Treasures from the past (and exploded apples)

I hope every-one had a lovely Easter weekend. I enjoyed the relaxed pace of the weekend, catching up with family, and the odd bite of chocolate didn't go amiss, either :-)
I was down at my parents' place again last week and while doing a spot of minor furniture reorganisation (the things we need to do to accomodate Irons in Bedrooms!) I came across these lovely treasures in a drawer...
The doilies below were made by my Great Grandmother (Dixon) many years ago. Mum said she made sets of these for various family members and these were made for my Nana's house. Mum remembers them always being around so were likely made in about the 1930s.

The technique used for these is Hairpin Crochet which creates lengths with loops at either side; these are then 'woven 'or looped together to create the finished article.
The photo to the left shows a 'modern day' hairpin--- this is one I used as a teenager when I had a play with this technique. Unfortunately I cant put my hands on the surround I made for a kitchen glass (to turn it into a pretty vase) that I made at the time.

Another treasure (below) in the drawer was this lovely Fillet Crochet yoke which Nana Dixon also made. Mum tells me beautiful yokes like these were made, and attached to the clothing (in this case a nightgown). When the nightgown was worn out, the yoke was unpicked and attached to a new one.

The photo below shows a few other little bits... Mum monogrammed the hankie for her Mum when she was a youngster (E for Eleanor but she was always known as Nellie, which suited her so much better, in my opinion). She also made the colourful table runner when she was at Primary School; they called it 'huckerback embroidery' but is apparently also known as Swedish Weaving. The beaded jug cover was made by (Great) Nana Dixon again; I've often thought I would like to make one of these but have never got around to it.

We were well into Autumn Harvest down at my parents'. Dad has planted a large variety of fruit trees and we enjoy discussing, comparing and tasting them all. These apples, seen here with a standard supermarket apple, are known for their size -


Monty's Surprise Apple.These 'average- sized' apples weighed over
600 grams EACH!
[Do you like my new wall colour in my kitchen? Tricky to find something
that looked good with the inherited bench colour - but I'm loving it!!]

I brought a couple back up home with me and have had a bit of fun making Baked Apples for tea. (An Alison and Simon Holst crockpot recipe).
The first day I put them on to cook way too early (I do have a tendency with the Crockpot to put it on in the morning and then ignore it all day).

 By 3pm the apple looked like this - exploded - and it was still 4 hours till tea-time - tasted good though!!
The second day I only let the apple cook for 3 hours - still yummy and looked so much better!

Perfect - a very filling dessert for two!!

I am linking up today to Melody's Tuesday Treasures. If you want to see more treasures simply follow this link and go to her blog.
Have a great day everyone,
and Happy Stitching,