Monthly Archives: August 2011

Virtues of thrift – keep it in the family!

Posted on by
2

I’m dedicating this post to my family, especially my late mother, Frances Dalzell and late Grandmother, Kathleen Mulligan who are responsible in large part for the existence of Salvage Sisters! Family readers cue wry smiles!

I’m convinced they would be delighted to see the efforts of my Salvage Baby Lucia, who turned TWO this week.. she certainly has an eye for the antique! I was delighted when i ‘mistakenly’ won (thats what I had to tell the baffled husband who went to pick it up!) this vintage German Sleigh at Ross’s Auction in Belfast. It’s uses have proven unending even convincing said husband of its merits as a household item!

Tv seat


 

Snack time

 

She loves to pull it out from under the table and have a seat, or use it to climb up on the table to dance! It’s a great little coffee table too.

Auntie Doris' pram

Its hard to imagine any of our modern day toys would live to tell the tale, let alone look so charming as this little pram which Lucia took a shine to as we cleared out Tullyroan lately. It belongs to our Aunty Doris who  certainly knows how to hold on to a thing or two! This little beauty is around 70 years old. Doris has a fabulous eye for interiors and I must do a post sometime on her amazing collection of refurbished antique chairs and sofas!


Birthday trike

 

 

Salvage Aunty Lucy has excelled in her shoppping this year and got Lucia this trike for her birthday! We looooove it. I trust it will last to hand on to the next generation too.. 

And finally some words of wisdom from people who know, to hand down to the family.. I especially agree with the first and last one.

“Thrift is not an affair of the pocket, but an affair of character.”  ~S.W. Straus

“I believe that thrift is essential to well-ordered living.”  ~John D. Rockefeller

“Cannot people realize how large an income is thrift?”  ~Cicero


“We are not to judge thrift solely by the test of saving or spending.  If one spends what he should prudently save, that certainly is to be deplored.  But if one saves what he should prudently spend, that is not necessarily to be commended.  A wise balance between the two is the desired end.” ~Owen Young

Jamie’s Italy

Posted on by
7

This has very little to do with salvaging but i just wanted to rave a little about my saturday lunch experience at Jamie’s new restaurant in Glasgow, a coalescing of my two loves – interiors and food. Albeit with a fairly corporate edge to the whole operation, i still would struggle to think of anywhere with a better combination of menu choice and careful style. Often i find you get one or the other when dining out. Firstly, the place is huge, meaning more room to display the vast collection of Le Marais and Bentwood bistro chairs. The antique pine shelves and sideboards are positively heaving with italian delicacies and voluptuous vegetables, whilst cured meats dangle invitingly from the ceiling. Napkins are (faux) vintage personalised linen. Food is served in a wide array of receptacles, from little cardboard boxes stuffed with fresh bread, copper bowls delicately lined with illustrated paper, beautiful rustic pottery pasta dishes, mini-wooden platters, cast iron teapots….

We struggled to choose from the well-composed menu, featuring many of Jamie’s signature ingredients (lemon, mint, chilli, cinnamon, anchovies). Ingredients are sourced both locally and from Italy – smoked mozzarella, tuscan fennel salami, sicilian cracked wheat, burrata…..not your average supermarket fare. Pasta is made fresh every day, and you can really tell. We went for the rice balls stuffed with mozarella and porcini, polenta chips and stuffed courgette flowers to start, followed by prawn linguine and the most intensely lemony ravioli…oooh it was good!

Now all i need is a valid excuse to go back very soon.

 

Vintage Homebird

Posted on by
6

The Salvage sisters have had the delight of a few days on the same side of the shuck with Lucy being in Northern Ireland for a few days.

After the trauma of actually having to clear some things out that we couldnt possibly salvage or find room for, at the car boot, we undertook a little intentional rambling around NI to unearth some new treasure hot spots I’d heard about on the vintage circuit.

vintage homebird

I have never had a reason to go to Greyabbey before, but that is where the lovely Keri Johnston has opened the most beautiful space to retail her very attuned collection of vintage, retro and kitsch memorabilia. After a gorgeous drive about 20 mins out of Belfast hugging the coastline, we were excited to find this little town has a plethora of antique shops and the like. With the warmest welcome, we pottered through the three room space on two levels, laid out to eye watering, heart quickening, I want-all-of-it perfection.

 

Keri’s enthusiasm and warmth is exuded throughout her shop to inspire you even more than the fabulous lay out. Get on down there if you get the chance.

Watch this space for our next treasure ramble..

Toot Toot Car Boot

Posted on by
1

This weekend saw the salvage sisters bleary-eyed at St. Donards car boot sale after our 6am start to beat the queues and secure a space to sell our treasures. Our loot had been gathered up at another episode of Tullyroan family house clearance, to include some antique finds by the original salvager, our mother, and also our grandmother who is now 102. The items we sold had a lucky escape from skip-heaven and will hopefully live on to adorn the china cabinets of their new happy owners in east belfast.

The buyers were a friendly bunch of locals and regulars, who were delighted to inform us of the origins and sources of some of our porcelain figurines and items, which were high in demand. We were happy to shift anything for around a pound as sadly, most of it was chipped or in bad repair. We did attract quite a swarm initially as people are definately interested in things which have vintage appeal or nostalgic interest.

We were informed by one shrewd buyer that he would shift the silver mustard spoon he’d found on our table for 50p for up to a handsome tenner on ebay! Its good to know a little more of the life story of the items you’re parting with.

There’s definatley a roaring car boot culture in NI but accessing the details can be tricky. Important nuggets like the fact that if you arrive at this one after about 6.30pm you’ll miss the cut in the queue for when the gates open at 8! Apparently 40 cars got turned away yesterday from this 50 car space.

Two good websites that we used were Car boots R Us and CarbootSales.Org, and we heard about this great page on Facebook so don’t forget to report your successes and tips there if you head out booting!

 

_