I See the Sea ...

Yesterday Liz and I went to an auction in Exmouth and before setting off for home we stopped along the seafront for 5 minutes. And what a glorious 5 minutes it was. I love that specific ozone-y smell (sometimes you can be disappointed and not smell it at all), but we weren't disappointed. It hit me as soon as I opened the van door. There was a lovely breeze coming in off the sea, the sun was shining and it gave us both such a boost after a day in a stuffy saleroom. That and the Thornton's ice cream we'd just eaten!! I caught Liz before she had time to realise she was being photographed!


I was so tired last night, after the long day yesterday and an even longer day at the Shepton Giant Flea on Sunday, that I collapsed on the bed for an hour and woke up 11 hours later!!!

Shepton was brilliant. I didn't need to do my customary raindance (although I think it did rain briefly) and had my best Giant Flea sales ever. And yes ... a good chunk of the sales was cross stitch kits, with a few cones of thread. One lovely lady bought 4 kits and came back an hour later to buy a further 5 (when her husband wasn't looking!!). I like customers like that! I was so pleased that Jennifer from Acorn & Will came to say hello. It was super to meet you Jennifer, and thank you so much for your purchase. The "Shepton Stalwarts" Niki and Clare came to see me and did a little bit of shopping ... as they do! Thank you both!

My friend Eleanor "borrowed" a corner of my pitch to see how her jewellery would sell. Her first sale was to a lady who has a shop in Dorset. She bought several pieces "to see how they go", so hopefully that will be the start of a new relationship! I didn't take my camera, otherwise I'd have shown you what she makes. Maybe next time ... Eleanor was delighted with her sales and as I've booked a double pitch for the August Bank Holiday Giant Flea (the regulars on the next pitch will be away) she'll be bringing even more. And I shall load up the car with mountains of cross stitch kits and embroidery thread!

As far as my own sales are concerned, I've finally realised there is absolutely no point in loading up the car with bulky kitchenalia for either the Shepton 3-day Fair or the Flea. There are too many outside pitches selling it to make it worth my while, and it takes up far too much valulable space. The last 3 Fairs/Fleas have been my best in the 2 years I've been doing them, and my pitches have evolved into being 90% textile-related. I'll continue in that way for the time being - until my customers want something different - flexibility being the key!! The kitchenalia sells so well at Dairy House that it really is a waste of time and energy packing it up to take it somewhere where no-one wants it! It's taken me a while to realise this (sad, but true), but then I suppose it is only since March that I've had a really good display of kitchenalia at Dairy House, thus making it more interesting. And now Liz and I have more or less finished painting over those dark blue walls, we might do even better!!

Here's a photo of the Old Town Hall leaflet to give you an idea of the type of building we have in the centre of Somerton, and some views of the interior of the antiques centre showing various dealers' units. These leaflets were done before Liz and I moved in so nothing of ours is showing. After telling you last week about the lovely food on offer in the tearoom, the lady running it is leaving for personal reasons which is an awful shame. However, someone new is taking over from the second week in July - just in time for the annual Somerton Festival.


If you are interested to see what Somerton has to offer, have a look at the Somerton Community website which gives an insight into the town. Click on the Summer Arts Festival to see what will be happening between 13 and 21 July. I'm off to book my ticket for the Treorchy Male Voice Choir who will be singing in the Church on 14 July. I love listening to Welsh MVCs (a childhood thing) and every year a different Choir comes to the Festival. Last year's was amazing. I'm sure the Treorchy will be, too.

Update: I forgot to tell you I finally came home to roost on Friday night. We bought walkie-talkies thinking they'd give both Mum and me peace of mind, but she can't manage holding down the button and talking at the same time, so we won't be using them! She seems to be fine going up and down stairs now, so no problem. The w-ts will be perfect for taking to Shepton so that anyone who kindly mans my pitch while I run round searching for a bargain will be able to make contact when there's no mobile phone network coverage! We caught Mum in the garden yesterday hoe-ing - so she's definitely on the mend and I'm finally catching up with some sorting!

