Vintage to Victorian

2012 - May it be a good year ...

2012-01-09T12:09:00.001Z

So, here we are! 2012 ... about time too, as I'd had enough of 2011 ...

Thank you all so much for your continued good wishes and maybe I'll manage to post more from now on. I have every intention of making 2012 a good year, and so far so good!

Paul has made such good progress and has put on all the weight he lost, thanks to his nightly 2.5 litres of nutrition circulating through his bloodstream via a Hickman line. What seemed such a daunting prospect back in August has turned into the norm, although I know he would love to be able to have a night off from being hooked up! Mind you, it could be a case of 'Be Careful What You Wish For' as that was the case at the beginning of December when a high temperature meant 5 days in Yeovil Hospital with no TPN while the line was tested for infection. Thankfully it turned out to be a dose of flu, but this will be the case every time his temperature goes above 38 degrees. However, we like to think we've moved on from that and he is looking better than he has looked for a very long time. His next follow-up at St Mark's Hospital is on 26 January. It'll be interesting to see what they have to say.

Dairy House Antiques continues to thrive, and Woo is now a firm fixture, keeping everyone on their toes and doing a brilliant job keeping me under control. My stress levels are improving by the day, and all seems set fair for the sort of year I'd like it to be ... not that there's any complacency. As December showed, anything can happen and plans may need to change without warning. But we can cope with that. It's become a way of life.I am, however, now able to spend more time at Dairy House. At the moment most days are covered, so I'm able to come and go without being tied to the desk. I was there on 4 separate occasions last week, which was something I questioned whether I'd ever be able to do again.

Despite all the despondency, doom and gloom, we had our best year yet, and 2011 brought us lots more new regular customers. Hopefully that trend will continue this year! On 20 November, at the end of National Antiques Week, we held a 'Christmas Market' at Dairy House, which turned out to be very successful for everyone involved. We held a raffle and offered mulled wine and mince pies to our visitors, and I'm delighted to say that we raised £255 for St Mark's Hospital Foundation.

Christmas came and went uneventfully, thank goodness. We spent Christmas Eve with Hannah, Rob and Florence the Granddaughter. There was plenty of laughter and present opening, although Paul's afternoon snooze meant he missed out on the hilarity of Flo's antics. She is almost 20 months old now and is a comedian just like her mother. I'm such a proud Gran (what Grandmother isn't!!!!).

Last year I bought a French dolls bed, armoire and dressing table from Linda Clift at the Honiton Textile Fair. As Han and Rob had bought Florence a doll it seemed the ideal time to make the bedding and give it to her for Christmas. I was thrilled to find a Scheurer fabric in my stash which matched the colours of the 'bedroom suite' perfectly, and this became an eiderdown of sorts. I made a mattress and covered it with the tiny check cotton gingham that had been used as long runners on the tables at Han and Rob's wedding. A pillow and Irish linen pillowcase, a French linen sheet and a Welsh blanket completed the ensemble, On the back of the armoire is the name of the recipient and the date when I imagine a proud father or grandfather made it: Noel 1944. As Paul pointed out, it was made the year he was born!!

Mum and Gillie came to us on Christmas Day and that was the end of our festivities. I'm afraid I ignored anything decorative this year other than putting up our cards. Can you imagine - no tree! That was quite horrid, but just one thing too many to cope with. We spent the next week or so doing next to nothing, generally restoring the batteries and looking forward to a better year.

In a couple of weeks' time it'll be Mum's 91st birthday, followed at the end of March by our 35th Wedding Anniversary - where did that time go, then? Our grand plan, subject to change of course, is to have the window in our sitting room, which is quite wide, replaced with a single door and opening windows. It looks out onto the back garden and would make the room so much nicer. We're so lucky in so many ways. We don't really 'need' anything, and don't do much in the way of holidays as you know. Organising any while Paul's on TPN, whilst not an insurmountable problem, isn't anything we're particularly desperate to do, so the door to the garden seems like a good idea, and is something I've wanted to do ever since we moved here.

Next on the calendar willl be the Dairy House Annual Textile and Costume Day on Sunday 15 April, and with that in mind I'm hoping, with Woo's help, to have a grand sort out of my shed/studio. I have had so little time over the last 9 months to concentrate on all things textiley, so am looking forward to the rummage and finding out exactly what stock is there, forgotten and forlorn!!

Our other Dairy House plan is to hold an 'Outdoor Living ... Indoor Life' event at the beginning of July to kick off the summer season before the schools break up. We hope that these 2 newest events will become regulars on the Dairy House calendar in the same way that the Vintage Textiles & Costume Day has established itself.

Finally, my other grand plan (with moveable goalposts) for 2012 is to get back to sewing and being creative. When I look back at some of the creative projects I've worked on over the last (ssshhhh!!!!) 45+ years, I realise that the last 10 have been virtually 'make'-free, and that's something that needs to be rectified. I had such fun making the bedding for Florence's doll's bed and realise how much I've missed sewing, in particular. Far too silly when I look at the piles of vintage fabric and haberdashery I am storing and/or selling.

Onward and upward, yet again ...

I hope to be back here soon, maybe with some show-and-tell ... who knows!

Meanwhile a very Happy and Prosperous 2012 to you All.

Sue x

Countdown ... He's Coming Home ...

2011-08-25T19:03:00.000+01:00

Thank you all for the wonderful messages and emails, texts, Tweets, FB comments, blog comments, phone calls, face-to-face contact and general loveliness over the last 19 weeks. You'll never know just how much you've all kept me going whilst Pauley's been in hospital.

And finally, on Tuesday, he's coming home ... after 20 weeks (bar 2 days). That's almost FIVE MONTHS! After the awful 13 weeks in Yeovil Hospital he moved to St Mark's Hospital in Harrow on 13 July and began to improve from day one. Having lost so much weight he weighed just under 8 stone, he is now, thankfully almost at his target weight of 10st 7lbs. This is due to the nutrition mentioned in the last post, which will continue once Pauley gets home. He will be 'hooked up' to it every night for 12 hours for as long as it takes. It may be for life, or it may just be for a few months, or somewhere inbetween. Only time will tell us the answer to that one.

A fridge is being delivered tomorrow for the nutrition bags to be stored (they're delivered in weekly or fortnightly quantities), together with all the other required apparatus. Then on Tuesday the first batch will be delivered before Pauley arrives home. He should arrive early-mid afternoon and initially a nurse will come in every evening and morning until we're both proficient at the sterile connecting and disconnecting of the line for the bags. Once we pass that test she'll come once a week as I understand it.

Life is going to be very different both initially, while Pauley gets used to the outside world once again and I get used to having someone else in the house after all that time on my own(!!), and also long-term once we adjust to the (albeit minimal) constraints. He eats and drinks normally, but very little nutrition is actually absorbed, but there are a number of no-go foods and drinks. Low fibre, high fat, plenty of salt; full-fat milk, nothing fizzy. So, definitely no beans of any sort, no broccoli stalks, no potato or fruit skins for starters!

But we have ... LIFE ... and for that I am exceedingly grateful ... and having had time to take stock over the last few months I think we both realise that life is for living, not for racing from pillar to post, chasing tails and worrying that we're not achieving, but for enjoying each other's company and taking time to smell the roses ...

Sue x

Light at the end of the tunnel ...

2011-07-20T14:01:00.000+01:00

Thank you all for the lovely messages we've received over the last few weeks. This post is once again about Pauley's progress as I don't seem to be doing anything at the moment other than concentrating on his state of health.

However, we do actually have some progress at last. You may recall in my last post I said that Paul was on the waiting list for St Mark's Hospital in London or Torbay Hospital. Imagine my surprise when he called me at 7.45 last Wednesday morning to say he was off to London. I thought he was joking ... after 12 weeks in Yeovil it seemed as if nothing would ever happen. I leapt out of bed when he said he was going that morning and could I take in some clothes as the ambulance was booked for 11 o'clock.

So, there he is, in the Lennard-Jones IF Unit at St Mark's within Northwick Park Hospital in Harrow - a teaching hospital of mega proportions - and I went up from Saturday to Monday to visit. Within the 'campus' are bedrooms with own bathrooms which can be rented on a daily basis by visitors, so I was able to stay for a couple of nights in comfort without having to travel off the hospital site which made things less stressful. They have a shared kitchen and sitting room so I was able to make cups of tea and could have cooked a meal if I hadn't been fed well enough in the restaurant and Costa on-site. Patients are encouraged to be up, dressed and away from their beds wherever possible, as long as they return at appointed times for whatever procedures are required. We were able to go out for a drive round, sadly no walking about as the rains came down! We stopped off at Tescos for Pauley to buy lots of cream and otherwise stodgy cakes. So unfair that he has to eat these to try to build up the fat in his body again, when I dare not look at one!

The plan is that they will carry out scans, tests, assessments, mapping, measurements etc over the next few weeks to ascertain how best for Pauley to be treated for, basically, the rest of his life.The doctors have explained various options although it is too soon to know exactly what the outcome will be. However, we have already come to a joint decision on what we think will be best for us if one of two options is necessary, and he is now in their hands for them to determine what, how, why and when. They have a target time for his discharge of the end of August/beginning of September, hence the heading of this post. Obviously this is not cast in stone, but it's good to know that they have a target. Once discharged they are suggesting that we might be supported by Bournemouth Hospital which, as yet, I know nothing about.

Everyone at Dairy House has been so helpful, and the shop has been manned by a number of dealers over the last 13 weeks. None of us envisaged such a long haul when I phoned in one day to say Pauley had been rushed to hospital. I am, however, planning to be at Dairy House on Saturday morning, and then go on to see him, provided the tickly throat I have today doesn't turn into something that ought to keep away from hospitals.

Everything has its lighter side though, despite all the anxiety. Those of you who know Pauley will know that his haircuts are not particularly frequent and his style is in a 60s timewarp, cared for lovingly with Brylcream (I know, I can hardly say the word!!!!). Anyway, it grew to such a length whilst he was in Yeovil that he wouldn't have looked out of place living in a cardboard box, but wouldn't make use of the hospital hairdresser. There's a hairdresser's shop within the hospital complex at St Mark's and he had a haircut within 24 hours of his arrival. He didn't tell me and I can't believe I didn't notice immediately when I walked into the ward on Saturday. He had asked for a trim. Silly boy! He was attacked with clippers and ended up looking like a convict (with no disrespect to any convicts out there). The length varied from half to three-quarters of an inch all over, instead of the dated side parting and six inch top length of the last 40 years. It was shorter than when he joined the RAF as a Boy Entrance in 1959!!! Personally I like it, but would like it more if they'd removed the 10 weeks of grey beard as well! I've wanted him to 'start again' with his hair for years and he's always refused. But I won in the end, and didn't have to do a thing!!!!

A long post, sorry! I hope some of you have managed to stay to the end. It helps to write it down.

Thank you all once again, and hopefully I'll soon be able to tell you that Pauley's on his way home ...

Sue x

Long, long winding road .... Updated

2011-06-23T12:40:00.001+01:00

It seems a lifetime ago that I said I was going to begin blogging again in earnest. The intention was there but since 21 April my life has been turned upside down, my brain has gone into meltdown and I have concentrated all my energies on hospital visiting and willing Pauley to get better.

Nine weeks on he is still in hospital after an emergency operation which removed a large section of twisted bowel. This has resulted in a stoma and unfortunately a condition known as short bowel syndrome. Recovery is slow and the hospital's hope is that eventually he will be transferred to either St Mark's Hospital in London or Torbay, both of which support home TPN (total parenteral nutrition - see previous link) should this be found to be necessary.

The highlight of these nine weeks is that Pauley is being allowed home for a few hours tomorrow (provided BP, temperature etc etc are OK), just for a change of scene (not with a view to imminent discharge). He is so looking forward to it, but is still quite weak so I hope it won't be too tiring for him. I know I shall be on tenterhooks and very anxious, but I'm sure all will be well, even if I am totally exhausted afterwards.

My time at Dairy House has been very limited as you can imagine, but the dealers have been incredibly kind and the shop has continued to function with no disruption to customers. Obviously I have had to cancel any Fairs I had hoped to participate in, and other than a few free hours here and there I envisage a similar outlook for some time to come.

I'm still hoping to get back to blogging soon but at the moment, as I'm sure you can imagine, I haven't got anything very interesting to say ... other than the fact that Florence is now 13 months, has finally decided to crawl but would far rather be up on her feet.

I'll end this post with grateful thanks to some lovely friends, Bloggers, Facebook and Twitter friends and one lovely Mummy-of-four (she knows who she is) who has helped me, through late night texts and messages, far more than I ever imagined possible.

Updated Friday 24th - Pauley was able to come home for 3 hours! A wander round the house, lunch and back soon after 2 o'clock made such a difference to him (and to me). It was a treat to see a smiling face and proper clothes instead of jimjams! We made sure we were back on time so no black marks so that hopefully we'll be able to do it again before too long.

Thank you all x

Planning Doesn't Always Work ...

2011-05-21T14:01:00.001+01:00

You may recall that in my last post, or maybe it was the one before, I said I hoped to be back in blogland and get back to posting on a regular basis.

Sadly, the best laid plans and all that ... I have spent the last month going back and forth to visit my husband in hospital. It is turning out to be a much longer recovery than originally anticipated, with no idea as yet when he is likely to be able to come home.

Whilst I don't wish to go into details here on the blog, several of you have enquired as to my whereabouts and I just wanted to let you know that I will be back ... it's just that blogging isn't top of my list of priorities at the moment.

When I get the chance I'm keeping up with what you are all doing, and hope to be back with you soon.

Sue x

Sun, Sun, Sun ...

2011-04-08T19:50:00.000+01:00

I do hope the BBC Weather forecast is correct. Sunday in Shaftesbury is sunny intervals with some cloud, 19 degrees and only a slight breeze. I think we might be OK for the Vintage Textiles & Costume Day at Dairy House from 10-4 on Sunday.

Of course you've already heard about it from everyone who's anyone, but just in case you haven't do come if you can!

I've spent the day using the back of the car as a table and sitting in the sun pricing up everything I'd omitted to do earlier. At least it killed 2 birds with one stone as I didn't then have to cart everything to the car after pricing! Those of you who do this sort of thing for a living will know the joy of not having to lug stuff too far.

Nothing much else to report as I seem to be focused only on Sunday, so hopefully next week I'll be able to regale you with some interesting snippets.

Have a lovely weekend, and for those of you attending the Vintage & Handmade Fair at Chipping Sodbury tomorrow, either as sellers or buyers, then do have a wonderful day.

Sue x

Working my way back to blogland ...

2011-04-03T19:11:00.000+01:00

I can only apologise for being so dilatory with blogposts over the last months. Life has been very busy what with one thing an another, and by the time I've got home in the evenings I have been switching on the computer less and less. I've missed so much of what has been going on in blogland and realise that I've become somewhat isolated in that respect. I'm hoping that once all the Dairy House excitement has settled down I shall have a few minutes spare in which to catch up with your lives.

I haven't had much opportunity for pointing my camera at anything either, although last weekend I went on Poppy Treffry's first stitching workshop - a two-day course at the Bedruthan Steps Hotel in Cornwall. What an experience!

A walk on the beach

Ten Green Bottles was my plan - here are 5 practice ones, with the real thing in the second photo!

This became a lined bag but I was under a certain amount of pressure towards the end after a problem with breaking threads on Sunday morning when I was planning to forge ahead. However, I managed to complete it by the end of the course, and here's the finished result, along with those of some of my fellow course members. Other photos may follow when I transfer them from my phone. There was certainly some stitching talent on display that weekend!

So, it's nearly on us - the 2nd Annual Vintage Textiles and Costume Day @ Dairy House. Suddenly it doesn't seem a year since the last one and the frantic rushing around with mile-long lists is on us again!

