Surprise

It's been a long day. Determined to make the most of the Indian Summer we are having and use up the pot of fence paint I found yesterday clearing out the shed, I have been out the garden all day. The fences have been painted and plants cut back ready to be dug out to make room for new ones.

The main impetus for all this work started with me buying a rusty old wirewirk planter. And so the cleaning/sorting fenzy begins. It started (and ended) with the jet wash. Don't you just love them?


The wrought iron table and chairs were jet washed prior to re-painting (not today at some point in the future). Then of course I moved on to the floor. We have been in our house 7 years and it was a revelation today that the crazy paving is slate and the pointing inbetween is pale.




After that I got a but carried away and ended up jet washing anything and everything: the wooden table and chairs in the back garden, the plastic guttering and clearing out the accumulated moss inside. And last but not least the paths. I just can't believe what a difference it makes - the floor is so much cleaner.



A much more enjoyable job was to plant up the pots I already have. The stand still looks a little bare, but I shall remedy that with more pots and flowers. But right now I am off for a well earned rest and a cup of tea!

Sunny Days

After a few beautiful sunny days, we have the rain back - which means bad light for photographs.

So rather than dwell on the awful weather that we are having (again), I thought I would share photos that were taken a few days ago when the weather was good.

Dulcie and Arthur sunbathing together:


and vintage linens drying on the line. Sunny days indeed.

Love Vintage

It's finalised. We have booked the venue - the old Victorian school in Wenvoe. And as I mentioned before, the date is Saturday 21 November.

Stalls are filling up but we have some spaces left. One of the stallholders is Melanie from Forever Vintage and Lizzie from the Vintage Washerwoman.


So if you would like a stall - please get in touch. Look forward to hearing from you!

A Heartfelt Plea

Dear Back,
Please get better soon so that I can wear my new shoes:


4 inch high wedges. What more could a girl want from her footwear?

Beachy Keen

I did say that my display cabinet is slowly but surely filling up. And here's the latest addition: a vintage shell box.


It was bought with the intention of selling it on, but once I got it home and placed it in the display cabinet, it slotted right into place.

In fact it slotted in front of a vintage Enid Blyton book I bought a few weeks ago. Can you see why I bought the book?

It's Dulcie and Arthur. Bit of artistic license there!

As well as the shel box, I picked up this Fortnum & Mason oilcloth bag. The polka dots called out to me and I couldn't resist.


And onto another topic completely, we have taken the plunge. The date has been set and a venue booked: Saturday 21 November at the community centre in the village (Wenvoe). I am struggling for a name but the event will be a combination of handmade creations and vintage loveliness.

Now I need to start finding the exhibitors!

Incapacitated

So much for my posts becoming more regular! It has been a combination of school holidays and a bad back. Thankfully it's something I haven't suffered from before, but last week I was putting a box into the dresser and my back just gave way!

It necessitated a phone call to the Doctors and Stephen collected my prescription for me: anti-inflammatories and painkillers. Several days later, things seem to be getting better. Hopefully there won't be too many more days shuffling and hobbling around!

On a brighter note, I did a little Etsy shopping and treated myself to a necklace from a seller in the States. I didn't have to wait too long and this is what arrived.



Such pretty packaging. And inside certainly didn't disappoint.

It gets better .....................


Retail therapy can certainly go some way towards aiding recovery!

Digressing completely, you can't miss the current blogland vintage and handmade fairs lovefest. And isn't it always the way that there is never anything like that here in Wales?

A friend and I were moaning about this fact and are thinking of putting on an event like that here in Wales. But before we do, I thought I would see whether there would be a demand for this type of event. Well, what do you think? Please comment and de-lurk and let me know your thoughts. Who knows, it could become a reality.

Filling Up

Remember the display cabinet that I posted about a few weeks ago? Well slowly but surely I have been finding small items to fill it with.


Nothing is valuable and nothing has cost more than £1 - which has been good new for my miniscule budget.

The fun part has been in finding the items for the cabinet - all thifted and all vintage items. Things that are too small to be put on a shelf on their own but look so much better when they are placed together.


The most recent has been a Pierrot clown that I found in a local charity shop for 50p. I initially thought that it may have been a lavender sachet but when I took about the grubby white silky "puffball" at the bottom there was only stuffing inside.


It was only a 15 minute job to use the original as a template and make a new puffball using a beautiful faded cotton pillowcase that I found a few weeks ago at the carboot sale.



She still looked rather bare after I had attached the fabric to the china head.


Out came a reel of vintage ribbon and a broken diamante earring - and doesn't she look the belle of the ball?

I thought I would show the display cabinet as it is now. A little fuller than before - but there is still come room left! Watch this space!