What a lovely day for taking the sun

I had a day out yesterday and passed these dynamic sculptures on the road to Honiton.

I went to Ilminster to the textile fair which was lovely, if a little squished!

In Honiton I bought a couple of embroidered cushions that will be making an appearance in the pop-up vintage store later in the summer.

Back to todays blog, with the sun shining we ventured a look into the allotment, Minnie decided that it was the place to settle and take the sun and watch the fishermen across the millpond. As I am writing this R2 is playing Chris Rea "on the beach", if only!

As you sharp eyed bloggers will notice, I still haven't lifted a finger on the patch but how beautiful it looks at the moment.



The path to my Mum's house is constantly changing, here is todays view.

I hope that you have a sunny day

T

Last Saturday I did my first Vintage Fair in Northampton, thanks to Deb & Ann who had worked hard organinsing it and who had given me a lovely spot. Not knowing exactly how big our spot would be, we took plenty of stock and managed to get it nearly all displayed, sometimes more is more! I have a few pictures of my stall and one of Wends, Ticking stripes, but the rest have disappeared !!!! oops sorry!

Hello to the bloggers that I met, and my new followers.

Lovely Liberty fabric coathangers from Ticking Stripes

Michael is badgering me to do the next Shepton drive in, the day before Malvern, so I think we will be having a busy Bank Holiday weekend.

paws for thought !

Today I am waiting for the van to come home so that I can load it up for the journey to Northampton tomorrow, it has just started to rain - Brill!

I thought that I would show you what Flo and I did yesterday afternoon.

We went into the allotment to see how bad a state it is in, it didn't look too bad apart from my raised beds being covered in grass, aaagggh! However it does need a lot of work and I need to start planting I am very behind!

Supervisor Flo reminded me that I had bought some birch trees for my Mum's mini arboretum and that they really needed to be planted asap 

  So off we went to the arboretum, this angle doesn't show the trees that are already in, where the wheelbarrow is where I was planting, the only problem is that we have about 6 inches of topsoil and 2 feet of compacted hardcore, many years ago this area used to be my Grans veg garden and small orchard but my Grandad's business took over and so it was flattened for vehicles. Anyway Mum has let it go wild and it is a meadow in summer, we have built a log wall around for wildlife and we are putting in trees.

It took me about 2 hours to dig deep enough to be able to plant 3 trees, I have 2 more to do next week.

 In between the crevices in the wood wall Mum has put in bits and bobs, when the gaffer saw the teapot she decided that it was time for a break.

 So we all toddled off to see if the kettle was on????

Mmm I think I may have had a biscuit with mine!

Have a lovely weekend, I hope that you dodge the rain!

T

and now for something rather frivolous

When I stand at fairs, I jump in & out of the van lugging furniture & big bags of textiles and dress for warmth & comfort, jeans, boots, fleece, coat, scarf, hat.

I have met Lizziehttp://www.thewasherwoman.blogspot.com/ a few times and she is always wearing a lovely vintage dress, as she was last Sunday when I was moaning to her that I can't find vintage clothes to fit me, then along came Katie http://www.textiletreasureseeker.blogspot.com/, who was wearing a lovely skirt and she looked very pretty. As Lizzie said about me " you're not big, just a difficult shape", I totally agree, I am only 5'3, slim on the bottom half, small waist & pot belly, larger on top! So my staple look is jeans, top with a v and buttoned close fitting cardi. This is okay usually but after last Sunday at the Blind Lemon Fair in Cheltenham, I think for this Saturday at the Northampton vintage & homemade fair http://vintageatthecornerhouse.blogspot.com I need to make a better effort.

From my vast eclectic wardrobe I have sorted two different looks, so what do you think?

Dolly is modelling an animal print dress and cardi, the necklace is from some old pearls of my Gran's with a brooch that I picked up at the cb.and this would be worn with tights and boots, although not my favourite boots as they are really clumpy riding boots.

