Sunday 25 September 2011

Sunday Car Booty Looty

There's been a bit of car boot withdrawal going on here so off I went with my trusty trolley this morning to find a wonderful array of goodies just sitting there waiting for me!


Came over all Downton Abbey when I saw these exquisite ladies kid gloves .... they are so dainty

Double sided 1950s placemats in original box and unused



Don't think I will be doing any of this but the pics are great and the ads too for Tala bakeware




 I've been looking for one of these old tills for ages ..... the bell still works when the money drawer opens but I need to find a key to be able to lift the lid to put a till roll in.  Just needs a gentle rub down & polish and it will be ready to use .... can you see what some cheeky wag has written inside the drawer?

Always wanted one of these too ;-)






Some books that caught my eye about childcare in the 1940s/50s ..... for some reason I don't seem to have a cover shot of one of them by HMSO called Nursery Schools & Nursery Classes ..... Ofsted would have kittens if they saw this!

Saturday 24 September 2011

Oh what a beautiful morning .......

Saturday morning and I'm up with the larks ..... or rather dogs, cats and chooks!

After a quick coffee I took Molly and Ruby over the fields for a run ..... I love autumn mornings like these with brilliant sunshine and a slight haze in the distance.



There was a really heavy dew and Ruby was soon dripping wet




Then home for a bit of chook house clearance .... I let our first five ladies have free run of the garden while I was mucking out because they have a tendency to get under my feet!

The new girls like to have a bit of space to themselves with these bossy greedy five out of the way.

The Black Orpington .... she is huge and the colours in her feathers are like petrol blue when the sun shines on them

The Silver Cochin (roughly the size of a pigeon) and the Polish Crested

 The Buff Pekin with the Silver Pekin behind her ... the Black Pekin is a bit camera shy and was hiding in the bushes  .... I love these chooks with their feather slippers



These are the bossy crew


...... who are at the moment foraging around making a right flipping mess but getting rid of some unwelcome bugs at the same time so I will forgive them.

The view from my window .....

Yesterday I had the luxury of a couple of hours to myself so it was off to the sewing room ..... really our 2nd bedroom now vacated by grown up offspring .... why is it though that now I only have one at home, and in theory two empty rooms, I still don't seem to have much space????

With good old Ken Bruce playing in the background (I do like to shout out the answers to the pop quiz but would freeze if I was on air) I looked up and out of the window and this is what I see.

 

Across the roof of our extension into our neighbour's garden with the council houses in the background.  This is the estate where I grew up and my parents still live.  I would love to move at some point as I have always said I don't want to end my days looking at these houses!



The adventure playground cum Tom &  Barbara Good's patch .......  we have the luxury of a very long garden so the chooks are down in the bottom left and to their left is our fruit and veg patch.

Thursday 22 September 2011

Sell, sell, sell................


Ever felt like this ?????

Two experiences this week have left me feeling like SCREAMING VERY LOUD !!

We have a policy with British Gas to cover our water and heating system which includes an annual service of the boiler and we've found it well worthwhile as it has saved us pounds over the years when parts need replacing.  The engineer was booked for Tuesday morning and he hadn't been in the house for two minutes before he went into his selling spiel ..... did I know my boiler is getting old ya-di-ya-da ....... yes I know the heat exchanger is corroding ya-di-ya-da (actually not covered in the policy) ..... no I don't want to book a Powerflush at around £350 thank you ...... no I don't want to book a salesman to talk me into a new boiler as I can't bliddy afford it!   I politely explained that we would have to keep everything crossed that the boiler lived for another 12 months before heading for that boiler heaven in the sky and if it did pass then I'd just have to chuck a few extra cardigans on!  Did he submit .... did he heck as like .... I booked the salesman to shut him up and that was probably enough to get him an extra Brownie point and I will be cancelling the visit next week.  I expect a service engineer to do the service not try and flog me something I don't want or can't afford.

Then in the Nationwide Building Society this afternoon the poor guy in front of me who was only withdrawing some cash was questioned by the cashier about other services and policies he may or may not have with them.  This held the queue up ....  I was on a tight schedule and could feel my hackles start to rise .... it embarrassed the poor bloke as he had to discuss his finances with a line of people listening ..... I felt like shouting at the girl just get a bloody move on and give him his cash .... he obviously wasn't interested and wanted a quick getaway the same as me.  Again cashiers just do the cashiering and forget the selling .... she must have looked at me and decided I didn't have two halfpennies to rub together and left me alone thank goodness! 

Phew .... needed to get that off my chest .... thanks for listening xx

Sunday 18 September 2011

All the fun of the fair

Yesterday was the 6th Northampton Vintage and Handmade Fair arranged by Annie & Trevor of Vintage at the Corner House  .... it was a roaring success as always with hundreds of people flocking through the doors despite some heavy rain showers.  There were a couple of last minute stall cancellations and I do hope Amy of Blighty Boutique and Jo of Hesta & the Pugs are feeling better this morning ... you were missed ladies and of course Amy's lovely mum Annie the Felt Fairy.

All the stalls looked lush .... would you like to look at some of them?

Of course you would!

Sharon of Shabby Polkadots with some lovely china & glassware and her hand painted tea trolley


This was the stall opposite me with a clever way of displaying lovely handmade bags


 Then there was this Lalabibaby woman ;-)


who spied this platter in her most favourite blue & white transferware on Sharon's stall ..... Sharon was off taking some photos and having a natter before the fair opened so I shoplifted it when she wasn't looking

It's a real beauty and now I just have to find some shelf space for it!

I also purchased a gorgeous needle case made in vintage embroidered fabric from Suzanne of Hearts N Kisses  .......... Suzanne doesn't have a blog but this link is to her website and Etsy shop .... do take a look it is beautiful and I am kicking myself now for not taking a photo of her stand.

My last purchase was a vintage velour throw

No new Lilian Rowles or Bessie Pease Guttmann to add to my collection this week but I was lucky to find this luscious fabric on Ebay this week









I was telling Debbie of Vintage Wants Not Needs about this find as I'd purchased a Bessie Pease print from her at a previous fair.   I'll be thinking of you tomorrow Debs x

Finally these pretty postcards were found at Hitchin Flea Market this week ... I can see this becoming another addiction





Hope you have all had a lovely weekend xx