~Charity shop finds~

I'm just having a sort out and photographing some things to put on eBay - which makes me think I must get with it and upgrade to a decent phone to take my photos with, as my digital camera is on it's unreliable last legs. I though I'd share a couple of bits I've found lately from charity shops.  I've not been looking in very many in recent weeks as I am trying to simplify my life.  Therefore it follows I must sell some things - the 'one in one out' principle at least!
This lovely pink glass vase was £1.50 from a charity shop in Hornsea

I'm loving the pink china and glass thing at the minute.  I do have some Grindley Petalware cups and saucers already, and I spotted this gorgeous art deco shape Wedgewood Blush Rose jug for £3.50 again in Hornsea

...and finally, this pair of glass candlesticks for £2.75 in Selby British Heart Foundation in Selby

I needed a new pair as I broke one of my others trying to clean candle wax off it.
Have a lovely weekend x

~Charity Shop finds~

How lovely to finish work on a Friday and know it's a Bank Holiday!  I went to the hairdressers after work to get my colour done and popped into my favourite charity shop - it's an 'old lady' type of shop (which is infinitely preferable, more interesting and cheaper than a rebranded posh type with laminate flooring).
First find in the bric-a-brac boxes on the floor...

 ...a Washington pottery large bowl; cream colour with 22kt gold pattern.  This is my new fruit bowl!
I then went inside and had a rummage for vintage patterns- none that appealed today as they were all 1980s batwing and shoulder-pad hell rather than 1960s - but I did find this vintage cotton braid trimming (perhaps for a lampshade?)

"A pound for 'em both love, is that okay?"
"Oooh yes, ta very much"
There are still bargains to be found out there, keep the thrifting faith!
I'm off to the seaside this weekend to spend some quality car-booting time with my Mum, so hopefully will have more to share next week.
Have a lovely long weekend!

~I ♥ all things Coastal~

Our current (serious) 5 year family plan is to move to the Yorkshire coast.  Me being me; I've already started squirreling crockery and other household items for the interior of my cosy coastal retreat. Here is some potential seaside crockery hiding in a cupboard...

The pebble hearts mug is by Tracy Savage at Sugarmouse Pottery in Hornsea, the Mussels mug is by Richard Bramble, and the swirls mug is from Whittards.  The Masons Denmark blue and white dinner plates were from a charity shop in Hornsea (£3) and the teapot, milk jug and sugar bowl were found on eBay. 

Like my friend Anne at Marmalade and Catmint, I also have a coastal-themed downstairs loo.  I think you're allowed to be a bit over-the-top in the smallest room in the house.  I love shells, starfish, beach huts and old seaside postcards...and fairy lights and some reading material so guests don't get bored...

This week I've added some mussel shells collected in Cornwall to a wicker heart for the wall...

This glass apothecary jar is one of three given to me by a friend this week.  I've put pebbles and shells in the bottom and added a candle, I think they make great hurricane lamps.

I've also treated myself to this lovely starfish silver necklace...

Where on our beautiful coast would you move to, if you had the chance?

Have a lovely weekend!

x

~Thrifting Finds~

I'm not enjoying this muggy, oppressive weather which just leaves me feeling sticky and moody! I've decided I'm definitely a Spring and Autumn girl.  This afternoon and evening I've been in the garage continuing the painting of my dresser, but I thought I'd share some recent thrifting finds...
A couple of vintage 1970s cellular blankets...this pink one's wool and is destined for eBay...

...but I'm keeping this blue one, which I got for £1.

  Some Sirdar Sublime and King Cole Merino Wool for £1 at the Car Boot Sale.

Vintage book about York printed in 1951, 10p at the Car Boot Sale.

Woods Ware tiny cup and saucer (50p car boot sale) for my expanding utility china collection...

I know often we thrifters have slim pickings, especially at the charity shops, but there are still bargains to be had, especially at the less regular boot sales.  I think there are more householders having a good declutter, rather than the regular boot sale traders.  I could have spent a lot more, there was a pre-war teaset and a bevelled mirror I fancied, but I only went with ten pounds!

