kitchen

the market at the drive-in

On a nice Sunday morning it can be a tough decision. Which market to go to. Sometimes I prefer Camberwell market which is excellent for clothes, especially kids clothes, if you can be bothered looking through boxes of stuff.  People often sell everything for a couple of dollars and you can get some great bargains here. It has super second hand bric-a-brac as well, but sometimes it is a bit expensive.  On the other hand, Coburg trash and treasure at the Drive-In doesn’t necessarily have good clothes, but the bric-a-brac is often a bargain.

Yesterday I had this debate with myself.  And in the end I chose Coburg.

And I am glad I did because I got these super canisters. The three of them for $2. Pretty good huh?  See, this is what always happens at Coburg. The things I like are so cheap.

I bought these canisters because as you know I am moving to a blue and white kitchen.  And I always like stripes.  And they nearly match my sugar bowl, which has been a bit lonely as the only blue and white striped thing in my kitchen.

And they look great up on the mantle above the stove.

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They are sitting with my timer and the two little ink pots the bottle man from Camberwell market gave to the kids for free a month or two ago. So it’s a little Sunday market vignette …

motivation to finally finish the kitchen

So, it’s been a year, pretty much, since we renovated our kitchen.  And yes, we’ve still got the tiling to go.  I know.  I should ring the tiler.  Yes I already have the tiles.  Yes, I have a tiler in mind.  OK, I’ll do it as soon as Art4All is over.

In the meantime, on Tuesday I thought that perhaps the time had come to clean out the pantry.  While I cooked tea I emptied the shelves and wiped them down, took stuff out of packets and put it into jars and did a general tidy.  It looked so much better.  Last night, while I cooked tea, I thought that perhaps my lovely ‘swan tray’ could do with clean and a tidy up as well.

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Just at the start I want to say … how super is it?  I’d love to say where I got it, but I can’t remember (which is very unlike me).  I am sure I only paid a couple of dollars for it though.

I find that sometimes I see things that I love, and buy them, and then bring them home and I am not quite sure what to do with them.

This tray, and all that permanently resides on it, fits into this category.  Except for the salt container.  I always knew what that was for …

So, this tray found a home next to my stove.  And it stores all the ‘things one needs handy in the kitchen, but might make a mess on the bench’.   That includes the cooking salt container (second hand from the Salvo’s Abbotford).  And I have taken to using that most gorgeous of gorgeous blue dish for garlic, and the cute little flower dish (which is a new addition) I sometimes use for spoons (you know, when you need to keep your wooden spoon by your cooking and don’t want to just leave it on the bench to make a puddle) and sometimes for matches.  We’ve got an old-school stove that requires matches (we used to rent our house before we bought it, and the stove/oven is definitely of the ‘rental house’ variety).

And then there are the cooking utensils in a lovely vintage mason jar (Elise gave me a set of 3 for our second hand Christmas), and cooking oil and vinegar.

I would like to point out the Amess Street vinegar specifically.  Amess Street was the second last share rental house I lived in … so this vinegar is nearly 20 years old.  I made it for presents one Christmas when I was a student and didn’t have any money.  I keep it mainly for sentiment … but it still tastes good …

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So, once I had cleaned all these little things I put the tray back where it belongs.  On the bench next to the stove.

Yes Mum, I know, this photo and my kitchen and house in general would all look heaps better with the tiles… because they are really going to be gorgeous and I love them so much …and really, this photo does look dreadful …I am actually contemplating as I write this whether I should remove it from the post … but no, I am going to use it as motivation to FINALLY FINISH THE KITCHEN.

a collection of glass jars
A Collection of Glass Jars

These lovely glass jars sit on top of a great old dresser that has been painted white.  They are used every day for storing flour, sugar, rice, chick peas, brown sugar and all the usual things stored in jars in a kitchen.  The majority of these jars were purchased in one hit at a second hand shop in Smythesdale, just outside Ballarat and on the way to Hamilton.  

The different sizes and shapes of the jars and the different lids just add to the usefulness and  loveliness of the collection!