Posy

Thanks

I just want to say a heartfelt thank you for all the lovely words of support, here on the blog and those of you who emailed me. You are most kind and I appreciate everything that comes my way, I really do. I will be re-stocking with more lavender bags on Saturday (not tomorrow (Thursday) as previously stated) as things with me take a little longer than I imagine them to take. Umm I wonder why!

Now, I wanted to show you something that I got from my latest Ludlow trip.  On Friday I went to this charity shop on our way to Shrewsbury; it is situated in a very quiet road, in fact in a residential 'Coronation Street' looking street. I left Anth in the car with a cheery, "I wont be long" and walked into a gold mine. Well, my sort of gold mine with nothing costing more than a pound or 2. There were plates, tiny floral dishes (that I use for the cats - don't tell Alfie they're flowers) tea sets, sparkly clip-on earrings (that I use instead of paper clips) bevelled mirrors, an embroidered picture, an 'almost like new' tin commemorating the Coronation, embroideries, buttons. Oh, I was like a child in a sweet shop, not knowing which way to turn. As most things were up high I had to ask for things to be taken down. I ended up having 3 dear ladies running around after me as I walked around the shop saying, "Ooh, may I look at this?" and "I'll have that please."  One lady was searching for linen for me out in the back and kept bringing me things, another was wrapping things and when it came time to leave they all thanked me very much and told me to come again. I will.  I'm still smiling at the whole scenario, and everytime I look at my treasures. What do you think of my new sugar bowl? The tiny floral spoon was bought in August from Oxfam and it looks perfect.

I had this marvelous idea to photograph the small chest of drawers, used as a bedside table, at my father's house. You see it is where I put all my booty from my treasure hunts and as the days progress the pile gets bigger (hopefully) and I love to watch it grow. I thought I would photograph it each day so you could see it grow. Well yeah, it was half way home that I realised that I had forgotten..

Next time..

My project

Oh my, this has been a long time coming! All this time for a few lavender bags. Well now I can show you Amanda's stall. I've been waiting to do that. I love her stall almost as much as I love her. She has candy striped sheets, rose pattern china, cards made from vintage postcards, bunting, all things vintage...well everything that I love. She is also one of the nicest people I have ever met plus she agreed to sell my lavender bags. Oh yes, the lavender bags.

I have made small lavender bags from old embroideries. That's some of them in the pink wicker basket looking 'just right' on Amanda's stall. They have a sachet of French lavender inside and are secured with a button. Even the thread I used is vintage, taken from my stash. I have added another page on my side bar  ( ~ UPDATE:: I've sold out! Thank you. I will update again on Thursday with a few more) which details the ones I have for sale. I decided not to use Etsy at the moment, and to just use my blog. I have put 10 lavender bags in my 'shop' (that still makes me laugh) but do have many more to add, as and when.

Gosh, I'm nervous! We had a lovely time in Ludlow but I've had a tooth problem since we arrived back which has somewhat taken the shine out of my 'home alone' time. The children have gone back to school but I have another week...oh the ecstasy, well it would be without this temporary filling that wont even let me bite properly. Hey, just thought, this might make me eat less...mmm, there is always a silver lining isn't there!

Alfie ~ a year on

It's almost been a year that we travelled up to the Persian Rescue to rescue our boy. And what a year it's been for him. Being the longest he has ever stayed in one place; and I hope it has been his happiest yet. It certainly has been our happiest cat owning year as he and Miss Posy Darling make such a sweet pair.

Remember this photo? When I walked in from Sunday's Car Boot with the shallow, smaller tin bath (top photo) he jumped into it straight away. He loves them as much as I do and I have to admit, he looks particularly cute in them.

He is a little fatter, a bit bigger and still as playful. He's usually found on the table outside, watching. He watches for ages.

This is my last post until Sunday as the children are off to stay with Granny and Poppa, and Anth and I are off to Ludlow for his birthday, with Alfie and Posy. Be well, friends.

P.S My new banner picture is an old photo from our weekend on the canal. Ah..the memories.

£1 - yes £1

Go on, have a guess. What cost me £1?