I've been filling cellophane bags with odds and ends as 'bags of inspiration'/'bits and bobs'. I used to make up these when I first began selling haberdashery but over the last few years I've just stockpiled the goodies waiting for ~~the right moment~~ enough time to make more. Hopefully these will sell on the day, but if not I have a few other Fairs to attend this summer. Having had to cancel several last year for numerous reasons I'm hoping to "get out there" again this summer. More on that another day.

I've also been filling these keepers with ribbon, lace, braid, bias binding and strips of tiny French monograms. These will be available at Dairy House later this week, and on the Textiles Day. (Apologies for this one being out-of-focus!)

Dairy House Antiques has seen a few changes in the last couple of months, with dealers swapping spaces, and furniture whizzing back and forth like a "Changing Rooms" Special. Possibly it's been more like Musical Rooms - when the music stops put down the chest of drawers you're carrying and go and fetch something else. There were a few days of 'amalgamated' space where 3 or 4 dealers all had their stock in the same area, but we're getting there, and by next Sunday all should be shipshape and Bristol fashion. (Does anyone know where that expression came from? Many of you will probably never have heard it, but it's one that I grew up with!)

The main entrance has moved again, and visitors now come into the large main room (the one with the woodburner - which is currently out of action after dying a rather spectacular death early in February). Thankfully the weather is now warmer and by next winter I hope to have a smart new wood gobbler installed ready to send my money up in smoke!!!!! The joys of having a shop in an old dairy which was obviously designed to keep everything just a few degrees above freezing!!! Roll on summer!

There is other Dairy House excitement afoot, but it's a bit too soon to broadcast that just now. Another month or so should see us in a position to 'go public'.

Meanwhile, Florence the grand-daughter is 10½ months old, is already a comedian like her mother was at a very early age, has two bottom teeth and I hear today that two top teeth have come through, too. We haven't seen her for nearly three weeks so we shall certainly notice a difference. She has particularly rosy cheeks - a farmer's daughter of course - and incredible blue eyes. I'd love to show you photos, but Hannah is obviously very protective and prefers that I don't show them on my blog.

This evening we are having slow-roasted lamb with maple syrup and chestnuts, as per Cherry Menlove's recipe. If you haven't tasted any of Cherry's recipes I suggest you seek out her website (just Google). Well worth trying. It smells ready, so this will have to be all until next time ... and I sincerely hope that 'next time' won't be too far away!

Have a jolly week, and I look forward to seeing many of your next Sunday at the Dairy House Textiles and Costume Day. Full details on the Dairy House blog.

Sue x

The 2nd Annual Vintage Textiles and Costume Day @ Dairy House

2011-01-28T17:34:00.000Z

It's that time again - 10 April is coming round rapidly, so I thought I should jog your memories. Don't forget to put the date in your diaries. If last year's Day is anything to go by, this year will also be a brilliant day out - an opportunity for those of you passionate about fabrics and vintage costume to also enjoy the antiques and decorative items that Dairy House itself has to offer.

The 2nd Annual Vintage Textiles
and Costume Day

@ Dairy House

Sunday 10 April 2011

from 10.00 am–4.00 pm

Another opportunity to enjoy our unique combination

of Textiles, Vintage Clothing, Antiques and many other

Decorative Treasures at this Annual One Day Event

DAIRY HOUSE ANTIQUES

Station Road, Semley, Shaftesbury SP7 9AN

Tel: 01747 853317; normal opening Mon–Sat 10-5; Sun 11–4

3 miles N of Shaftesbury, 5 miles S of A303.
Turn off A350 (Shaftesbury–Warminster road) at sign to Semley Industrial Estate

Free admission & ample free parking

Once again there will be 9 or 10 visiting textile dealers sharing the day with our Dairy House dealers who will be bringing in textile-related goodies to display on their individual areas within the shop.

Guy and his Silver Coffee Machine plan to join us - if you came last year you'll remember he had a disaster with his van just as he was setting out, and consequently didn't reach us - and will be offering yummy coffee, hot chocolate, tea, traybakes etc. There is the distinct possibility that one of the Dairy House dealers who is a whizz at cake-making may bring some cakes to help the day go sweetly!

The list of visiting dealers is almost complete and once the list is finalised I'll post links to all the names. In the meantime I think you will recognise most of these: Tracey Hewlett, Donna Flower, Loveday James, Niki Fretwell, Helen Roskell, Caroline Bushell, Chloe Antiques, Hetty Purbrick and Tamsyn Gregory. Liz van Hasselt and I will of course be there with our regular Dairy House stock, together with some interesting bits and pieces brought in especially for the day and at least 10 other Dairy House dealers will be in the shop on the day and will be pleased to chat to you about their stock.

Any enquiries can be addressed to me via this blog, the Dairy House blog or website or by email, or have a word with Liz van Hasselt at one of the many Fairs she'll be attending between now and then!

Last year we had between 600 and 700 visitors on the day. We look forward to seeing you all again, and maybe even more! We can promise you a jolly day!

Sue

Happy New Year ....

2011-01-07T22:26:00.001Z

Hanging my head in shame as I realise it is 7 January already, but better late than never ...

A Very Successful, Prosperous

and

Exceedingly Happy 2011

to you All

I look forward to seeing lots of you again and hopefully meeting more of you over the coming months! And who knows ... I might even manage to blog more frequently!

Sue x

Vintage & Handmade - Chipping Sodbury - Sunday 28 November

2010-11-23T22:52:00.000Z

Just a reminder - as if you needed one - that it's the Vintage & Handmade Fair on Sunday. I shall be there, along with the usual crowd and some new ones.

Fingers crossed for better weather than was originally forecast.

See you there!

Sue

The Vintage Bazaar

2010-11-01T16:27:00.000Z

What a fabulous day - hoards of people and absolutely no opportunity to take any photos.

However, there are already lots on other stallholders blogs, the VB blog and on the blogs of those visiting, judging by the number of cameras I saw, so do take a look.

This is just a quick post to say thank you to Liz & Jack and Clare & Mike for organising such a brilliant day and for ensuring that we were all happy. My heartfelt thanks, too, to Tracey and Michael, Clare and Jack for helping with loading and unloading. Trying to do a Fair when you're not supposed to be lifting isn't the easiest thing, and having to rely on others who have their own stock to hump about went against the grain. But thank you all for your kindness. I really did appreciate it and know that I couldn't have done it without you.

A lovely day was had by all - and here's to the next one, scheduled for 30 April 2011.

Sue x

The Vintage Bazaar - Saturday 30 October - Frome

2010-10-26T00:01:00.001+01:00

So here we are on the run-up to my first Fair since April and what a mess I'm getting in, trying to sort out what to take, what to leave behind and trying to remember that I am not filling ALL the tables, just my own!!!

I'm hoping I'll be able to get someone to help me into the car with this

It's rather heavy as every drawer is crammed with button heaven for your delectation! I'm hoping it's a good idea to take it, but I'll make the final decision on Thursday.

I've been filling the car over the last few days with 'possibles' so that I don't do too much lifting all in one go. However, yesterday I decided I had to be sensible ... Me? Surely not! ... and emptied more or less everything out of the car under the verandah at Dairy House, and started again. So far I have one-quarter packed and ready with no need to look at it again. But as I began to be selective with the rest we were inundated with customers and when we finally shut the shop door nearly an hour after our normal Sunday closing time, it was all still in precarious piles and had to be crammed back into the car so we could go home. Guess what I'll be doing again tomorrow! So much for trying to save too much lifting. I seem to be doing twice as much!

I WILL be taking plenty of these

and this

and a selection of

and some Welsh wool blankets (but the photo seems to have vanished), a couple of quilts and eiderdowns, and anything else I can squash in the car!

I have been playing around with the sewing machine and am hoping I'll have completed some little projects by the weekend. If so then I shall bring them to the Fair. If not, then I shall attempt to get them done in time for the V&H at the end of November. It's been fun to do, but I have so little time to play that very few ideas have actually come to fruition as yet.

***

We had a lovely few hours with Hannah and Florence today. Florence is growing so fast and was on fine form, giving us her usual unblinking stare, and then beaming from ear to ear. I took a couple of photos but as you know I can't post them. If you are a Facebook friend you'll be able to see them there (when I get round to transferring them from my camera!). She was wearing a new outfit today which I bought from Manda a few weeks ago. It fits her perfectly as a dress already Manda!! Hannah is having a few baby-free hours on Saturday and is hoping to come to the Vintage Bazaar.

It's official, I'm having a day of rest tomorrow! I'll rearrange the car on Wednesday and Thursday in between customers and I look forward to seeing everyone at the weekend. Let's keep our fingers crossed for a lovely sunny day!

Sue x

I Don't Believe It ... and a lot of words but no pictures ...

2010-10-21T23:42:00.000+01:00

Well, what can I say. I've just looked at the date when I last wrote anything here and am reeling with shock ...

I can't believe you're still waiting for the giveaway I promised six months ago. That really is too much to expect of anyone and I'm surprised to see that I have even managed to acquire more followers during all that time. Thank you all for hanging around. I know I must try harder and hopefully I'll be able to from now on.

In my defence I have to say that I have spent much of the last five months one degree under, below par, not the full ticket and any other phrase you can come up with. To cut a long story marginally shorter I had an unexpected overnight hospital stay 3 days after Florence was born, because of an infected cyst. Sounds gory and not very pleasant, and it was both of those. Right between my shoulder blades and daily trips to the surgery to have the incision packed and dressed for a month. At the same time we suffered a family bereavement and all sorts of other stuff which threw us. I finally got back to Dairy House duties only to have to have another op to finally sort out the problem 2 days after Florence's Christening a month ago. This time I ended up with 12 stitches. It should have been quite straightforward (according to Lizzie The Washerwomam, who knows these things) but we didn't bargain for the fact that I reacted to the stitches, steri-strips and dressings and so had 10 days antibiotics and another 3 weeks off. We finally removed what I hope was the last dressing this evening and I've been back at Dairy House just over a week. I'm not supposed to lift anything heavy but am now feeling so much better that I realise I've been doing all sorts of things today that I shouldn't. But heyho ... with a bit of luck ...

So, here we are, racing up towards the end of October and The Vintage Bazaar at the Cheese and Grain in Frome on Saturday 30th - a new Fair organised by Lizzie (above) and Clare (Daisy Darling). It will be the first Fair I've done since the Dairy House Textile Fair in April. I feel very much out of the loop and hope I don't forget to pack anything vital when I load the car.

I won't ramble on any longer but as soon as the Bazaar is done and dusted I promise I will sort out the giveaway! I'd love to post some photos of Florence, but am only allowed to do so on Facebook as access to my page is limited to friends only. I must obviously respect Hannah's wishes, but for those of you who are interested, Florence is now 5 months old, chatters away to herself, is teething, has an amazing pair of lungs when the mood takes her and according to my Mum looks just like I did as a baby. And did you know? Nearly everyone I speak to has a Granny called Florence! I must, of course, point out that the Prime Minister's Florence arrived well after ours!!

Have a lovely weekend.

Sue

It's been a long, long time ....

2010-07-16T19:53:00.000+01:00

I think apologies are in order. Have you seen the date when I last wrote a post? It's been ages, but in my defence there has been an awful lot of stuff going on. Stuff that doesn't need to be gone into, but time-consuming nonetheless.

I think I can safely say that life is beginning to take on some semblance of order once again, and I haven't forgotten that you are all so patiently waiting for the promised giveaway. If I leave it much longer you'll have given up and will have completely forgotten the reason for it.

I haven't had a chance to take any photos recently so this is just a brief words only post to let you know I'm still in the land of the living and will be taking pics of the giveaway as soon as possible.

See you soon!

Sue

Spanning the Years ... and an Update ...

2010-05-26T17:53:00.001+01:00

I've just come across this photo from 1976 - what a surprise! Hanny was 2 and I was the ripe old age of 26! And this is how we dressed for my cousin's wedding. Hannah was sporting a very fetching knitted (by me) French navy trouser suit, and clutching the soft toy of the day - a rather peculiar-looking elephant which I have a feeling may currently be lurking in a black plastic sack in our loft! My waistcoat suit was a sage green linen/manmade fibre mix - and just look at the size of that collar!

I'm having a gentle sort out of drawers and shelves and STUFF at home whilst 'convalescing' after a whistle-stop trip to hospital last Wednesday/Thursday. Nothing life threatening, but a slow and uncomfortable recovery which means I'm at home rather than tripping back and forth to Dairy House for a week or 2 ... and being overcome with tiredness every so often to the extent that I know I'm not my usual battle-on-regardless self.

Moving on to 1996/97, Rosie loved posing whenever anyone produced a camera. This was taken in our garden in Bath. If you are ever unsure about the wisdom of buying those 9cm pots of herbs available in garden centres rest assured that the sage and purple sage behind us each cost £1.49 (dread to think how much they are now) and grew to that size in just a couple of years. Brilliant value for money!

Seeing that old photo of Hannah and me makes me realise that Florence looks like Hannah from certain angles. Because of my sudden hospital dash Mum and I have only seen her once - 2 days after she was born - but there's certainly a family resemblance. Grandpa hasn't yet had the opportunity to meet his granddaughter as he had a nasty cough last week and wasn't the full ticket.

I haven't asked permission to show you a photo (it's just feed and sleep for Hannah and Florence at the moment after what ended up as a 7-day stay in hospital, so I wait for her to do the telephoning) but I think I might be forgiven for showing you just one. This is a very proud Grandma (still not sure what I will be) and Supergran with the most beautiful addition to our line of girls. I'm led to believe that Florence has the same grit and determination as her mother, grandmother and great-grandmother before her, which should make for an interesting time for the happy parents! As soon as possible Rob will be taking a 4-generations piccie - possibly this weekend. We're hoping to see them all as it's Hannah's birthday.

Have you ever seen such a head of hair? It was very dark to start with but apparently definitely has highlights. I wonder if they will be auburn like Supergran, or blonde like her Mummy. Rob's family are both fair and dark, so it'll be interesting to see what happens. At least she doesn't have as many chins as her grandmother - lets hope she never does!!!

I haven't forgotten the promised Giveaway. It will happen, but I'm just not quite able to organise it at the moment. As always, there's joy in anticipation, and once I'm running around again like a spring chicken (dream on!) I'll get the show on the road.

In the meantime, thank you to everyone for their good wishes and a special thank you to Martin at Dairy House for stepping into the breach, organising cover and generally keeping the wheels turning while I've been incapacitated.

Sue

Decisions ... Gran, Granny or Grandma ...

2010-05-17T00:12:00.001+01:00

Not too sure what I am, but that really doesn't matter. What does matter is the fact that this afternoon, 2 weeks early, Florence Mary Sage arrived, taking everyone by surprise.

So exciting ... I think Grandpa's quite thrilled, too ... and Supergran (how many of you remember that children's programme in the 1980s?) is beside herself. We're all hoping to meet her sometime tomorrow.

Blossoming April ... and other tales

2010-04-26T21:35:00.000+01:00

Pauley and I walked to our local pub for a meal on Saturday evening. On the way I had to stop to take photos of the gorgeous blossom on one of the trees in the carpark.

The blossom on our plum tree was beautiful last week but sadly the wind has now taken most of the petals so it wasn't a suitable candidate for a photoshoot today.

As you may remember, I promised an anniversary/milestone blog giveaway as the end of March/beginning of April is always an interesting time for me. I promised I would take photographs and do the giveaway blog as my next post, but sadly I haven't had an opportunity to do so as yet.

I hope you will bear with me as I have decided, now, to wait until the end of next month and hopefully make the giveaway something worth waiting for. As many of you know we are awaiting the arrival of our first grandchild and needless to say we shall be so excited when this happens that it would be nice if we can share our excitement!

