Take a moment to view the above photo. 🙂
That seriously took me all day to create and get right!
Tomorrows challenge subject is “Old Fashioned”
I question my sanity because, to be perfectly honest – living in a house that is over 100 years old which is full of interesting heirlooms and fantastic old books, all of which I could have spent a few minutes on with the camera, and “Voila” !!
But no – I have to do a total furniture re-arrange, which involved a lot of my muscles to drag the big blackwood dining table out of the way and its not-so-light-and-dainty chairs. Manhandling that big awkward main chair in from the back room, meaning I had to move a whole heap of other furniture out of the way to fit it through!!
Of course the tea set I wanted was in the cabinet that was blocked by the newly moved dining table. So that got moved again!
Then I thought I couldn’t possibly have a fake afternoon tea setting, so I baked muffins.
The house was a wreck!
When I had this idea, I really didn’t realise how long it would take me to get right. I started with a clean slate and added elements, and moved things around.
Tried different angles
I really wanted to use the old Carltonware tea set my Nanna gave me – this was an early effort
Naturally the stickybeak Siamese had to come in and check proceedings!
I added in my great grandfathers books, actually found some flowers in the garden and tweaked the tea set arrangement.
By this time it was late and the lack of light was a bit of an issue. I realised that the light behind the stained glass had gone, so I had to go out and set up a lamp for the final shot!
My delightful husband woke up – rested after his nightshift, wandered through the rubble and didn’t blink an eye!! (Does he think this is normal behaviour??) The muffins were still warm and he was pretty happy to sit down to a cuppa and a couple of fresh muffins (so I gained points there)
Midnight now and most things are back where they came from.
I did leave the mantle pretty much with its new style as I really love the look.
And of course… whats a day in Flowerdale without a gorgeous rainbow to clear away the winter blues??
Cheers all!
I’m enjoying the photo challenge! I thought about joining in but I only have my Iphone so my pics would possibly be crappy. I am a nurse also and I love hearing the stories of nursing in the past. The nurses of today can’t imagine a time of wiping butts, giving enemas, and the like with no gloves. I am continuing to enjoy your blog. My tomatoes and bell peppers are coming up so that is pretty exciting for me. Think I will try planting potatoes some time. I have a pretty severe back problem from a nursing injury. Should I try to put them in pots or is the digging as labor intensive as I have heard it is? Do you plant sweet potatoes or some call them “yams” ?
I am glad you are enjoying the challenge! Quite a few people use their phones, so don’t be shy. If you still like it at the end, def. join in next time. There is such a variety of group members and everyone is pretty encouraging. I am loving the images that are rolling in every day!
Nurses are pretty amazing! I couldn’t do the job but I admire my friends and relatives who do do it!!
Thats terrible re your back!! Its a miserable thing to live with!!
I have never done potatoes in a pot, but I have a friend who does and has planted some like that right now (in Canada) So I will ask her about it. Potatoes are (apart from digging them up) such a plant and leave alone vegetable! I water them. maybe water some kelp juice onto them! When it comes to digging I don’t like using a fork or spade.. I like to sit in the patch with a trowel and get horribly dirty and poke about in the dirt that way!
Glad to hear your tomatoes and bell peppers (capsicum?) are coming along well!! The first ones will be the best!!
I have never tried to grow sweet potatoes! I love them baked – so with my new extended garden I should try them. Again a friend is trying them this season in Canada so I am going to pick her brains about it!!
Thanks for the message!! 🙂
I just got word from my friend about the potatoes. She said it was super easy to harvest – her bags have a flap on the side that she can open and rummage about for a potato or two for dinner. She found the bags at a hardware shop. Sounds like something I would like to try – just so I know how!! (She has her potatoes growing in bags on their patio!! 🙂 )
The photo looked great so it was worth the WHOLE day’s effort!
Thanks Cindy!! I didn’t realise how fiddly it is to do a set up shot like that… you have to keep taking photos, then balancing something or moving something to get the overall shot right. I enjoyed the process!! (and the muffins!)
Your photo looks beautiful and “old fashion”. I love your fireplace mantel. Didn’t know your house was 100 years old.
Thank-you – yes, the original deeds date back to 1906. Of course a lot of things would have been done/added and it would be great to research some history on it.
Its a ‘Federation’ style home. Every where we dig in the yard, we find ‘stuff’! I think history involves a lot of broken glass! 🙂
The story behind this just makes the photo that much easier to vote for. I love Pip’s involvement, that your husband didn’t bat an eye and that there are katanas on your dining room wall mixed in with all this other stuff. You all crack me up. 😉
lol. It was quite the day for one photo!!
(Jeff’s Katanas 🙂 )
(I had a hunch they were. xD)