Our new rug?

Or a bottle of Cath's very own bubble bath?

Mmm, now that's a quandary isn't it? Which one could it be? Well, would you believe both?

Yes, the rug was sourced at the Saturday car boot and the Cath Kidston Bubble Bath at the Sunday car boot. It was £1 a bottle!! OK, so it is damaged stock (a little leakage) but I went through them all to find the least damaged! Yeah, that's a little something that you don't know about me, and those that do will be groaning and reliving the mortification. In shops, if there is more than one item, I will study them all to find the best. My lovely friend Justine still reminds me of the afternoon in Habitat where I got out every single, identical, plastic laundry basket  to find the 'best unscratched one.' She says she'll never forget the embarrassment. Oh dear. This time with the Cath bubble bath I got them to open boxes until I found 3 that were presentable. Well, wouldn't you - my goodness you should have seen my eyes pop out when I saw them next to the butcher's van. At first I thought they were pirate copies - that someone had copied the labels - but no, the cap had Cath Kidston engraved around it, too hard to copy, so I slowly realised that they must have been damaged stock. Oh my friends, my first thought was for you all and how much some of you would have liked to be standing there with me, making a nuisance of yourself by asking ,very politely, if they would just open another of the Lemon & Geranium boxes. I would have loved to share my good fortune at finding genuine CK goodies for £1. Shame it was only bubble bath. I left with soapy hands and then tried to keep the bottles upright on the journey home in case they leaked some more. Not as easy as it seems.

What do you think of the rug? Our other one was black and I love it but it had been losing it's wool. I'm not sure about the cream - not practical but guess what, it doesn't show the cat hair!

I have decided to put my bits up for sale on Monday as we are going to Ludlow on Wednesday until Sunday. As I am doing an 'email me if you want one' sort of thing I thought it best to be at the other end of the email! So I'm sorry to drag this thing out and thank you for all your encouraging comments. Now where's that bubble bath..

Just things

This is a post about a few things but nothing in particular. Can you believe that there are still bees in the middle of October? Can you also believe that even my garden flowers have the odd, stray cat hair attached to them? Ahem, my housekeeping skills still have some way to go before I can truly call myself a Domestic Anything. Cat hair..we wont go there. I had to smile at Carol's insightful comment about the weekend chores, or rather my addiction to Car Boot sales and my lack of weekend chores. I do have a very good husband who feels a little guilty at the amount of time he watches the Rugby (well yes, I'm assuming it's guilt) so whizzes through the house between matches. I, on the other hand, am one of those people who am constantly tidying but never finishing. Oh, the knots I get tied up in..I start sorting something out and then get distracted by something else to sort out which also includes something else to sort out...aahhh! Ant will come along and "do a Chris".  This means in my language..to do a Chris Martin - he will fix me. And he usually does, in minutes. He has recently started saying when I came home from my latest finding mission, "Aah Jane, where are we going to put all this stuff?" in his sweet New Zealand/British drawl. He has a point, this house is full to overflowing. " I'll have one of my sort outs," I tell him as I hump 2 enamel buckets and a black rubbish sack into the house. Poor chap.

I'm almost ready to show you (hopefully this weekend I'll set up a shop of sorts) what I've been making for the last 2 months, though I must confess to feeling rather wobbly about selling them. I have never sold anything before and am wrestling with the whole 'are they good enough' thing. I have used vintage linens so they aren't 'perfect' and my machine is very basic; but I have love, love ,loved making them. So that is what I'll offer, something not perfect but made with thought, a lot of tea, and lots of joy..yeah made right here. 

Oh, no..now I'm fretting that I've made them sound more exciting than they really are...oh dear ..breathe..