~York Minster Trip~

As part of her A level Textiles, daughter L is currently looking at the 800 celebrations in York (1212 - 2012) and has chosen to explore stained glass patterns, so on a (very) rainy Saturday morning we tootled off into York. Not living more than 45 minutes from York for all of my 42 years,  I am ashamed to admit I have never been in the Minster before, so I was quite excited...
  An entry fee has been payable for the last few years (although free to York residents).  This caused a bit of a hoo-ha when it was introduced as previously it was free to look around.  After visiting you do realise the enormous amount of renovation and upkeep that is ongoing (currently the Great East Window is removed for years of releading and cleaning) and I think £9 to visit the Minster and Chapter House was more than worth it.  We took advantage of one of the free guided tours, in a small group of 6, with one of the knowlegeable volunteer Minster guides.  This was brilliant for L, with lots of history, facts, figures and explanations about the stained glass windows...

                                           

                                                     The Great West Window known as 'Heart of Yorkshire'
                                       with the Semaphore Saints below

The Rose Window above the South Door
commemorating the union of York and Lancaster
and the start of the Tudor dynasty

Our 2 hour visit was also accompanied by the beautiful rehearsal of a choir and concert orchestra as there was  a Jubilee concert on Saturday night.

What a fantastic experience and very calming and uplifting it was too!

When we were soaked and in need of a hot chocolate we visited a little cafe behind the Minster on College Street; The Vanilla Cafe, where you can sit outside in Summer (haha if only) The sideways rain forced us inside - it's one of those places where you walk in and think 'oooh I wish this shop was mine!'

Illy coffee and Crystal teabags, homemade food and cakes, homemade cards, bunting and gifts...

Gorgeously decorated with floral wallpapers and green paint...

Vintage china for sale...

Even the loo had my favourite Cath Kidston wallpaper!

Good prices for a City Centre cafe too- there are a couple of additional rooms upstairs too with a sofa and lovely vintage floral pictures on the walls. Very nicely done. I will be back!

The Vanilla Cafe

Open every day from 10am

12 College Street

York YO1 7JF

~50s Night Prep and spring cleaning~

I've done a bit of Spring cleaning in the kitchen, rejigging the contents of my wall shelves, and the china cabinet as it had all got a bit busy, as it does at times, when you have a bric-a-brac habit. The china cabinet was a Sue Ryder charity shop find last year at £30.  It's quite plain with a bow front and has 2 keys, and glass shelves in good condition.  I painted the fabric back panel in F&B Hardwick White. It houses my teensy glass animals including Bambi at the front, who a friend bought for me as he looks like Small Dog!

Sentimental cup and saucer trios and old glassware...

I've put utility china and 1950s Midwinter pottery on my shelves, including my Nana's dish/ash tray from the Coronation, as we are taking part in a 1950s themed 'Safari Supper' tomorrow night.  This annual Spring event has 16 local couples donning fancy dress and traipsing round the village for themed canapes, starter, mains and dessert at different houses. It's a cheap meal out as you just host one food course -past themes have included Pop Stars and the 1970s, but being a 50s housewife tomorrow night will suit me down to the ground! I'm doing a main course and have got the Brandy & Babycham, Port & Lemon and Crabbies (and some food of course) all ready. I'll take plenty of photos and hopefully post about it on Sunday if I'm up to it!

Again, apologies for not posting much, still feel like a Hamster on a wheel, though I am enjoying reading all your lovely posts the last couple of days.

Just off to finish sewing a petticoat now...  They were too dear to buy online, £40 or £50- so I bought 3 metres of black organza locally for £6. What a nightmare though!

Have a lovely weekend - hopefully the weather will be good for gardening!

~Recent vintage buys and thrifty finds~

Apologies firstly for being absent-without -blogging for a while.  I feel overwhelmed and busy at present, there aren't enough hours in the day - plus my mother-in-law has been in hospital (now discharged) and I've been planning some more additions to my tearoom events. Crafty projects have been ignored which doesn't make me feel happy and I really need to sort out the sewing room which is drowning under a sea of paperwork, filing and the increasing ironing pile.
I've done a bit of charity shop rummaging recently in Boston Spa, Tadcaster, Wetherby, Castleford and Selby, albeit very speedy - 'drive-by thrifting' - usually on my way home or via visiting somewhere else. I'm sure it's not healthy to always be in a rush.

This lovely tray reminds me of Cornwall.  I love old trays with the plaited wicker or plastic edging.

