Saturday {OP} Shopping {TWO}

So, we have this amazing outdoor patio area.

I have been wanting to hang something on the walls out there

but have been a little bit stuck as to what !?

Well ... on Saturday I found these PERFECT paintings.

They are mirror images of each other and I just love them.

At $5 each, there really was no reason not to !

All I'm waiting for now is Rory to get his hands on a masonry drill ... so we can hang them !

I didn't buy this on Saturday. I bought it (the little jug) on a previous Op Shopping excursion.

But look what I found this week ... matching mugs !

Cute matching mugs that will soon hold candles !!

I love this !

I am a pen person.

I need to have plentiful supplies

of pens available at the grab of a hand.

This is perfect to sit on my kitchen 'bar' and hold my pens !

Don't you think ?

And these little mugs.

Too cute.

I am using them for extra herbs that I pick but don't use straight away ...

And this little vase ... great for this paintbrush to dry in, at the moment.

And seriously ... who doesn't need a little bowl that says 'sauce' !?! Too cute !

And another little vase.

Again ... using it to keep these herbs

that I picked the other day and didn't use as many as I thought I might !

And look ... these last two have already featured in cooking photos !!

And this one too ...

Fun ! So much fun !!

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Saturday {OP} Shopping

Last weekend I went out to some Op Shops with a friend.

We both found some great bits and pieces ... I thought I'd share some of mine with you ...

This tea pot caught my eye.

I just love it.

I have a thing for tea pots.

I just took a bunch of photos and posted

them to facebook for a friend who also loves tea pots.

I should post them here too ... Maybe I will.

I'm always on the lookout for ways to burn candles. I love candles !LOVE LOVELOVE There was only one of these but it fits with my eclectic collection of candle holders !
This one I didn't buy.My friend Toni bought it for me.It's a milk jug.She kept threatening to buy me one ... a bit of an inside joke ...and this time she made good on her threat ! I like it though ... it's cute !!


And then, when I dropped her home, she gave me two martini glasses.Guess I need to learn how to make martinis ....
These glasses were just so cute.And at 50c each, I just couldn't resist !


Same with these ... I bought two of them.Soon they will be home to tea light candles !!


More to come ....

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Opportunity Shop

Some of you asked what an Op Shop is.

It is a store where you can buy second hand goods.

In the States we call them thrift stores.

I prefer the Aussie name

Op Shop is short for

Opportunity

Shop.



Here's some of what I found the other day !

I got most of those plates and bowls out of a section labeled

'fill a basket for $2' !



I'm trying to find

individual plates and bowls

that I can use for my food photography.

I'm just buying them here and there ... along

with place mats and scraps of material ... You'll start to

see a lot of the new (to me) stuff show up over on the beans blog !!

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Alia's Op Shop Find

Alia found this fairy dress when we were at the op shop the other day.

She put it on as soon as we got home !

The kids loved shopping

at the op shop !

I am

glad they did

because we were in there

for almost and hour. It was a big one

and there was just so much to look at ~ and so many

great bargains. I was after plates and bowls and pretty things for

my food photography. I took photos to show you what I found ! I'm hoping

to have those posted for you tomorrow !! Anyway ... as we were leaving the shop ... one

of the kids said "that was the best shop EVER !"

Like I said ... they loved it !

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SOOC ~ Op Shop Finds

Today's SOOC is just a preview

of

the wonderful things I found

and

purchased for next to nothing

at

the op shop today !

More

to come tomorrow ...

or


the next time I post !


For more SOOC (no editing!)

pop

over to Melody's Slurping Life ...

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Sharing Monday on Tuesday

Yesterday was a very eventful day.

To start ... it was raining. I don't like to swim in the rain. Rory is always like "hello ? you're in a pool ... you're wet anyway !" But I just don't find it enjoyable, in part because I'm always wondering when the lightning might strike ! So ... I don't swim in the rain !!