Embroidery Threads ad infinitum ...

Did I say I'd bought some embroidery threads? ... Mmmmm!





Well, these photos are part of the latest car-load ...

More cones of DMC stranded cotton (varying lengths up to a maximum of 425 metres for an unopened one), a double-sided stand of 8 metre bobbins of the same, more boxes of DMC Coton Perlé No 8 (10 metres) ...

So far (without today's haul) I've counted 436 balls of Coton Perlé No 8 ... 470 skeins of DMC Coton Perle No 5 (25 metres) ... 25 DMC Mouline metallise 8 metre skeins ... 50 unopened cones of DMC stranded cotton/embroidery floss (and I guess there must be about 500 part-used cones) ... As I said before, enough to embroider round the world at least once ... And then ... 56 packs of counted thread fabric, mainly Aida but some linen ... about 50 pieces of loose Aida fabric in varying colours and counts ... over 300 cross stitch kits ... the list goes on! AND IT'S ALL FOR SALE!

So if you think you know of any fellow bloggers who might be interested in part of this stash (or all of it, of course!!), then please let them know. My house really isn't large enough to accommodate all this as well as all the vintage and antique linen I seem to have purchased over the last few weeks!

So ... if you're coming to the Shepton Mallet Giant Flea Market on Sunday (17 June), you know what to expect! Although I shall of course be taking my usual vintage linen and textiles, lace, buttons, boxes and so on ... There won't be room for everything, so I shall be selective and hope I choose to take the right things! I wonder if I shall need to do another raindance?

As if this wasn't enough, I bought about 20 embroidered tablecloths from a retired dealer this afternoon. They are all beautifully done and clean enough for me not to have to wash them before putting a price tag on them. Hopefully they'll be going to Shepton with me on Sunday.

Several of you wished me well for the Shaftesbury & Gillingham Show. Suffice to say I won't be doing it again!

What Have I Done ... ?

Well, it's like this ...

Not one to miss a bargain ... I have temporarily diversified and have bought a huge amount of cross-stitch kits, aida fabric in packs, and enough DMC silks and threads to embroider round the world at least once. All courtesy of a shop which is, itself, diversifying. Eh, voila ...

The tip of the iceberg ... I have no idea how many skeins there are here,
but the box is filled to a depth of about 12"

A tablecloth with cherries to cross-stitch, some mini alphabet packs,
pencil cases, bags and purses in this box

More ... and more ... and there's still some in the shop waiting to be collected!

So, what do you think? Have I gone totally mad? Does this make it official? Have I really bitten off more than I can chew? Will it sell? Shall I try Ebay/Fairs/my website which, if it ever gets built will be a miracle/or none of the above?

All the kits are marked with the shop prices and I intend to market them at half the marked prices. If there are any cross-stitchers out there who are desperate for the odd kit or 50, do let me know. Prices will range from £1.00 to £15.00 based on half ticket prices for the kits.

I shall be taking some of them to the Shaftesbury & Gillingham Show on Sunday in the hope that I don't bring them all back home again, and plenty more will be going to the Giant Flea the following Sunday. Obviously I can't take this sort of thing to the 3-day Antiques Fair but, as the next one isn't until September, I'm not too concerned about that!

I popped into the Old Town Hall and added a few more items ... and I'VE SOLD SOMETHING already. An HM Govt enamel pint measuring jug for £8.00. Well ... it's a start! And I don't intend to retire just yet.

Funny day all round, really.

If anyone is in the vicinity of Shaftesbury on Sunday why not visit the Show. I can't tell you anything about it, except that it's at the Motcombe Showground between Shaftesbury and Gillingham. I've never been to it before either as a stallholder or as a paying member of the public. I assume it's a small agricultural show sort of thing. Fun for all the family I would imagine.

The Road to Normality ...

... whatever that is!

Mum's doing her physio exercises and is beginning to be able to lift her arm quite well (even though she's finding it exhausting).