This cake plate is pretty, the glaze is a bit crazed but it's not chipped or cracked

A nice reproduction tea dress, I love the floral Liberty-esque fabric.  Currently I look like a milkmaid in it as I need to lose weight, but it will be pretty when I have lost 10 pounds!

This gorgeous Midwinter dish for £2 in a Castleford charity shop. Midwinter is my absolute favourite pottery.

Then L and I went to St Gemma's Vintage Fair in Leeds on Sunday which I've blogged about before here.
A stallholder I know called Jennifer has the most amazing vintage pottery, at reasonable prices, and she had the matching Midwinter sugar bowl for £5...here it is on my kitchen shelf

Another lovely stallholder had a job lot of utility china - Woods ware Beryl and Jasmine and a couple of Grindley green petal bowls, which I bought to add to my collection...

...and this Crinoline lady brooch, which I think is unusual - I've never seen one like it before.

Has anyone else seen one like this before? It was £5 which I think is a good price for something I'll treasure.

~Time for Tea - Feb event~

Yesterday's afternoon tea theme was Berries, Cherries and love, in honour of Valentine's Day. 6 ladies (and one baby nephew) sat down to tea at 2pm, following a welcome drink of homemade pink lemonade.

The table theme was red, with gingham and roses cloths, matching vintage china and table gifts of mini-heart candles. Have used a photo of the table setting for my new header - I used L's swanky camera and did a bit of editing with special effects. Her camera is tons better than mine!

I was ably assisted by daughter L and best friend J in the tea-making and serving of the cakey delights...

I made some mini-bunting for the cherry and almond cake.  The double choc brownies with macadamia nuts were lovely.  My favourites were the homemade jammie dodgers, which turned out really well and were yummy. I added some custard powder to the mix, which made them a lovely yellow colour.  I sieved homemade raspberry jam for the filling.

Next event is in March, with a Spring themed menu (yet to be decided on!).
Some of my guests brought me a thoughtful gift of rhubarb from the Rhubarb Festival in Wakefield, which Anne at Marmalade and Catmint posted about yesterday. A bunch of Oldroyd's rhubarb tied with green ribbon - more attractive and delicious than flowers I think!

I'll be making a crumble with it on Monday morning. Thankfully I've got a day off on Monday to catch up with domestic stuff that has accumulated over the last busy week.

~Vintage Fair at Rivers Meet Craft Cafe~

Bbbrrr, it's been a cold weekend here in Yorkshire, the snow has lingered due to the low temperatures.  It was minus 5 on my garden thermometer yesterday morning - and I have to confess I stayed in my PJs and watched a dramatisation of Daphne Du Maurier's Rebecca starring Charles Dance & Emilia Fox.  I hardly ever do that, so it was a nice treat.
 I loved the feathery ice pattern on the conservatory window on Saturday morning...

Today I went along with Anne from Marmalade & Catmint, and my lovely Mum,  to a Valentine Craft & Vintage Fair here...

Rivers Meet Craft Cafe in Methley, near Leeds.   I remember this building as a pub a few years ago - it was given a new lease of life as a craft and foodie haven when it was reopened by Joanne and Richard as Rivers Meet in Autumn 2011.  It's open 7 days a week for food, and the in-house craft shop has some fantastic fabrics and beads too. There are also sewing, quilting and other craft classes, along with a book group. See other blogs here and here for foodie reviews and more lovely photos of this unique place, which, judging by today's busy cafe, is obviously a very popular hub of the community.

I caught up with Margaret again from Ready Planted  (@MaggyAnne on Twitter) whose stall looked very pretty and Spring-like.  I bought some Hellebores and Mum treated me to my first daffodils of the year at 50p a bunch.

Margaret's son paints the bespoke signs, they really are the nicest I've come across - his contact details are on the sign on the right under 'For Quotes and Orders' ...I'm looking forward to welcoming Margaret to my March afternoon tea event too.

A cup of tea and a slice of cake on pretty vintage china in the cafe ...

Now to more purchases...

Some East of India ribbon and labels from Chicken Shed Gifts who also have an online shop. 

  Some more ribbons and a handmade ditsy corsage from Twisted Vintage, who open their shop in Whitwood, Castleford, next month.

This cute wooden mini bunting from Twisted Vintage...