The last few weeks have been hectic, to say the least, what with getting everything ready for the Dairy House Textile & Costume Day a couple of weeks ago, taking Mum away for a couple of days to see her brother (neither of them is a spring chicken and now she lives next door to us her remaining brother and 2 sisters who live in South Northants rarely see her. To my mind it is important that I make the trip for her as often as I can when you consider that the sofa held 171 years of life on its springs last Sunday when Mum and my uncle sat side-by-side.

I have also been spending a considerable amount of time this week thinking about my long-term plans for Dairy House. I have several ideas in the pipeline, but these need to be carefully considered and not put into practice until the time is right.

I often take photos of furniture in Dairy House but sadly they do not do their subjects justice. Because several rooms have no daylight the colours are distorted and the end results are not a good advertisement for the stock we have on display. These few are the best of those taken recently. There are several pieces of pine in DH at the moment most of which I would quite like to have in my home.

I was so pleased that the Textile Fair brought in so many prospective new customers which had been the main purpose of the exercise - apart, of course, from giving everyone the opportunity to have a jolly day meeting friends, browsing and buying!!! Initially I had hoped to hold the event twice a year, but have now decided to make it an annual event to roughly coincide with the anniversary of taking over Dairy House. The date has still to be decided, but the second Vintage Textile & Costume Day @ Dairy House will, hopefully, be held in April 2011. A number of factors brought me to this conclusion, not least the fact that it was obvious from the numbers that it would have been impossible to house the visiting stallholders inside the building if the weather had been inclement. I shall, therefore, spend some time working out the best way of creating a windbreak or other form of weatherproofing to ensure that everyone is warm and cosy regardless of the weather.

Our trip to the farm gave me the opportunity to see the young calves - sadly I missed the birth of this one by a couple of hours

Belgian Blue mothers and Limousin fathers are producing some lovely calves

Don't these look contented! .

We have 3 dealers by the name of Liz at DH - but the one I now refer to is Liz who came with me from Somerton Antiques Centre to Dairy House a few years ago. She is an upholsterer by trade and is in the process of repairing and reupholstering our double drop-end sofa. We chose a Sanderson linen which goes with absolutely nothing in the house, so it has made us take stock of what we need to do on the house.

For some reason these 3 photos don't want to centre on the page, so we'll see where they end up.

We've had very little time to do anything to the house since we moved in almost 4 years ago. Dreadful, I know, but true. Normally we would be thinking about moving house at this stage but now Mum lives next door that isn't something that we can consider. So, we need to set to and decorate, recarpet and generally make good as if we were going to sell - because then it will become a nice house to live in. All our old homes have always been at their best just as we've put them on the market!!

So, tomorrow we'll be looking at paint colours. We already know which carpet will be right, but I'm not sure when we shall get round to doing it all. After all, we shall soon have our minds filled with baby things and decorating may get pushed down the list once again!

I'm hoping the garden will get some attention this year, too. It seems to have struggled along under its own steam for the last few years with very little care and attention. I've always been a keen gardener and I hate the fact that I've had no time to spend on it over the last couple of years. I'm not complaining, but it would be nice if there were 8 days in every week rather than the statutory 7.

As well as looking at paint colours tomorrow I need to start packing for the Vintage & Handmade Fair. This Saturday, 1 May, is the date and the place is once again Chipping Sodbury. I'm just having a single table this time, with some space for a rail. It'll be lovely to see everyone again, and I'm sure we shall be inundated with customers in the usual way. This event has become such a landmark on the Vintage Fairs Calendar and will no doubt be the usual credit to its organisers, Michele and Jayne. I look forward to seeing you there.

THE Event ... updated

2010-04-12T08:28:00.006+01:00

What an amazing day! We couldn't have wished for anything better. So many lovely people helping, buying, selling, being. Thank you to everyone. What a day ;)

I'll do a proper post once I've uploaded photos and have recovered!

Please leave a comment if you have blogged the day and I'll add all the links.

In the meantime Niki has already posted with plenty of pics, and Lizzie has now posted her version of the day, too.

Isabelle's photos are now on her blog.

Ali has also posted some gorgeous photos, and written some lovely words.

Tamsyn has some gorgeous photos to show you, and Donna has made me very envious with her fabric photos!

Rather than another post here, I've posted photos and my bird's eye view of the day on the Dairy House blog. Do, please, pop over for a look-see!

Vintage Textiles & Costume Day @ Dairy House - 36 hours away ...

2010-04-09T20:45:00.000+01:00

The giveaway post will have to be after the Textiles Event I'm afraid ... run out of time ...

BUT - everything is organised for our Textiles Day and the fine day I ordered back in November/December looks as if it's going to oblige.

We'll all be ready for a 10.00 am kick-off so come and enjoy a sunny day with lots of gorgeous textiles, costume, goodies and antiques, too! There are 10 visiting sellers and the same number of Dairy House dealers.

Camera batteries being charged as I write this!

Won't be long ...

2010-04-01T08:38:00.000+01:00

... The birthday's over, Wedding Anniversary yesterday, two-year anniversary of taking over Dairy House Antiques today, blogpost #303, Vintage Textiles & Costume @ Dairy House in 10 days' time and only 8½ weeks until I become a grandma! So ... the promised Giveaway to celebrate all of the above will be the subject of, hopefully, my next post ... just as soon as I can take the photos ...

In the meantime here's a mosaic of fabrics with a central corsage to keep you going

Happy 1st April ...

Sue

Luckiest Girl ...

2010-03-22T18:07:00.002Z

This was the scene that greeted me on Saturday morning ...

Because of this ...

Quite an unbelievable milestone reached - not too sure how that happened!

(According to one of my birthday cards I was born the year that the VW Camper Van and the Kenwood Chef made their debuts and Andy Pandy made his tv debut; it was the year of the first British F1 Grand Prix at Silverstone; Labour won the General Election with a 5 seat overall majority; Sainsburys first self-service grocery store opened in Croydon and I share the year with Karen Carpenter, Richard Branson, Jeremy Paxman, Julie Walters, Suzi Quatro and Stevie Wonder, to name a few)

My wonderful family had organised an amazing surprise weekend, and it turned out to be exactly what I would have chosen for myself if I had had any say in the matter!

It all began with this ...

Click on the image (my dear daughter calls me Soosan these days - such disrespect!!!!)

So we set off on Friday afternoon in pouring rain! I was allowed to know I was to drive to Dorchester and from there directions were given to me by my co-pilot, although he forgot to mention one key factor and we had to phone the owners of Tincleton Lodge to find out where to go (but don't tell him I told you)!!!

Hannah and Rob were already there, the woodburner was lit, and we were sent to look round the most beautifully-appointed house with low beams which Rob had already come into contact with numerous times. Pauley and I were given the master bedroom (which you can see if you click on the link above), and despite it being a 5-bedroomed property I was amazed when, at 10.00 pm a car arrived and my bestest friend Bozena (who lives in Nice) arrived with her daughter and daughter's significant other.

Not only had BA upset Bozzy's flight plans, but they'd also had a disastrous journey from London in the rain. Apparently there had been endless secretive text messages between Han and Amanda as their arrival had been timed for 6.00 pm! We had just finished our meal when they arrived. They were, of course, supposed to have been included, but we continued sitting round the table imbibing while they ate in between all the shrieks of excitement and catching up that took place. Having not seen Bozena since Han and Rob's wedding there was much jollity, especially as neither of us has ever behaved when together in company!!!

This is the card Boz gave me! No-one else realised this is really how we see one another!

To think that we were Chairman and Secretary of Northampton High School for Girls PTA together in the 1980s beggars belief ...

After everyone else had gone to bed, Boz and I sat up until 2.30 am catching up on the nitty-gritty of "life like wot it is led" (how our girls ever grew up to be so level-headed and articulate is beyond us of course), by which time we thought it would be sensible to get a few hours' shut-eye before 'the day'!

We were all up reasonably early, greeted by more drizzly rain which continued until Sunday morning, but a breakfast of scrambled egg and smoked salmon, washed down with Bucks Fizz meant our enthusiasm wasn't dampened in the least!

I was instructed to sit down with eyes closed and after much rustling I was allowed to open them and this is what I saw ...

SIXTY red roses from Pauley, beautifully arranged with twigs and eucalyptus.

How lucky was I?

They had been prepared by Han's florist friend Jo (Flowers by Passion) and transported by Han and Rob and hidden in their bedroom overnight. Needless to say I was reduced to tears, but that soon turned to laughter (and then despair when I saw some of the photos they'd taken of me - seriously REALLY need to stop eating and I won't be showing any of the photos here!).

Sadly nearly all the photos I took of everyone were either blurred or I took them at the wrong moment where everyone was looking serious, but there are one or 2 that are 'showable'.

Only 10 weeks to go until the bump becomes a grandchild!

The day was planned to be free and easy with everyone doing what they felt like doing. Pauley stayed at the house and had a snooze, Han and Rob went to Lulworth Cove and I took Boz and Mum to Lulworth, too, via Wareham and various other places as Boz had never been. In 1980-something Pauley and I took Boz's other daughter on holiday with us to West Lulworth, so it was nice for her to see it. It continued to rain, but undaunted we walked down to the Cove and then up the hill.

There must be a suitable caption to go under this photo, but I can't think of a printable one!!

Don't you love Boz's rain hat? You can see why no-one else wanted to come with us!!

Mum spent the whole weekend grinning, despite the weather, and despite the fact that her daughter

had reached such a ripe old age!

We all reconvened in front of the woodburner later in the afternoon to watch the rugby. Everything was so relaxed that it was almost better that the weather was poor. If it had been brighter we would have stayed out longer and not enjoyed the lovely house and each others company quite so much.

Apparently the evening meal was to be another surprise - every New Year's Eve when we all lived in Northampton, Boz and the girls would come to us, and we always had a fondue. So, to carry on tradition that's what we had. Rob wasn't impressed, not being a fondue lover, but was told the weekend wasn't about what he wanted! Hannah was determined everything was to be just so, and it was ... even to the extent that once the meal was over I was told there was one more surprise ...

Has anyone ever played the game "Farming"? This always followed on from the fondue, and Saturday night was no exception. Rules were not adhered to - were they ever? - and by 2.30 am we all agreed that we would have to stop mid-game, otherwise we'd be there all night. No photos at this stage - they would most certainly have been blurred if I'd thought to take any!

On Sunday morning we awoke to brilliant sunshine! We pottered around a little, but were all ready to vacate at the required hour full of happy memories of a wonderful weekend. I had such a lovely time and am so pleased for everyone's sake that ~~nearly~~ everything went according to plan.

***

I had some lovely gifts from friends, too! Look ...

An orchid in a felt watering can!

Very yummy choccies ...

Green bead bracelet, shiny pewter butter knife with a cow on the handle,

silver pendant, beach huts tile, button necklace, scarf, lovely lily-of-the-valley cushion ...

This beautiful handkerchief embroidered by a prisoner of war for his sweetheart ...

More gorgeous flowers

Thank you everyone for your birthday wishes - I received so many cards (I don't think blogger could cope with more photos though) and lovely blog comments. This birthday was certainly one I shall never forget! I've been so lucky and have loved every moment.

Sue x

Keeping out of mischief ...

2010-03-17T22:54:00.000Z

At last my little creative streak has come to the fore and I've purposely made myself stop, take time out and play a little. Playing, but not misbehaving ... first of all I've been making button necklaces. They don't take long, and I'm hoping that by the time the Vintage Textile and Costume Day @ Dairy House comes round - 3 weeks on Sunday - a button necklace will still be a suitable accessory!! Apologies for the poor light - believe it or not most of the buttons in the first photo are shades of blue!!

No problem if these are no longer the height of fashion, I'll wear them myself - I've probably now made one to coordinate with every colour of jumper in my possession!! They've been great relaxation therapy and as my latest offering looks good on my other playtime activity, I might just have to keep the necklace AND the mannequin!

I have 2 other mannequin bodies to patchwork before 11 April but believe it or not, despite having acres of fabric, choosing the right pieces isn't an easy task.

Have a lovely weekend (I know it's only Wednesday today but I won't be posting again this week) - it's a special one for me, but I'll tell you all about that next week.

Sue

Three Hundred ...

2010-03-07T22:03:00.000Z

I can't quite believe this is post #300. Strictly speaking I feel this should indicate that it's time for a giveaway, but if you'll bear with me there are lots of exciting things happening over the next few weeks, culminating in the Vintage Textile and Costume Day @ Dairy House. So, sometime between now and then I'll announce a giveaway.

In the meantime, my last Shepton Giant Flea was a great success, although if you open the door to my studio you wouldn't think anything had gone! Lots of lovely bloggers and other friends stopped to say hello, and I gave out plenty of postcards advertising the Vintage Textile and Costume Day.

Since then I've had a little shopping spree in order to add to the button mountain - here are just a few with apologies for the poor lighting!

I've been selling 50-gram packs of buttons for £1. I packed them ready for the Flea and have been selling them in Dairy House since. I don't know that there's anything really exciting among them, but you never know.

You may recall that the Bridport Rag Market took place on 20 February. That was another good day, with lots of jolly company and several blogging visitors. I bought a lovely chunky cardi which needed its own button fix ... not a problem of course, and here it is with its 2"+ octagonal button. I could have done with this thick layer all through the winter at Dairy House but at least I've certainly managed to keep warm over the last couple of weeks!

It's been a treat driving back and forth to Dairy House since the days have been getting longer. Some days I've got home in daylight which has been great. Some evenings I've been later shutting up shop and this sight greeted me as I pulled out of the carpark one evening last week.

Yesterday morning I came across this beautifully laid hedge. So often today hedges are ripped to shreds by massive hedge cutters manoeuvred by even more massive tractors, with twigs and branches flying all over the place. I know it's done for speed and economy of time, but it was a lovely surprise to see that this dying craft is still practised in Dorset.

I do believe that Spring is now just around the corner. Although we've had some incredibly chilly days the sun and blue skies have been magnificent, trees and hedgerows are beginning to come into bud and the amaryllis I gave Mum for Christmas has come into flower.

Finally, these flowers can be found at any time of the year. A box of gorgeous floral corsages I bought on Tuesday. I think I shall keep them at home and enjoy them for a few weeks before displaying them at the Dairy House Textile Fair.

Have a good week, everyone!

Sue

Shepton Mallet - Giant Flea Market Sunday 28 February

2010-02-24T18:56:00.000Z

This is going to be my last outing to the Giant Flea for the foreseeable future. I've been in the same spot for about 4 years now - can't believe it's been that long - but since taking over Dairy House Antiques I've found that getting stock ready for the Flea takes up my days off for at least a week prior to the event, and I always have to have the car loaded and ready on the Friday as I'm working at Dairy House on the Saturday. Most of the time it doesn't matter, but it has meant that if we need the car for personal living as opposed to work, there's an awful lot of loading and unloading going on, and to be honest I could do with a break from it.

I shall miss stalling out at the Giant Flea because, over the years, it has become an important part of my life - spending time with the lovely couple who have the stall next to me, chatting with the other regular stallholders, being very self-controlled and not walking across the aisle to the sweetie man opposite until the end of the day, selling or just chatting to all my lovely regular customers who have been so supportive and encouraging over the years, meeting new ones. At least my customers know they can find me at Dairy House if they are desperate for a fabric, lace or button fix!!

I shall miss the frantic scurrying around before the public are allowed in, when I have been able to restock my lace and fabrics from the outside pitches who are able to set up before we are allowed into the Showering Pavilion. I'm hoping that from time to time I'll still be able to get one of the other dealers to do at least the Sunday morning at Dairy House so I can shop before doing the afternoon stint. We shall see ...

