The small, black wheels on my red carry-on bag, reverberated on Auckland Airport's marble floors as Anthony and I walked through the Departure Lounge. Oh, an escalator. Anth scooped up my bag and plonked it on the moving staircase. Before I could think about what I was saying my slightly stressed, higher-than-usual voice rang out,
"CAREFUL, I'VE GOT A COUPLE OF LARGE JUGS IN THERE!"
My voice had fallen again when I said the ' in there' part realising that I had spoken in too loud a voice. The people's heads had spun around to see who the lady was with the large jugs...(jugs in the UK can be used as a slang word for bosoms!) My 21 year old nephew thought I said drugs, which was probably less unusual and was cringing with embarrassment and I'm sure that was the longest escalator ride of his life!
Yes, I managed to carry 2 beautiful rose pattern jugs, across the world, stuffed with knickers, vintage hankies and embroidered tray cloths to protect them. Just look at what I collected..
..can you see my large jugs?! This was my total haul. Oh what wonderful hunting I had. My long-suffering brother-in-law and his partner sat outside a junk shop on the hottest day I have ever known in my life (approx 40C) and saw me walk back to the car carrying 3 double, woolen blankets. They could hardly believe their eyes and I was met with a, "Cold are you?"
The next day I went back and bought 4 more and then spent the rest of the holiday fretting about how I was going to get all of this home. The blankets deserve a photo of their own, which I will do sometime soon. They are pastel, checked, woolen blankets which I bought for a couple of dollars and then saw some in a 'vintage' shop selling for about $90 each!! If you look closely there are some lilac ones under the Laura Ashley Clarissa duvet cover next to my large jugs! Oh dear I had better stop all the jug talk and move onto the book find of the year so far..
Oh my, you should have heard me exclaim when I picked this up in Whitcoulls in New Plymouth. My oohs and arhhs were so loud that Anth had to shush me as he was quite embarrassed by my fuss. I seem to spend my life embarrassing my family, but this time a fuss is called for. This book is wonderful; all about the New Zealand woman of the past and the history and stories behind their crafts. Reviews here and here. They describe it much better than me. I didn't buy it then as I was worried about the cost and the fairly big size of it; but later after thinking about it a lot I realised that it was part of my daughters' heritage and even though they have absolutely no interest in 'my old lady stuff' now, I'm ever hopeful that one day they will. So I bought it (the cover alone is worth the price) and it also joined my jugs in my hand luggage.
So there we have it. I bought mainly linen and in case you're wondering those large jugs of mine remained intact and now sit prettily on our mantelpiece...and yes, I have removed the knickers from inside!
