Sunday 31 May 2015

Wet Sunday and an archaeological excavation ...



What happens in your household on a Sunday when it is so miserable and wet that you only get a short walk to the park and the paper shop?

When the weather is so horrid not even Gail wants to venture out on her new(ish) bicycle?

Well, in my dreams, Gail might just spend the day giving me belly rubs and feeding me treats. But of course the reality was otherwise.

She decided to have a tidy up, and this included her overfilled sewing box.

Gosh. Digging into this prehistoric and rarely opened item was like conducting an archaeological excavation into Gail's family history. See what was found:

Exhibit #1: The darning mushroom.
Chewed end, what chewed end? Hamish's work, surely?

Exhibit #2: The button tin
Not sure if this originally belonged to Human Grandad or Human Great Grandad (we think the latter).

Exhibit #3: The press-stud tin
This one definitely came from Gail's Granny, whose family owned a liquorice factory in Pontefract, Yorkshire. And yes, they did make 'Pomfret Cakes' too.

Exhibit #4: The needle case
Gail's first ever attempt at needlework, a school project from when she was five or six years old.  A shame the sewing skills did not progress much thereafter. It turned out she was more interested in science…

Exhibit #5: Duffel coat toggle
From one of the many duffel coats Gail owned between 1975 and 1990.

Exhibit #6: Tartan ribbons

You know where this is heading...

Hope your Sunday was more exciting!

24 comments:

  1. we would be happy for a rainy sunday :)

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  2. OMD Bertie.... that is a veritable TREASURE TROVE of MEMORIES... and you look quite Fetching in that tartan Ribbon...

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  3. MOL MOL Bertie you my handsome friend best count your lucky stars Gail didn't tie that bow on your WFT tail.
    Is the first item for darning socks? Love the duffel toggle!!
    My mom is a button hoarder...you know when you buy a new blouse and they provide extra buttons? Well Mom has 87,000 itty bitty bags of buttons to who knows what.
    Sunny, humid and hot here. wish we had just a smidgen of your rain.
    Hugs madi your bfff

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    1. Yes the mushroom is for darning socks (or woollen sweaters, or gloves). Darning is one of Gail's few needlework skills!

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  4. Well, at least yer Momma jest has a sewing box... my Momma has an entire room mostly fur just dat... and she goes in dere sumtimes and ignores me all day makin' da machine buzz...

    Dat ribbon is quite becomin' to ya, Bertie.

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  5. Hari OM
    OMD Bertie lad, how can you not find that interesting??? I have a sewing box like this too - and, oh dear, oh dear, am a collector of tins... mmmmmmmmmmmmmm pomfret cakes, liquorice is one of those things that I can't stop if I start - the way some folk are with chocs... oh no Bertie - very interesting....

    Meanwhile we got blattered several times too - but the sun is out again at the moment. DEFINITELY not summer though. Hmmmpphhh... Hugs and wags, YAM-aunty xxx

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  6. Ooh, I love those tartan ribbons. I wish I could get more different types of fabric over here in Norway, but they don't seem to go in for that much.

    And if you can send some 'needle-good-luck-wishes' this way, I would appreciate it very much. Mara has lost her needles and she has lost buttons of her work trousers! I am not allowed to play with them though, which I don't think is very nice of her!

    Miaow
    Miss Oswin

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  7. The color does look nice on you! Sometimes it is better to not dig out the whole treasure!

    Your Pals,

    Murphy & Stanley

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  8. Such interesting treasures and u look charming in your ribbon
    Retro rover

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  9. It's one of those days here, of course, it is the start of winter today. SHE abandoned us this past weekend, went off to Sydney overnight and left us all alone.

    SHE often says tidying her office is like an archaeological dig....everything in layers....oldest on the bottom.

    Love that collection of old tin boxes.

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    1. Did SHE go to VIVID???? I did ...... it was great. Mum and Dad took me. Why didn't SHE take YOU??

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  10. What a cool collection. We are having a rainy day here. We are spending it snuggling. Snuggling is kind of cool too.

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  11. Sadly your Sunday looks as exciting as ours. Our Lady has the same sewing skills as Gail. Hope your week is more eventful.

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  12. Crikey Bertie ..... that took my Mum back in time. She can't sew to save herself but she reckons that sewing box looks EXACTLY like one her Mum had, complete with the hand made needle case that she made. She said hers even had a bit of flanelette with bunnies on it too. AND the sock darner. She remembers, when she was very young, sitting aound at night listening to the wireless, with her Mum doing some sort of embroidery and she used to darn the socks with one of those sock darner things. Hers didn't have chew marks in it though. Sorry about that last photo, mate!!

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  13. Well, ya do look good in da ribbon at least.

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  14. Go with the flow Bertie. Blue tartan becomes you!
    ♥Wyatt

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  15. Those old tins are wonderful, especially as they are family heirlooms (so to speak). Thee tartan looks very regal on your Bertie.

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  16. Oh boy, that's a treasure box! It's great that we still have such little treasures to remember our puppyhood :o) We have an old needle case too, my granny made it in school and her a bad grade, because efurry stitch was on the wrong place... I call that modern art :o)
    easy rider

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  17. What an archaeological find Bertie!! Our Mama has her sewing stuff in a plastic box (covered with lots of dust!).
    Smileys!
    Dory, Jakey, Arty & Bilbo

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  18. Oh Bertie. We are forever victims of our humans' desire to clean house!

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  19. My assistant is a bit of a history buff so she found this all very interesting. She loves hearing the stories of old objects. She's a bit strange, I think

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  20. Wow, a licorice factory! That's wonderful! Hope the days ahead are warmer and you can get out.

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  22. Interesting finds. We wouldn't have known what some of those are without you.

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