off the beaten track...

I'll leave it to Jack to tell you about our latest ghost hunting adventure at the Junction Hotel in Thames (established in 1869). He came up with a suitably spooky opening sentence for his blog post on the subject during the drive home. You can read all about it here.

What I'd like to show you is the stash of vintage bits and pieces that I found in three separate locations yesterday: at the Thames market, at Paeroa and at Te Aroha.

A cheerful monkey, complete with banana, knitted by a Nana who has a stall at the Thames market. We've called him Artie, short for Arthur, named after Arthur Waley who translated the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West (aka Monkey). Artie sat with me in the front seat on our road trip and had a very enjoyable time of it, as you can tell by his wide woolly grin

In the gorgeous Art Deco town of Te Aroha I found these beautufully embroidered tray cloths saying 'Good Cheer' and 'Tea Time'. In one of them,  the teacup doubles as a pocket to hold a serviette.

These teeny crocheted dolls were stuffed into a plastic medicine bottle among a box of junk at the Thames market. They are very happy to be liberated.

 More miniature ceramics for my fantasy dollhouse, bought from a handcraft exhibition in Te Aroha.

A checked Irish linen table cloth and napkin set that had never been opened since the aunty of the Te Aroha shop owner received it as a wedding present in 1960. I will definitely be using it!

And how about this dear little "handky"tidy. I've always said "hanky" but I suppose that the short form of handkerchief should actually be handky. So much work goes into producing these small domestic items. I wonder if they were actually used. 

I've been looking for a pair of genuine leg warmers for ages and I found this jazzy pair in a vintage shop right at the far end of town in Paeroa. Am I brave enough to wear them? You bet! 'She's a maniac, maniac, on the floor...'

Jack found me a beautiful Folio edition of William Blake's Songs of Innocence and Experience at the only remaining second hand bookshop in Thames (open on Friday and Saturday). It's A6 size and just lovely.

 What a good haul!