My pink clogs are comfy but at the moment can only wear with jeans as its too cold for bare legs

I was thinking of this red cardi with a tee and jeans

and animal print flats sort of Chanel/nautical

If the weather was sunny and/or as the fair is an Easter fair, how about colour in this 50's style skirt, it will have to be boots or green Mary Janes, but I don't think that I can stand in the heels all day!

What a dilemma!

guess what ??

I was looking through my pictures wondering what to blog today & came across these.

When I first had my digital camera I used to mess about with it a lot, I know that proper photographers mainly prefer film etc but the lack of expense for an amateur is great.

So I thought that you may like these, taken with different exposures/speeds can you guess what the subject is and if you can guess where - you get DOUBLE points!!!!!

Have a good evening

T

Spring has sprung.....

 I took these photos in my Mum's garden this morning, how beautiful are the colours?

These plants reside in the borders that run up the path to the front door, later on they fill up with tulips & daffs and in the sunner are full of cottage garden flowers & lavender, I like to picture these borders as they change so often.

I started this mammoth task last year, Mum had wanted to liven up her rectangular side lawn, so we decided that we would turn it into a white shrub garden, and to break it up decided on a winding path made from recycled bricks. I started digging and building, the slope on the lawn from left to right does not look great but believe me when it came to packing & laying......I worked without a level and laid everything by eye, not professional but it worked. I can not take all of the credit as Michael also worked very hard on it in the evenings, especially after I insisted that when Mum went away for a few days I wanted it finished as a surprise. We worked during the very hot period last year and I got a lovely tan! The path has settled well and I hope to take it through the other side later on in the year.

We are hoping to have the first lawn mowing session tomorrow?!

Have a lovely evening

T

An exciting announcement

We have finally taken the plunge and after much discussion have fixed the date for our first Vintage Fair.
We are decidedly lacking in such an event nearby, in the middle of the North Cotswolds and have secured a lovely village hall in between, Cheltenham, Stow, Tewkesbury, Stratford Upon Avon.
Local villages and attractions are in abundance.
We are very excited and hope that lots of people will join in and enable us to spread the Vintage fair vibe in our area.

The date that we have is Saturday 28th August
So please get in touch for more information and to book a space,mailto:traceyjoy.66@hotmail.com
Jane & I would be very grateful to any of you Vintage ladies that would put a link from your blog to this announcement.
Thank you and have a lovely day
T

Sweet sixteen ?!

Last night arrived and we had our dinner party, a 16th for Tom & ?? for my Mum, whose birthday is on Saturday & we are hopefully going to the Ashmolean with her History of Art group, so it was the nearest evening for both of them to be together.

Having to cater for different tastes can prove tricky in our household but I think I balanced the menu pretty well.

A mezze style platter

spinach & ricotta pastries, houmous, sour cream & chive dips, continentals meats

lemon sorbet

cornfed chicken breast wrapped in pancetta, stuffed with bacon & herbs in a tarragon cream sauce, fondant potatoes & steamed vegetables

lemon sorbet (Tom liked it so much he had double)

dessert plate

raspberry & vanilla baked ricotta cheesecake, mini French meringues, raspberry mousse,

toffee ice cream, raspberries

Tom being a typical lad didn't mention the table, food, presentation etc, but Mum and Michael thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

This possibly maybe the last birthday meal that we have altogether as Tom is off for his interview for Sparsholt College next Wednesday, and I assume that once he is there we won't see him for dust!!!!

I had hoped that he would want to do something with his diving as he gained his qualifications at a young age and has done many dives not usually managed by his age group. I would have liked him to travel the World but he has decided upon Gamekeeping & Land management, who knows what or where he will end up?!

My personal present to him was a Union flag that I bought from Sue http://www.dairyhouseantiques.co.uk/, that I have had framed. Unusual?! I think that he can take it where he goes and it is a symbol of being proud to be who he is. I am sure that if he doesn't appreciate it now, he will in years to come.

That was yesterday, this morning I find that my teenangel has run our phone bill upto £220!

I have been busy today trying to source a picture to advertise our new vintage fair - it's really hard to find something to encompass allsorts! oh well back to it I suppose.

Hello to my new followers and thanks for your comments............

T