My foot seems to have made a miraculous recovery, and I spent all yesterday painting furniture etc for the new antiques centre unit, and apart from his bitten lip (which doesn't look particularly pretty), Pauley is back to his old self.

So, thank you ALL for your good wishes. I'm so glad our escapades amused you ... I thought you might enjoy hearing about them! When all that happens you can't really do anything but laugh, can you! (But we honestly didn't create that chapter of accidents just to make good blog reading!!)

So, normality chez nous returns ... I'm racing around as per usual, wondering how I'm going to fit everything in and panicking that I haven't got the right things to put into the Centre and wondering what I'm going to take to the Shaftesbury & Gillingham Show where Liz and I are sharing a pitch on Sunday. Oh yes, and of course Thursday means Dairy House and more painting!! Watch this space!!

Three in a Row and a Bonus ...

... as an old TV programme used to say ...


You realise, of course, that I'm heading for the sympathy vote here ...


Having spent the day gently painting things for the Old Town Hall and generally taking it fairly easy, Sunday afternoon television and all that, I was just coming downstairs with my things to take next door for my nightly sleepover, when there was an almighty crash/thud/bang ...


Pauley has a sciatic nerve that plays up periodically and every now and again his left leg gives way ... which is what it did at 11.15 pm ... with no warning. So there he was in a heap in the porch having banged his head (all OK) and bitten his lip as he fell (no long-lasting damage thankfully). So ... having hauled him up off the floor and wiped up the can of lager he had just that minute opened which had fizzed all over the floor after being thrown all over the place ... I was about to go out of the back door when I heard a little voice saying hello? hello? ...


It was Mum! She'd heard a crash/thud/bang which she had convinced herself was a burglar climbing in an upstairs window, and had walked round in the dark, hanging on to the wall, with legs like jelly (she doesn't do the dark well at the best of times). A certain amount of sound carries between the two houses and what she had actually heard was P. Anyway, all 3 of us then limped round to her house, P checked over the house, Mum had a brandy and I just laughed. What else could I do? P then went home and I'm glad to say he's still in one piece this morning, albeit a bit shaky. Mum KNEW she wouldn't sleep all night, but she snored rather well for someone lying awake. Me? My foot's a lot better today, although I'm still going to rest it as much as I can while I have the chance. Anyway, that's our 3 things out of the way. Hopefully we can now get our acts together and not worry each other half to death.

Thought you might like to see these amazing clouds. I took it one evening last week.





Have a jolly day ... and take care out there!!

New Beginnings ...

My second post of the day! This won't happen often but, owing to the escapades related in my last post, I can only do sitting-down things today, so here I am again.

Some of you may remember from previous posts that I used to be in one of the antiques centres in Somerton but left 3 months ago, putting the majority of my stock into Dairy House Antiques at Semley. Liz came with me and we're doing 'nicely, thank you' at Dairy House. However ... we have been offered a unit in the other Somerton centre and have decided to give it a try. Whilst we shall have our own individual items in there, we shall also be buying some pieces together and sharing the profits (if any!). We move in this coming Wednesday (foot permitting). It'll be interesting to see how it goes and how we get on with stock in 2 places once again. Time will tell ...

We are taking Unit 14 on the upper floor. It is adjacent to the Tearoom area which is, to our minds, the prime spot. Everyone sitting having morning coffee, lunch or afternoon tea and cakes will be able to gaze on our Unit and maybe spy something they need to look at more closely after their sustenance. Fingers crossed!

The lady who runs the Tearoom makes everything herself from the unusual soups to the superb cakes. Luckily we will only need to do one duty day each per month. Any more and I know the pounds would pile on again instead of hopefully continue to drop off. This is what Liz and I had for lunch on Friday when we went in to confirm we would be taking the space. Beautifully presented Broad Bean and Mint soup with some crusty bread and butter. Linda takes care with presentation and if you order a pot of tea it arrives in a vintage bone china teapot with water jug, milk, sugar and a pretty vintage teacup and saucer. Whilst coffee comes in a cafetiere, the cup and saucer will always be bone china. Lovely!


