MY SOUL IS FED BY NEEDLE AND THREAD
....ohh and pencils and paper

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Tuesday's Treasure with Melody

I am joining MELODY for "Tuesdays Treasures" today to share my 'treasure' and see what other 'treasure troves' are being shared. Go for a visit or share your treasure too.
My "Treasure" today is the lovely little village of "ULMARRA" 6 kms north of Grafton on the Pacific Highway. Most people drive straight through it but if like me you have ever had lunch at the "Commercial Ulmarra Hotel" (pictured above) on the banks of the Clarence river you will always stop in. The Hotel was transformed into the "Great Northern Hotel" for the TV mini-series "Fields Of Fire" (some of you may be old enough to remember) and photos of the filming which was done in and around this area can be seen on the walls of the hotel. It was first built in 1900 but burnt down and was rebuilt in 1911 and apparently there was much angst in the town as they had NO PUB for 12 months......can you imagine!! Horror! No Beer!
Now my husband and I are great fans of the BLT (bacon, lettuce and tomato on a toasted Panini roll) and the rating given to any town or district is how good your BLT is. Ulmarra's was pretty good. The winner however is still the little cafe in Uralla called Twisted Lemon. 10/10. Sorry I digress! We sat out by the river to enjoy the view of the mighty Clarence River and our BLT'S. A very pushy water dragon (all 24 inches of him/her) came and demanded a share. So pushy in fact I had my feet up on the chair in the end terrified it would use them as a ladder to actually sit ON the table and not just under it.
Hubby enjoying "the serenity" Sorry! Aussie joke!
The view from our lunch table of the Clarence. The same river we were camped beside at Iluka as it found it's way to the sea.
And "Miss c'mom give me some Liz" the water dragon. She had bigger brothers and sisters harrassing other diners. She is cute though in a reptilian sort of way.
After our pleasant lunch we browsed through the lovely little gift and collectable shops in the small main street and I was NOT a good girl. I spied in a little shop a beautiful  "Queen Anne"china trio and as it spoke so nicely to me I bought it home. Are you surprised???? It is beautiful. The name of the shop was "Violetta's & Liilymaze" How cute is that. It was chocced full of all sorts and I had to restrain myself.
And no I am not finished yet. Just over the road was a second hand bookshop another favourite of ours. We had a lovely wander and made our selections only to be told everything was 50% off. Woo Hoo!! I bought several novels for another day and my most exciting purchase was a book about the maker of my "Attic Doll" (I featured in another post) Linda Carroll. It is a lovely book describing her creative process and lots of gorgeous photos of my dolls sisters in their beautiful vintage dresses. I was in heaven.
There is more..........around the corner and up the street was an antique and collectable store and in it I found a small plate also "Queen Anne" at only $8.00 I snapped it up because you see my Grandmothers favourite trio was this design and apart from the cup the rest was broken in one of their many moves around Queensland. She loved this design so much she still used the cup paired with another saucer. I have been looking for the saucer and plate for ages.....so just the saucer to go. If any of you out there know of anyone who may have a spare saucer in this design I would love to hear from you. Anyway here it is almost complete.
That was our 'treasured' day in "ULMARRA" which by the way is aboriginal for - bend in the river and a beauitful bend in the river it is too. So shout yourself lunch at the pub next time you travel that way and say G'day to Miss Liz out by the river you'll love it.
Blessings Michelle xx

20 comments:

  1. Sounds like a fun place to spend the day, except for maybe the scary fragon! Tracee xx

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  2. What a lovely post Michelle, and how good to find all those treasures, I will watch out for that saucer at our op shops for you.Cheers R.

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  3. Interesting post Michelle , it looks like a great place and I loved the cup and plate , hope you find a saucer to match.

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  4. lovely post Michelle and lovely scenery,the dragon bit was funny,lol, proberly not fro you though,lol

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  5. Love the goodies you found Michelle. Hope you find the matching saucer.

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  6. Thank you for your travelogue of Ulmarra, Michelle :) One of the lovely things about reading other people's blogs is finding out about places you've never been, would long to go to, love to return to or may never get to. Ulmarra sounds like the perfect place to spend a lazy afternoon. Will keep my eye open for a matching saucer for you.

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  7. Fun day! I like your treasures . Trish

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  8. What a lovely read. I've been to Ulmarra and loved it too.
    Fingers crossed you find a saucer.
    :)

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  9. lovely post... I did have a giggle at how you judge a town by its BLT!!!
    Hugz

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  10. Very interesting, what a lovely spot - blt's and collectibles; what more could someone ask for?!

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  11. some great finds Michelle. I was waiting for the set of steak knives though... lol

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  12. Hey Michelle! I can see why this is one of your 'treasures' ... times spent enjoying the company of people we love are life's true treasures! :0) And I can almost feel the serenity! Tee! Hee! Hee! Do you ever wonder what folks overseas think of that movie?!?! I'm sure some parts of our Aussie humour just don't translate! Tee! Hee! Hee! Love your new pretties, too ... I'm with you ... REALLY bad at being good! :0) Glad you had a lovely time away - Bear Hugs! KRIS

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  13. Love the buys ! Great shops, it's surprising what you find in little towns.Not sure about the water dragon!
    Michelle

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  14. Gotta love the serenity!
    Do you have a bug zapper too?
    Those shops sound very dangerous...I do love your new treasures though.
    thanks for the virtual tour.

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  15. Wonderful treasures Michelle. I'm, with you on the BLT...yumm

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  16. You really do have a knack for finding the most beautiful treasures Michelle.

    Yep- I would have given the water dragon a wide berth too!

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  17. What a fantastic haul of delightful goodies. How cheeky was that little water dragon? Looks like a great place to visit.

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  18. Hi Michelle,
    Lovely to stop by your blog & see some wonderful photos from Ulmarra! I remember spending many a time there as a teenagaer when we would pass through on our way to Coffs Harbour to camp at Christmas. My parents had friends who lived in the town (right on the Clarence River) & owned a little art gallery there. It's been years since I've gone through so have no idea if the gallery still even exists. Sharm

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  19. Thanks for the tour. It really sounds like a wonderful place. Looks like you found some nice treasures.

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  20. What a lot of beautiful Treasures Michelle. Don't you just love antique and collectibles shops. Your china finds are beautiful and also the lovely doll book. I will watch out for your saucer around the Sunshine Coast.

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