yellow and brown

Hello to anyone stopping by after I linked from Flea Market Finds at Her Library Adventures and Thrift Share Mondays at Apron Thrift Girl. I've been exploring the links from these posts for a while now, and had been itching to join in!

I had a spare afternoon today, and as I was already in the area of my favourite charity shops, it made sense to stop by.

These aren't the colours I am usually drawn to, but spoke to me anyway. The little mug says April 1968 - I'm not sure what it is commemorating, and will have to do some investigating. And I wasn't sure how old the sifter was, but thought it would look nice on the kitchen shelves. Having given it a clean and seen how many year's worth of old cake was embedded in the seams, I think it is older than I guessed!

They are sat on sweet vintage skirt, which was even more of a bargain as it was half price on clothing today (I hadn't realised until the lady on the till told me).

tins and more tins

There seems to have been a theme to my car boot sale purchases this weekend...

Cadbury Roses Chocolates

Seidlitz Powder tin from Alex Parsons, a chemists in Manchester

And a sweet floral tin - I love the red and blue pattern on the side panel. They are all a bit shabby, but were to nice to pass up (and the Roses tin was only 50p!).

picnics and summer houses

With S's parents visiting this weekend, we decided to try a walk we haven't done before. Starting in the chocolate-box village of Exton, in Rutland, we headed off through the fields. After an hour or so we came across this...

Fort Henry is the boat house for Exton Park, and was perfect spot for a picnic. I would love to expore inside, but don't think you can get any closer than this - it certainly made a nice backdrop though.

another try and milk bottles

Let's give this another go! After a short-lived appearance on the blog (under a different name) a couple of years ago, I'm going to try again. I've been reading blogs for years, and keep itching to dip my toes back in the water. I think today is the day!

On to the important stuff - car boot sale finds! With the bank holiday a wash out, here's something I found a few weeks ago.

I was tempted to get all 25 of the vintage milk bottles for sale, but came to my senses and just got the eight with the best graphics. They will be taking pride of place in our refurbished kitchen (one day...).
(photo by S)

wet week in wales

I disappeared there for a bit (again)! Oops. Saying 'we were on holiday' seems like a strange excuse, as it was ages ago now!
But, we were on holiday - a week in Pembrokeshire with S's family. It's not somewhere I have been before, but is a beautiful part of the world.

And quite wet.

The pictures below look lovely and sunny, but they are a well-curated collection, chosen to show the best bits!

We stayed in a gorgeous barn conversion, just outside St David's. Below is the view from the house. We couldn't see it when we arrived, because of the rain, but what a view to wake up to on the first morning! I enjoyed many cups of tea, sat at the dining table taking in that sight.



We managed one day at the beach, and I made the most of lying on the sand reading my book (One of a pile of eight books I took with me! I didn't read them all, but wanted to have options, depending on my mood).





We also exlpored some of the little towns in the area, and had a few hikes up to the standing stones.





Overall, we didn't do a huge amount over the week, but that had been my intention - it's not often that you can dedicate a week to doing nothing!

battle for a bargain

So, I'm back. Rome was amazing - and very hot. Even though we were only there for a few days, it has taken me ages to get back into routine.

We have had a quiet weekend, just pottering about the house and garden, which has been very nice. I didn't go to the car boot sale this morning as I was saving my energy for a special event later on in the day.

The local paper had been advertising a sale of Joules clothing. It was a sale of catalogue returns, in aid of charity. I have had my eye on a dress for a while now, so thought I would see if I could get a bargain.

I knew it would be busy, but oh my goodness. It was held in a garage (I think in the salesroom/reception area), with clothes piled on tables and a few hanging racks. It was absolutely jam packed with women. Let's just say that you don't come between posh women and reduced Joules clothing. There was pushing and snatching going on everywhere. There were a few little kids there, who were almost getting trampled. And it was so hot. Not a good combination.

I tried on the dress I wanted, but it didn't look very good. Instead, I got this:



As it was a catalgue return, one of the seams had come apart, but nothing that couldn't be sewn up (which I have just done, very messily!). It wasn't a huge bargain, but I have been wanting a new summer dress for a while, and do like it a lot.

After that I had to come home and have a sit down!

lots of love

Realising that my last post was a bit gloomy, here are some things I love this week:

* Buying new pyjamas (in the sale) - even though it is the summer, and will be too hot to wear them for a few months.

* Choosing which books to take on holiday - this can keep me happy for days. The current front runners are Here on Earth by Alice Hoffman and Lake Wobegon Days by Garrison Keillor.

* Watching an entire series of a favourite programme in one go.

* Scones with strawberries and cream on my favourite plates.



And I will sneak in a couple of not-so-good things:
* Discovering that a favourite charity shop has closed.
* Car boot sale vendors that have an attitude when people try to haggle.
* Trying to work out how to spell pyjamas - it doesn't look right.