A couple of fat quarters of this pretty faux patchwork cotton lawn.  I might recover my piano (sewing) stool with this during half-term...Anne bought some fat quarters too, I'm sure she will post about them too - we both had cameras in-hand to take some snaps!

I may be back there for a half-term breakfast treat with the kids this week!

~Crinoline Ladies~

I managed to buy this beautiful Gibson's teapot for £5 on eBay this week.  I love all things Crinoline Ladies as it reminds me of my Nana B's embroidery projects and looking at things through my childhood eyes...

This vintage embroidered cloth was a car boot sale find last year at Strawberry Fields near Bridlington.  The amount of work in it is colossal, this is just one corner.  It's a lovely heavy natural linen square tablecloth - I absolutely treasure it and need to think about how I could use it - maybe one of my afternoon teas could have a Crinoline theme?

Strawberry Fields Car Boot Sale , Kingsgate, Bridlington YO15 3NG
Easter bank holiday Mondays then Thursdays all summer till October. Tuesdays in June, July and August.
7am to 2pm 

~Teapot and Teacup gardening~

Succulent plants, such as sempervivums ('houseleeks') are ideal for container planting in
vintage crockery odds and ends.  I have a stone trough outside planted up with succulents and alpines, but they are also ideal plants for sunny indoor windowsills - mine are happy in an unheated conservatory in Winter, and spend June to October outdoors in a sunny spot. 
From one of our 'miscellaneous boxes' from a local auction (£1 for a box of random old pots and kitchenalia) came this gorgeous old teapot, missing it's lid. It's a beautiful Gibson's Staffordshire pottery teapot in an unusual hexagonal shape. I used a well-draining planting mix of 50/50 horticultural grit and compost, and just repotted the offsets that my other sempervivums have grown.  They root easily and soon grow over the container sides.  This one flowered beautifully in the summer...

If you look closely you can see the spindly roots that the baby plants are sending out.

I do the same with pretty teacups...

...dressing the tops with grit for drainage. I don't drill holes in the china - just make sure you hardly water them - do not overwater them or they will rot. They make lovely home-made presents too, or for a fund-raising plant stall. Does anyone else plant up bric-a-brac odds and ends?

~Time for Tea - Jan event~

Six ladies sat down to tea today, for a lovely afternoon where we all tried (hard) to forget about diets just for a couple of hours...
Thankyou to all who attended and of course J for her help and donning her trusty apron again! Guests included Anne from Marmalade & Catmint blog, who has taken some photos and posted on her blog too here... Thankyou for the tulips Anne, seen on my new header, and also the wine encased in a cosy garter-stitched jumper!
The table was set with a red and green theme, using some of my favourite china and linens, including this Woods ware green cup and saucer.  Thankyou to Teapigs tea for their support too - guests took some teabags home too, along with polka dot packets of veggie seeds and leftover cake.

The theme was 'Comfort Food', so I had to include my favourite nostalgic treat - Battenburg!

Also a very rich Brownie Cake...

I ended up substituting Yorkshire Fountain's Gold cheese for Swaledale, also from Yorkshire and still as tasty with the green tomato chutney.

Looking forward to February's event - time to get my thinking cap on!

~I ♥ Vintage China~

If I'm out and about shopping in the nearby small town of Tadcaster, I can't resist a quick mooch in my favourite charity shop. Today I am really pleased with this Colclough bone china tea set for £2...

...incomplete, but there are 16 pieces and it will happily fit in with all my other mish-mash of vintage roses china.  I also got a few bits of kitchenalia for pence; including this lovely baking tin and long palette knife...

and this Grindley 'Ivory' sandwich plate...

I picked up the Sainbury's magazine today which has an emphasis on frugal food and eating on a tight budget. If you get chance have a read of the article by Fiona Gibson on p31.  I think Fiona was a features writer or editor on Just Seventeen magazine in the 1980's (remember that?) and now she writes about her family life in rural Scotland.  It's a very amusing description of the new phenomenon of yummy mummies who appear to be competitively bargain-hunting, so-called 'bric-a-braggers' who truthfully, or not, boast about their charity shop finds and harp on about foraging, thrifty living and frown on extravagance.  She suggests it's now more socially unacceptable to be seen spending money, and that even if some are still spending they may be pretending not to, and concealing their purchases.  Very interesting and very funny!