I may find that I miss it all too much and will have to book another pitch. We'll see. If the weather is good through the summer months I may take a spur-of-the-moment outdoor pitch, just for the fun of it. Again, we'll see ...

In the meantime, thanks to everyone who has bought from me at the Flea in the past. This Sunday I shall be selling EVERYTHING at £1.00. I need to clear my sitting room, the back of the car, the studio and the garage ... nothing will be priced at over £1.00. This will be anything from fabric to lace to buttons to kitchenalia to pictures to knitting needles ... whatever I find on Friday when I fight my way into the studio (shed) which will fit in the car.

Hope to see you there. Apologies for the lack of photos but there will be piccies soon. This is post # 299, so I think there may well be a giveaway in the offing, and plenty of things to look at.

Thank you!

Sue

Bridport Rag Market - update

2010-02-19T10:40:00.002Z

Bridport Rag Market

Saturday 20 February

at St Mary's Church Hall

from 10 til 4.

Very busy day. Bustling with shopper all day. I think everyone went home happy. Thanks to Caroline and Linda for organising once again.

Bottling Plant ... and other Goodies ...

2010-02-08T10:45:00.001Z

I was offered several boxes of bottles the other day, nearly all dug up from an old Victorian dump and collected by the seller since childhood. I haven't yet had a chance to look at them closely, but generally they appear be in good condition. Here are just a few. I've had a number of the old saltglazed inkpots over the years and these continue to sell well. They're not expensive items, and consequently building up a collection needn't be a costly exercise.

These modern Kilner jars are ideal for storing buttons at Dairy House. Customers are quite happy to rummage through them to pick out the best button right at the bottom!

It's time I searched for more vintage plastic knitting needles. These are the only remaining pairs.

Embroidery next ... this beautiful work is on an amazing, but now quite damaged, chasuble. I'm not sure whether I should sell the complete item (probably for reworking), or whether to cut into it and sell the different parts individually. Answers, please, on a postcard!

Finally, the bedding section ... not arranged particularly well, but I thought one photo would be better than none and we were so busy over the weekend that I had no further customer-free time. Not that I'm complaining, of course.

The quilts above are a mixed international bag - some handstitched, some machined, from England, Wales, France ...

I have a pair of eiderdowns with matching bedcovers. No time to take pics of them all together but this photo gives you the idea of the colouring and the gorgeous pattern. The eiderdowns are beautifully puffy and have a dark plum outer panel. I'll try and remember to take more photos on Wednesday.

Plenty more photos to put into a new post on the Dairy House blog but they may have to wait until tomorrow. A trip to Bath is imminent as Mum has an appointment with the dentist. Lucky lady!!

As soon as I've taken more photos of the lace (see last post) I'll blog them.

Have a good week!

Sue

Laced Up ...

2010-02-05T19:06:00.000Z

I've just bought a lovely collection of handmade lace which needs some tlc, repair and tidying-up before the Dairy House event. In the meantime I thought I'd take a few photos to show you ... forgetting that the camera battery was in need of charging. This is all I managed before it gave up, so more will follow in due course!

I saw this in an antiques shop this morning, and took the photos so that I could look at it again just for the fun of it. But here we are several hours later, and it's in the back of my car waiting to travel down the A303 tomorrow where it will sit in residence at Dairy House for a while. I'll try to remember to take photos of its cleverness tomorrow! I'd quite like to keep it and make use of it at DH, but what's the betting it'll be snapped up by a 1950s home owner. It would look so at home with the English Rose kitchen cupboards for sale in the shop!

I'll hopefully take some photos of Dairy House stock tomorrow to add to the blog sometime in the next few days. There was some nice new stock when I was in on Thursday, so it's only fair to share it!!

Wasn't it lovely (for some of us) to wake up to a bright sunny day today. Let's hope it's the same over the weekend.

Sue

Look Who's Coming to the Fair ...

2010-01-29T18:44:00.004Z

As promised here is the list of stallholders for the

Vintage Textiles and Costume Day

@ Dairy House on Sunday 11 April 2010

Caroline Beaven

a long-established local textile dealer

Caroline Bushell

Fountain Antiques, Honiton

Linda Clift

http://www.lindaclift.blogspot.com/

Lizzie Drake

http://www.vintagelizzie.blogspot.com/

Loveday James

a regular at the Talent 4 Textiles and Shepton Antiques Fairs

Niki Fretwell

http://www.nostalgiaatthestonehouse.blogspot.com/

Helen Roskell

Contemporary embroidery and vintage goodies

Chloe Cyphus

http://www.chloeantiques.co.uk/

Donna Flower

http://www.donnaflower.com/

Cecile Gemmell

http://www.elegancemaison.blogspot.com/

Tamsyn G

http://www.fromragstostitches.co.uk/

Dairy House dealers taking part include

Sue Meager

http://www.vintagetovictorian.blogspot.com/ and http://www.dairyhouseantiques.blogspot.com/

Liz van Hasselt

http://www.thewasherwoman.blogspot.com/

Martin Bull

Jenny Hirst

Mary Hossack

Debbie Jeffery

Sandie Lewis

Moira Lord

Nikki Vallance

with possibly one or 2 more!

As you can see there will be plenty going on. The Silver Coffee Machine will be on hand all day to provide tea/coffee/hot chocolate and maybe the odd traybake. Unfortunately the kitchen (if it can be called that) at Dairy House doesn't lend itself to offering beverages to the public, but Liz and I can heartily recommend Guy's goodies!! In addition, we can recommend Pythouse Walled Garden and the Beckford Arms (both less than 15 minutes away) if anyone requires lunch.

I see that a number of you have very kindly put the poster on your blog sidebar, with a link to the Dairy House blog. I shall add this list of names to that blogpost, so that you have no need to amend your links. If anyone else would like to help us promote the day by adding the link Liz and I would be delighted, and thank you in advance.

Sue

Vintage Textiles and Costume Day - Sunday 11 April

2010-01-24T09:46:00.005Z

The postcard invitations have now been printed ...

Do let me know if you would like one - not necessary for admission, but useful for directions to Dairy House. You can also get directions from here.

We are full to bursting with stallholders, and I was thrilled to get 2 phonecalls on Thursday from people asking if they could have a stall. Word is obviously getting around. They're now on the waiting list just in case anyone has to drop out. I'll post a list of names soon.

Sue

Sand Painting - Amazing ...

2010-01-10T15:11:00.001Z

Have you seen this? Quite emotional, but such amazing talent.

More Snow Pics ...

2010-01-09T19:12:00.002Z

En route to Dairy House ...

On the way home ... these 4 photos are taken from the same spot ...

(The hill in the centre of this photo is Shaftesbury!)

... And this one is barely 300 yards further along the A303, but the wind has meant the snow has drifted across the fields and covered the road

January Brings the Snow ...

2010-01-08T18:34:00.000Z

... and an unavoidable trip from Somerset to Northampton.

The journey up on Tuesday was fine - brilliant blue skies and sunshine for most of the journey - but bitterly cold and the windscreen washer refusing to work for the first hour-and-a-half.

A couple of hours after arriving at our destination this was the scene from the front window ...

Wednesday morning looked like this ...

with more snow falling just before we set off for the family funeral which was the purpose of our visit.

We stayed a second night and woke up to thick ice on the car, but at least the roads was fairly clear. So we set off on the return journey wondering how far we would get, and whether we'd end up having to stay someone en route. All was well, though, apart from the irritation of the frozen windscreen washer once again. Unfortunately it didn't thaw out at all and we had to stop frequently to squirt or pour water over the windscreen. Finding somewhere to pull up wasn't easy. Most of the lay-bys on the A34 was so thick with snow that there was no chance of pulling into them. We weren't alone, though, as we saw endless lorry drivers throwing handfuls of snow up onto their windscreens, and numerous car drivers doing the same as us with bottles of water. These photos were taken when it was possible to pull of the road ...

... gorgeous blue skies once again, and glorious sunshine!

We were lucky there was very little traffic, and the journey took barely an hour longer than normal.

Dairy House, meanwhile, has been closed. Lorries were stuck on the A350 between the A303 and Shaftesbury, and the road was closed. I'm not sure whether I shall get there tomorrow - if I do make the journey I don't intend staying all day. If the windscreen washer is still frozen I need to get home in daylight rather than do anything too foolhardy. And to be honest I don't expect anyone will be daft enough to venture forth to Dairy House (not if they know how cold it is on a normal winter's day at any rate). I think we're supposed to be getting more snow tomorrow or Sunday, so it'll be a case of sense prevailing as far as I'm concerned.

I hope the weather isn't hampering your activities too much. If you love the snow, then enjoy! If you hate it, I hope you're able to do what you need to do without too much disruption.

Twenty-Ten or Two Thousand and Ten ...

2010-01-01T11:56:00.000Z

... whichever you choose, I wish you all an exciting year!

This is another treasured painting - not a family one this time, but purchased many years ago from Rolfey's, the best place to shop in Bath! It's signed and dated 1908 and I love it.

Happy New Year

may it be jolly, full of good things

and, above all, a prosperous one for you all

So That Was Christmas ...

2009-12-28T14:02:00.000Z

I was so pleased, and amazed, to think I had decorated the tree and dotted the cards around by Tuesday. I'd even cleared the remaining pile of stock from the sitting room floor, and loaded it into the car ready to take to Dairy House on Wednesday.

The decorations range from recent to 1950s - the little red bell (top right) is as old as me, or older, the wooden fairy at the bottom of the picture above was from Father Christmas (aka Hannah) a few years ago, and other decorations have been acquired over the last 38 years or so - a few new ones every year. The little red felt hearts and green felt trees were from Fiona a couple of years ago.

The fairy resting in the branches is the very one which used to sit atop the tree every Christmas when I was a child and the icicle is one of the 3 remaining from my childhood. The rusty robins were purchased from Tracy last year.

Can you see a very young Pauley in this photo?

Usually I'm decorating the tree at about midnight on Christmas Eve, but this year Han and Rob were coming on CE and then setting off on Christmas morning to spend the day with Rob's family. Being so ahead of myself meant I only needed to make up the spare bed and wrap prezzies. The turkey was collected - larger than usual because a family friend of very long standing was coming to stay with Mum over the Christmas break, and Gillie was coming for the day - and all the remaining food shopping was done. I'd catered for the five thousand as far as veggies were concerned, as Mum is a vegetarian and always takes home a doggy bag of loads of different vegetables, bread sauce, apple sauce and so on to last a day or two, and we are a household which loves bubble & squeak!

So off I went to Dairy House on Wednesday, and realised I wasn't feeling 100%. I staggered through the day, got home and decided I really couldn't face doing much other than running back and forth to the bathroom (nuff said!). I felt decidedly worse on Christmas Eve but got through the evening having managed to cook roast gammon, veggies, mashed potato and gravy specially requested by Han (and she knows EXACTLY what she wants to eat at the moment ... ALERT ... watch out for exciting news at the end of May/beginning of June!!!! ... and then joined in all the present opening.

Next morning it was obvious that I wasn't going to be cooking turkey and all the trimmings and Gillie phoned to say she was poorly again with a straming cold which she had no intention of passing on to Mum (or anyone else for that matter). So we postponed Christmas Day. I made a batch of bread sauce (for Mum) and some sausages wrapped in bacon (for Anne) and Pauley took them next door. This is how I spent the rest of the day

in my new cosy dressing gown and slippers from Han and Rob!

Gloriously blue sky on a peaceful Christmas Day!

We had our Christmas Day on Saturday - I felt rested, having sat crocheting or sleeping for most of Christmas Day proper. Mum and Anne joined us and we had a lovely day. Gillie has just arrived, so we'll have another Christmas Day now!!

Hope yours ran smoothly and you all had a jolly time. Despite not feeling on top form I thoroughly enjoyed the few days - and the rest has been sublime!!!!

Wishing you All a Very Merry Christmas

2009-12-20T09:09:00.002Z

Here's hoping you all have a

Very Merry Christmas

with plenty of snow if you want it, and none if you don't!

Thank you all for visiting my blogs in 2009, and for your words of encouragement since I took over Dairy House Antiques. I may not manage to leave comments on yours too often, but rest assured I pop in to view whenever I can and much appreciate your continued support.

The New Year looks to be an interesting one from both a personal and a business point of view, and I look forward to sharing the highs (and hopefully very few lows) with you in 2010.

May the year ahead be a good one for you, too.

Have fun!

The beautiful picture above was painted by my cousin's husband many years ago and has long been a treasured possession

Sue

Let it Snow ...

2009-12-16T22:51:00.002Z

Did anyone else get this today?

Way Back When ... a Lot of Words ... and a Date for your Diaries

2009-12-12T22:25:00.004Z

Way back, in September 2007, when I agreed to buy out the then owner of Dairy House Antiques, Linda Clift came over to the shop. She used to be a Dairy House dealer and was so supportive and full of encouragement when I told her Dairy House Antiques was to become my baby. We chatted about my long-term plans for the business and, among other things, the idea of holding a Textile Fair was popped into the melting pot.

Since I took over in April 2008 it has taken 20 months of hard work, fun, endless encouragement from friends, fellow dealers and fabulous customers, and a smidgin of determination to put Dairy House Antiques firmly on the map. Our dealers have doubled in number, the footfall has increased to such an extent that the carpet is wearing thin, and sales have beaten all expectations. Please don't think we have become complacent, though. We know we are one of the lucky ones, as the antiques trade has taken quite a knock in some areas. However, regular advertising and a frequent turnround of stock has kept the public's interest and we are constantly greeting new customers who have heard about us from various sources.

A few of our dealers stand at Ardingly and Kempton, as well as more locally at the Shepton 3-day Fair and the Giant Flea, and they promote Dairy House wherever they go. Often, when mentioning Dairy House to their customers at these fairs, they are told that the customer knows of us, has visited recently and, invariably, has made purchases.

What is so exciting is the fact that customers are now visiting Dairy House in search of 20th century fabrics and decorative items, as well as those of the Victorian and earlier eras. The word is spreading that we no longer cater solely for those looking for large pieces of Georgian furniture - although we still sell plenty of that - but are able to offer something for the new breed of customer looking for vintage.

As a result 2010 would seem the right time to stage the event which was mooted so long ago, and I am proud to announce that the first

Vintage Textiles and Costume Day @ Dairy House

is to take place on

Sunday 11 April 2010 from 10.00 am to 4.00 pm.

The sellers have been invited and have accepted, the advertising postcards have been ordered and will be available after Christmas, and I've already put in a request to the long-range weather planner for a fine, sunny day.

Liz van Hasselt is very much involved in the planning process, and she and I are gradually putting all the details into place. It's always good to have 2 people working on something like this so that all will be fine-tuned, every eventuality catered for and nothing forgotten or ignored. I know it would have been a far harder job without Liz's input and so I thank her for that. I'm fairly sure we shall have a few giggles between now and 11 April - I expect we shall have the odd panic, too - but with the trusty Jack keeping us on the straight and narrow I'm sure it'll be all right on the day!

Some of the well-known West Country textile and costume dealers will be displaying their wares under the verandah at Dairy House, and the shop will be open all day, giving everyone an opportunity to browse around the 3 floors and buy, not only from the sellers mentioned, but also from some of the Dairy House dealers who will be displaying textiles and vintage costume within their individual spaces.

Both Liz and I will keep you posted on progress via our blogs between now and 11 April and hope that many of you will be able to come and share the day with us.

Shepton Giant Flea - won't be going ...

2009-12-09T22:29:00.003Z

Just to let you know that due to "circumstances beyond our control" I won't be standing at the Giant Flea this coming Sunday at Shepton. A friend is having my pitch so if you're planning on going do pop and say hello to Helen.

