More Photos of Shepton ...

These are the two that I couldn't add to the other post:

Shepton Mallet 3-day Antiques Fair

Well, what a day! I was so lucky to have unloaded the eiderdowns and quilts and got them under cover before the Heavens opened. There was THE most torrential downpour and unfortunately quite a few dealers were caught in it, and got absolutely drenched.

I heard on the grapevine that one of the buildings had a torrent of water running through it so I'm not sure how the poor people in there coped. It lasted for a couple of hours and then this afternoon we had beautiful sunshine, blue skies and plenty of happy smiling faces. I went to see Niki and whilst the water had drained away when I got there, she had had a lake in front of her pitch!

Up in the eaves of the building where I stand is a window and suddenly there was a blinding light - I thought someone had switched on a huge arc light - and I realised the sun was shining through, right down onto my gleaming copper moulds and pans. Hopefully you can see in the photo.

I've taken a few photos of my stand - some of it looks a bit jumbled, but I was still in the process of setting up when I took them. I hope you like what you see! A couple of eiderdowns have sold today, along with some 19th century tapestry pieces, jelly moulds and the two Ruskin buttons I mentioned in my previous post!


What do you think of the blue vintage state of the art bucket? The original label states that it is an "Email" Toilet, Première!!

I uploaded 2 more photos but they seem to have vanished. Whether they'll appear when I publish the post remains to be seen - one is of a set of drawers full of lace, buttons etc and the other is the eiderdowns, quilts etc.

It's an early start tomorrow - I think the gates open to the public at 8.00 am. I know I need to be there at 7.30 ...

Goldfinches Galore

What's the highest number of goldfinches you've seen at any one time? Two homes ago a pair nested nearby and brought their young into our garden to feed. I think the total was 5 including the parents.

I grew some teazels especially for them, having read that they were attracted to the seedheads. Whilst we had none in our last garden, a number flocked to the teazels in the field immediately behind us and we saw probably 5 or 6 at any one time, often 3 to a teazel.

Within a couple of days of moving to our new home I noticed a couple of goldfinches on the telegraph wires crossing our garden and our neighbour's. As the weeks have progressed the numbers have increased. They are a delight to watch as they fly jerkily from tree to tree, or wire to wire. They've hopped along the well-manicured boundary hedge, and up and down the drive, but today I realised that our telegraph wires must be where all Somerton's goldfinches flock to. I counted TWENTY-TWO - and one pigeon (who has his own spot right by the post, and woe betide any other bird who tries to pinch pole position). I've taken a photo but you will just have to take my word for it that the blobs are goldfinches and that there were actually 22 just before I raised my camera! Don't try to find the pigeon. He reappeared just after I took the piccie.

A few more ...

These are the eiderdowns currently on display in my unit at the Antiques Centre - there are a few more piled up on the spare bed at home. I'm busy packing everything for Shepton, so a number of them will be piled into the car tomorrow, along with the jelly moulds, French and Irish linen sheets, tablecloths, huckaback towels, vintage French and English fabric pieces, some handstitched quilts (French and Welsh), buttons (including 2 Ruskin and 2 attributed to Ruskin), ribbon, crochet edgings, braid and anything else I can get in.

Oh what fun! One day I really will get a quart into a pint pot!!

Just a brief update on the coal-hole-soon-to-be-a-loo. Not a pretty sight, but here's a 'before' although we had cleared the coal, hoovered up the coal dust and painted the block wall with oil-based paint to stop any coal dust seeping through before I took the photo.

The walls will need several more coats yet, but the plumber has been busy today and has drilled holes through walls for waste pipes, soil pipes, water pipes and endless other pipes, and so progress has been made. The new loo and basin are sitting in the utility room beside the double Belfast sink (hidden in a box so I haven't seen it yet!), and with luck they could be in their rightful places by the end of the week. Perhaps I'll come home from Shepton on Friday evening to find everything in working order. But there again ... maybe that's just a tad optimistic!

What a lovely pair ...

... of eiderdowns! This is a pair of singles which I left a bid on at a chattels auction last week. I was told about them by a friend but didn't get a chance to view. I was guided by the auctioneer, who knows what I like to buy, but when I collected them today I found several small holes or tears on the plain reverse side of each. Consequently they will need repairing, and definitely need washing, before I can offer them for sale, so sadly I won't be taking them to Shepton this weekend. It just goes to show that you should be really sure before you bid. These were a gamble, and not one of my best buys I'm afraid, pretty thought they are.

No photo to show you, but I bought another good jelly mould today. This is a small one (about 4" long and 2½-3" deep) depicting a cob of sweetcorn. It's a 19th century one and looks to be in near perfect condition. After missing out on the copper ones at the weekend I'm happy that I've now acquired one or two more unusual ones.

