Kiwis love their cars

 A  constant treat here in New Zealand is to come across beautifully kept vintage cars,

parked outside the tourist office....

 or the bank.

 I expect to see Toad of Toad Hall any minute.

 Even more...here in the restaurant parking lot...

 at the market

 and outside the museum.

If I were a competent blogger I would give links to vintage car clubs, but I have no idea what these makes are.....just know they make me smile.

Necessity is the mother of invention

With no mannequin to photograph scarves on I had to come up with some other props  to use whilst on my travels.

The old fashioned cottage we rented  in Paramata furnished this statuette, not entirely successful.

 So I tried the back of a chair.

  A wooden coat hanger was the simplest way to go in Nelson.

Shameless self promotion here , as all the scarves are for sale in my etsy shop foulardfantastique, that I was eager to keep open for the two months I was in New Zealand. It has been quite a successful experiment, lots of scarves have been sold (50 do not take up much room in my luggage, about the size of a shoe box) and I have the perfect excuse to pop in every opportunity (thrift/charity) shop that I see to replenish the stock.

Nelson Market

A visit to the top of the south island of New Zealand is not complete without dropping by the Saturday Market in Nelson. 

 For some reason, this morning I did not photograph the lashings of fresh, summer produce, wine, jams, wools, dressmakers or local eateries.

All these colourful shoes are hand crafted.

 One of several hand made soap and cosmetic stalls.

 I like the way a vivid, patterned, spread has been used as a ceiling.

 My favorite wood turner, wish I could have one of the large bowls, but alas they will not fit in my suitcase.

 You can't go wrong with green hand thrown dishes.

 or these striped little numbers.

Reminder to self, ask for a business card, so you can give these deserving artisans a link....silly me.

Knitting News

I have just discovered The Knitter, a UK magazine, found at the Nelson library . I borrowed these 3 issues and am hooked, would love a subscription.  But, my dears, the price! 5 pounds 99 ( no sterling key) per issue. I have trolled the thrift stores for some back issues in vain, so it is off to the library tomorrow for more, hope no one has them out.

On the subject of thrift stores, here are some vintage patterns  picked up in Richmond yesterday (at an op shop that shall be nameless). Pleased to find a little pattern calling for 4 ply ( I had just bought enough at The St Vincent de Paul op shop, in a lovely old fashioned eau de nil color), written for size 18 months. (bottom right) As I am not much cop at re -sizing and writing my own patterns and I decided that this would be my next project as Oliver is now 14 months old.  But alas....the middle pages  of the book were missing! Grrrr. Not the first time this has happened.

 However, this morning, as I was doing my rounds in Nelson I spied a big box outside an op shop with the sign ' FREE...do not take the container'. Lots of scraps, none more than about 3 yards, some only 9". All pure wool, most pieces appear to be home spun and home dyed with  beautiful, saturated colours that you only get with vegetal dyes. There are even some pieces of dyed fleece. There is about  1lb . I love it and am sure I can put most of the wool to good use. Even a little trim on a sweater will give the garment a lift. I am busy untangling and sorting.

Thank you Nelson Red Cross

What I missed on Saturday

Missed a lot of the action at the Murchison A & P on Saturday.

It was their 92nd anniversary.

What a gorgeous setting.

 Missed the big tractors,

Missed the sheep shearing, it was over by the time I made it back to the shed. But the boys were having a quick refresher at the Lion's stand.

  and R wanted to leave before the terrier racing ...my money was on Tuffy Turnbull.

some of you may, by now, realize that I often find the people watching the most interesting.

Murchison A & P

A fabulous day for the Murchison A & P. Murchison is a small, rural town  of about 500 that was 

celebrating its agricultural heritage. 

Arrived to find the sheep shearing in progress...

.

..these have yet to be sheared, but others have had their turn.

Before I settled in to watch the competition  I was distracted by the wood chopping contest, something I have never seen before,

 They even had a ladies chopping section that drew a good crowd of watchers.

 On to the gymkhana, all the contestants most beautifully turned out.

 Isn't she as pretty as a picture?

Onward to the produce....Beets could either be 3 of the round variety or 3 cylindrical. Rex Smith cleaned up here, as he did in parsnips, eschallots, peas, potatoes and cucumbers!

 Handicrafts bought all sorts of knitting, smocking, felting, (this is New Zealand) handweaving, embroidery woodwork and hand spun wool. Jewel Lemon won lots of awards, she must have been knitting, spinning and weaving non-stop for the entire year.

 Kiwi Bloke's  challenge saw this pavlova win 1st prize, but they could have made dog biscuits too.

 Best flower in show, and lovely it was. The dahlias were outstanding also.

 Lots of winners...

 I must say I would not want to meet this bunch of determined mums in a dark alley!

 Another deserving winner, just love that brown outfit to match the pony.

 Everyone trots out their old tractors for display.

More to come....

Martinborough Fair

Our friends wanted to take us out for lunch at a winery near Martinborough,

 so I suggested we stop by the Martinborough Fair that was advertised that day. I thought that it would be a little, local affair, perhaps in the primary school yard.


Wrong.....there were over 450 stalls, spreading out all over the town... the place was packed .

The local butchers hard at it.

 Most people were there for the day. I wish I had been.

 A good meeting place, just in case I got lost.

 I wish I had time to try on. Next time I will do my homework.

As we left for our lunch reservation this car was parked next to us.....appropriate, don't you think.

back to scarves

As this is meant to be a blog about vintage textiles (sort off) I thought I would show you some scarves today

 My new Hermes, found in a thrift store the day before I left for New Zealand.  Not an absolute favorite nor in pristine condition but I grabbed it and chucked it around my neck as I was leaving for the airport. Find that I am wearing it constantly, goes with everything and I have become quite fond of this one.

 A vintage silk Jacqmar for my collection....from an op shop in Lower Hutt.

Interesting Australian 'wattle' souvenir scarf now for sale in foulardfantastique.

More travel blogs next week.