Quaint, quirky and evocative

The best finds are the ones you come across accidentally. There’s a sense of discovery and uncovering a hidden gem. It was down a side street, away from the main shopping and dining strip and I could easily have missed it had its books not caught my attention and a whiff of deliciousness not greeted me at the door.
 
Book shop cafes are among my favourite things and Anna’s Shop around the Corner at Cronulla, now comes near the top of the list. It’s an eclectic mix of second-hand books, quirky furnishings and simple, home cooked food. I loved the leadlight shades, the deep French armchairs, and pew resplendent with a quaint array of cushions and warm rugs for those frosty mornings and chilly winter evenings (Yes, they open for dinner too).
 
There were books from every genre to browse with your cup of coffee or purchase to read later. The doorstop consisted of a number of old, hard backed novels, tied with a deep purple ribbon and bags of coffee grains lined up at the door, “Free for your garden”. It’s homey and comfortable with bags of character.

Anna began the bookstore/café ten years ago and judging from the continuous stream of customers, it's a huge success. She’s a welcoming host and you feel at home immediately. I snuggled into the long pew, sinking deep into the stack of cushions and tried to choose from the generous range of cakes and slices while drinking in the old-world charm and whimsey.
 
While the sleek, white trendy cafes are great, they can be found almost everywhere. This place is unpretentious, evocative and nostalgic – it has personality.

Handmade tooth fairy cushions

Often it's the simple things in life that speak to my soul – old books, pretty fine china and comfortable old chairs – belongings with history.
 
I wonder who has held those books before me, whose life is a little different because someone penned that page? I wonder about the home where the old chair once filled a treasured corner – who curled up in it to read a child a bedtime story or who rested their weary bones there at end of day?

After my paternal grandmother died, my mother and I were helping clear out her home. Amongst the things being put aside for the opportunity shop were two vases, which I loved. One was a porcelain lined carved wood and brass container and the other a cream porcelain vase covered with pretty floral artwork and a brass edged rim around the top. My mother thought they were ugly and couldn’t understand why I wanted them, but for me they were real treasures.
 
Some weeks later my parents came for dinner and I’d filled the wooden vase with a huge bunch of tawny coloured chrysanthemums and the china vase with an armful of roses from my garden. My mother remarked on the flower arrangements then suddenly realised that the vases were the ones she’d discarded. “Oh I wish I hadn’t given them away now”, she said.
 
She hadn’t seen the magic in them ... hadn't imagined what they could become.

I love that Anna has taken what has been discarded and preloved and drawn them together with a new life and a fresh purpose. We can be so quick to discard the old, to fail to see its value but there's something about age and history that  turns the simplest things into beauty, even you and me.

Anyone for coffee, cake and a touch of nostalgia?