A busy and productive week!

Ken's enforced retirement has not disrupted my schedule of things to do and people to see! Fortunately, he is not the kind of person to sit around and mope; he has been in touch with some of his friends, and been out riding his motorcycle with one mate, who lives around the corner and is also retired, and into bikes. So I have been mostly free to get on with my usual activities. Yesterday I went to the Melbourne Museum to meet some eBay friends, and view the collection of crinoline lady china belonging to LeeAnn. She had about 400 pieces on display, and said she has about 900 altogether in her collection. She also has some embroidered linen to go with her china, but that wasn't visible under all the china, so I couldn't see if any of it was the same as mine! Her collection is sensational; I didn't ask, but it must be worth a fortune, I'm sure. She has bought a lot of it from England, where the design originated, and she doesn't buy reproductions - only original old pieces. I took some photos, but didn't finish the film, so I can't put any on here right now.
After we had drooled over LeeAnn's collection for a while, we showed off PharLap to Liz and Bee who had flown down from Sydney, and they were very impressed. Wonder if Maykeby Diva will end up there with PharLap one day? Then we went to the Museum cafe for some lunch and chat, and from there we drove to one of Melbourne's busy shopping strips (Sydney Road for those of you who live here). We visited three opshops but didn't have much luck, although I did find this teacosy for 90 cents. I guess I should have waited until I washed and pressed it before scanning it to put on here!
Yesterday's mail brought some goodies: the peacock doiley is one of three (all the same) from the USA. I am continually fascinated by the ways each different person interprets the colours of a peacock in their embroidery. Some pick up on the actual colours of the peacock feathers, while others are quite bizarre, but I love them all. The other two items - Christmas card and fridge magnet - are from a lady also in the USA. We are in an MSN group of cross stitchers and we exchange gifts at Christmas, although this year it is more like a non-secret Santa! We are not exchanging gifts with each other; we have been given the name of someone else to send to. So my project for another lady in this group is the "Good Morning" fridge magnet shown here. I still have to finish off the edges and attach the magnetic backing, but the design is finished.
Today I took delivery of a tallboy in which I plan to store my linen. I have been shopping around for about a month, taking measurements and prices, and finally decided on one early this week. I really thought it would hold everything, but as soon as it was placed in the room where I keep my linen, I realised it was not going to be anywhere near big enough...I managed to pack everything in it, but some drawers are squashed tight, and I wanted to avoid doing that. Ken looked on knowingly and said "I could have told you that wouldn't be big enough for all your stuff". I replied "So I am going to have to cull it, aren't I?" to which he just snorted!