We've had a bit of a roller-coaster couple of weeks at home what with one thing and another, and it's been exceedingly busy at Dairy House, leaving me with no spare time to get organised for the Flea. Consequently I decided that health was more important and a stress-free few days were vital. After a chat with the organiser, Sue Ede, I've also decided not to do the one in January, but I am booking the February Flea (28 February) and will still have my usual pitch.

So, sorry Isabelle, I won't be taking the threads to Shepton, but let me know if there's anything you need in particular. And apologies to anyone else who was expecting to rummage through the lace and buttons on Sunday!

Sue

Inside or Outside ... It's in the Bag ...

2009-12-04T08:21:00.006Z

Clare Allen is one of my lovely customers. She regularly pops in to Dairy House looking for just the right lengths and styles of vintage fabric for her bags. This is a photo of one of her advertising cards showing a bag using fabric she bought from me a year or two ago.

Her bags are completely reversible with gorgeous fabric on one side and the softest complimenting nappa leather on the other. The choice is yours as to which is the inside and which is the out! The straps, available in two lengths and a variety of colours, are interchangeable, giving you endless possibilities to customise your bag.

The photos below are of another bag where my fabric has been used ... and I'm delighted to say that I am now the proud owner of said bag. Please excuse the backdrop - no time to set a proper scene this morning so the photos don't necessarily do it justice, but you'll get an idea!

The rivets on the base of the bag are on both sides as protection when you put your bag down and the hidden magnetic catch means that the bag will close whichever way round you choose to wear it.

Do pop and have a look at Clare's website. Some of you may already have met her, or her bags, as she has exhibited at the Country Living Fair and the Spirit of Christmas at Olympia.

Yellow is the Colour ...

2009-12-02T18:57:00.003Z

... or Mellow Yellow ... either way, Donovan has hit the nail on the head for the latest Dairy House colour combination ... Moira and I were busy this morning rounding up this week's selection! Pop over to the other blog to see all the pics, but here's the taster!

Coming Home ...

2009-11-26T23:28:00.003Z

Usually I listen to Radio 4 as I make the 40-minute journey to Dairy House 4 days a week, but recently I've transferred alliegance to Radio 2 for the outward journey, but return to Radio 4 on my way home.

I've never been a particularly great Terry Wogan fan, but do enjoy singing along to the songs of my youth - hopefully no-one notices!

Yesterday morning I set off as usual and drove the first couple of miles with tears streaming down my face as this was playing

Did any of you see them on the Evening of Remembrance on BBC1 on 7 November? I think I need to add their debut album onto my Christmas list.

Bridport Christmas Market: Saturday 28 November

2009-11-25T23:35:00.004Z

I should have mentioned this before, but those of you in the vicinity of Bridport, the south coast, Dorset or Somerset this weekend are in for a treat. Not only is there the usual street market on Saturday but also the Bridport Christmas Market in St Mary's Hall - full of wonderful textiles and other goodies to help you build up your stash of Christmas gifts!

I'll be there, along with The Washerwoman, Lindiblog, Vintage Lizzie and the other West Country textile dealers of Talent for Textiles fame. It promises to be a jolly day and the hall will be packed to the gunnels with linens and textiles and all sorts of other treats. Do come and see us if you can - and perhaps you'd like to bring fine weather with you!!

Christmas is coming ...

2009-11-24T10:10:00.004Z

Just a taster from the new post on the Dairy House blog!

Vintage & Handmade Fair - a few photos

2009-11-20T13:41:00.004Z

By now you will have read everyone else's blogs regarding the Fair. Most were quicker off the mark than I, but this is the first opportunity I've had to upload my (blurred) photos. Thankfully a few are OK!

I'm so glad I travelled up as far as Almondsbury on the Friday afternoon, to stay in the same hotel as Donna and her lovely Mum. We were greeted with a fair amount of blue sky when we set off on our 20-minute journey to Chipping Sodbury, and were all incredibly lucky to be able to unload our cars before the rains came.

Here's lovely Viv, aka Hens Teeth. Her work is superb and I'm hoping to commission her for a special something sometime in 2010.

And here are Jane (Jane and the Happy Crow) and Christine (The Sea Garden) - who were opposite me.

Sadly, no other photos of other people's stands came out well enough to post, and these are the best 2 photos of mine.

Our customers didn't desert us, despite the squally weather during the day, although the conditions were too bad for some. Such a shame, but very sensible not to travel long distances with such wind and rain.

Everyone worked so hard to make the day a success and certainly a jolly day was had by all.

I had a little suitcase of knitting and sewing patterns, together with some 1940s Woman and Woman's Own magazines. This knitting pattern caused quite a stir ... one lady purchased it for a knitting friend. I'd love to see the expression on her face when she opened her gift!

We all know by now that everyone had a lovely day, and so here's to May 2010 and every success to the Vintage & Handmade Fair No 4.

Vintage & Handmade Countdown ...

2009-11-02T23:03:00.010Z

Looking through my photo archives I've found something else which I plan to take to the V&H. One of these is sold, the other isn't. Whichever one isn't (I can't remember) will be coming with me ...

Plus a few bits and pieces like this ...

Did I tell you about the box of interesting bits I lost about 2 years ago? I found it last week and these will be making an appearance ...

As will plenty of this ...

And possibly this ...

I did wonder whether I should take some of this ...

but decided that I really didn't want to carry too much heavy stuff. Fabrics are heavy enough, but that has the added bonus of being unbreakable! Maybe the Toni Raymond pottery will have an outing at the May 2010 Vintage & Handmade Fair. I can't imagine I shall have sold it all by then!

I'm hoping someone will take a fancy to these ...

or possibly this gorgeous fabric which is, in fact, a pair of fairly short curtains. If they're too small for your window then perhaps the fabric should be given a new lease of life as a group of cushions ...

This South American apron along with a number of vintage printed pinnies are hoping they'll be packed in a bag as they'd quite like to find new homes ...

As always I shall be taking too much, but Gillie is coming with me this time, so I hope she'll be ready to flex her muscles and join in the melée - the long corridor between the carpark and the hall seemed incredibly long at the last Fair!! I hope it's grown shorter in the last 6 months!!

Needless to say, this is just the tip of the iceberg. There will be plenty of this ...

and plenty of these ...

in all colours, shapes and sizes!

And these are just the items already photographed. The rest will be a surprise!

Words to live by ...

2009-10-30T16:39:00.005Z

I'm displacing again, and doing some computer housekeeping. It seemed like a good idea at the time ...

I found the following, entitled 'Words to live by' filed away in 'My Documents'. Not sure when I received it, nor from whom, but thanks to whoever it was. I don't think I've breached copyright by blogging it - it was probably extracted from one of those silly round robin things that we all receive from well-meaning friends from time to time!!! Some are a wee bit silly, but a couple of them may cause a smile!

Accept that some days you're the pigeon,
and some days you're the statue.

Always keep your words soft and sweet,
just in case you have to eat them.

If you can't be kind, at least have the
decency to be vague.

Never put both feet in your mouth at the
same time, because then you don’t
have a leg to stand on.

Ever notice that the people who are late
are often much jollier than the people
who have to wait for them?

If ignorance is bliss, why aren't
more people happy?

You may be only one person in the world,
but you may also be the world to one person.

Some mistakes are too much fun
to only make once.

Don't cry because it's over;
smile because it happened.

We could learn a lot from crayons:
some are sharp, some are pretty, some
are dull, some have weird names, and
all are different colors but they all
have to learn to live in the same box.

A truly happy person is one who can
enjoy the scenery on a detour.

Happiness comes through doors you
didn't even know you left open.

Did I ever show you these photos? I'm guessing 1956 and 1960 but can't be certain! Long enough ago for it not to matter, even if it does seem like yesterday ...

After that little reminisce it's time to get on with what I was supposed to be doing before I got sidetracked ... sorting out the office in order to move around some furniture. I have to say I've more or less wasted my day off. It's been relaxing, but there was so much I needed to get done today ... including scrambling into the shed/studio while the weather was fine to find some specific items for the Vintage and Handmade Fair in two weeks' time. I think today was the last fine day, so the things I had in mind might just have to wait until the next V&H in May 2010

I've been itching to do some sewing again but until the office is sorted, and I have found a new home for my sewing machine, I'll have to contain myself. However, I finally picked up a crochet hook the other day, after popping along to the new bead/stitch shop at Semley which sells Debbie Bliss and Rowan yarns among other things. The shop is housed in a beatifully-converted barn and is less than a mile from Dairy House. I notice on their website that as well as their usual Monday-Saturday opening they are open this Sunday, 1 November. I'm not sure if this is a new thing for every Sunday or a one-off. Maybe they're going to see what Sunday opening is like in the run up to Christmas. If Sunday visitors to Dairy House are anything to go by I imagine it will certainly be worth their while. Yesterday in a quiet couple of hours at the end of the day a friend came to spend some time with me at Dairy House so that I could teach her to crochet! We have such plans ... I'm not sure that they'll come to fruition this side of Christmas, but there's always next year ... it'll be such fun to be creative again

Have a jolly weekend, one and all. I imagine it will be trick or treat for many. Not for me though, thank you very much!

Riding off into the sunset ...

2009-10-21T22:39:00.004+01:00

On the way home from Dairy House last week ...

A selection of goodies which may be making their way to the Vintage & Handmade Fair on 14 November ...

Plenty of photos added to the Dairy House blog yesterday. See you there!

Mission Impossible ... and a little displacing ...

2009-10-13T08:56:00.008+01:00

My daughter and her lovely hubby are coming for supper on Friday (although we're only an hour away it's difficult for us to meet up as we all work such long hours). My mission yesterday was to clear the sitting room floor and all other flat surfaces of stock, stock and more stock.

Needless to say the mission continues today as I got somewhat sidetracked yesterday. Because the old eiderdown I'd been unpicking was still needing to be emptied of feathers, Pauley and I attempted that for a change of activity. Many sneezes later that job was done.

The obvious next step as I was passing was to empty the car after the Giant Flea Market at Shepton on Sunday. Obvious because the contents of the sitting room (and by this time the kitchen, too!!) has to go somewhere and the studio is still awaiting a good clear out to make room for all these other things. It was such a lovely sunny day that it was far more important that I should be outside savouring the sun rather than inside squinting as the sun shone through the window don't you think?

In between all this I needed to sort some buttons into drawers and boxes. Have I ever mentioned I like drawers?? And buttons??

Another displacement activity was soon needed, so I sorted out the pile of recently acquired table linens, which had also found their way to the sitting room, into more piles. I'd cleared a space by removing the eiderdown and emptying a box, so there was room to make more piles! These fell into the categories of needing to be washed, just needing ironing, charity shop, polishing cloths for one of my DH dealers, keep for 'projects' and finally those beyond redemption. As luck would have it a Help the Aged worker dropped off a sack whilst I was emptying the cary. He's more than happy to take as much as I can leave outside for him tomorrow. Great ... that meant move on to attack the garage and find the 2 boxes and a bag of charity shop stuff that has been making its way further and further towards the back as other things have piled in!

So far this morning I have displaced admirably ... I've taken some photographs, and sat writing this post. Soon I shall have to be brave and put my sorting head on again in an attempt to reach the finishing post. I must finish today as Dairy House beckons tomorrow and Thursday, leaving Friday to food shop, take Mum to the garden centre before preparing for our visitors!

If I get a move on I could empty everything that remains in the sitting room out into the garden. It's another lovely day so maybe if I got that far I could then empty the shed and refill it ... and whilst I'm doing that I could begin to sort things into piles for the Vintage & Handmade Fair on 14 November and the Christmas Market in Bridport on 21 November. Now there's a good displacement activity! At least if I've emptied the house Pauley could stay inside and lock and bolt the doors so that nothing can creep back in (until Saturday)!

My vintage mannequins are breeding again. There are currently 2 in the hall, one in the car, one in the studio (plus the little wicker one I used to use for display at DH, and that scary one from way back with the wooden arms) and 2 at Dairy House. Prices range from £100 to around £350.

Moving on to blogland topics, Niki dropped off my calendar order at Shepton Flea on Sunday. Like this year's calendar, 2010 offers a vintage feast for your eyes every month, and each colour-themed photo has a backdrop of Scheurer fabric. I believe they will be available at the Vintage & Handmade Fair.

Last evening, when I'd finally escaped tidying mode, I caught up with a few blogs and, starting with Treefall saw that several bloggers have been making their own scarves. This prompted me (at midnight) to search out the scarf I made in 1978. It's a wool tartan and I'm delighted to say that those wool nibblers haven't found it in 31 years and it's (as we speak) moth-free. I've worn it every year, bar 2008, but it will become part of my 'keep warm at Dairy House' wardrobe any day now!

This particular scarf is over 5 feet long (64" width fabric) and the first one I made. That year there were many wool tartans and check fabrics available in the shops and I made and sold endless scarves by simply stitching along the sides and ends, and fraying up to the stitching. At the sides I stitched a mere ¼" in, to has as little fraying as possible, but I left a couple of inches each end to make a decent frayed edge. Such a quick and easy method. I used to do the sewing when I got home from work while Hannah played. We would then drive to collect Pauley from work and I would fray the edges while we sat in the car waiting for him. Gillie's then husband worked at the same place and we would park our cars side by side and chat while I frayed. I'd forgotten this, but when Gillie came back into our lives in 2002 (by visiting rather than just Christmas letters and cards) she reminded me, and said that whenever she thought of those Northampton days she thought of my scarves!!! Fame, had I but known it

So ... the time has come. I can't put off the evil moment any longer ... shower, dress, attack ... I may be gone for a while ...

Update: I've received an email request from Hannah for baked ham, mashed potato and gravy! As the clearing has progressed reasonably well so far I thought I could spare a moment or two to look through this ...

I now know how I must lay the table ...

and how to cook the meal ...

Catching Up ...

2009-09-29T18:38:00.003+01:00

Well ... catching up with what? Catching up first of all with family for a very special 90th birthday party at the weekend. Mum's sister-in-law, my aunt, had a wonderful party at her home in Northamptonshire - Stoke Bruerne, to be precise. Those of you who enjoy narrow boat holidays, live in Northamptonshire or have an interest in the waterways of Britain will have heard of Stoke Bruerne, I'm sure.

We stayed on the farm again for 2 nights, and I'm pleased to say that the whole weekend was full of sunshine. There were about 90 guests at the party and it was great to catch up with cousins - I think it was almost a full compliment - aunts and uncles, and to say hello to people Paul and I hadn't seen seen for several years. I haven't asked permission, so won't post a photo of the birthday girl, but here's a piccie of the very tasty cake!

Secondly, Mum and I spent a windy day in Dorset last Tuesday - Burton Bradstock to be precise. This is our favourite place for a day by the sea, and although it was a wee bit chilly we had a lovely sea blow, followed by lunch at the Hive Café where we chatted with a lovely elderly lady from Lancashire who now lives in Bridport. She was such fun to chat to whilst we ate our lunch. Here's Mum setting off in the direction of West Bay (not that we walked that far!).

We had a quick look at Chesil Beach but didn't fancy trying to walk along the shingle so decided the quick look was enough.

Even more of a catch-up are my purchases from the 3-day Antiques Fair at Shepton Mallet the weekend before last. This fabulous printer's tray full of letters and punctuation is delightful. The letters are loose, so I'm not sure yet whether to sell the complete package or whether to sell the letters individually. I think I shall probably hold out for selling the lot as a whole. I have some loose ones which I'll try selling separately and see how they go.

And what do you think of this little collection? A pint-sized ironing board, clothes airer and mangle. All purchased at Shepton Mallet and destined for the Vintage & Handmade Fair on 14 November.

