26 July 2010

Thanks stranger...

The lovely Miranda from Howdy Stranger has kindly included my 'Switzerlove' shabby fabric brooch in her sweet madeit finds post... thank you!

The Howdy Stranger studio is based in Newcastle and I see Miranda has listed some handmade markets in her local area on her website... perhaps a good excuse to go and stay with my dad & stepmum for the weekend one time in the near future?

Dad experienced his sea change a few years back and left Sydney for a ramshackle old miners hut on The Hill, with vines growing through the walls and mould in the rafters. Sounds crappy, but he's a builder, and a visionary one at that. Dad bought the worst house in the best street, and with a view of Nobby's beach and millionaire neighbours, he pretty much single handedly transformed a dump into an amazing three level pad, mixing the heritage listed ground floor elements like sandstone walls and original floorboards with ultra modern slick entertaining areas. Salvaging the majority of convict bricks from the original home, he paved the back courtyard to form a lush little outdoor area, and replaced the entire back wall of the house with glass louvres on all three levels, which is heaven when the afternoon sea breezes come through.

It's a pretty awesome place and dad, being the thoughtful bloke that he is, created the whole bottom floor to be self-contained for guests, and we are yet to take him up on his regular offers of 'come up and stay'.

Craft markets you say? That's all the impetus I need to get off my backside and organise a weekend to crash at their place! Plus I really need to spend an entire day pounding the pavement on Darby Street, finishing with a coffee at Goldbergs.

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