Making Marmalade and someone who loves it.

 Hello everybody.
After a busy week I was surprised by my boyfriend who said "So are you going to that Doll Fair?" To my surprise he knew about a fair that I had completely forgot about and thought I'd missed months ago. Long story short....I got to go. It was held at Liverpool Catholic Club by "The Doll Collectors Club of NSW".

It was a great fair, especially for collectors of modern to antique dolls and bears. So much to see and a lot of tempting things. I restrained myself fairly well but did come back with a special item.

My first pictures today are of today's biggest, yet smallest purchase. This miniature teapot with cosy of my favourite bear come from artisan Win Garside. I had spotted her wares a couple of years ago and had regretted not buying one of her gorgeous teapot and cosy's.

So today when I spotted it I thought, "Yep, Paddington you are coming to my house!" For those who do not know this iconic bear I found a fabulous website that has heaps of information on him.  http://www.paddingtonbear.com/

My next pictures are of the recently painted Phoenix Kitchener. I'm really happy how it is coming together but I do need to do a few touch ups . If your wondering "what's cooking?" It's part of my marmalade making set I purchased on eBay. You will see more of it in the last photo.

Again, I couldn't resist adding to my Reutter Porzelain Set....I think they are salt cellars?


So to the Marmalade set...it was a bit of a coincidence that I found Paddington today as it goes really well with my new set. Paddington's favourite food is marmalade! So my next challenge will be to find a mini, probably 1/ 144 or 1/24 sized marmalade jar to add to the teapot.

 I was determined to have a jam making set of some sought in my house as it reminds me of the endless hours watching my Mum making jams to sell at her shop, Grandmar's Orchard and local markets. Mum preferred to make jams, jellies and sauces rather than marmalade as my grandparents owned an orchard that she could get the fresh fruits from. I find these days it extremely hard to eat fresh fruit as sadly it doesn't taste at all like the stuff my Grandparents used to grow.

Well I hope everyone has as lovely day as I did at the fair.
IndyPoppy

Gifts from the UK

 This week my Mum and her boyfriend returned to Australia from their 6 week holiday to the UK and France. Before Mum left she had asked me if there would be anything that I would like as a souveneir. Surprise, surprise....I said "anything miniature".  So six weeks ago, armed with a list of miniatures suppliers, they left. Mum sent a message suggesting they had visited the biggest Dollhouse shop ever, hinting that something great would be returning with them. Well it did.

Mum had visited a lovely shop called "Harlequin Dolls House Ship" in Southbourne and when there bought lots of great things to add to my victorian dollhouse. After speaking to the friendly staff, they chose several items to bring home.


The first two photos are of the wardrobe. Its has incredible detail that I almost missed seeing. In all the excitement of unpacking the gifts I neglected to look inside. As you can see there are several draws and compartments. All the draws open as well.

My next two pictures are of the bed. Again another surprise to be had as I again neglected to look under the covers to find a detailed mattress.

 Two bedside tables. The mat beneath the tables was also a gift.

 The next gift I almost didn't get. Mum's boyfriend said "what about this?" Mum wasn't sure if I would like it, but they purchased it anyway. I am so glad they did. Its a working 
(ok that doesn't indicate my excitement enough) ITS A WORKING HEIDI OTT GRANDFATHER CLOCK!!!!!!!!!  The details are incredible. It has metal weights and chains. And the face is also made of metal. I haven't got it going yet, but can't wait to see it working.

 The last item is a small globe for the gentlemen's study. I had been looking for one for ages, but the ones I had found looked far too modern. The best part is that it is a very old map. Australia is not even charted on it. It kind of looks like Antarctica and Australia are joined. A really nice detail.

 Now the last items weren't purchased at all. They were a gift from the lovely shop assistant at Harlequins. Included was a current Dolls House Emporium Catalogue, a Heidi Ott Catalogue and several Reutter Porzellan past catalogues. I'll be hanging onto these as they have several pictures of items that I have now put on my "wish list" and lots of inspirational photos.

I'm aiming to email the lovely shop keeper to thank her for the wonderful catalogues and for helping Mum and her bf with the purchases.

To my surprise my boyfriend also got a gift purchased from the same shop. But more on that in my next post.


Lastly in todays post I would like to thank everyone on their lovely comments posted on my last post. Indy my great dane has been doing so much better. She is back to her old self and received a positive report from the vet at her last visit. It was also great to hear some lovely stories about your loved ones.

Well I'm off to read the catalogues. (It's probably the 4th time I have looked at them....but I might have missed something!)

Thanks you again Mum and T for the lovely gifts.
IndyPoppy