Toni, my friend who I swim with, and I still hung out for the morning. I had to drop my car off to get a couple more things fixed (AND IT'S STILL NOT FINISHED !!!!!!!!) Toni picked me up from there and we headed out. We decided to go visit another op shop and then see where the morning went. We hit the jack pot with this new second hand shop !! I bought five sets of knitting needles and a crochet hook for $1.00 !! Crazy, right ? I bought some little hoops for a project I've been wanting to try. I bought some cute photo frames. Two matching ones with painted pictures in them ... I'm going to paint over them. I bought a cute basket. A cushion. Two plates ... one green, one yellow ... for my food photography. And a neat little ceramic pot to keep my knitting needles in. All that for just ....

drum roll please ...

including the aforementioned needles and hook ....

$10

Can you believe it ? No, me neither. I was totally stoked !!

After the op shop, we headed over to K-mart to see if I could find a rice cooker I'd seen advertised as on sale. I did indeed see it. It was indeed on sale. I did indeed buy it !! I'm so excited !! Tomorrow night we are having sushi ...can't wait to try it out !!

Toni got a crock pot ! I'm so excited for her to be try it out !!!! I love my crock pot !!

Fast forward to the end of yesterday.

Lasagna.

Oh, wait ... before the lasagna.

We put an offer on a house !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Eeek ! I'm so excited !!! The agent took our offer straight to the sellers and they decided to sleep on it ! I can hardly contain myself ! It's only 8:37 am and I've been wondering for hours what they've decided ! Good thing you don't buy a house every day ! ha ha

This is our first time EVER buying a house, by the way.

Very exciting.

On to the lasagna.

I made it last night. It was cooking while the agent was here. We ate it once he left. It was delicious !

I'll be posting the recipe to the beans blog later today.

For now though, I need to go.

Hope ya'll have a great day !!

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Sharing Treasures

Yesterday, my friend Toni and I went around to a bunch of Op Shops.
I found a few treasures ... want to see ?

I love finding little bits and pieces for my food photography ...



We also went to a local craft shop and found some neat yarn.
I can't wait to start a couple of new projects.
Speaking of yarn and projects ... have you heard of Ravelry ?
It is the neatest site for those of us who do stuff with yarn.
You have to send them an email to get an invite but it only takes a couple of days to hear back.
Then you can become a member and post what you're doing and save patterns and a whole bunch of stuff to your favorites !!



Go have a look !
And make sure you become my friend once you join !!
This is me.



Here's my most recent project ...
I call it a feather scarf.
Probably because Toni calls what I'm knitting with 'the feather stuff'.
ha



It's pretty.
So soft.
And it's been a really easy project.
I'm almost finished after only a couple hours of knitting.



Remember the other day, I mentioned that I had defrosted my freezer ?

Well, today ... as part of Sandra's Tips on Tuesday ... I'm going to show you how.
I'm sure you're thinking "I know how to defrost a freezer ... what could I possibly learn?"
But there is one tip in here, a little something I learned from a friend years ago that you need to know about !! Especially if you have an ancient fridge like us !!

I think our fridge is as old as me.
I was born in 1973.
The freezer ices up like nobody's business.
I usually defrost it when I can't shut the door anymore.

I'm serious.

I didn't think about doing a post about this until after I had started.
So, here's my freezer with some bits already scraped off ...
I use a metal spatula to get under the ice ... that's what you see on the right side of the photo.
Actually, I've just realized that photo is sideways.

Oh well.
Not gonna fix it.

Check out this chunk of ice !
I should consider running some sort of Australian Ice Age theme park.
I could totally outfit it with the ice this old thing produces !

So ... metal spatula in hand, I pull off chunks (big chunks!) of ice.
Then I use my little dust pan to pick it up and get it out of the freezer ...

And I fill a bucket ... a couple of times !!
Now ... here's the tip you've all been waiting for.
How to get the ice to come off so easily !
Like I said, a friend taught me this years ago ... a male friend, can you believe ?
It's true.

After you have gotten all the ice off of the inside of the freezer,
wipe it with a bit of dish washing liquid.
Yep, it's that easy.
It makes the ice come away so much easier ...

And there you have it ...
My freezer is clear of ice and lemony fresh !!

And that, my friends, is all for today !

Gotta go make dinner.
Gyoza
Udon Noodles
and I'm gonna bake some
Poppy Seed Muffins
too.

See ya !

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