So, when you all decide to travel down the A303 to the West Country why not take a detour to Semley or, 40 minutes further on, visit Somerton and the Old Town Hall. There's sadly nothing for the tummy at Semley, but maybe you'll find plenty of soup for the soul instead!

Hop-a-long Cassidy and the One Armed Bandit

Are you ready for this?

Not only does Somerton have one mother with 2 fractures of the right arm, but I fell off the steps when I was painting my room at Dairy House Antiques yesterday afternoon. I had been so careful the other 2 days when I was painting, making sure I was at the bottom before moving away from the steps. Yesterday afternoon I was doing an extra 'duty' as the normal dealer wasn't available, and trying to paint at the same time. A blob of paint dripped down between my room and the next and I was concerned it may have gone onto another dealer's stock, so hurried down the steps, tried to compete with mum and walk on air, and ended up flying through the air, sending Dolores (or was it Daphne - the 2nd of my mannequins which has sold and was waiting to be collcted) flying. Bless her, she broke my fall and I ended up with 2 grazed arms and a right foot that really hurt.

Stupid, wasn't it. Especially as I'd been telling myself for half an hour beforehand that I had to be careful as I was the only person there and if I fell no-one would be there to help me. Despite my landing on top of her, Dolores is still in one piece. It could have been a lot worse - I ended a good 8 feet away from the bottom of the steps. Stalwart to the end, I carried on painting but was aware my foot was getting more uncomfortable. By the time I'd driven home I couldn't walk and spent the rest of the evening being waited on "hand and foot".

The fun part came later. I'm still sleeping at Mum's as she's still unable to dress/undress properly and is a wee bit anxious on the stairs. So ... with P on one arm and a walking stick in the other hand I shuffled/hopped/limped next door. P did all the running up and down stuff that needed to be done, Mum got herself upstairs with me crawling (literally) up behind her. The problem was, how to stand up once I got to the top. She and I were absolutely convulsed with laughter (which doesn't help, of course!), and even P joined in at one point. Finally the right people were in the right beds, and with P calling out "Lights off in the dorm, girls", he locked us in and went home.

Thankfully I can put my foot down flat this morning, it's not swollen, and provided I don't do anything too stupid, I should be OK for the coming week's hectic schedule!! More of that in another post - I may manage 2 today.

Sorry there are no photos - there were some rare sights that would have made good viewing - but I'll make sure I have my camera next time!

Have a jolly day ...

Email Problems ...

... Just a quick post to let you know I AM receiving emails but my replies are going to tiscali and no further. Apparently a lot of people are having the same problem and eventually you will be inundated with my replies! So, if you have emailed me and think I'm ignoring you ... I'm not, honest! But it IS incredibly annoying!

Normal service will be resumed ... hopefully!

Quick update from the Fracture Clinic - the sling thing is OFF and physio starts on Friday. New bone is growing and the X-ray looked good. Mum's delighted, as you can imagine.

Sxx

Photos ... and Another Busy Week

I don't have any more wedding photos to show you, but so many of you have so kindly asked to see more, so please feel free to browse on the photographer's website (this link takes you straight to H&R's photos) where you can look at as many as you wish! For those with a strong constitution there are about 400, but for those of a lesser disposition, fear not. You can scroll down the screen quickly and see 30 thumbnails per screen, simply clicking on any you wish to look at more closely. There are one or two that I'd really love you to see as the whole day is epitomised in the expressions on the faces, but until we make our final choices I can only direct you to the website: www.lovegrovephotography.com (click on Weddings and Hannah and Rob's day is currently at the top of the page).

The weeks are rolling by so quickly, and I don't seem to be achieving much at all. I'm still waving goodbye to P about 11.00pm with my little overnight bag (does anyone remember the television series "My Wife Next Door" from the late 1970s with Hannah Gordon and John Alderton?) and returning once I've got Mum dressed and downstairs in the mornings. It's been another hectic week - last Saturday was spent at Semley Auctions, I don't remember what happened on Sunday, but I used a lot of electricity on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, washing and ironing the linen purchased at the auction. Thursday saw me back at Dairy House (and the start of the marathon painting session to cover up the blue), Friday I viewed a chattels auction, and today didn't start all that well, and then I went shopping ...

