The West Country Fabric and Textiles Weekend - 8th & 9th April 2017

Hello Everyone

As you'll see from the previous post it's getting on for 2 years since I updated this blog. I'm writing now as the blog has been referred to with regard to the above. Once again The Washerwoman and I, along with Donna Flower are staging another textiles extravaganza at Lydeard St Lawrence, near Taunton TA4 3SE. We do hope you'll be able to join us. There will be new stock, surplus stock, clear-out stock, textiles, haberdashery, buttons, all manner of exciting bits and pieces to tempt you. This is our 3rd event at this venue and if the other 2 are anything to go by we shall be inundated with purchasers on both days.

I seem to have moved on from blogging now, and you can find more up to date information on my Instagram account @vintagetovictorian, my Facebook page: www.facebook.com/VintagetoVictorian and I now have (still a holding page, but hopefully operational soon) a website: www.VintagetoVictorian.co.uk

Susan and Elizabeth's Fabric and Textiles Sale

It's been a very long time since I blogged, and I've almost forgotten how after spending so much time posting on Facebook (www.Facebook.com/VintagetoVictorian) instead. However ... The Washerwoman and I are hosting a Sale to be held at Lydeard St Lawrence Village Hall on 7 & 8 November 2015 so it seems an ideal opportunity for me to try and get back to blogging as I know not all of you are Facebook afficionados.

Please check out Liz's blog while I try and get to grips with things here. I just need to sort out my photos and get cracking. Meanwhile do please make a note of the date on your calendars/in your diaries and we'll both be posting more information and photos as the date approaches.

I hope some of you still remember Vintage to Victorian as it's been an embarrassingly long time since I spoke to you!!

The best way to find me ...

As it seems unlikely that I shall make the anticipated return to blogging with regular updates (bearing in mind my last was 5 months ago!), I thought I should let you know that good old Facebook got me, and I have a Vintage to Victorian page there. Do please visit, as I comment on all the Fairs I attend, and am about to start offering items for sale, too. I'm always happy to post items, provided they are postable of course!

I do hope you'll keep in touch. There are so many of you that I miss through not blogging. It would be lovely to 'see' you again!

Here is the link www.facebook.com/vintagetovictorian

I hope 2014 has been a good year for you so far, and that you all have a lovely summer.

Sue x

Eight Months On ...

Unbelievably I seem to have ignored my blog for 8 months, and my last post told you that I was coming back to blogging. I doubt if there's anyone out there following now, but if you are there "Hello! And Happy New Year!"

Life was somewhat hectic last year as I began feeling my feet in the 'days after Dairy House' and before I knew it December and Christmas were on us. Home life continues in much the same way and all the house and garden plans I had are still plans rather than reality; but 2014 is hopefully the year to set the wheels in motion! Florence the Granddaughter is now three and a half and has been at pre-school since September. She spends a lot of time on the farm and her animal husbandry skills are already well-formed, frequently surprising her mummy and daddy with knowledge gleaned from 'Grampy'.

Vintage to Victorian is back on the Fairs circuit and this weekend will see me (possibly freezing) at Shepton Mallet 3-day Antiques Fair. If anyone is visiting, my regular spot is in Mendip 2 Hall. I veered away from linen and lace for a short while, concentrating on leather luggage and suchlike, but soon found that on buying trips I was making a beeline for anything textile-related, thus the breakaway was short-lived. So my stock-in-trade is what it always was - linen, lace, haberdashery, French and English vintage or antique textiles, Welsh blankets, eiderdowns and quilts, millinery flowers, mannequins, boxes, buttons and so on.

It would be good to get back to blogging and catch up with you all so fingers crossed ...

In the meantime, here's the list so far of the Fairs I have booked for 2014, which is far more than I realised! I need to relearn how to add them to the sidebar but with a little perseverance I'll hopefully manage it!

Hope to see you again soon x

Don't Hold Your Breath ...

Don't hold your breath, but I may soon be back to blogging!

It's been far too long, but soon I should have more free time and be able to bring you all up to date with what's been going on since January 2012! Suffice to say that 2012 was a good year in general, but I made a life-changing decision in December and have now sold Dairy House Antiques. Many of you will already know this, but some of you 'far flung followers' may not. Two of the DH dealers, Trixie Hewlett of The Vintage Bothy blog and Debbie Jeffery are the new owners and took over the reins on 1 March 2013.

Paul has been in hospital several times since December 2012 and has, today, been discharged after a 6½-week stint in Yeovil Hospital. All is well but it's been a bit of a rollercoaster since his first stay just before Christmas. Onward and upward now, hopefully.

Now I no longer have the responsibilities of the day-to-day running of Dairy House (although I do still have a unit there) I have rejoined the Fairs circuit. I am signed up for a year of Shepton Mallet Antiques Fairs at the Bath & West Showground, some of the Vintage Bazaar events and similarly the Vintage & Handmade Fairs. I have also taken a unit at the Antiques Bazaar in Crewkerne. It's so long since I blogged that I've forgotten how to set up links, but no doubt I'll sort that out in due course.

I shall be spending more time at home, although that doesn't seem to have happened yet, taming our wayward garden that has had very little attention in the 5 years that I was involved with Dairy House, and hopefully spending more time with Hannah and Florence. It was Florence's birthday last week. Where the last 3 years have gone I have no idea but gone they have, and she has now started pre-school.

I hope to be back again soon with photos and more news but in the meantime if any of you are still following this almost defunct blog I thank you and trust you are all fighting fit and enjoying life!

Sue x

2012 - May it be a good year ...

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 ...

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 ...

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

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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

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 ....

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

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

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

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 ...

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 ....

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 ...

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