SUITES YOU SIR

Once upon a time there was a very, very old bear that had belonged to a little girl who had grown up and was now known to her family as “Old Nanny”.    Old bear now lived with a new owner “Old Nannies” daughter known to her family as “Nanny”.

This little bear had been much loved and like his owner was not feeling as young as he once was. His fur was a little threadbare, he had a scar on his tummy where he had once had an operation to put back his stuffing and his eyes were not as bright as they once were – in fact they weren’t at all what they had once been!!! As an even older nanny had replaced his original eyes with blue buttons many, many years ago when "old nanny" was still a girl during the war.

Like his owner he was feeling like a new look would be in order and so he had a word with his owner “nanny” and asked her if in all her boxes of lovely things she might just have something that would suit him and give him the lift he needed.  Nanny searched through her boxes, and believe me she has a lot of boxes to sort through and found to bears delight a knitted three piece suit that another grandmother had lovingly knitted many years ago for either her grandchild’s doll or teddy and showed it to old bear.

“Oh my goodness” he said trying it on “This is just the thing, the blue even matches my eyes, how lucky is that”.

Now bear is not feeling quite so dowdy and he is now getting some admiring looks from other dolls and bears that Nanny owns.  Nanny hopes they don’t all start asking for new outfits.

THE END

Explanation of Nannies
Nanny - Me
Old Nanny - My Mum
Even Older Nanny - My Nan - Old Nannies Mum
Hope this helps and does not confuse even more of my readers.

PUTTING THE KITCH IN KITCHENALIA

On my recent trip to Kent we visited Rye which is a very quaint little town with lots of little shops selling antiques and collectables.  The one that stood out for me was “Country Ways” on the Quay this was the shop of Jane Wick’s Kitchenalia and girls eat your heart out,  I have never seen so many fantastic items in such a small space!!! 

I could have spent hours just browsing around in there, I did manage to find some Christmas presents whilst I was in there but cannot reveal them as the people they are for might get to read the blog and I don’t want to spoil their Christmas surprises.

The streets were full of interesting nooks and crannies

I could not resist taking a photo and having a little peek inside this house.

The Quay full of antique shops.

Also while I was off work this week I decided to get a bit more creative and I have made another two picture boxes to take to the fair.

"Sisters"

"Boys Will Be Boys"

Plus of course another little foray to my favourite Charity shops and I found these couple of bits to go into the booth.

All in all a good weeks break off of work I would say  – unfortunately back to the grind and normality tomorrow.  I love holidays

SNEAKY PEEK & A TRAIN JOURNEY

Hubby took to me to Kent at the weekend as part of my birthday treat and I had a whale of a time trolling through charity and antique shops with the idea of buying some lovely items for the fair in October.  Probably cannot say the same for him.   He does not really share my passion although he is getting pretty good at picking out things that might be suitable, he still spends most of the time standing outside the charity shops after he has checked out the DVD’s and CD’s

Thought you might like to have a sneak preview of some of my finds

Mini barbolla mirror, chalkware wall planter, cute deco dog, embroidered handbag and pretty tin picture frame.

1930's glassware.

Deco picture frames.

Crinoline lady embroidered fire screen.

Last but not by any means least a luscious plump eiderdown.

All these are set to come to the Vintage and Home Made Fair with me.

Just to show that it was not all shopping and me, me, me,  hubby has a real passion for steam trains and we visited Tenterton which has a great steam railway. How's that for a set of luggage

Like sitting in an armchair apart from the fact it was rock hard.

At the end of the line is Bodium Castle and I think he was trying to get even with me as he made me climb the very,  verysteep stairs up to the top of the tower – my legs killed me for days after that. 

                         Mind you I still managed to carry on shopping - now isn't that a suprise.



OLDER BUT NOT WISER

I remember when I was a child I could not wait for my birthday to come around as that would mean I was getting older and would be able to make more decisions for myself without my parent’s interference. Well guess what now I am older I wish I was younger and had the body I had when I was 18, the face that did not have any wrinkles, frown marks and bags under my eyes, the hair that was still blond and not died to cover the grey. The only good thing at my age about birthdays is the presents; yes I am still young enough at heart to get excited about those.

Being a Virgo is a bit of a pain as everything has to be just right and my family always moan and tell me how hard I am to buy for but this year the family did me proud I received some lovely gifts – although mother does not quite get it and moaned about buying me – as she puts it - TAT, thanks mum I love the tea tin and it is not TAT!!!

Firstly my new bear and his friends, the tiny one is actually a cake decoration.  Hubby bought the bear,  sister bought the googly eyed doll and youngest daughter the miniature.

The childs whicker basket I am going to use to put the post in rather than leaving it on the table - well that is the plan - I told you I'm a Virgo and everything has to go in a place.

Now to show you some of the kitchenalia I received

A great three tier cake tin, the TAT tea tin (love it Mum) and my novelty budgie egg timer.  These all fit on my shelf that is in my kitchen which is full of cream and green kitchenalia - seems like I have another collection.

Finally Mum bought me these two lovely 1930's necklaces which I absolutely adore - which made her feel better about the tin.

These are just the vintage items I received, I also got lots of lovely smellies, chocies and useful bits an in order to be organised for 2011 my friend bought me Cath Kidstons 2011 diary.  Now to put in all my dates.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now for something completely different I have decided that my table at the fair is going to have a mixture of vintage and handmade and to that effect I have had to put my creative head on - I have a long way to go but Ihave made a couple of things

Garden shadow box

Two altered bottles.

As I said just a start but I have a week off work I am going to Kent for a birthday treat for a long weekend and intend having a crafting week for the rest of the time - that is in between trying to catch up with the housework.....

OPEN THE BOX - OR TAKE THE MONEY

I have been really busy with e-mailing all the stall holders for the Winter Fair and decided that I needed a break from the computer as I was getting bug eyed and decided to go foraging for stock for the booth and for Etsy.

It was a day for boxes – what do you think was in them....

My first find was an old leather suitcase which although battered and missing some of its straps was just too good to leave behind especially as it had its original labels on it. I would say it originates from around the 1920’s and I cannot help wondering what tales it could tell of its journeys in the Orient prior to communism.

The next was a wonderful old typewriter, it is a bit like the one I learnt to type on when I was a child - not quite the same as the one I had when I first went to work... but nearly.  Love the old keys.

Finally, last but not least a complete 1950’s picnic set with all its original boxes, plates, cups and saucers. The only things missing were the cup on the flask and a fork. I will possibly keep that back until next Spring as picnics are the last thing on people’s minds at the moment but I could not leave it behind.

You should have seen youngest daughter and myself staggering to the car laden down with them especially as the typewriter weighs an absolute ton.

Now to put them in the booth - Northampton Antique Centre A Most Marvellous Place to Shop is certainly living up to its name and every time I go more items have sold and it is now a constant hunt for new and exciting items to put in there for vintage lovers to snap up. Joe who is now running the place has turned the business around and word is now getting out that it certainly is a MOST MARVELLOUS PLACE TO SHOP.

While I think of it if you pop over to Ted & Bunny's blog she is hosting a fantastic linens giveaway, just give her a hello for a chance to be the lucky winner.