St Matthew's Autumn Fair & other Autumn Pleasures

I just have to begin this post with this dear little Brambly Hedge picture..do you remember these stories? I don't!...I only remember the pictures...I always wanted a house that looked like this...& Rob said the other day "look our house does look like this after all!!"
And the great thing is that he loves it all too. When I found this tiny old chair outside the Hospice Shop for $5 the other day & bought it home, he fell in love with it too & set about cleaning it up & "helping" it have a new life.

I wouldn't miss the St Matthew's fairs (spring & autumn) for the world..shame poor Rob had to work. There were so many people gathered at the entrances there was almost a stampede when the whistle went! You have to be pretty quick off the mark with so many people looking to find a bargain so I was amazed that I managed to find these little vintage pieces. (a very kind man had to keep beating others off them with a big stick until I returned ; )

They are just perfect to go in the new "Larder"...an old & very crummy shed that Rob has been renovating for quite sometime. It is being slowly transformed in to a very vintage & useful space. He is doing a wonderful job! I'll be doing a post about "the Larder & the Pansy" very soon. Now back to the fair..most of the helpers are in their 70s & 80s. What ever will we do when they have all gone!? They make the most wonderful preserves & things & secretly I think they all have an absolute ball.

I found these booties in an op shop the other day.. brand new..thought they might be cute for my niece this winter. I knew that there was something a bit familiar about them, returned to the kitchen & found this little ensemble : )

I thought that my Wellington Madder & Rouge oil cloth went quite well in this old basket..great for collecting feijoas & lemons.

 We have so loved living just around the corner from Cornwall Park these past 21 years.

 We must have walked around in there 1000's of times yet we still just love to watch the changes through the seasons & walk among so many magnificent trees. This morning it looked like this

 we were so excited to discover that our one resident Tui has found himself a girlfriend : )

my first job on our return was to pick some more of these gorgeous guavas

I do so love Mme Isaac Periere, so nice of her to produce some autumn blooms for me.
Her fragrance is just heavenly