Car Boot Madness

You know sometimes I just don't understand myself. I simply adore (rather too passionately now it seems) car boot sales but for years I never went to them. Ever. I just didn't see any and it never occurred to me to find any. Now this is a total enigma to me. Why did I never go? I just simply don't know but it still puzzles me. But lately things have changed. I rise early on Saturday morning (some feat in itself) and go to one, try to go to another on Saturday afternoon but this has eluded me so far. Sunday morning has me out of the house at before 8 am and then there is one later in the afternoon. To say I love it is an understatement, I simply live for the weekends when I can go to them. I find the whole experience fascinating. I love the banter, I love to see what people sell, what's the most common items sold, how they display it, what the cost is, how they relate to the buyers. It makes me somewhat sad too to see people selling off their elderly relative's belongings but it's those belongings that I love the most. Especially their button tin, sewing bits, embroideries and flowery things. I have found some fantastic items and all for very little money. What do you think of my...umm not sure of it's official name...linen basket?

It has a wonderful vintage padded lid. All for less than £2. Everyone here thinks it's vile but I keep trying to point out that is very Flea Market Style  which is what I'm trying to teach the girls to appreciate. Yeah, not really working that one and Tom is certainly a lost cause when it comes to my 'style' of anything..!

The car boot routine is as such;

• Feel the excitement mounting all week but equally start fretting about bad weather at the weekend canceling them.
• On Friday scour local paper to see if there could be any I've missed.
• Gaze at the sky at regular intervals on Friday night and repeatedly ask Anty if he thinks it will be dry weather.
• Watch weather forecasts on every channel and say a quick weather prayer last thing.
• Rise before anyone else, open bedroom window and thrust arm out into early morning gloom. Check for any dampness. If not wet grab a quick cup of tea, in a vintage mug and run for the door.
• Car playing up badly, this means lots of smoke and kangarooing for the first 2 minutes so need to go around the block twice in case it decides to break down. After doing this it rights itself. (Car now in garage, bill at over £200 and still don't know if they will fix the problem..)
• Arrive at car boot field. Heart beating rather fast. Decide my route. I'm off. Walk down the middle with my head going from side to side scanning the goods. If it looks promising I ask if they have items I'm looking for. Get into some lovely conversations. Practise a little bartering (though I'm not too good on that but trying to be more bold.)
• Begin to get laden down. Wish for the umpteenth time that I had a uncool shopping trolley. Do 2 laps of all the stalls. Feel that sad 'it's all over feeling' as I decide to go home.
• Excitedly return home with my wares. Make a cup of tea in different vintage mug (hopefully in one I have just found) and then slowly unpack all my treasures saying to anyone who will listen, "Guess how much this cost? Go on, guess! 20p/50p all this for £1" etc. Would you like to come with me next time? Go on, it's great. You wont? Why not, you'll find some good things?"
• Told to be quiet as the Rugby is on....so carry on unpacking silently. 

• Add my newly found books to my pile on my bedside table.

• Wash and place the most fantastic crochet blanket on Tom's bed.
• Find the above blanket thrown back on our bedroom floor. Decide that Tom doesn't really care if it is 'flea market cool', but I still put it back on his bed. Find it thrown back on our floor again and thus the poor blanket is still to-ing and fro-ing to this day. But I wont give up and I secretly think it's quite funny - the cruel, teasing mother I am!

So, on Sunday the disappointment of having to wait a whole week for the next one, looms large. I wonder if the weather be OK next weekend?

And so it goes on...

Bag Lady

If you have paid us a visit lately, chances are you may have gone home sporting a magnificent black eye because, from every door handle throughout the house hangs numerous floral bags. Too many bags I'm told, but then I tell them that a girl can't have too many floral bags. It does pose a problem opening and closing doors though, as when opening the door in a hurry they tend to bounce the door back into your face. Hence the black eye or sore nose.

This is my latest one bought from and made by Niki of Nostalgia at the Stonehouse. Her needlework skills are amazing (do visit her shop and drool) and what's more the bag came with the prettiest china rose and forget-me-not brooch. So the collection of bags keeps growing and the family thinks that soon we wont be able to walk freely around the house!

But I love my bags. I love deciding which one to use and I love being the only person at school (and Torbay) who would be seen with a bag made from an old pair of curtains. Oh yes, I am the least trendy in the bag stakes and I certainly will never be the most stylish of woman when I carry my crochet around in an

...old tin!

