Sunday, May 11, 2014

The Magpie

As we came home from the markets this weekend I spied the truck which is often parked outside a local business where old joinery, fixtures and fittings are sold and once again thought how fitting it would be for me to have this number plate.


The weather has been heavenly, hinting at autumn but not delivering cold blasts or any frosts.  We spied fields full of blossoming dandelions which I suspect aren't good for pasture production but make a beautiful show for passersby as the sun catches the floss.  


As we drove home I have to admit I was smirking a bit to myself, admiring the beautiful collection of clouds over the mountain (I think it is correctly called a congregation of clouds)


and thinking of all the treasure I had garnered at the market.  For one thing there was the most beautiful tailored jacket
with magnificent detailing at the sides, beautiful shaping and the most gorgeous construction

not to mention the lining which had been hand stitched into place at the arm holes

with its original label (must be investigated further), obviously cared for carefully by somebody over decades of its lifetime. 


Then there were all the plants safely stashed in the boot, including the Takanini camelia with the most intensely but subtly shaded red/brown blossom.  I had seen this for sale last year at the markets but missed my chance and never could remember the name, and lo and behold, here it was again at last. The strangely ruffled and folded peony form of the flowers and the beautiful mysterious colour of the flowers was something extra special.  


There was a big pot of hoop petticoat daffodils and a replacement for the candy pink oxalis from last year which had turned up its toes and refused to thrive, plus a curly leafed ligularia (intriguingly named Martian visitor) and some box plants.  

Also I had found a treasure of a silk jacket, perfect for cutting up for crazy quilting - orange and green silk with mysterious toggles and strange embroidered script on the front.  All for the sum of $2.00!



Though it is officially autumn we have the brugmansias still in blossom along with 


the mysterious fungi growing in the tree at the front (we suspect they are edible fungi, but daren't sample them for fear of meeting a painful and hideous demise)

The season has been very strange one with the camellias and other autumn flowering plants vying with the roses and gladioli, which refuse to yield the stage. 





The most fun purchases this week though were these kitsch ballerina pictures, eternally performing for us the Swan Lake.  Bless them!