Chat A Latte and Tea

 

 

Saturday a childhood friend who used to live in Tasmania but now resides on the Mornington Peninsula took me to tea time in an old house called Chat a Lot and Tea, or some name like that, in Tyabb, where we enjoyed sitting in luxurious 18th century style chairs and drinking tea from pretty cups. We found this tea room a short distance from the train tea room, which also has a name but I will have to post that later.

We were advised that the Italian style savory pie was delicious so we divided one between us.

 

My friend, Gaby, ordered a latte,

 

and fruitcake with cream. What do you think of these antique forks? Maybe they are spoons. Every tea room uses them, and a friend who invited me to her house had a set of them which we used for eating the pastry she prepared.

A very poor photograph of Gaby, (10 years younger than me; no wonder she is so young ;-) looking like her cute self as she was at 5 years old, and me, ---well, am I really that fat? It must be the camera! We all know that double cream, which I have been enjoying so much here, produces a double chin and other doubles. My friend Betty, whom I took to tea yesterday will broke no talk of food and diet and all that. "We all have to die of something," she told me. I will get back to you one day soon when I have written down all her one-liners. In order to survive old-age she says you can't forget your one-liners.

Later when I went for a walk I saw this pink car for sale.

 

The tea I bought today was interesting: No Worries Koala tea, and tea sticks which have small perforations for stirring into a hot cup of water til it is just the right strength.

Someone has offered to take me to get photographs of unique country mail boxes so I am looking forward to that.

 

 

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Tea in Tyabb

 

 

Today I had a wonderful break from caravan-keeping and care-giving, with my 79 year old friend, Betty. She provided transportation in her little red car, and I bought afternoon tea. Betty is the lady who has taken me to church each Lord's Day since I have been here.

Can you detect what kind of a building we are sitting in? I was not able to get a clear photo of the outside, so I will definitely have to come back and see it again tomorrow.

We picked cabin 5 to sit in because it had a direct view of some lovely flowers growing outside.

 

Betty is such a pleasant lady and I have grown quite dependent upon her for transporting me to places I need to go. I always compensate her for her efforts by taking her to tea or lunch.

The lady who served us offered to take the photo but I forgot to adjust the ipad camera inside the case, and that is why there is a black corner on the upper right side.

Here is one of the other tea rooms,

with a lovely Victorian tin ceiling, (we are in the state of Victoria, so everything here is Victorian, including the people!)

and another room in the series of about 8 rooms, in which I hope you know by now is an old train.

 

This is the road we travelled, and my friend said she has lived here all this time and did not know this place was here. It is a little street next to the Tyabb packing house, which one of my readers commented that I should visit. Thank you so much! It was worth going just to enjoy how thrilled my friend was to be there. She was overjoyed with the afternoon tea and very happy to be sitting in the little train cabin. She was an experienced train-traveler and she said that sitting there had taken her back in time.

Above, some of the little shops around the train tea room.

 

Last night I sewed together a very quick blanket for the couch in the caravan. It was a fast job that I threw together so I hope no one analyzes the stitching on the other side. I only have a few days left here and I will have to return Betty's sewing machine.

As a care-giver I have learned how important it is to do something that is pleasurable and relaxing and creative, yet personally fulfilling. It is energy-giving and mentally-emotionally renewing. Every single evening, no matter how late it is I try to make some little thing, and it does not necessarily have to be a sewing project. I brought my crayons with me and I "paint" tiny pictures. If you are a care-giver, you do not have to have talent or training or skills in order to be creative. You just have to do something that is relaxing, even if it is coloring, and do not be reluctant to use crayons if you like them, because it is an adult hobby these days, and is very good therapy for the care-weary soul, celebrating the color of God's creation.

I am very home sick for my own family and my home, with all the comforts and conversation.I have now lived with them longer than with my own parents, whom I was at home with for only a few years in comparison to the years with my husband children. Skype has been a wonderful thing, and I certainly would not have been able to endure the separation without the twice-a-day contact. I learned that Skype was invented by someone in Denmark. Well doesn't that just figure! They also invented Lego! I suppose they had to create Skype out of necessity when Mary Donaldson of Tasmania married Crown Prince Frederick of Denmark, so that she could have video communication with her family in Australia.

Please be sure to email me if you think of it. I also look forward to your comments.

 

 

 

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Scenery at Mornington, Victoria, Australia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Fabric Things

 

 

The cloth strawberries above were made using online instructions. There are several styles of patterns, and this one is a little less than a half circle and a little wider than a triangle. I stuffed it with fiberfill from a pillow, and sprayed the stuffing with a perfume called Cotton Candy. Cotton candy is the same as fairy floss in Australia. I gave these to a neighbor for taking me so many places in her car, and she keeps them on the dashboard.

The last few days have been filled with a number of normal things like going to the grocery store, doctor visits for my mother, meal preparation, laundry, housekeeping, visiting, walks in the sunshine and church. I love everyone at the llittle church of Christ, and the preacher's wife' who is English, has been supplying me with different brands of tea to make my staying here a happy and relaxing time.

This is a dress made from the lawn fabric I bought when I first came here. I only brought one pattern with me and have not had a chance to buy another one, so I was stuck with the style. I was not sure how long it would be before I could get more patterns so I sewed the dress right away.

The scarf was made from a ladies cotton knit tee shirt, and the instructions can be found by typing in "things to make from t-shirts." This is a no-sew project.

It is interesting to twist scraps of fabric and see what can be made, such as a belt for the dress, embellished with a folded fabric rose, above.

Here is another no-sew decor idea: fringed shelf edging made by clipping white fabric. Note the fluffy little gala feather on the shelf next to the pink tin. Mother found it for me on one of her walks.

To make quick ruffled borders which hide unsightly ledges, frames and edges, I have been ripping strips of cotton fabric and then sewing a line of stitching down the middle, pushing and gathering the fabric through the presser foot as I stitch.

This old mirror that is attached in several places to the wall of the caravan, had a rather unlovely frame around it, so I hung one of those gathered garlands around it.

For a soft cushy rug I folded an old towel in half and machine stitched freely in circles from the center, finally zig-zagging the outer edges. This is such a comfortable rug, I hate to leave it here. The towelling gopt softer after sewing the layers together.

Note that my no-sew refurbishing includes sheets and towels for the couch coverings and borders that cover the legs of the furniture.

 

 

There was an unsightly hook that could not be removed, so I covered it with a fabric rose. You can see how fabric roses are made by typing in "How to make fabric roses." Youtube has some good demonstrations.

Though not very clear photos, this shows a little more progress in one room of the caravan.

 

A very patient neighbor has been taking me around in her car so that I can get pictures of fences, which for some reason I have taken a fancy to. In the area I live in the US there are not often fences between properties or houses, so I have not seen such a variety. On some streets there are fences from several different eras in history, from wrought iron to wire to stick and brush to picket.

 

 

 

 

 

There are also mailboxes that I want to photograph, because they are so unusual and even amusing out here in the country. People use old paint cans, butter churners, barrels, boxes, and anything that will hold mail.

I am hoping to go to Dandenong for tea at a tea room called Miss Marples.

 

 

 

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