I've just looked out of the window. I hope you've all noticed the beginnings of yet another glorious sunset. Haven't we been lucky this last week? Mind you, those gardeners and farmers amongst us are desperate for rain!

As for the rest of September, I seem to have been inundated with paperwork, phone calls, customers at Dairy House (not complaining) and the month has flown by even faster than August.

October starts with a trip to see Donna. She is holding her Autumn Open House Sale on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Gillie and I are off to see her on Friday when I think we shall be meeting up with Liz and a few other textile/vintage dealers. Gillie and I plan to smell the sea at Appledore before travelling home and I'm led to believe, by the person we're visiting there, that a new shop has opened there, selling ... CHOCOLATE! It would be rude not to go, wouldn't it!!

In case October sets off at a cracking pace and I have to run to catch up, have a lovely start to Autumn, and hopefully I'll manage to post again before Halloween!

COD - Chest of Drawers ... or ... Compulsive Obsessive Disorder ... You Choose!

2009-09-04T14:09:00.007+01:00

As you know, I don't seem to be able to pass a bank of drawers without coveting and/or buying. Well, these beauties are now in situ at DH and I'm hoping to fill them over the weekend.

I dusted them thoroughly yesterday, and they are now sitting patiently waiting to be fed!

You could perhaps say that they hit you in the face as you walk through the door, but I love them! All that acreage of drawer space in which to hide everything for my customers to rummage through. You, of all people, will know that drawers are designed for rummaging, so I'm just pandering to you, really, and their acquisition has nothing to do with my obsession at all ... and if you believe that ...

The Scheurer fabrics have been out on display since I put them in the shop, but I think they should be stored safely in the drawers for a while. They are still available for sale, but are safer tucked away where they won't get dusty. I still have the glass-fronted drawers, but these have been shifted to the other wall. They have been housing table linens etc for several months, but I think I may have a complete drawer-change.

You may remember the 2 sets of small drawers (one showing in the above pics) which I filled with haberdashery bits and pieces, buttons, lace etc. Well one of these sets is now for sale, being superfluous to requirements (can I really mean that?).

***

Before you go, have a look at the Dairy House blog!

***

Today is my day at home (the first one in weeks) and I'm trying to organise/clear/attack the shed/studio to create space for the pile of stock which has been on display in the middle of our sitting room floor for the past x weeks. Pauley has been incredibly accommodating and has ignored it but I can't stand it any longer. I'm hoping that by the end of the day I shall have found the floor ... until the next time!

***

EDIT:
I have a quantity of (probably discontinued) ZOFFANY WALLPAPER. There are at least 12 rolls of each of the following designs:
Bay Garland from the Hilliard Collection (primrose yellow background with pale blue leaves and ochre trellis pattern)
Obelisk Toile from the Hilliard Collection (primrose yellow background, ochre and shades of blue)
Seed Pearl from the Hilliard Collection (powder blue background with pale yellow)
Nostel Sprig from the Hilliard Collection (paprika background with cream)
Florentine Lily from the Black Book Collection (brick red/terracotta background with darker fleur de lys style pattern)
Clarendon from the Black Book Collection (pale and darker cream stripes)
Lennel from the Black Book Collection (dark blue background with black and gold)

If anyone is interested please email and I'll forward photos etc. Obviously postage would be high but if you live anywhere near Somerset or Dorset (or Northamptonshire as I'll be visiting at the end of September) then collection would be a possibility. I would be happy to sell the rolls at £5 each. They came as part of a job lot from an interior designer clearing her store!!

Fabulous Fabric ...

2009-08-26T07:46:00.005+01:00

One of our dealers went to Kempton yesterday to buy at the fortnightly Fair and came back to Dairy House with the most amazing 4-fold screen. It's quite damaged in that the fabric is past its best in places, but she didn't get it through the door before I'd snapped it up. If anyone can shed any light on these 2 fabrics - one on the front, one on the back - then I'd be delighted to know your thoughts.

One item that slipped through my net last week, and is for sale in her room (was tempted but I am enjoying it when on duty at Dairy House instead of buying!) is this charming Victorian push-along wooden horse. Isn't he beautiful? She came back with another horse on wheels yesterday, and I'll take photos when he finally comes in the shop.

Finally, I took down the scaffold tower yesterday, which can mean only one thing ... the Cheese Room painting is finished! The floor will be cleaned this afternoon and dealers are moving in from tomorrow (Thursday) so that we're all set for 1st September (closed BH Monday). Photos on the Dairy House blog shortly.

Agriculture and Horticulture ...

2009-08-16T22:56:00.004+01:00

I was up in Northamptonshire again on Friday and Saturday, and went here again ...

Just look how the calves have grown in the few weeks since I was there last (about 8 weeks ago). The calf suckling in this picture looks almost as large as its mum. Amazing!

And here are a couple of photos of the only showy flowers in our garden. Personally I love white flowers, and used to grow white Japanese anemones. Here we only seem to have pink. Mum,

on the other hand has all white ones in her garden ... apart from one pink one I dug up from ours and planted in hers when she wasn't looking!

Hope you all have a jolly week. I shall be cleaning those blue RSJs and painting for most of the week.

A Few Goodies ...

2009-08-13T19:24:00.011+01:00

I was going to call this post Friday's Favourites ... until I realised it is only Thursday! Heyho ...

So, here we go with a post full of photos showing what you see as you walk into my haberdasher's dream just inside the entrance at Dairy House. I'll post photos from other parts of DH on the DH blog later. I realise that some of these are a wee bit blurred. Apologies, but put it down to old age or somesuch other that might get me a sympathy vote!!

Finally, here's what I just had to succumb to this afternoon. When a girl comes in with a basketful of boxes like this offering a Thursday special on cakes, what was I supposed to do ...

I took plenty of photos around the rest of Dairy House today, so I'll post those on the other blog, but probably not until Saturday or Sunday evening.

Have a jolly weekend ...

Portscatho and the Home Spun Fair

2009-08-08T08:21:00.003+01:00

This was our first view of the sea at 8.00 am on Sunday morning. Beautiful ... and what a great start to the day.

This photo was taken within the first half-hour of opening the doors. It just got busier as the day progressed, and this was the only time I had a chance to take my camera out of my bag. I took a few similar shots but this gives you an idea of what we had in store for the rest of the day. Michele (Cowboys and Custard) was in the far corner to the right of the door. Viv (Hens Teeth) was just under the stage so I got to chat to her when time permitted. Clare (Daisy Darling) was on the stage along with a few others, so from time to time we were able to grin at one another through the crowds!

My table was up on the stage with a great view of everything going on. I can't show you how it was laid out because these lovely customers were all in the way!!

But at least I can show you 'Ted' with his jaunty hat. He came home again with me. He needs a good home and although his eyes are a little wonky, he does still have his sight and, what's more, his growl (which to me sounds rather more like a lamb!!). He's quite tall, although I haven't measured him as yet. Let me know if you think you might like him to share your life.

The patchwork quilt was brought to me at Dairy House a month or so ago and has now gone to a new home. I was pleased with this little vignette, but felt that the rest of my stall never really got set out properly. Still, it didn't seem to matter, as everyone loved rummaging through the fabrics, threads and other goodies, and the car was much emptier when we loaded up at the end of the day.

From the same vantage point (Portscatho carpark) this was our last view of the sea about 6.30 pm before we set off back to our B&B.

What an amazing day from all aspects. The weather was glorious - not like the 4-hour trip down in the rain and our return journey in torrential rain. We stopped off in Lostwithiel to deliver a purchase to a dealer in the town - lovely shop Deja Vu (has a website which I can't remember at this precise moment). We visited some of the other antique shops there before lurching on to Ashburton for a brief stop. It was then a case of let's get home. It was still raining by the time we got back to Somerton - only to find that the rain had only just begun and Mum had been gardening all day!

I've put my name down for another Home Spun next summer!

New Blog

2009-07-31T01:12:00.002+01:00

For want of anything better to do (the list is endless, but this seemed the most pleasant option) I have created a new blog this evening devoted to Dairy House. As all the posts on Vintage to Victorian seem to relate to DH at the moment I thought maybe it should have its own blog in order for VtoV to maintain its own identity!

Nothing much over there yet, but do pop and have a look if you have time and let me know how the colours appear on your screen. They look OK on mine, and are fairly similar to the Dairy House website, but who knows ...

I should have been pricing up the goodies piled up on the sitting room floor in readiness for the Home Spun Fair in Portscatho on Sunday. Things already in the car are priced and ready to go, but the ones Pauley's been tripping over all week aren't quite ready yet! Nothing like leaving things till the last minute!

I'm planning on taking a couple of the lovely Welsh blankets I bought when we popped 'over the border' a few weeks ago (judging by the weather forecast we may need them to keep warm!), an eiderdown or maybe 2, a few interesting vintage goodies, plenty of fabrics, buttons, haberdashery, lace, all my usual bits and pieces ... another spiced apple cake for the tearoom ... and Pauley! He can hardly contain his excitement (I could be fibbing here) and has of course packed his bucket and spade and plenty of winter woollies ! He usually steers well clear of any of the fairs I do, not least because there's rarely any room for him in the car! However, I've told him all about everyone attending and he's trying to remember what and who belongs to whom in readiness for the introductions. Hmmmm ... time will tell ...

Eeek, just seen the time. I shall be struggling to be bright eyed and bushy tailed in the morning and there's me with so much to do ... so little time ... heyho!

Spot the Difference ...

2009-07-24T20:00:00.005+01:00

Well, progress seems slow, but we're getting there. Considering I'm doing all the painting myself in between our little holiday forays and doing the 'front of house' thing at Dairy House, perhaps it's not as slow as I imagine.

I've achieved quite a lot today and if there are any males reading the blog and looking at the photos, I know I'm working from the bottom up instead of the top down, but there's method in my apparent madness. I'm painting everything that I can reach easily first, so that when I can reach no higher that will be the time I get a quote from a man-who-can to do the high stuff. Funds don't run to having said man-who-can doing it all. There's a tight budget and until it's finished I'm obviously not getting rent in to cover the rent going out. So ... bottom to top it is!

Actually, I'm seriously considering buying a scaffold tower. It'll be cheaper than paying said man and I can always sell it afterwards, loan it out, or keep it for when other parts of DH need decorating. Could be fun ...

As you can see, the ceiling needs Work with a capital 'W'. There have been leaks in the past, the steel RSJs are rusty in places, and the concrete ceiling needs considerable tlc. I would like to paint the RSJs the same sage green that we used for the others, which matches the exterior paintwork. It will make all the difference, I'm sure.

An interesting array of water pipes at ceiling height. Nothing I can do about those apart from vacuum the dust off them. They're covered in black or blue sponge insulation stuff ... lovely! Perhaps no-one will notice when there are lots of goodies to see at ground level!

Still room for improvement, but I'd like to think that the middle of August or beginning of September at the very latest should see The Cheese Room open for business! I've let all the available space, so I really am itching to get it finished.

***

Meanwhile, we had another little holiday but I didn't take my camera out of my bag the whole time! We left Dairy House last Sunday afternoon and drove to the (needs must) Billingshurst Travelodge this time. Monday saw us baking in Brighton, doing a little shopping and wandering through The Lanes, and on Tuesday morning we set off bright and early to shop till we dropped at Ardingly Antiques Fair. Poor Pauley managed most of the morning, but had to succumb to Sudoku and his book until I was ready to leave soon after 3.30. It was another scorching day, although it apparently rained all day in Dorset and Somerset. We drove home through rain, but by the time we got back, after a very slow journey, the sun was shining here, too.

I bought well (I think) and at the appointed hour met Lois and her sister for a cuppa before setting off home. This was the first time we'd met although I've bought from Lois's eBay shop for several years, and she's bought from me. It was great to chat face-to-face instead of by email, and we spent a jolly hour or so chatting and buying and discussing!!

So ... one more 'fortnight's holiday' next weekend when we travel down to Cornwall to the Homespun Fair organised by Jane and Christine (see the lovely photographic link on the sidebar), and then it's back to painting with a vengeance. Whilst we're in Cornwall I'm going to meet up with an old school friend who I haven't seen since 1966!!! She contacted me through FriendsReunited just a few weeks ago, and as she lives in St Ives it seemed like too good an opportunity to miss. Serendipity at work! We're hoping to meet up for a cream tea and a 43-year catch-up!!!!! Pauley's going to love it, isn't he!!

Have a lovely weekend, one and all. Judging by the fraught mothers and noisy children passing through Dairy House it seems that the schools have well and truly broken up for the summer. May your days be filled with fun and laughter, not screams and fights!!!!

Cheese Room update and another holiday!!

2009-07-18T20:26:00.005+01:00

These photos were taken a couple of weeks ago but this is the first opportunity I've had to upload them onto the computer.

As you can see the 'office' structure has disappeared from the end of the room, and a hole has been knocked through.

Since these were taken all the rubbish has been cleared and I've begun painting the walls. The electrician has done something with the suspect strip lighting and progress has been made, despite a leaking roof which we weren't expecting! In fact we have achieved a great deal and it's beginning to take shape. All the space has been let although we won't be ready for a grand opening until probably mid-August.

***

Just before work began on the Cheese Room Pauley and I had another of our 'two-week' holidays - a trip to Wales from close of DH business on the Sunday until the Tuesday evening. Needless to say it rained most of the time, but as this was a buying trip rather than R&R it didn't matter too much. I was on a mission to source Welsh blankets for a customer and lots of other stock. It was a success and Trecastle Coaching Inn is to be recommended.

However, after a visit to Liz (Pretty Practicals) we stopped off to watch the Red Kite feeding frenzy. What amazing birds they are. It was a site not to be missed if you are every near Rhayader.

I took loads of photos but the birds were so swift I had difficulty in catching them - I ended up with quite a few empty sky pics!!!

And here is where we didn't stay!!! Almost as eerie as Psycho ! You might need to click on this one to see what a des res it is!

And this gorgeous clematis is climbing up the wall of Mum's house. It's a mass of flowers, the best it's been.

Another Cheese Room update soon, and maybe some photos of yet another fortnight's break!!! I've realised that these 2-nighters that we do are much nicer than a 'proper' holiday. It suits us both better to just be away for a few days at a time, and by treating these breaks as 'major' holidays we get much more out of them and enjoy our time away. Each moment is precious and not to be wasted. I wish we'd thought of doing this years ago. A couple of hours' drive from DH after shutting up shop on a Sunday afternoon will get us quite a distance, just in time for an evening meal. We then have a whole day on the Monday to see the sights, before meandering back the pretty way on the Tuesday, in time for me to open up on the Wednesday. Perfect!

Caroline Testout Revisited ... and The Cheese Room

2009-07-03T14:15:00.005+01:00

Remember Caroline Testout? These are all my posts relating to the purchase of the tablecloth bearing her name and the follow-up information about her.

You may recall that I bought the rose from Peter Beales as a bare-rooted bush last autumn. Well, here she is in all her glory.

The perfume is very fresh, not a really heady, intense old-fashioned rose scent, but beautiful for all that. The individual flowers are incredibly heavy and droop down almost as soon as they begin to open, so catching one to photograph isn't easy. It could be that I haven't looked after her very well, and not fed her sufficiently (at all), resulting in her stems being rather less than sturdy. I have to say that she has had to fend for herself rather more than be nurtured, and so top marks to her. She obviously has a determined streak as we have been rewarded with several blooms, and she has also fought off an attack by this caterpillar. Pauley looked it up and told me what it was before seeing it off, but I'm afraid I've forgotten. It's yesterday's news and I have other thoughts occupying my mind at the moment.

