Apologies for absence, some local history and some op shop treasures

Dear Readers, I am sorry I have been a bit quiet.  Like many of my blogging colleagues I am juggling my family and my work as well as my hobbies including blogging.  I have managed to catch up on my reading but have not yet made up my mind about the Liebster Blog Award.

On the daily fashion front, you may recall that I vowed to try and wear some new and exciting combinations of clothes.  Below I am wearing a home made red floral top with a turquoise pleated skirt.  Somehow the mixture of red and turquoise worked really well.

 Red floral home-made top

Red wide belt from Butterflies $2

Grey cotton cardi from Recycle Boutique $4.50

Brown boots from St V de P $9

Turquoise pleated skirt from Port Chalmers School Fair which was 

part of a grab bag totalling $1.  So this item probably cost less than 50 cents.

I may have been trying new and exciting combinations within the limits of my wardrobe, but that has not dulled sense of joy and excitement when I find a truly awesome item which screams: Buy me.  Buy me and wear me.  Do it.  Do it now.

That's how I felt when I saw this absolutely out of this world pineapple yellow sleeveless POLYESTER dress at Butterflies.  Here I am wearing it - yes I know I am wearing the grey cardigan again.

Pineapple yellow sleeveless polyester sun dress, Butterflies $6

Grey cardi as above

Black Keds bought on sale for less than $10

In the weekend I took my daughter on an adventure.  It was a lovely sunny day on Saturday, so I told her we were going to look for the graves of pirates.

Really, we went to the old cemetary at Port Chalmers.  Although it was hot and sunny the cemetary is very sheltered with huge old trees.  It is sited on a steep slope and in parts was almost impossible to walk around without slipping on the dry pine needles and broken twigs.  Under the trees there were some amazing mushrooms which I told my daughter not to touch under any circumstances.

The oldest grave I could find is the one on the left (below) and you can see from the picture on the right that the cemetary is being reclaimed by nature.  Some of the trees were originally planted beside the plots and have now taken over the space completely.

Today was another beautiful day, so I decided to wear another new combo - this time pairing up shocking pink with a deco print POLYESTER skirt.

 Pink cardi Savemart $5

White sleeveless cotton shirt Butterfllies $2

Deco polyester print skirt on elastic Savemart Blenheim less than $10

(This skirt was bought about 3 years ago and although I have worn it around the house, it has not yet been worn at work.  Originally it was on a waistband for a size 10 with a tie, I removed the band and made a casing for elastic, a much easier fit!!)

Yesterday I made a mad dash trip to Butterflies to revel in the post St Patrick's day quiet.  The shop had about 60% green items .... proof that at the peak of sales on Friday and Saturday it must have been amazing.  I managed to perch on the edge of the display for curtains and went through every single knitting and crochet pattern.  My patience paid off big time.  I have been looking for cardigan patterns for ages - although I have a large stash of patterns very few are for cardis or jackets.

So here, for your viewing pleasure is the evidence that patience pays off:

 I love the effect of crochet - but it does use a lot of yarn.

The owner of this pattern had punched holes in the side and put this in a ringbinder.  I do hope there are no holes in the actual instructions 

I use the clearfiles with pages and only put a couple of patterns in each pocket.

Many older patterns are fragile and need to be kept apart.  

 This pattern appeals for the low v neckline and the sleeveless option.

 This one has such cute bows - and the pattern is simple enough for even the most hesitant of knitters.  

 Oh my goodness it was the hair which attracted me to this one, 

 I am not sure I am skilled enough for this one, but I love both versions for the short sleeves.

How much was this treasure trove?

A dollar.

 I want to show you this amazing material that I also scored yesterday.  I saw it last week but decided to wait and see...you know wait a few days and then if it is still there then see if you still like it and if you do then buy it: 

 I think its a 1970s trevira type knit.

Its very wide and about 1.5 meters long.

I can imagine a dress or a skirt and top.  

It was one of the more expensive pieces of fabric - $4.

What appealed to me was that it would make a fun maxi skirt for winter and the bright blue would be a fun compliment to a an impluse buy from last week.

Oh Readers and Opshoppers I must confess my sin.  I bought something totally on impulse.  Something which I coveted simply because of pattern, and (imagine a whisper....) something which may not actually fit me.

 I am not normally keen on tops with low backs (and fronts). 

 It has a low(ish) front and back.

I normally would not buy something which has no size and might not fit me. 

This top has no size and there was a high chance it would not fit me.

I am normally too stubborn to buy a made in china item.  

This item is probably MIC.

I DO however, absolutely adore peonies.

This top has peonies.

What do you think?

 Not bad for $2 and due to the wide neckline it does fit me.  

So I am redeemed??

Finally, here is a shot of the POLYESTER Miss Jennie sun dress which I just butchered this evening.  This is a before photo.  It is a size 16 or 18 and is huge and unflattering.  

When I got home from work I lay it out on the carpet in the lounge.

Then, I cut off the smocking and the straps.  

I am making a maxi skirt from it by folding over the waist to make a casing for elastic.  

I plan to do this over the weekend as we have a regional holiday on Monday and I am hoping to have the day off work.

Wow, that was a long post.  Its easier for me to do a couple of posts a week rather than try to post daily.  I really admire bloggers who can post daily, I wish I had that kind of dedication. I also wish I had the kind of internet connection which allowed for uploading of photos at a greater speed that 11 photos over 20 minutes :-)

 Hope you are all having a good week and that your blogging, opshopping, crafting and hobbies are all going well.