To Bath, first of all, to the Cath Kidston shop to get Hannah's birthday prezzie from Mum. But on the way I decided not to adhere to the 40mph speed limit along one stretch of road and guess what ... yep ... mobile speed camera thingy! And my last offence doesn't get wiped off my licence until August! We get a lot of the camera-out-of-the-back-of-the-van speed checks in Somerset, especially on the A303, so I'm always careful, but this wasn't on the A303, and was in a spot I've never seen one before, and I had other things on my mind! Serves me right, of course, but it made me very annoyed with myself, hence some additional shopping in CK's. Whilst in Bath I also shopped in the Bartlett Street Antiques Centre (woops!). Then I moved on to Bradford-on-Avon to the monthly Antiques Fair/Flea Market. I used to stand here every month for a couple of years, but stopped when we moved house last July. However ... the time has come to rebook, and I shall be attending the next Fair on 30 June. I bought a few items which I can thankfully call 'stock' and won't need to keep (I'll endeavour to take a few photos over the next day or two).

Tomorrow should have been Han's annual birthday BBQ but because of the major threat of rain they've decided to postpone it until Rob's birthday at the end of June, so I actually have a 'free' day. Maybe I'll be able to sort the piles of stock currently in the sitting room. Or shall I iron the freshly washed linens, or wash more (there are plenty of tablecloths, sheets, traycloths etc still to do)? Bank Holiday Monday should see P and me wielding paintbrushes, rollers etc in an attempt to finally lose the blue paint at the Dairy House. Tuesday is Bath again, to the Fracture Clinic with Mum. Han will be coming over to collect her gifts after work on Tuesday evening, and on Wednesday a friend is coming to lunch. I haven't seen her since well before we moved, so we have a considerable amount of catching up to do. And then it'll be Thursday and Dairy House again. And probably more painting (it's a large room!) and rearranging everything.

I realise the clock is ticking and it's time I left home again for another night. Do let me know if you view the photos. I'd love you to see the cheese tower (in lieu of a cake) with the little mice on top, the shepherd's hut where they stayed that night, the jar of wiggly worm sweets and the flying saucers with large "Eat Me" labels and all the other little touches that H put together in her inimitable fashion. Did I mention I was a proud mum?!!!

Till the next time ...

Corners of My Garden

I've just been out to photograph a few flowers - I should have done it an hour or so earlier as the flash has distorted the colours slightly. However, I hope you'll excuse the error and share in my enjoyment.


The cup and saucer in the last photo are from a Paragon bone china coffee set I bought at auction at the weekend. The pot has been glued back together (badly) but is pretty, nonetheless, and the cream jug has several hairline cracks. Mum loves it, so she has the pot, jug and sugar bowl on display (the repairs don't really show), but the set of six cups and saucers (perfect) are for sale - £15 plus p&p.


Enjoy!

Progress Report ...

Thank you everyone for your lovely comments re the wedding, and for your good wishes sent to Mum.



Han and Rob are now back at work and life is 'back to normal'. I don't have any more photos yet, but will post a couple official ones once I get them, or will point you to the appropriate place if they end up online.



Mum is progressing quite well. We went to the fracture clinic on Tuesday morning and the X-rays showed that the arm is shifting towards the right angle and they were quite happy with her progress. We have to go again in a couple of weeks and for a bone density test the week after. Being the 'mind over matter' person that she is, she thought she no longer needed painkillers. Wrong! She wasn't very comfortable last night so has returned to 4-hourly doses.



I'm still sleeping there, just in case, but I'm so tired that I don't hear if she gets up in the night!! Oh for a week of sleep! I did the Shepton 3-day Fair last weekend and it's always bad enough getting me up and dressed at crack of dawn. Getting Mum dressed as well, so she could be downstairs for the day, and still leave by 7.00 am one morning tested my abilities! Still, it was a brilliant weekend. I promise I didn't do a raindance, but the rain was torrential nevertheless, and I had my second-best ever Fair which was great.



