A few days ago our family ventured off on a road trip to Cullinan, a beauiful and hostoric diamond mining town. I was so plesantly surprised that this quaint town was so near to where we live! We went on a public holiday, the main street was closed off and small pavement shops lined the road, how wonderful, my treasure seeking heart lept with excitement! There wasn’t one yarn shop in sight but that was ok, there were so many other sights to see.
The steam train had also arrived in town that day and all the restaurants were full and had waiting lists. We put our name down and walked around from shop to shop. The girls and I found the most divine shabby chic shop called Rust in White, we had so much fun there, looking at all their treasures and then out into the garden we went only to discover even more delightful bric a brac and treasures of the old rusted enamel pot kind! (Love that stuff!!)
We met up with Richard and the boys later, ate lunch and then made our way to the Mc Hardy House. It’s a beautiful old house that belonged to the Mc Hardy family who once lived in Cullinan many years ago. Mr Mc Hardy was the manager of the Cullinan diamond mine there in 1903. Their home has been preserved exactly as they left it, I love visiting old homes and discovering how people once lived, seeing their photos on the walls and to think that they once occupied that very space and are now gone…
Don’t you just love the crafting table with the wip?
I can’t wait to visit there again, it’s just an hour away from where we live, a little pocket of paradise…
I love day trips like that! Close to home, yet so much fun and so much to see. Looks like an amazing day.
It really was:)
How Cool! We live not too far from an old mining town, Bisbee Arizona. We haven’t been there yet, but keep talking about how we want to go! Soon!
Oooh you must go soon Sara, it sounds amazing!!
This look like a very interesting place to visit …thanks for sharing 🙂
That shop looks fantastic! I would have been looking for hours.
Tons of mining towns here in Colorado, too. I love to go visit them. It is so much fun to see how people lived back then. What kind of food did you have?
Just fish and chips for me:)
x
How wonderful, I look looking around shops like that, I spotted that row of old sewing machines in the garden!!!
Jen also spotted those, they are beautiful!
I love the tins for cooking. I have an old cast iron muffin tin like the one on the table. My grandmother always made cornbread in the shape of corn on the cob. That shop looks wonderful. What a lovely way to spend the day.
Your muffin tin sounds lovely Barb! It was a special day:)
Hi friend, Isn’t it amazing what we have in our backyards? I love exploring Oklahoma.. What is a wip?
Hi Vicky! It was a special discovery. A wip is a work-in-progress.
🙂
I enjoy your blog in part because you are so very far away from where I live in the US. It is fun to see how much we have in common, while marveling at the differences in our locales. I always chuckle at the differences in our weather since we’re in different hemispheres. I love reading about your adventures to places I doubt I’ll ever get to. Funny how “shabby chic” seems to be a universal style now. It took me a minute to figure out “wip” is short for work in progress. I was searching for some uniquely South African object that might be called a wip. While the objects on display are old, they still would be familiar around the world. I hope you write more about South Africa, and what makes it special and unique–and familiar.
Thanks so much for popping in here Jusa:)
Oooo I want to go, it’s just around the corner! Looks beautiful.
You must go Stel, It’s lovely:)
I get overload in places like that, seeing raw material everywhere without a clue what to do with it, BUT suddenly driven like mad to grab and make and hang and form. I love the sunnyness of it and the swath of lawn with the treasure paths beside. I’ll go with you next time.