A book to behold

En route to the beach recently I spotted a sign for a collectables fair in Geelong. Collectables are not really my thing but I thought I'd stop and have a look nonetheless just in case I could get my hands on some treasure - preferably a gramophone which I've wanted for a few years now. My husband obliged and stayed in the car with our sleeping baby. I entered a big hall full of trestle tables with all manner of goods from swap cards to old postcards to vintage toys to books. Ever the bookish type, I made sure to cast my eye over the old tomes hoping to find an old travelogue or history book. I was thrilled to spot a large green title called 'Countries of the World, sixth volume: Siberia to Zanzibar'. I opened it with great anticipation and the opening line caught my attention and told me that I had to buy it: 'Siberia is the land of the future'! OK, so the book was published in the 1920s when there was a very different geopolitical feel to today! When I flicked through its musty brown pages I was very excited to see old black and white photos and to my delight - some coloured photochromes. Even better was at the start of each country or city entry, there is a map. I'm a big fan of looking at maps and seeing how country borders and names have changed over time. It comes from my love of history and examining maps before and after the world wars to see how lines were re-drawn. Of course the dissolution of empires in the twentieth century wreaked havoc on cartographer's lives too as countries changed names and border posts were moved. One of my history lecturers at uni would place overhead projections over each other to see how geography had changed.  I was pulsing with excitement as I looked through the pages and holding my breath that I could afford it. Thankfully the vendor didn't know what a find it was and sold it to me for $5! I'm not an advocate of ripping up books but for that price I thought I could tear out a page or two and not lose sleep over it. Here's a photo of the world map and a picture of Venice that I extracted from its pages. Perfect ornaments for my mantlepiece and wonderful examples of eras long gone. Plus there's even a section on old Hobart, which to me is fascinating as it's where I spent much of my childhood.

A carpet caper

Since buying a small but beautiful rug in Istanbul a few years ago, I have been on the lookout for other Persian-style rugs to adorn my floor. I've seen some beautiful ones but of course the price tag is often hefty - the finer the knots, the greater the wool or silk quality always up the dollars. I thought that maybe I could become one of those people who have an eye for such treasures and snap them up at garage sales, but alas I haven't spotted any carpets for sale - Persian or otherwise. 

As is always the case, it's when you're not looking that you find what you're looking for. I recently went to the farmer's market in Talbot (which I'm sure I've waxed lyrical about on this blog before) and spotted a bric-a-brac shop I hadn't seen previously. There out the front was a rolled up carpet! I was hesitant as I unrolled it as I've unrolled hundreds of carpets while sipping mint tea in Marrakech and Istanbul only to discover that the pattern or colours on the back differ quite a lot from those on the upside. So, I was delighted to discover that this carpet was to my taste and even better cost only $40 (even Ikea sells 'Persian' carpets now for hundreds of dollars!) I don't think it's a particularly fine quality one or even necessarily Persian but I like it and it looks similar to the real ones! Here it is in my lounge room. 

Keep your eyes out for such finds as they are out there if you look long and hard enough!

What's your ideal home?

My friend Olivia has been asking me to write more blogs and reminding me that I've been slack in not doing so. So, I'm going to make a concerted effort to write weekly! I have a photo of a beautiful English manor as my screensaver and it got me thinking about where I'd live if I had the choice of anywhere in the world and unlimited money of course! A palazzo on the Grand Canal in Venice, a villa on Lake Como, a house overlooking the ocean anywhere really, an English countryside manor, a designer apartment in Copenhagen, a pied-a-terre on Paris's Left Bank? These are all places that hold great appeal to me. 

What does your ideal home look like?