work for poor old Jason to fix up...it can really suck.

He was really good about it and set about fixing the fence post straight away. I don't feel so much like a loser, now that I can't see the damage to the fence. And I've booked the car to be repaired as soon as possible.

All I can say is, thank goodness it wasn't the French car. Phew!

Four years at the Sow's Ear

Fours years ago we became the fourth owners of the Sow's Ear, since it was built in 1928. In some ways it only seems like yesterday when we first moved in, and in other ways it seems like we've been here forever.

Most readers don't know that I was reluctant going through with the purchase of the Sow's Ear. It was Jason who loved the Sow's Ear from the start..love at first-sight kind of thing...not sure how the romance is going now, but he's persevering with it like a true Romeo.

I thought it would be fun to look back at some old photos of the Sow's Ear...to remind us how far we've come. It's like our fourth child.

The Sow's Ear real estate photo

The Sow's Ear a few months after moving in

Back view of the Sow's Ear - real estate photo

Old capiz shell kitchen light. 

The sunroom when we first moved in

The living room breezeway

The new kitchen being installed a few months after moving in

Welcome to a new sponsor Thea & Sami

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mums out there!

I just wanted to give a shout-out to our brand new sponsor Thea & Sami who design and hand screen-print fabrics and linen locally in Brisbane. We are so proud to be associated with such a fine innovative business with an environmental conscience.

Using only water-based and non-toxic inks, Thea & Sami's creations are 100 per cent eco-friendly - their ethos is all about surrounding oneself with natural style. When you purchase Thea & Sami products, you can be confident that it is hand-made and not mass-produced.

Thea & Sami also make limited edition natural linen homewares such as ottomans, cushions and napery which you can purchase through their online ecostore or, if you live locally, you can pop into the Thea & Sami studio shop on Fridays (unit 1/6 Jones Road, Capalaba).

Custom made lampshades in the Fretwork pattern which is inspired by the Queenslander gable.  

If you want to find out more about Thea & Sami and the beautiful linens they produce, visit the website here.

Please help us to support the small businesses who so generously support us.