Summers spent on my grandparents' farm in Lefroy certainly left their mark on my decorating sensibilities. My sisters and I shared my Aunt's old bedroom, which smelled of lavender and pine. It was pink with trailing rose wallpaper. There was a big iron bed dressed with flowery sheets and a chenille bedspread. Lace curtains that didn't keep out the sun and a roller blind that would not stay lowered covered the windows. We were up with the roosters and asleep with the sunset. In the morning we collected eggs from the coop, which my grandmother would perfectly poach for breakfast. Later we picked strawberries and manned the roadside stand. Or just swung from the big gate when things were slow. Afternoons were strictly for swimming down at the lake - a just reward after walking two miles down a dirt road, my grandmother pushing my sister in an old pram with a wonky wheel. It was heavenly.
I can't resist old window panes. I picked up quite a pile of them last summer, from a farmhouse around Midland that was being torn down, and I've finally gotten around to finishing one. It's fitted with pieces of vintage sheeting and chenille. I love them just for their decorative value, but the wooden knobs make it useful too. It will be for sale in the shop next week. If you want to try your hand at making one, I suggest trying Habitat for Humanity's ReStore for old casement windows.
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