And here, for your delectation, are a few "before" photos of what will become known as "The Cheese Room" at Dairy House. Work begins on Monday and with a lot of luck and a fair wind as they say, we hope to have it up and running in about a month's time. We're having a reallocation of space for a few dealers, and once we've sorted that I shall know what space I have available to rent out to new dealers. This new ground floor area is fully allocated, and there's quite a buzz of excitement as you can imagine. Hopefully everyone will be happy with the end result, but as you can see ... there's a fair way to go yet!! All it needs is a little vision ... and some elbow grease!

Dairy House is expanding ...

2009-06-30T22:27:00.003+01:00

... and you're the first to know.

On Monday work begins in the vacant unit adjacent to Dairy House. A chance enquiry to the landlord's agent a couple of weeks ago saw me hot-footing it to view 500 square feet of empty space which conveniently abuts the wall of one of our ground floor rooms. It transpires that it was part of the old Semley Dairy (see below) with the same black and white tiled floor, where the cheese was made.

Across the road is the railway line which runs from Exeter (I think) to London, and in the pre-Beeching days Semley Station was operational. In the late 1800s milk from Semley Dairy was put on the London train twice a day. In fact, a reference on this website states: "Creameries were located in country areas, usually beside a main line to allow fast transit to the town(s) being served. The first rail connected milk collection depot at Semley in Wiltshire opened in 1871 alongside the LSWR main line. This was the first wholesale milk depot built to supply London."

And we are mentioned again "The earliest wholesale depot created primarily for the London market was opened at Semley in 1871" From: 'Other industries', A History of the County of Wiltshire: Volume 4 (1959), pp. 220-253. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=102814 Date accessed: 30 June 2009.

So, we have history! And some of you may have spotted the 'deliberate' mistake. According to the quotes Semley is in Wiltshire. It is, to all intents and purposes, but because the postal town is Shaftesbury, which is in Dorset, Semley is these days listed as being in Dorset. Confusing? Yes, indeedy! With no disrespect to those of you living in Wiltshire, and when all said and done I lived there, too, for 8 years, I prefer to think of us as being in Dorset.

However, I digress ...

Next Monday, as I said, sees work commencing in the vacant unit and, before we know it, hey presto, there will be a hole knocked through and we shall have more space. There's lots to be done before we are fully operational in "The Cheese Room" and I have yet to fill the space with dealers. However, the opportunity was another one that had to be taken in the lifetime of the opportunity (long-time followers of my blog will know this maxim) and had I not taken the plunge the space would have been let to someone else and the moment would have passed, possibly never to return. As there is absolutely no other building into which we could expand there was really no question of whether or not I was being sensible.

I'll keep you posted, and will show before and after photos soon. Little did we know when I asked you to join me on the Dairy House journey that it would involve building works and expansion. Fingers and toes crossed, please!

Blogfest at Shepton Mallet

2009-06-21T18:05:00.002+01:00

Well, what a day for seeing Bloggers ... the Washerwoman was stalling out on the other side of the hall, Daisy Darling stopped by a couple of times (thank you Clare for the life-saver coffee), Lesley from This'nThat, Lucy (and Mr) Bloom, Niki (Nostalgia), Maxine from MarmaladeYarns came to say hello (super to meet you Maxine), Donna (The Fabric of my Life/Donna Flower) and I may have missed out a couple more (apologies if I have).

Thanks to you all for your purchases, and to any other readers of my blog who made purchases today.

I should have linked to your blogs but I have no brain left this evening. Those of you who saw me today will have noticed (to the extent that you actually pointed out in one or two cases) that I didn't really seem to have my mind on the job, and was vague, to say the least. To be honest I was chasing my tail somewhat, having anticipated a poor turnout within the Showering Pavilion because of the nice weather. I was expecting everyone to stay outside rather than come in to buy. I had one complete table of £1 items, and it drew customers like bees round a honeypot. I was quite overwhelmed by the frenzy once or twice and knew I was 'not my normal self'!!! Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible, all being well. I think I shall do the same next time (30 August) as it's a brilliant way to clear 'tired' stock.

If I can stay awake long enough we're going to pop to our local for a meal, so I'd better go and make myself look respectable (do people still say that or is it just a blast from my past?).

I seem to remember suggesting that I would take photos today. I took out my camera once, and then had a flurry of customers so put it away again. So ... no photos at all. Sorry!

Shepton Mallet - Giant Flea - 21 June

2009-06-19T09:06:00.005+01:00

It's time once again for the Giant Flea at Shepton Mallet (Bath & West Showground). The weather is set fair for Sunday (hopefully those of us inside will get some visitors though!!) and the car is already groaning at the weight of what I'm piling in. I shall be in my usual spot, halfway down the first aisle in the hall, opposite the sweetie man!

The usual fabric bundles, lace and larger fabric lengths will be on offer, together with one table full of £1 items. I have too much stock and I need room to buy more!!!! Included in the £1 selection will be linens, fabric, balls of DMC Coton Perle, tapestry wool, lace, vintage scarves etc.

I shall also be taking some French linen/hemp smocks (great for gardening), baby gowns and a mixture of goodies extracted from Dairy House - including a couple of eiderdowns and possibly the odd quilt. And how could I forget ... buttons ... buttons ... and more buttons!

Open to the public from 9.30 until 4.00. Hope to see you there ...

Bull at a Gate ...

2009-06-12T18:32:00.006+01:00

What a fine fellow! (Click to enlarge - he has a gorgeous face close up!)

... and other farm tales (or is it tails?) ...

Mum and I had a lovely couple of days 'back home' with my aunt, uncle and cousin on the farm. Saw the rest of the aunts and a couple more cousins, caught up with family news and generally had fun. I was so intent on taking photos of cows, calves and a couple of bulls that I completely forgot about taking pics of the older generation as they all sat round the table on Monday evening. Mum, 2 of her sisters, one brother, 2 sisters-in-law and a brother-in-law all chatting away ... and I realised afterwards that the combination of their ages was in excess of 580 years!! How silly that I didn't think to take a piccie. Apologies to the aunt who sometimes reads my blog ... but don't worry, I've mentioned no names!!!!

Mind you, my 3 youngest cousins and I add up to 195 years which is totally ridiculous!!!! Silly what you can do with numbers, isn't it.

I came back totally refreshed, but after a couple of hectic days at DH followed by house calls on Wednesday and Thursday on the way home, I'm back to being shattered. It's an early start tomorrow as the Semley Auctions are on, and we always open up earlier on Sale days.

Hopefully things will slow down again next week so I have time to breathe before the Shepton Mallet Giant Flea a week on Sunday, 21 June.

Have a lovely weekend one and all, regardless of what the weather has in store.

Send Her Victorious ...

2009-06-05T21:11:00.005+01:00

Just look at what someone brought into Dairy House the other day. I wasn't there, but what a relief that the previous owner (who is still with us as a dealer) had the foresight to buy a number of items that the lady was offering. When I went round switching on lights yesterday morning I couldn't believe what was there with a price tag I couldn't ignore ...

Mum and I had fun photographing it this morning. The first pics were taken in our garden, but the one where it is suspended on a cane was done 'over the fence'.

So that I'm not inundated with enquiries, the dress is NOT for sale. It's most definitely a keeper! It was made for the lady who was selling it, and she wore it on Coronation Day - 2 June 1953. I estimate from the size that she was probably about 6 or 7 at the time. I don't suppose many of you remember the Coronation. I was 3 years old and definitely remember it. My great aunt and uncle and their daughter, Dad's cousin, came to watch it on our 7" black and white television. They brought me a present of a little canvas 'bucket' bag (all the rage at the time) and I remember being too shy to open it in front of them, so I went upstairs to my bedroom to see what I'd been given. Shy? Moi? Those were the days!!!

The flags, on the other hand, ARE for sale. Email if you want to buy. They're diminishing rapidly, so don't wait to see them at the next fair - they may have gone!

I also bought this gorgeous quilt yesterday. Another keeper - for the time being at least!!! And look at those fabulous buttons. They're huge - approximately 2¼" (5 cm) square.

I'm off on another 'fortnight's holiday' on Sunday - back on Tuesday. Pauley is staying at home to hold the fort. I'm taking Mum back 'home' to Northants to stay with family. So looking forward to (a) the break, (b) seeing aunts, uncles and cousins and (c) staying on the farm surrounded by fabulous South Northamptonshire countryside. Photos may, or may not, follow. I also intend to collect another purchase while I'm away. Photos of that WILL appear here in due course all being well.

Have a lovely weekend. Not too sure what the weather is going to be doing, but I won't mind if it's a tad cooler!

Guess the Plant ...

2009-06-04T20:36:00.004+01:00

No prizes, just wondered how many of you know the answer ...

ALSO AVAILABLE IN WHITE ...

And here are a few more photos taken in Mum' gorgeous garden. Considering it was bare ground when she moved in 2½ years ago, she has totally transformed it into a wonderful haven. Not bad for an octogenarian ...

The greenhouse is Mum's but the shed/studio is ours. The variegated private and pittosporum mark the boundary between our 2 gardens. The little stepping stone pathway is designed to make it easy for me to hop over the fence and make my way across the garden! Clever Mummy!

"Geoff Hamilton" didn't seem to mind moving from Northampton and seems to have settled in well!

It just shows what can be achieved if you set your mind to it, doesn't it. All you need is time, enthusiasm and a love of gardening!

There'll be another post a bit later. Something totally different - to include my 'purchase of the month' (well, one of them!!!!)

All the Fun of the Fair ...

2009-06-01T18:04:00.006+01:00

Lucy Bloom on the left and Christine (The Sea Garden) on the right, with Kathy Jobson's jewellery in the left foreground

Amanda (Shabby Chick) dashing from stall to stall (Christine's and mine) before the rush!

Niki and her Mum putting the finishing touches to her stall

Jane and the Happy Crow - such amazing work!

Christine again - she and Jane were opposite me and I didn't get a chance to waft around with the camera!

Let battle commence - it seemed like that at times! This was the first few minutes after 10 o'clock when the doors opened. I was the furthest away from the entrance, but once they all came in you couldn't see across the aisles, and I certainly didn't see Christine or Jane again for several hours!!

Not many photos, I'm afraid! These were all taken as we were setting up, and then the mad rush began, and nothing was further from my mind than taking piccies!

You'll have read others' blogposts by now and will know that the Vintage and Handmade Fair at Chipping Sodbury was a resounding success, surpassing all expectations, to the extent that we're all champing at the bit waiting to prepare for the next one, which I believe will be in November - unless Jayne and Michele have other plans!!

I've had some charming emails from people I met on Saturday - some bloggers, some not - and I can only say that the whole day was an absolute pleasure. A dear friend arrived about an hour after we opened - I'd told her about the Fair but didn't know whether she would be able to come - suddenly, there she was, standing at the end of my stall. She stayed all day, and was such a help relieving shoppers of their money! It was so nice to see her as we don't get to meet up very often as she lives 99.9 miles away according to the AA routefinder website!

It was also super to see all the bloggers from the first V&H Fair once again and to meet some new ones who I've only exchanged blog comments with up to now. Christine, of the Sea Garden, was placed opposite me, beside her friend Jane (Jane and the Happy Crow). It was a treat to catch up with her again - she was one of my regular customers when I used to do the 3-day Shepton Mallet Antiques Fair, and I haven't seen her since last May when I did my last Fair at Shepton (other than when she came as a shopper to the last V&H). A lovely lady with gorgeous items on her stand, which I only had time to view very briefly.

I can't believe I didn't get to do any serious shopping. I managed a quick whizz round, buying a couple of pieces from Amanda (Shabby Chick - feathers and a gorgeous embroidered teacosy that needs a padded lining) and Penny (French nightshirts, which make good gardening smocks!). I also became the proud owner of Bluebell - Niki's beautiful doll with the patchwork skirt shown in her post on Friday. I intended to go back to Viv's stall to look more carefully, and I flew past both Sal's and Lucy's stands in the rush.

I made some amazing sales and I'd like to thank everyone for their lovely comments and for handing over their hard-earned cash! Finally (yet another Oscar speech) thanks indeed to Jayne and Michele for all their hard work and planning. Everything ran so smoothly, and as I mentioned in a comment on someone's blog earlier, I've never seen so many happy, smiling faces for such a long time in one place. Perfect!

I went home via Bradford-on-Avon to join in Hannah's 35th birthday barbecue. I managed to last for a couple of hours, but then had to admit defeat and set off for home. Such a shame, as it was a beautiful evening, in lovely surroundings, with a wonderful mix of family and friends. Here she is with her matron of honour (I can't quite believe it's 2 years since you all shared the wedding with me - and certainly don't believe she's 35! It was surely only yesterday ...)

Vintage and Handmade - Tomorrow

2009-05-29T16:02:00.002+01:00

Please be informed I've taken the cake out of the freezer!!!! All I have to do is remember to put it in the car ...

... which is loaded up - far too much stuff and the things I'm leaving behind are probably the ones you all want!!

But that's it. I shall now wrap Hannah's birthday prezzies (35 tomorrow) - I don't feel quite old enough to have a 35-year-old but I must be - and then I plan to enjoy half an hour or so in the garden ... The sitting room is still full of bits and pieces which makes me wonder what exactly I'm taking to the Fair, but that can all stay where it is until Sunday/Monday when I'll endeavour to blitz it ...

I hope the meteorologists have got it right this time, and that the weather IS going to be fine tomorrow. Safe journeys everyone, and see you there ...

Along the Wayside ...

2009-05-24T23:13:00.001+01:00

Let Them Eat Cake ...

2009-05-23T19:12:00.003+01:00

Look at this ... doesn't it look good enough to eat?

As you may know, those of us having a stall at the Vintage & Handmade Fair next Saturday each take a cake or equivalent to ensure that the Vintage Tea Room is kept supplied throughout the day. I am no cake-maker! My 2 claims to cake-making fame are: (1) binning the first Christmas cake I ever made in 1971 (I tested it before buying the marzipan and found I couldn't get the knife through the crust(!!!!!) so St Michael, Mr Waitrose or Mr Tesco made my Christmas cake for the next 35 years, and I don't buy them now), and (2) making a coffee and walnut cake about 10 years later, I was convinced the recipe didn't call for eggs. A beautiful flan shape (quite tasty, I might add) came out of the oven, more biscuit than cake I'd have said. A couple of months later I thought I'd try another one and there, staring me in the face on the page the list of ingredients stated, as large as life, 3 eggs (not one, not 2 but THREE). Heyho ... actually I continued to make that cake for a couple of years and every time it was a great success, but now it's not safe for me to make any sort of cake as it would be 3 slices for me and one for Pauley, so I have conveniently forgotten how ...

Consequently ... rather than take a tin of shortbread to the V&H Fair as I did last time ... the above was brought to me at Dairy House today by a lovely customer who makes cakes for the Pythouse Walled Garden a couple of miles up the road. Those of you who have visited Dairy House may well have been there for coffee or lunch before or after your DH visit. Glenda very kindly agreed to make a spiced apple cake for me, brought it in today and I now have to freeze it. Will someone please remind me to take it out of the freezer on Friday evening, and put it in the car at crack of dawn on Saturday morning!! Isn't it wrapped beautifully with its spotty cellophane, raffia, alchemilla mollis leaves and gorgeous white hibiscus flower. You may need to click and enlarge to get the full effect!

***

Hannah's florist needed lots of old bottles for a wedding this weekend, so I rummaged through 4 tucked away boxes I'd forgotten about, soaked them all in Oxi-clean and lined them up on the window sill. Jo now has 2 full boxes, but I kept these lovely aqua and blue ones. I can't decide whether to take them to the Fair or whether they would be better on our bathroom window sill. I have a few days to decide. What I have packed for the Fair are a number of clear bottles very similar to those that Kirstie purchased from a reclamation yard. So, if anyone wants to follow in Kirstie's footsteps, I've probably packed 20!

