Nose Down, Elbows Out …..

… for a spot of foraging at the Newark Antiques and Collectors Fair last week.

Acres of stalls.

Plenty to see.

Tables and tables of treasure.

 

Vintage haberdashery stalls to drool over.
Expanses of gorgeous slubby linens.

 

I didn't come up for air ...

 

 

... for a long time...
Sumptuous cases of creamy vintage lace.

... and linen thread ...

 

  The unusual and the unique.



... and just beaufitul ... much loved and much hugged childhood companions.

Sat waiting patiently.

For their new home.
 

 

I so wanted to bring him home ..... but the price tag wouldn't let me.

 

… and just as pleasing as the acquiring is the pouring over purchases once you get them home. Here are some of my finds.

 A tiny folded and wax sealed note written in Latin dated 1837

 A weeny hand sewn dolls jacket

 Acres of vintage ribbon

 Worn Durham quilt pieces in faded pastels

 Linen bundles

An unusual Beswick tea set ...

 ... and pretty trio

 Bundles of old letter and documents

 Cow & Gate advertising cards

 Bits of jewellery - wonder who she was ...

 It would be rude to come away without buttons ...

 A delightful French learning book ...

 ... with the most exquisite illustrations.

And a vintage Sleeping Beauty pop up and slider book, which is in perfect condition.

  The evil old witch planning her wicked deed .... scary

The whole household fell under the witches spell

... but they lived happily ever after.

 

The Pen Fairy

I spent a very pleasant pottering sort of Bank Holiday Monday, cooking quantities of bolognese for freezing, baking (cakes and bread) and generally catching up on the mundane but highly satisfying jobs like cleaning out the ‘Bob’ drawers, which contain a lot of little odd and bobs that find their way there with nowhere else to go.

In our home there are often exasperated cries of ‘’I can’t find a pen!’’.

No matter how many we have, they just disappear.

Into nowhere.

Overnight.

You put one down and when you go to pick it up it’s gone.

His Nibs blames me.

I blame him.

We both blame The Pen Fairy.

I now humbly apologise to The Pen Fairy. Clearing out the Bob drawers (yes, there is more than one) I found the missing pens.

Under the drawer liner, at the back of the drawer, under the general clutter.

All 35 pens, 33 pencils and 4 pairs of scissors.

Sorry, Pen Fairy.

The Last Leg

Here is the last leg, or installment, of our Cornish weekend.

Sunday was The Portscatho Summer Fair and as always the hall was buzzing with vintage lovers, stall holders and visitors alike. The day turned out glorious, sunny and still, with the hall doors thrown open to let the outdoors in.  We met some lovely, lovely people – both selling vintage goodies and customers who visited our stall.

 A quick peek at the stalls  

The Fluffy Slug!

We were up on the stage this time

 

 

 

1930’s dolls house

 

A super cute vintage dolls pram …

 

The hall looking down from the stage

Although dead beat after being on our feet all day, after the fair and a bite to eat, we had a walk down to Godrevy Cove to stretch our legs wandering down narrow lanes and across fields to get to this remote cove. The sun was just starting to go down so the light was amazing, sort of hazy through the green hedges.

 

A short cut through a wildlife garden

 

 

 

Beautiful hedge lined lanes ...

... packed with different plants including this bright green fern

 

 

 

Ivy and moss covered entrance stones and styles

 

 

Across fields you can see the sea

 

The beach was deserted apart from a couple of lads fishing and a collection of little wading birds scurrying along the tide line. The tide was on its way in so we walked to the far edge of the beach to sit and watch the waves wash in over the rocks.

 

These quaint little birds – I’m not sure what they are but perhaps someone can tell me? - were scurrying around the water’s edge pecking at the wet sand and then when the water lapped back in they ran chattering together out of its reach.

Our last morning we did a detour via Tintagel to visit The Old Post Office, a stunningly beautiful and enchanting higgledy piggledy 14th-century stone longhouse with charming tumbled weathered, lichen covered roofs and deep stone mullioned windows with thick rippled glass. The uneven walls and heavily beamed ceilinged rooms had well-worn stone flag floors leading off crockety stone stairs and large open fires. Upstairs the bedrooms with their wide creaky dark polished floorboards (where you could see down through the gaps into the room below) were dotted with handmade rag rugs. The upstairs rooms contained large oak chests worn smooth with huge iron hinges and locks and high beds topped with glorious faded quilts. The bedroom walls decorated with exquisite hand embroidered samplers.

Fustratingly, my camera battery conked out on me after the first photo of the house so I was close to hysteria having such a beautiful specimen standing right before me and no camera! The day, and my sanity, was saved by a quick thinking hubby and his mobile phone so all was not lost even though the quality of the photos is not good, especially inside.

 

 

The rear cottage garden

 

 

The higgledy piggledy roof ...

 

 

... and tiny deep windows

 

 

Exquisite samplers

 

 

 An ancient hand forged door handle with upside down key hole

Deep windows with window seat

 

 

A tiny bedroom fireplace with ragrug

Our few days in Valerie were over so all that was left to do was to stock up on pasties for friends and head off home ….. until the next time.

Hope you have an enjoyable Bank Holiday Monday.

XXX