The First

I've been waiting and waiting and I knew it would be today. Well, I hoped it would, as the publishers said it would be today (should I actually confess to ringing the magazine a month ago?)  And it was today..the first of the Christmas magazines.

I made my nest. Infact it was a good day for magazines as we had some mail. We have had a postal strike and I hadn't expected anything but there on the door mat lay my first copy of Romantic Homes (I have subscribed) and my Easy Living. The blanket was one of 2 that I found in a charity shop on Saturday and cost only £3.50.

I never know how I should feel when I pick up handmade blankets and embroideries for only a few pounds or sometimes just a few pence. It doesn't feel right to have them change hands for so little when the time, effort and materials would have 'cost' much more. It makes me sad to see handmade things given so little value. But then I love a bargain and don't have too much spare cash so appreciate the low cost. My guilt is somewhat appeased by the fact that each item has a loving place in our home where it begins a new life. It makes me smile to think most of the paraphernalia in our home has been owned before. We have small histories of many different people. I like that and often wonder about them.

And I also like Christmas magazines...let the magazine season commence!

Vintage mugs

I have recently found the odd vintage mug in my hunting and gathering days. I have always loved flowery mugs and have a huge collection, but I'm loving these 4 odd, vintage beauties.

I particularly love the ones on the front row, far left and far right; and if you happened to be hovering outside our home you will this cry resonating from within it's white walls many times a day,

"Can someone make me a cup of tea, please! I'll have it in my vintage Pa mug (my father has one similar, hence Pa)"

Or it could be vintage violets, vintage fat one (oh, that could be me!) or vintage with gold. (I've told you before that I have odd names for things!) Or sometimes I ask them to surprise me.

I then wait to see if my request has been carried out and what mug they have chosen. Oh yes, there are some wonderful advantages to having 'old-enough-to- make-tea' children, let me tell you.

So friends, I wish you could choose your favourite mug from my collection and join me in a spot of tea. I'll even light the fire..now that would be nice.

Button Love

Let me tell you, friends, I've been a lucky girl. A very lucky girl. Just look at these mother-of-pearl buttons, all found as I scrabbled around in various button tins, in various charity shops, in various towns. Yeah, quite a lot of towns and even more charity shops. Bliss.

My method is the same wherever I go. My eyes quickly scan the shop for pillowcases, embroideries, fabrics, china, glasses, tins, magazines, books, and brooches. I can do this in seconds. I then ask the shop volunteers if they have any buttons, threads and sewing paraphernalia. This then leads into a, "Ooh, I'm not sure, I'll go and have a look." Or, more often, "Oh, we did have but someone bought it all the other day."  Mmm..I smile sweetly, thank them,then try and hide my disappointment and kick myself for not coming sooner.

But over the last month I have had some amazing finds. Armed with the shop's button tin, I go and sit in a quiet corner and start to rummage. Oh, the pleasure when my beady eye spies some pearly beauties, usually forgotten at the bottom of the tin. I have found square, oval, even triangular ones. Some so tiny they have nearly been missed. But no, I have scooped them all up and then take them to the counter.

"How much are these buttons?" I ask.

"Ooh, I don't know...30p?"

Yes, I know, I know..30p! Though, I must admit that I have paid more in different places, but not that much more. I have even bought the whole tin before, though I tried not to think of the poor person, like me, who will come into the shop in the future and be told that someone bought them all the other day.. yes, I do feel bad and I know your pain!

It hasn't just been mother-of-pearl buttons that have gladdened my heart. I bought these vintage diamante numbers on Thursday. Unfortunately, they weren't 30p - far from it - but I thought they would add a little something to the bits I am sewing. Talking about my sewing, I will be selling my latest 'bits' on this blog in the next few weeks. I have decided that it will be easier to do this rather than open an Etsy shop. So, watch this space (but don't get too excited!)

And my £1 glass jar; I found this at 7.45am on Sunday morning in the middle of a damp, misty field.. ah, yes a British car boot...the only thing that will rouse me from my bed before 9am at the weekend. That and the thought of discovering some long forgotten pearl buttons!