Here are a couple of photos so this post isn't totally devoid of piccies. The paler eiderdown is one of a pair of singles I purchased recently. They are on display at Dairy House Antiques but should any bloggers be interested, they are priced at £95 for the pair (plus p&p). As far as I can tell they are in near-perfect condition. The other one is a gorgeous satinised cotton, heavyweight single, priced at £55 (plus p&p). Condition is again excellent, apart from a water stain which I'll gladly photograph if anyone is interested.



I hope to be blogging more regularly again soon, but I'm sure you'll appreciate I haven't too much spare time at the moment! Have a jolly weekend, everyone!

Edit
I've been meaning to post the website for Suzie Albu's fantastic catering. Her company is called "Feast" and you can find her here or on my sidebar. And Hannah's friend Jo produced some wonderful flowers for us - find her here and on the sidebar.

A Day to Remember - Part III

A couple more for you!

The first one is outside the Church. I'm not sure what everyone is looking at/laughing at as I'm looking very serious behind my mafia specs and obviously not connecting with what's going on! But H&R just look so happy ...

The second photo shows the top table. I think I mentioned the gingham runner down the centre of the table a few posts ago. There were 2 to each table, who didn't know until they got there that they had been nominated. My uncle is the nearest one and Rob's dad is the one in the distance. At their place settings were a striped apron and chef's hat, together with a card stating that they were specially chosen to carve the beef for the 12 people closest to them. Everyone joined in as Han hoped, and it all worked perfectly.

A Day to Remember - Part II

Before ...

Preparations in full swing ...

And after ... follows soon!

... flowers by Johanne Shippe (www.flowersbypassion.com)

A Day to Remember ...

... a fabulous day from start to finish. Sunshine, happy laughter and jollity - even in the church! Han couldn't wait for the 'you may kiss the bride' and the vicar had to point out that he hadn't finished yet.

This is our little family - petite in pink Gran (note the right arm), happy Han, tall Rob, matronly me and father of the bride, Pauley. So much to tell you but I'll bore you with it all over the next week or so as I rather have my hands full at the moment ...

Well done mother! No sooner had we got to the B&B we were staying in on Friday night than mum fell down a step and fractured the humeral head and the neck of the humerus of her right arm. ECP (Emergency Care Practitioner) Gavin turned up, took her to hospital and said you'll get to this wedding by hook or by crook. After 3½ hours at A&E we get back to the pub/B&B and all sit down to a meal, mum included. Suddenly, there she is in a dead faint bolt upright in her chair and back comes our favourite medic who did all required and insisted that she'd be at the wedding if it killed him. Next morning a dear friend managed to organise the hire of a wheelchair and so Gran went to the wedding. I'm so relieved she is next door. She's OK now she's on home territory, but I'm sleeping there and then popping in and out all day. (I've found a novel way to lose 4 more pounds in 48 hours!!!)

Disregarding that little hiccup, everything else was wonderful. The church (best vicar ever), the reception (superb food by Suzie Albu (more on her another day)), the flowers by Passion (Han's florist friend (another person I'll be promoting for ever more), the speeches (Pauley excelled himself and Rob's was amazing), and absolutely everything. Han organised the lot, so we can't take any credit, but you'll see some of what she did as I post more photos as I receive them.

I think it will be a case of a little and often if you can cope, as I know more and more photos will arrive by email and some are going to be such fun that I'd hate to overload you too soon.

Life will be back to normal this coming weekend though, as it's the May Shepton Antiques Fair and I will need to be there. Hubby will be on Gran duty for 3 days!

More soon ...

Less than 40 hours ...

... Just to let you know that everything is hunkydory. I've spent the afternoon at the farm tying raffia and name tags onto napkins and generally being part of the preparations for Saturday. Han's dress is wonderful, I'm delighted with mine after a totally unnecessary anxious moment or two, the father of the bride has prepared his speech, and the groom was still smiling at 6 o'clock this evening. Apparently the weather is set fair, and all seems well with the world.

