I'm just wild about Harry.....

Ahhhh ..... I fall in love again every time ..... with the sad news in the press today about innocent young children's lives being snuffed out I really cannot understand how people can be so cruel even in the most dire circumstances :-(

Our new little man is thriving and if he can sleep through the din in our house he can sleep through anything.  Nanny will be babysitting him and his sister next Sunday whilst the rest of the family head for Wembley.

Quelle surprise this morning to awake to blue skies and dryness so there was only one thing to be done ..... head for the hills and the car boots of course!

We weren't particularly early (I had two of the other grands in tow) but we all enjoyed the wander around and the littlies were on their best behaviour.  A few bargains were bagged and Jack was happy when he found yet another fire engine to add to his collection and Ellie found some gardening gloves for when she is in the garden with her grandad.

Nanny found a pretty Beswick toast rack and a pair of carved wooden Scottie Dog bookends

Now I can't wait till tomorrow morning to go off bargain hunting again this time just with Ellie who is becoming a seasoned professional and can spot a bargain quicker than me sometimes.  We had just said this morning that a basketball hoop would be nice to put up in the garden and lo and behold she found one and it was just a pound .... just have to get someone to fix it on the wall now.

I did manage to get to our bigger CS last weekend and ended up blitzing their bric-a-brac shelf ..... I was in vintage heaven

Yesterday afternoon was spent doing a few hours on the desk at Country Matters in Hexton ..... it's lovely to sit in the middle of a wonderful Aladdin's Cave of goodies with a cafetier of fresh coffee and chat to the visitors ..... even better when I am selling them some of my handmades!

I found a couple of bargains there too for myself

This lovely old wooden box is going to be used for display at the vintage fairs ..... haven't quite decided what for yet :-)

This afternoon I have been finishing some cushion covers ...... I saw the cuckoo clock design in Mollie Makes magazine and decided to design my own grandfather clock and mantle clock to compliment it.  Some old Aida and linen was dug out of the stash and teamed with some blue ticking fabric.

This week we have also welcome some more new additions to the family .... as if we didn't have enough mouths to feed my OH has acquired six Chinese Quail .... yet more eggs!

 

Well best be off to bed now if I am to be up bright eyed and bushy tailed tomorrow!

Have a good weekend whatever you are doing x

A wet welcome .......

If anybody mentions a hosepipe ban or drought I am liable to slap them ;-)

We now have an unplanned water feature in the centre of the garden ..... we are on clay soil so it will take ages for it to soak away properly.  It was such a shame because the children had just started playing down on the grass now we'll have to wait until it dries out.

Wednesday was wet welcome day to my 5th grandchild ..... Harry Lewis arrived at 11.50 am weighing a healthy 8lb 4oz and he is a little beauty even if I do say so myself !

with his proud cousin who has been a very clever girl today in her first streetdance competition ..... she came 3rd out of 100 children in her age group .... well done Ellie xx

This afternoon they have visited so that he could meet his great nanny and he was wide awake

All this wetness has put paid to car booting ..... if I don't get out next weekend there are going to be some serious withdrawal symptoms round here

Time has been spent sorting out the fabric stash and yesterday I sat cutting up scraps into hexagons for future quilt projects and I've been on a red, white and blue theme with the Jubilee in mind ..... I do have a correction to make here as my menobrain made me think that the Jubilee Garden Party on 26th May isn't in Kettering but is in Northampton on the Kettering Road ..... must get to Specsavers !!   Apologies if I confused anyone .... I seem to have confused myself.

Country Matters at Hexton have a Jubilee themed table display at the moment .... the colours are very eye catching as you walk in the door.

Now I am looking forward to a relaxing Sunday evening in front of the box with a nice glass of red.

Hope you've all had a good weekend x

That car booty feeling is coming on .....

I am lucky in that there is a car boot sale near to me every Sunday morning apart from Christmas Day .... it is under cover in a market so come rain or shine there is always someone there though have to say some days in the winter there are some desperate souls trying to flog even more desperate goods.

Easter weekend can't come soon enough for me, I am ashamed to say not for religious reasons, for my three favourite boots start so let the serious bargain hunting begin!

Ellie and I did pop down to another small one this morning at the Watermill in Barton and we both managed to grab a few goodies.  Ellie spotted a box of Baby Born clothes (I'd missed them so I am quite proud that she is learning fast and she is grasping that she can make her money go much further by spending wisely) and a recorder book.  She has been learning to play at school and on Friday the two classes in her year performed a short concert .... I must admit I was expecting a bit of a racket but they were absolutely marvellous.  They had obviously been practising very hard and hit every note in the right place and all looked very smart and focused.

My goodies were

These little cuties were tucked in the box in the photo below and I didn't realise what they were at first ..... the seller thought they were from the 1930s but although they are dressed in the crinoline lady style I am not convinced that the yarn is that old.  I am thinking more 1950s.  The little dolls all have moving eyes.

From the same seller was this hand made milk jug cover

Fine hand crochet table mat with little cotton circle inserts that have been embroidered

This little crochet dressing table mat has pale pink flowers around the edge

and these two gorgeous little baskets are crocheted in the finest cotton ..... with a little sugar starching they will sit as freestanding decorations

A vintage 1976 Blow Football game ..... only one ball is missing

and some of my favourite Art Deco glass from the 1930s ..... a carnival glass salad bowl

A Sowerby frosted green glass dish in ivy leaf stand

This time next week I will be another year older !    It will be a busy weekend as my daughter is taking me to Hampton Court Palace for the day on Saturday and on Sunday it is the first Buckingham Vintage & Handmade Fair organised by Ann & Trevor. 

Do come along if you are in the area ..... there will be a wonderful array of vintage loveliness on offer from some extremely friendly sellers and of course the event wouldn't be complete without tea and homemade cakes.

I am busy making and popped to the Cath Kidston factory shop at St Neots yesterday for some fabric retail therapy .... much bargains there too as the two floral prints were only £6 per metre

One more week of school and then I have a break until the 10th April ..... much needed I must say.

Don't forget to change your clocks tonight ..... Spring is most definitely here xx

Wow what a weekend!

My first born now lives in Bonny Scotland and as it was his 30th birthday yesterday he came down on Friday for a long weekend to celebrate with his partner and this time her two sons accompanied them.

As there is simply no room at Lala's Inn these days an old friend of his put them up for the weekend and on Saturday we had a big family outing to London.  Neither the boys or their mum had ever been to London before so we set off with the intention of seeing as much as we could.  The weather was miserable as we got on the train ..... grey, misty and drizzling with rain but by the time we got off the tube at Knightsbridge there was blue sky and sunshine above us.

First stop was the Science Museum

There was something for everyone to appreciate here .... my son has always been mad about aircraft and it looks like some of has rubbed off on the next generation ..... Jack loved the mini simulator and the grown ups and older children loved the real thing.

There was even something for Lala

When we left the museum we had a long walk through Hyde Park and Green Park towards Buckingham Palace

and from there to Trafalgar Square

We had dinner in Leicester Square then managed to squeeze in Hamleys and Covent Garden before we headed for home.

What a contrast yesterday was .... we woke to torrential rain and then as the morning went on it turned to huge snowflakes which thankfully didn't settle.  In the afternoon we had a family gathering for the birthday boy and there was only one cake for a aircraft fanatic ....