More Sketches

I promised a few more photos from the sketch book I bought yesterday - and here they are! Enjoy ...

Car Boots and Auctions

The car boot last Sunday was sooo warm and my pitch was facing the sun. It was a rather smart venue, as you will be able to tell from photos posted by both Niki (Nostalgia at the Stone House) and Kelly (Vintage Lifestyle). It was great to meet Kelly (I already know Niki) and I look forward to seeing them both at Shepton next weekend.

I managed to get a quick look at the other booters' wares and found this lovely hen and chicks jelly mould. It wasn't easy to get the light right, so you may not be able to see the pattern too clearly. Those of you who visit Shepton will know that I always have plenty of moulds on display, and I'm hoping someone will come along and fall in love with this one! I also bought some super fine linen sheets - one has a laundry mark for 1833 and is perfect!

Today I attended an auction hoping to buy a superb Lot of a dozen or more copper moulds. I'm afraid the price went too high for my pocket this week (but well worth the final price), and I also lost out on some wonderful Victorian wooden grain measures.

However, not one to go home empty handed I bid on three textile Lots and won two. There are a couple of linen pillowcases, a couple of early tablecloths, huckaback handtowels, a Victorian paisley shawl (some damage but still worth having), numerous 'interesting' textile pieces, and among other things an early 20th Century unbacked patchwork piece. I haven't measured it yet, but at a guess it's probably about 4ft x 5ft. The pieces of paper are still tacked in and they look to be from books, official letters and handwritten notes. One Lot came in an old suitcase which had seen better days, but the other Lot was contained in a small tin trunk. These goodies will be going to Shepton, along with the book on Patchwork that I found in the bottom of the trunk.

I also did a deal afterwards on an Autographs and Sketches book which didn't sell. I've taken photos of the watercolours and drawings and thought you might like to see a few. Unfortunately it would seem I'm only going to get to upload one photo for the time being! Anyway, all the paintings and drawings are signed, and are dated between 1902 and 1910. Can you imagine anyone producing such lovely work in a friend's album in 2002 or 2010? I'll try and post more pictures later.

I'll also endeavour to take a photo of the patchwork, but I think most of this evening is going to be taken up ironing last week's linen sheet collection which I've just brought in off the clothes line, and sorting today's pieces to see which need laundering and whether they can go in the washing machine or whether they would be better in the pot which is almost permanently bubbling away on top of the hob!

As if all that wasn't enough, tomorrow I have to go and collect the remainder of the kitchenalia bulk purchase from a couple of weeks ago. Never a dull moment!!

Oh, and just to update you on our new home ... we've had a builder in churning up the floor and the drive to put in the pipework for our new downstairs loo and utility room. Plenty of concrete dust everywhere but the end result will be worth it. The order is in for a double Belfast sink for the utility, which will make life so much easier. Our kitchen has looked like a Chinese laundry ever since we moved, and I can't wait to be able to hide it all away. Buying and selling antique linen is great, but can be quite time-consuming - it usually needs washing (at least once), and has a tendency to take over the whole house if you're not careful!

Yarlington 10.30 am to 2.30 pm

I'm sorry I didn't give you the times when I posted the information about tomorrow's car boot. Entry (£2 - remember it's for the Blind Association) is from 10.30 am until 2.30 pm.

If you decide to come then please say hello. I shall have a mixture of kitchenalia, fabrics, eiderdowns and a small amount of linen. There will be some flyers for the Antiques Centres so they should identify me if everything is sold!!

Yarlington House Car Boot Sale - Sunday 10 September

On Sunday I'm taking a pitch at the Yarlington House Charity Car Boot Sale organised by the Somerset Association for the Blind. All pitches have been pre-booked by invitation and I'm led to believe that there are likely to be some exciting items for sale from some quite important attics and cellars. So, if you have nothing else planned for Sunday ...

Hope to see you there!

Kitchenalia Corner

This is another corner of my room at Somerton. I collected another carload of kitchenalia yesterday, and have spent the day washing, logging and pricing it ready for an army of customers to march into the Centres to buy! I took a couple of photos, but had already unloaded the top layer. The bread bins are full of smaller items


And here is a selection of jelly moulds for those of you who aren't enamel fans!
Thank you to those who have posted comments so far. I've now managed to add Links - despite having typed and word-processed for more years than I care to admit I realise that I am no longer in control of the machine in front of me. It has a life of its own and the instructions might just as well be in a foreign language. But heyho, I have linked to both Niki's and Clare's blogs (I think!) - both of which I'm sure you already visit.

My first attempt ...

Well, I've managed to set up a Blog and have uploaded a photo of some recently acquired kitchenalia.

I think it's going to take me a while to get used to blogging, but bear with me and pop back again. It can only get better!

Wish me luck!