In case you would like to share the day with us, here is the Church

and here's the Reception

I took plenty of photos of the preparations today, but can't really post those until after the event! Pop back sometime next week for a few wedding photos!

7 Days and 15 Minutes ...

... and I'll be setting off in my finery!!

I've been sitting here for the last couple of hours printing off the Order of Service, and have just realised I've wasted all that shoe practising time. So I popped off to put them on. Ouch! I still need to wear them A LOT before next Saturday.

I was hoping to post some photos this week, after doing more spending but, silly me, I took everything over to Dairy House and forgot to take the photos while I was there. I won't be going over again now until after the wedding, by which time there will be other photos to post!! Oooh, no, I've just remembered ... I have a couple of interesting things in the car ... I'll take some piccies now, but you'll have to be patient as I shall have to take great care going downstairs so I don't fall, as the bottom of my shoes are still shiny (I might even give you a glimpse of my shoes! They look so good with my check cotton trousers (not!) bought from here that I feel you should be able to share the experience!). I must be getting used to them though, because I haven't knocked over the waste basket today!

Look at this fabulous unfinished handstitched Victorian quilt . The central area is made up of tiny hexagons - the sides of each measure 14mm or 9/16ths of an inch. It is all superbly done. It's such a shame it wasn't finished. There are a lot of loose pieces of fabric with it so perhaps someone will buy it in total when I take it to Shepton next weekend. I'd love to keep it, but that's not an option.




The set of drawers are for me - for the time being. I'm hoping I can at last get my sewing bits and bobs settled in one place and these drawers will be perfect. Probably not large enough, but good to be going on with!

Talking of sewing - when I was rummaging in the store last week I found a couple of lavender sacks I made a few years ago, got inspired, and came home to make some more. They're very plain and simple as I'm afraid I don't do fiddly very well. I used some of my vintage fabric stash for the fronts and cut up a damaged mangle cloth for the backs. They're simply tied with vintage silky tape so that they can be hung from a hanger (or anywhere for that matter). They're currently pinned on to Daphne, the larger of the two mannequins. I thought I might take them to the next Shepton Fair just in case someone likes them!

Can you see the Rowntrees toffee tin decorated with pansies? I was rather pleased when I spied that.

Once again I'm photographing everything IN the car rather than taking it out and displaying it beautifully, so the dark patches are the shadow cast by the up-and-over garage door, or possibly the back door of the car. Sorry, but I'm doing as little walking about as possible!!

Enjoy a jolly, sunny weekend!

11 Days and Counting ...

Only 11 days to go. I'm not stressed. I'm cool. I'm calm. I'm collected! Who am I kidding?

I wore my shoes for half an hour this morning and realised I should have started doing that a couple of weeks ago in the hope that I would be able to walk up the aisle in them without tripping over or hobbling. I sat here at my desk for 10 minutes and managed to kick over the waste paper basket because the squared off points seem to end miles away from my toes. I didn't think my foot was anywhere near the basket!! It was such a relief to put on my trainers!

Perhaps I should start walking round the house in my hat so that I can judge the distance from the tip of the brim to the nearest person. I'd hate to poke anyone's eye out or get stuck in a doorway! I bought a vintage bag at the last Shepton Fair but I've become as picky as my Mum, and have decided it's not quite the right shade of navy!!! But I'm not stressed ...

I'm not stressed because ... at last Mum has an outfit. Some of you may think she already had one. She did ... but she didn't like it, so after buying that we've been out on weekly excursions to find an alternative or three. Today we got sorted. And she bought a hat to wear with it, so that's it. Finito. No more outfit shopping. If she decides she doesn't like it tomorrow I may not be responsible for my actions!!!! Don't worry, I'm only joking (well, partly), but it IS all quite true.

This evening I've been going boss-eyed cutting 26-foot long strips of gingham. Can't actually tell you why just now, but I had to stop because I could no longer focus properly, and will do more tomorrow. But I'm not stressed ... honestly!

