What's in the sorting tray this week?

My daughter taught my son and I to make these origami cranes. We made them with the express intention to put them in the sorting tray for our 15 month old to play with and not mind if they were taken apart; like a mandala. These were training ones for us so it didn't matter.

They looked lovely and were played with to the hilt, well enjoyed and are now in paper crane heaven.

Bell Jars.

I love my bell jars. They remind me of Victorian parlours and draw the eye to whatever is inside them. My ordinary cakes look more delicious inside the bell jar. Perhaps they have the equivalent of "pyramid power" (remember that craze?); enhancing the allure of their contents.

They look as if a little Victorian stuffed bird should be placed inside, but origami, plants and cakes will do me.

*As with all of my photos, click on it and you will see the very large version and can check out the detail.

Above: tiny cup cakes on a Douglas and Hope melamine plate.

Above: Kitchen counter with bell jars and an over -ripe pineapple. Some origami cranes made by our daughter look very fetching.

Above: I only put a pineapple in for a day or so because I just love the way it looks, but I don't want it to turn on me. The pineapple-y smell is so heady when you lift the lid, that I stick my head in the jar and whiff for all I'm worth.

The stove I have and the stove I covet.

40" O'Keefe & Merritt stove. This is the stove I covet.

Beautiful! It is an American stove and it is a bit less heavy looking than the grand French ones that I'm seeing everywhere.

Below is my stove. Not at it's sparkly cleanest. It came with the house and we loved the look of it so much we kept it, warts and all. My mother and father in law took the whole thing apart and scrubbed years of grime out of every part.

I check the temperature by looking at the height of the flame at the back of the stove. High, medium or low and that's as good as it gets. Yet I cook all manner of things in this little lovely, including delicate cakes that require care. I have become used to moving things from one shelf to the next and gauging the progress of what's in the stove. Personality plus, but temperamental and most modern stove owners would find it impossible.

What's in the Sorting Tray?

These beautiful compartment plates make great sorting trays for our 15 month old. He loves to see what I have put in them, takes stuff out, puts things back in, exchanges items. Sometimes I will put an apple or some fruit in one of the compartments and I love to see him discover it and enjoy eating. Always careful to put in stuff that is safe and bite-able, unbreakable and not precious. I can't believe that these lovely wooden, hand crafted trays only cost me a few dollars at op-shops and fetes.

Above is a sorting tray filled with shells, fossils and a thunder egg. A little pottery face is in there too.

A sorting tray filled with various spinning tops in wood, paper and glass. These make a beautiful display as well as an exciting play stop.

In one of the trays I have placed some pretty tin eggs that the Easter Bunny delivers his choc in. Getting close to Easter, so they are wheeled out to herald in the season.

There is an ebony bell, a little felt face made by our daughter, a wooden spinning top and a Cowrie shell in the sorting tray this week. This is the tray I have set aside for our baby to play with.

Children's Books

Vivid colours, exquisite illustrations and amazing insights into the past.

Such gorgeous covers need to be displayed. We have a large collection of beautiful books and rotate them so they can be seen and can spread happiness.

The originals of this series are very sought after and pricey. This original was found at an op-shop, for about $2.00 and the condition is quite good.

Children's Books

Some beautiful children's books from our collection. Worn and loved, they are to be used and enjoyed.

Good Children by Miao Yin-tang. Foreign Languages Press Peking 1974. An instructional guide for young children from the People's Republic of China.

Our daughter learned much from this recently about how to draw figures in proportion.

What beautiful covers!

Fabulous serious expressions on these kid's faces.

Plates from our house

Plates from our house. These have been found at various op-shops, markets, fetes and garage sales. We love a plate on a wall (or anywhere at all), at our house.

Shadow Boxes.

*As with all of my photos, click on it and you will see the very large version and can check out the detail.

Beautiful shadow boxes, filled with whimsical objects. I adore having an excuse to buy little pieces of fluff that can be put in these shadow boxes. Op-shops have provided me with most of what you see in the boxes. But some were made, gifted and kept from childhood, both mine and my husband's. There are also little Rowntree/Hoadley ceramic dolls that used to come with sweets long, long ago. I admired these at a doll museum in Clunes and just two weeks after my visit, I received a little package in the mail. The generous curator had sent me two that had been found in the ruins after the factory had burned down. They are charred and gorgeous.

Things I love.

Here is a collection of items that I love from around our house. Some have a history. They all have a story. Some have been in my family for generations and others were purchased a few days ago.

This is a light shade made by an artist friend of mine. I scored one of her prototypes and it hangs proudly in my hallway. It gives me such joy.

Welcome.

This is all about the stuff that accompanies my (and my family's) life. The things that I have found or bought, that have been passed down, on or across. These trappings usually buoy but sometimes weigh and some gain in significance as time passes. It's about great bargains and rare finds, lucky and satisfying culinary successes, items I covet and about controlling the clutter. Dust is a pest and I am always doing battle. Could I live in a minimalist household? I couldn't. It would bore me senseless!