November scavenger hunt...

Hello folks :) It's that time of the month when we join Hawthorn and friends over at I live, I love, I craft, I am me... for the monthly scavenger hunt. I hope you enjoy my offerings.

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Blue

The evening before the full moon this month my GKB 

snapped this. A lovely royal blue sky don't you think?

Me

Aged about three. This is me sitting on a little wooden rocking chair. Every December one of the department stores in town ordered in dozens of these little chairs and just before Christmas my grandfather would go down and get enough for the small grandchildren and paint them a lovely shiny red. We loved them. 

 

Starts with a ...W 

A warning -  sign seen at Orana Wildlife Park in Christchurch when we visited last month. I found it rather amusing as the animals mentioned include big cats.

Rainbow

A large group of people with flags in Aotea square, Auckland.

The flags were very bright and colourful, a rainbow of colours.

Arch

On the outskirts of Alexandra in Central Otago, the arches

 from the original bridge crossing the Clutha River. 

Part of the modern arch of the new bridge is to the right. 

Toy

Do you see the fishing rod in here. To my GKB it is the ultimate toy. In fact he loves this one so much that he has more in the garage cluttering the place up waiting in case he fancies a change. Why he would need more than one is beyond me as he can only use one at a time or take the risk of having everything confiscated (including the very expensive license) if he is caught with more than one in use. This was after a day at the river.

Swirl

Brought out to celebrate their 80th birthday. 

Tip Top Ice Cream's new flavour - Birthday Cake Swirl.

Very nice too, but not my favourite :)

Brush

I hope you can see this brush. It is very pale pink and sitting on the white background it has tended to fade away. I was going through the stuff in my old glory box (hope chest) when I found this little china pram with the brush sitting in it. The brush was a baby gift on the birth of my eldest daughter, who is about to turn 50 in a few days, and the pram was part of a flower arrangement sent into the nursing home while we were in there.

Nail

 The same daughter's wedding nails 
nearly forty years later. Very elegant.

My choice

I like this neon sign. It used to be on the top of a butchery in the city, which has been demolished. The pig is now housed in Toitu Settlers Museum. He's rather colourful and I tossed up between him and the flags for the rainbow prompt.

If you want to see how others handled the prompts 

head over to I live, I love, I craft, I am me... and take a look :)

Diana

A quick dash through Toitu

This week we're back in Toitu,

 otherwise known locally as The Early Settlers Museum.

We are doing a quick dash through today as there is so much

 to see and do I thought I'd just give you a taste.

Josephine

Josephine is the very first thing you come across

 as you enter the foyer.

She is loved by old and young alike, if you mention seeing Josephine at the museum we all know what you're talking about.

If you go to the link on her name you can read about her.

And I do apologize for cutting her nose off when photographing her. Once again there is a great photo in the link.

Turn to the right and you have a little gift shop 

with lots of cool stuff in it and on the sunny side of 

the foyer is the cafe/tearooms

 where you can get a nice meal or hot drink. 

Or a cold drink if that's what you prefer.

Maori kite made from flax

Through the door to the museum 

and you have a short history of Otago 

from pre-European times through to the current day.

A little further on and we enter the passenger section of a sailing ship, complete with creaking and groaning boards as

 the ship moves up and down across the waves. A weird sensation. 

Around about are the passengers bunks, goods and utensils. 

There is a section devoted to fashion, men's and women's, 

as well as a few children's pieces. Again a great range of clothes.

And a dress up section if you wanted to don a whale bone petticoat

 and see how you would look in a crinoline.

Another display houses the appliances, gas, coal and electric. 

It doesn't seem that long ago that these

 old coal ranges were in homes.

My grandparents had a gas stove top but the oven was coal fired, 

and it sent out a lot of heat in the winter,

 and probably too much in the summer.

It was a wetback and heated the hot water

 so had to be on most of the time.

(Now I'm definitely showing my age,

 that was nearly 70 years ago, haha).

Everything from these ranges to old irons and 

more modern milk bar equipment and everything in between. 

We laughed at the old typewriters, computers and dishwashers etc.

How life has changed :)

Now this fellow was atop a butcher shop in the city 

when I arrived here in the late '60s.

He was in charge of a herd of little pink pigs

 who ran around the veranda, also neon lights.

 They were quite a landmark.

In the Smith Gallery there are paintings of some of the settlers.

 Also an index so you can find your ancestors

 somewhere in the crowd.

Or maybe they are hidden away somewhere in the archives.

My GKB's ancestors arrived on one of the first boats 

and I've recently discovered that my father's were on one of the early ships as well.

At the opposite end of the museum to Josephine 

is this display of feet.

A modern sculpture on temporary display,

 commemorating the men who went to war and didn't come back. 

I find it quite strange even though I 'get' what 

the artist was trying to say. I think. 

I should have put this photo in the post I did 

about the transport on display here.

This is the arrival and departure platform at the bus depot.

Exactly as it was when we used to catch the buses 

after a night out on the town or day out shopping.

It is midway through the museum and a nice place 

if you want a bit of a sit down

and there is also a corner for the littlies to play in.

And that is it for another day. 

I hope you enjoyed having a quick poke around Toitu with me.

linking up with Stepanie at:

roses of inspiration

Have a good week.

See you next time,

Diana

A visit to Toitu

Earlier in the week my GKB suggested we go into town for lunch.

Okay, I said, but I don't want to go to the Warehouse,

I'd like to go to Toitu and have a look around 

now that they have finished the renovations.

Toitu was, until quite recently, 

known as the Early Settlers Museum. 

So in we went, had lunch in the cafe there and went exploring.

The building above houses the transport 

 part of the museum - and where else would you put it 

but in the old New Zealand Railway Road Services bus depot?

Very appropriate. 

Some of the exhibits were behind glass for obvious reasons,

some roped off and others you could try out if you wanted.

my GKB on a tram he used to ride occasionally 

trying out a penny farthing for size

Have I just dated us? never mind, onward and upward!

Some gorgeous cars were on display,

 I think I've said before that have a bit of a thaang for classic cars. 

Along with some old trams, trolleys and buses.

As well as horseless carriages,

 trucks of different types and petrol pumps.

But, the best thing of all (for me anyway) was...

...this beautiful Buick Eight towing 

this...

tiny caravan.

looking in through the back window of the caravan

Isn't it fantastic?

Sorry about the last photo, it was so hard to get a good photo through the glass. I had my flash turned off but because it was so dim in the museum it came on automatically.

If you'd like to take a look at more of the museum you can go to a link here.

Of course the museum doesn't just house transport, it is a wonderful visual history of Otago from Maori times through the arrival of the sailing ships and early European settlement and on up to the present day. I think it is great and shall go back one day without my GKB as he doesn't enjoy these things quite as much as I do :) That way I will be able to dawdle where I wish!

joining in with:

roses of inspiration

Well that's it for another week.

Look after yourselves and I will

see you again in a few days.

Diana