Birds and Finds galore.

I do love Autumn! We have quite a few trees on our property , and most of them decidious , so lots of colour and change of scenery and light and shadow. And wheelbarrows full of leaves. Some people hate that so much , they'd rather not have trees at all. How sad... Just think of it as free compost! Which is exactly what we do with them; food for the worms, and next season food for us , after we grow some more veges in it. 

We still haven't had much rain. It's been wet but nothing got soaked right into the ground. 

2 Small frosts , my paprika's are still growing , and they've even gotten new flowers!

While the man of the house was busy raking the leaves , the fantail showed up. Hoping for some insects to be disturbed , so he could go and catch them in mid-air. It is actually really hard to get a fantail photo , they are so busy busy, never sit still for more than 5 seconds. Squeeking and peeping to himself the whole time!  Usually he comes everyday , sometimes with a friend. 

 A group of wax-eyes come through our garden daily as well. They are about a third smaller than a sparrow , and they look up and down and under all the twigs and leaves for pesty little insects. They also eat berries. They are good little birds to have visiting your garden , but you won't see them much , unless you have some shelter . Like trees.
I visited an out-of-the-way opshop on the weekend , I don't go there very often . It is an old fashioned messy place full of boxes and baskets, that you have to rummage through.  I got just a brilliant score this day. A retro tablecloth , destined for cutting up. A sweet apron , it's reversible! Aqua-blue gingham with little roses, yummie! Cute white flower buttons and a reproduction Pear's Soap tea towel in linen. An old dressmaking pattern of a girl's frilly frock. And a classic 50's owl tea cosy. I put that aside at first. Then a little boy played with it , thought it was a hat. I then decided I wanted it. But I couldn't find it anymore. When it came time to pay I asked the ladies behind the counter if they had sold it. No they hadn't , so they looked for it with me. It turned up in the box of shorts , ofcourse....

Our oldest daughter , who is starting to gather things together for when she leaves home , immediately requested it!  Totally cool, mum! 
Some very sweet satin like fabric with tiny sprays of flowers. And an offcut of curtain fabric with blue bows and pink flowers. That should be good for a small bag , or romantic coathangers.

 A fifties scarf with red camellias. I have several good ideas for those kind of scarves. Sometimes they come in very sombre colours , so I only buy light colours now.

Some more old patterns , just because I liked the pictures , and 2 button cards.
And a deliciously hand embroidered semco-pattern apron. I'd say from the Fifties. When the maker wore this , did she feel as glamorous as the lady in the evening gown on the front? I couldn't believe it only cost me a dollar! Whomever she was , it wasn't her first embroidery project. Neat and even stitches , the cloth hasn't been pulled while making the satin stitch roses. Oh it's worthy of being in Rosemary McCleods' book "Thrift to Fantasy".
                                                           Gorgeous!!

I think this is an tennis racket straightener , when they were still made of wood. I thought I could use it to clamp art work in it after glueing.

 I drove past a jumble sale on the way home from the opshop. Had to stop ofcourse. Found some jewellery for 50 cents.  It's sterling silver...
In a very disgusting state. Black and dull. One way of cleaning silver minus the chemicals , is to use an old toothbrush and tooth paste. That's multi action on a different level! It's also very safe for cleaning silver that goes in your mouth , like spoons and silver cups.
Here some more jewellery that I have rescued over the years. Pretty and shiny!