This lovely hexagonal quilt topper came into my possession at auction last week. It's going with me to the Fair, as are the millinery flowers below.

I'll also be taking a few Scheurer fabrics, other fabrics, haberdashery bits and pieces, vintage embroidery silks, ribbons, buttons galore, possibly eiderdowns and Welsh blankets, and anything else that I can fit in the car! Let's hope the weather is as good next Saturday as it has been today!

London ... Pearly Queens ... Union Jacks ... V&H Fair

2009-05-14T21:23:00.010+01:00

For our birthdays (Pauley in February and me in March) Hannah presented us with ...

When we opened the card we found ...

arranged for a date to coincide with me having a free slot large enough to be able to take time out! As with our 'week's holiday' last September (one night away = one week), we have just spent a fortnight in London!!! We set off at close of Dairy House business on Sunday afternoon and booked in for our 2 night stay. The weather was gorgeous and on Monday morning we caught the tube to South Kensington and went somewhere neither of us has ever been before ...

the V&A Museum.

(You'll need to click and enlarge the photos to see the detail, as I'm sure you all know by now!)

What an amazing place. If you've never been then I thoroughly recommend a visit. We've decided we need to go again! The best part is you are allowed to take photographs in most areas (see the slide show below).

We wandered around some of it together, after making the garden café our first port of call,

... enamel mugs for our coffee!

and then Pauley enjoyed some of the art whilst I drooled over 17th century and later lace and textiles.

We had already decided to have a 'proper' lunch rather than a meal just prior to the Show, and as the roast lamb on offer in the V&A restaurant looked 'good enough to eat' that's what we had, sitting in beautiful surroundings, and enjoying a glass of Merlot ... I could get used to this!

I had to make a few purchased in the shop of course, and treated myself to a pair of millefiore earrings as I lost yet another earring somewhere on the streets of London. I have lost one earring a week for the last month. Why? Usually they have been unimportant, everyday ones which didn't cost a fortune, but the one I lost on Monday was gold, and the pair were the ones I wore for Hannah's wedding. They weren't overly expensive, but that's not the point, is it! I'm beginning to wonder whether I should stop wearing them all together ...

We then moved on to

Pauley was keen to see how much it had changed in the 50 years since his last visit ... quite a lot, as it happens! We didn't stay in there too long because it was too stuffy and claustrophobic but it was fascinating. So we beat a hasty retreat and decided to get on the tube again (lazy, some might say) for one stop, and enjoy the sunshine and fresher air in St James's Park. We helped ourselves to a couple of deckchairs (£1.50 each it transpired) and sat enjoying the beautiful sunshine (a bit breezy) and the opportunity to do absolutely nothing for well over an hour ...

... as you can see, Pauley took full advantage of the moment! And then my camera battery died. I had intended to charge it up overnight in readiness for the day ahead, but stupidly put the wrong charger in my bag!

We then meandered back down Victoria Street, in and out of a few shops, stopped for a cuppa and then getting ourselves into musical mode we went into Victoria Palace Theatre and took our seats. Oh boy ... what a performance! The lad who played Billy was amazing, as were all the other youngsters. The choreography was excellent - it must have been, because Pauley is still talking about it and as many of you know, he doesn't really do enthusiastic!!! The timing was spot on, and there were some comedic moments which had everyone laughing. There was a standing ovation with several curtain calls, and we came away grinning, having thoroughly enjoyed every moment.

As were were still in holiday mode on Tuesday morning we came home along the M4 rather than the A303, and stopped off at Hungerford so I could check out the antiques centres (purchases made - an early commemorative handkerchief, Cornishware and a pretty dressing table set, the latter destined for the V&H Fair). We also stopped at Marlborough where I bought some pretty French buttons and a mini chest of drawers painted turquoise (for the V&H) which may get photographed ...

Talking of the Vintage & Handmade Fair, and linking suitably with London and the title of this post, I bought these at the Shepton Mallet antiques fair last Friday

I haven't counted them yet, but I think there are 25-30. Most of them look to be about right for the Queen's Coronation in 1953, but I think a few may be older. They'll be for sale at the V&H Fair on 30th May.

This is just a drop in my ocean of mother-of-pearl buttons. I bought a huge jar of them about a month ago, and as if that wasn't enough I've now bought a huge bagful. I dread to think how many there are, but they weighed 3lbs. I may have to sell them by the ounce!

And finally, this bundle of old price tickets which I couldn't resist.

So ... there we are, then. That's some of what I've been up to since my last post. I'm sure there's more to tell you, but that'll have to wait for another day.

Victorian Scrapbooks

2009-05-05T11:56:00.006+01:00

Here are just a few of the pages of one book and individual cards of the other which I thought you might enjoy! Each book has over 40 pages (80 sides). Nice!!

Ahead of Myself ... (V&H Fair)

2009-05-04T13:36:00.006+01:00

So, it's 3½ weeks (or thereabouts) until the Vintage & Handmade Fair at Chipping Sodbury (if you are one of the few who has not heard of this Fair then please click on the link on the sidebar), and I'm already setting aside pieces of fabric and other goodies. This isn't my normal way of working at all ... Normal is 5 days before a Fair wondering which boxes of stock to load in the car and which items to remove from Dairy House without leaving it devoid of stock. Those of you who have been to Dairy House will know that these days I couldn't physically get all the stock on display there into the car in one go, so there's little likelihood of anyone noticing that I have removed anything!!

I've bought some beautiful pieces of fabric recently (in addition to the Scheurer samples) and a number of them will be coming with me to the V&H Fair.

Just look at these chimney pots. Isn't this fabulous? It's only a small piece, being once part of a 1940s (I think) dress belonging to the mother of the person I bought it from.

I plan to take a few other bits and pieces - not just fabric and haberdashery. A doll's cot and wardrobe may end up in the car, along with the odd painting or mirror or lampshade ... or ... who knows! It wouldn't do for you to see everything now, would it!!

Anemones, anyone?

A week or so ago I majored on buttons, huge MOP buttons, smaller MOP buttons, a few Bimini glass buttons and some Bimini-style buttons. I've photographed them on this gorgeous blue/green shot silk which I've spent some time ironing this morning. There are 3 lengths of it totalling approximately 12 metres. Not sure whether it'll sell, but I'm enjoying looking at it!

These buttons would have looked good on this beautiful floral and striped fabric - see how the colours match! Shame the camera battery's flat! There are 4 lengths of this for sale.

The colours of this ballerina fabric are quite subtle, but the background is actually eau-de-nil rather than the grey shade that shows on my screen. This is another smallish piece from the same source as the chimney pots.

More recent purchases include 2 Victorian scrap albums and 40+ pages from another which had finally fallen apart. I think the photos will have to be part of my next post as I need to get on and begin the list of things to do today which I haven't even started yet. Still, what's a Bank Holiday for if not for displacing ...

Update:

Having crossed one thing off my 'to do' list here's a couple more photos ... Buttons? Did I say buttons? Oh yes ... thousands of them ... large and small ...

Small is Beautiful ...

2009-04-26T23:08:00.005+01:00

Ceanothus

and

Pittosporum

I have a new digital camera. I'm not sure if I'm happy with it. The colours seem washed-out compared with my old one. Certainly the Scheurer fabrics don't look as striking. I thought I'd try out some supposedly excellent macro shots on these tiny flowers, but I think it's a case of 'must try harder' or revert to the old camera. Time will tell ...

County Boundary and Other Stories ...

2009-04-25T22:00:00.005+01:00

Have you ever seen anything quite like this? A couple of weeks ago I had to stop and take these photos whilst en route to Dairy House. I left home in brilliant sunshine, not a cloud in the sky, with the prospect of a glorious, warm and sunny day.

Some miles into my journey I was aware that I was driving towards cloud - lots of it - and the closer I got I knew I was going to have to pull up and take photos. Unfortunately I couldn't stop until I was almost under the demarcation line, but you can still see the stark contrast between a practically cloudless sky of Somerset and the heavy mass which hung over Dorset.

It was as if there was an invisible Siegfried line in the sky. It also reminded me of a line of cows in a field munching their way through the grass at an electric fence barrier. I saw some today but, the story of my blog photo life, I couldn't stop to take a piccie.

A week or so ago I mentioned the cowslips on the verges. This is the best photo I've managed to take so far, but maybe there'll be more as the days go on.

Last weekend was, as you know, the Rag Market at Bridport. (Check out Lindiblog for photos) As West Bay was only 1½ miles away I decided that a quick sea blow was required before driving home.

I'm not too sure what sort of weather we should be expecting over the next few days - it seems to change with every forecast - but it'll be interesting to see if there are any more phenomena to jam on the brakes for!

Have a jolly weekend !

Blue Grass and Apple Blossom ...

2009-04-22T07:58:00.005+01:00

This year we have blue grass in our back garden ...

... speedwell, to be precise! It came from nowhere, as these things do ... the grass (nothing so grand as a lawn) in the front was white ... white violets that just happened to be passing and decided to stay. They were a real surprise and a lovely treat to think they'd chosen us to live with.

I'm afraid we're not very good with our fruit trees, they either flower and have fruit or they don't, and one of our plum trees is hanging in there supported by seemingly only half a trunk of bark, with its innards totally rotted. By rights we should have removed it last year, but there's something so final about chopping down a fruit tree. I'd rather see every last blossom that it can muster and let it finish its disintegration unaided.

The apple blossom is beginning to look good though ...

Hopefully I'll bring you cowslips next time! There are so many along the verges again this year as I travel between home and Dairy House. Needless to say the best clumps are along the A303 nowhere near a safe stopping place ...

(If you have time do click and enlarge the photos - the apple blossom looks fabulous on a full screen.)

The Bridport Rag Market

2009-04-15T22:46:00.003+01:00

THE BRIDPORT RAG MARKET

Saturday 18 April

St Mary's Church Hall

South Street

Bridport

9 am - 4 pm

A veritable treasure of Vintage, Antique & Retro Fabrics, Haberdashery, Clothes, Lace & Buttons - from workshops and excess stocks of designers, makers and vintage textile traders

At pocket money prices, this is a must for quilters, knitters, teachers and hobbyists!

Free Entrance

I shall be there with a selection of fabrics, lace, braid, DMC Coton Perle, embroidery floss, Aida fabric, buttons, eiderdowns, baby gowns and whatever else fits in the car. All the usual suspects will be in attendance, although I see The Washerwoman is sending Mr and Master in her stead as she'll be in Bath.

Why not come along and join in the fun!

A Few More Scheurers ...

2009-04-06T10:09:00.003+01:00

I've been taking photos whenever I've had time, and here's the latest selection ...

If you see any you like do email me, but I can't promise that they are still available, as I took these photos about 10 days ago.

It was lovely to see Jan and Jayne at the Quilters' Day in Thornbury on Saturday - thank you so much for your purchases. It was a successful day and gloriously sunny, too. Jayne - if you can let me have some more cards advertising the Vintage & Handmade Fair I'll put more out at Dairy House. Most of those you brought me went on Saturday. There was a lot of interest from the quilting ladies.

Giveaway - Scheurer Photos ...

2009-04-03T19:17:00.001+01:00

See the photos on the updated post below

Calling all Quilters and Fabricaholics ...

2009-04-03T00:53:00.002+01:00

This is where I'll be this coming Saturday

Click to enlarge if the text is too small on your screen If you are anywhere near here on Saturday and need a fabric fix then why not pop in.

The Traders' Day is open to everyone (admission 50p to go towards the Quilt Museum in York) and has been organised by The Quilters Guild, Region 5.

I'll be there with my fabric bundles, lace, lengths of vintage fabric (including a few Scheurers), a few contemporary pieces, threads and fabric-covered boxes. I'm sure I shall be taking far more than that, but I won't make a final decision until tomorrow afternoon!

Do come and say hello if you you decide to call in!

And the Scheurer Winner is ... (with photo update)

2009-04-02T21:13:00.003+01:00

... Wend with her fabulous sentence using ALL the letters.

'I made Sue a sheeny, rosy quilt'

It was so difficult to choose. I couldn't decide whether to put names in a hat or make a subjective choice, but finally decided that Wend's sentence was so apt in view of the sheeny, rosy quilt I bought last week, that she needed to win!

Every entry had something to commend it and it was fun to read them all. I was very impressed with Ruth's attempts and also Mindy's, so I've decided that they will be runners up and will each receive a half piece of fabric. These pieces will still be sufficient to use for several small projects or at least one decent-sized cushion front, so I think you'll be pleased.

I've chosen the 2 fabrics but I haven't been able to photograph them as I was late home again tonight. I'll update this post tomorrow with photos and in the meantime if you'd all like to email me direct (link in my sidebar) I'll get them off to you on Monday when I stop for breath!

Thank you all so much for your efforts. I hope you enjoyed working them out as much as I did reading them. And yes, Ruth, I did try to come up with something (to make sure it was a reasonably viable request) and came up with a few words - sustain, request, Daisy, raise - and so on. Yours were all much better than mine!

So, Congratulations to Wend, Ruth and Mindy. I'll wait to hear from you ...

UPDATE

Here's Wend's Scheurer fabric and the lower 2 photos are of the piece that will be shared between Ruth and Mindy. I hope you'll all be pleased with them. They look fabulous in the photos, but I have it on good authority that they're even better in the flesh! Click on the photos to (hopefully) enlarge them.

Wend - I have no means of contacting you. Please let me have your details so I can send off your prize!

Sue

Extra 24 hours ...

2009-04-01T21:07:00.002+01:00

I know I said I'd choose the winner of the giveaway this evening, but it's been a longer day than anticipated, and I've only just finished sorting and pricing and haven't yet eaten, so I've decided to give you all an extra 24 hours. So, if you still haven't entered now's your chance. If you have left a comment already but think you have a better phrase or sentence, then why not have another go.

There are some very clever answers already, but let's have a few more!!

Till tomorrow ...

One Year On ... Giveaway Time Again ...

2009-03-29T00:04:00.005Z

On April Fool's Day I shall have been the proprietor of Dairy House Antiques for a whole year. Just recently I've read many blog comments about the speed with which the last few weeks have flown by, but nothing exceeds the speed of the last 365 days. The whole experience has been a huge learning curve, quite exhausting at times, a wee bit stressful occasionally, but most of all it's been exciting and the best opportunity of a lifetime I've ever taken.

We've had an amazing year, with consistently buoyant sales figures, which we've obviously been thrilled about. It doesn't do to become complacent though, and each month we've wondered whether that was going to be the last good month but, thankfully, all is still well ...

Just over a year ago I asked all you lovely bloggers to wish me luck and maybe follow my exploits. You've been so supportive, and many bloggers and blog readers have visited Dairy House in the last 12 months to see what all the fuss was about. It's been great to be able to chat about it and show you a few pictures of Dairy House stock - both mine and that of our dealers.

As a thank you, I thought a giveaway would be in order, and what better - I hope you'll agree - than one of the beautiful Scheurer fabrics that I mentioned in my last post. Those of you who follow Niki's blog will have doubtless seen the photos of the fabrics she bought yesterday. They should whet your appetite! I don't yet know which fabric sample the winner will receive, but whichever one I choose I can guarantee that it will date somewhere between 1875 and 1936 and will be a textile collector's dream. (Update: If you need a further Scheurer fix you can view another slideshow here)

All I ask is that you tax your brains a little and come up with a phrase or sentence using as many letters as possible from DAIRY HOUSE ANTIQUES, SEMLEY. See! Nothing too complicated!

I'll choose the winner on Wednesday evening, 1 April, after I've spent a few jolly hours at the Talent 4 Textiles Fair at Ilminster. After all, a girl can never have too many textiles!

Have fun!

Sue