Wonderful Handkerchiefs find

I am having the most wonderful weekend away in Mansfield, in North-East Victoria. Very busy as it is in the snow season (although the snow is much higher up), but I have had a wonderful time checking out the shops in between dropping off and picking up the friend I have driven over here, who is visiting her friend for her 96^th birthday!

I have met this lady before, but I hadn’t realized she was an early needlework teacher in the State Secondary school system.

So she really appreciated my find. If you are in Mansfield, there is a nice patchwork shop, Main Street Inspirations at 112 High St, and two op shops (I am told three, buut I couldn’t find the St Vinnies). But the real find was a “Funky Junk” shop at the back to the Cinema. And she is only open 10am to 2pm on Saturdays, so was I lucky.

There, in a clothes basket, was a collection of vintage Irish Linen (although one is Swiss cotton) handkerchiefs of a quality I have never seen before. Most still had their tags on them, so had never even been washed. Many have rust marks, but I can cope with that. On one, I even found a number where a previous owner has been cataloguing them.

They really are unbelieveable – and the wonderful woman in the shop started by saying two dollars each – but when we got to a total of 27, she gave them to me for $20 for the lot!

Here is just some of them:

And I am in a real bind – most of them are far too good to cut up. I think Gina was execute me on the spot (wait until you see them). One is the finest drawn-thread work I have ever seen. The one almost in the centre of this picture,

Just wait until I get home, and get to the scanner! I am hoping this post works - this is the first time the laptop has been away, and the HTML is behaving strangely on the motel switchboard!