I wonder if Pam Ayres ever wrote a poem about the mother of the bride ... (If you've never heard of her nor read any of her poems, try here to read "I Wish I'd Looked After Me Teeth" or "They Should Have Asked My Husband" for a bit of fun ...

Does anyone know the weather forecast for a week on Saturday? If you do, and it's not good, I don't want to know, thank you! Because I'm cool and calm ... and want to stay that way for a bit longer ...

Mannequins in the Garden

After a disappointing visit to the Creative Crafts/Knit & Stitch Show at Shepton Mallet this morning (mainly cardmaking and beads), I decided that the best place to photograph the mannequins was in the garden.

Here they are chatting under the apple tree! As I have one of my own called Dulcie, these two are Daphne and Dolores while they're in my keeping! If they're not required by my client then I shall desperately try to fit one of them into my car to go to Shepton on 11 May.

More Spoils ...

Only a couple of photos - taken this morning before going off to Dairy House. The colour of the cushion is about right, but the silk kimono background is more sea-green than the photo shows. I had hoped to take more photos today but I ran out of time.

Just to update those of you who remember that months ago I said I was going to get out my sewing machine ... I finally managed to get a pair of curtains made yesterday for the bathroom. Anything else will have to wait until after the wedding, by which time I shall probably enjoy sitting down and creating. Time will tell ... having just realised that the 3-day Shepton Mallet Fair is the following weekend, so there'll be no 'honeymoon period' for me. It'll be straight back into sorting and packing in order to load up the car on the Thursday night. Oh joy ...

My Purchases ...

Apologies for poor photos - late at night, artificial light and too tired to display everything properly, but I know some of you were keen to know what I'd bought. I had put some items in the car to take to Dairy House tomorrow before I thought about taking photos, but this will give you some idea ... I bought the two pictures last week. The roses are embroidered and the other, is a print of "Miss-Chief" by Annie Benson Muller.

I was pleased with the 1930s towels/teatowels. The patterns of the damask ones show up beautifully in the first photo, particularly the one on the left.

Do you like the sewing basket with its original cover, pincushion and needle case? It has a little mildew but that will clean off and it should then look the bees knees (whatever made me use that expression? Not one you hear very often today!). The jar of buttons wasn't cheap, but there are some very tiny glove buttons in there, and I have one or two doll collectors who are always looking for tiny buttons, so I think it was worth splashing out. I haven't begun to look at them yet. Perhaps we should have a "guess the number of buttons" competition, although I don't think I have the stamina to count them all in order to declare a winner - certainly not before the wedding at any rate. Only 2½ weeks to go ...

Woops! ... and Back from Ardingly

Silly me! It's just been pointed out to me that anyone sending an email via the link in my sidebar has their emails bounced back. This is probably because I didn't check my typing (bad news for a former typing and word processing teacher!), and didn't type "tiscali" correctly! From now on all emails should reach me! So sorry if you have tried and failed!!

On a happier note I had a super (and expensive) day at Ardingly. Unbelievably Clare and Mike phoned just as they got off the M23, and I was less than 5 minutes behind them, so they waited and we drove the last few miles in tandem. Considering very little of our respective journeys had taken us on the same road (probably about 25 of my 146 miles), I'm amazed. We went our separate ways but met up for a coffee and a toasted sandwich at lunchtime, and then said our goodbyes in order to do some more shopping!

Although I took the camera I didn't think about taking any photos until I was halfway home, so I'm afraid I can't share the day with you. However ... once I've unpacked my haul I'll show you what I bought. I bought one mannequin but although I saw a few, they were either in poor condition or far, far costlier than was viable. Still ... a wonderful pair of perfect eiderdowns, mangle cloths, 1930s German and French teatowels, some pretty lampshades, a fabric covered box, ribbons, tape, lace, a damaged kimono (by the way, I'm delighted to say that the one I showed you a couple of weeks ago has sold), a few pieces of lace, fabric, a lined sewing basket, and probably some other items I've temporarily forgotten ... I think I had a good day!