Hidcote Manor Gardens

Last week Mr C and I had a lovely day out to Hidcote Manor Gardens in the Cotswolds. We have been a number of times before but love to visit at different times of the year. The gardens are always stunningly beautiful whenever you visit, even in pouring rain !

When you go in you pass through this cosy sitting room with faded floral armchairs, old books and this beautiful painting on the wall.

The view from the desk window is wonderful.

The gardens are divided in to 'rooms' with different themes. There are lovely little places to rest and take cover from the rain or sun all around the gardens.

This is the beautiful red border full of red and orange tulips.

An artist was at work renovating the lovely wall paintings in this summerhouse.

There were gorgeous tulips everywhere along with lilacs,magnolias and peonies.

The shades of pink, lilac and the blue merged beautifully. Bluebells were everywhere along with forget-me-nots and coiled ferns.

Every way you turn there is a beautiful view. The white garden was restful and cool.

The peonies were stunning.

Little glimpses of a thatched cottage could be seen through the trees.

The yew hedges and conifers gave wonderful structure.

The ponds will be magnificent once the water lilies are out.

There were a number of stunning old wisterias that scented the air all around them. Every time I visit I am reminded of my lovely grandad as this was his favourite place to visit. Hopefully we won't leave it too long to go back as I would love to see the rose garden in full bloom.

Wedding Fever

A few days ago my lovely girl and I had a night away in London. The sun shone and we had a great couple of days. Wedding fever had certainly started, Regent Street looked great in the evening light decorated with flags and all lit up.

The city was packed with tourists enjoying the sunshine and the atmosphere.

We spent a lovely couple of hours on the King's Road and of course had to pop in to Cath Kidston. This was the shop Kate Middleton was photographed outside of a few days earlier.There were still plenty of paps hanging around and tv cameras from around the world. My one concession to the Royal wedding with a bit of encouragement from my lovely girl was Cath, Royal wedding tea towel.

The window display in Liberty was quirky and fun and decorated with vintage bunting.

We decided to join the crowds and visited Westminster Abbey. It was worth the wait and lovely and cool inside having waited outside in the scorching sunshine. The audio tour is well worth doing and we both enjoyed it. Outside enormous platforms had been set up for the world's media and cameras were being set up on surrounding buildings.

First Car Boot Sale Of The Year

Yesterday we went to the first proper car boot sale of the year. We probably didn't really get there as early as we should have but I still came away with a few treasures. This little lady was my favourite find of the day. I have admired her for months in our local antique centre and was always told she wasn't actually for sale and she wasn't priced. Imagine my amazement when I spotted her nestled on a stall at the boot sale being sold by the dealer at the antiques centre for just £2. I am sure it was meant to be. I know many people will wonder why I would want her with her broken arms but I think she is beautiful as she is.

I also found this cute donkey on wooden wheels. He has no maker's label and I would love to know more about him. He is definitely quite old with a solid body and mohair type fur.

This is an original water colour in a very pretty frame, it must be pre 1930s I would think.

Mr C was busy in the garden last week building a new raised bed and planting it up with salad and vegetables.

Our lovely peony 'Molly The Witch' flowered and after a few days is now gone.We bought her from RHS Wisley years ago and it took her around 6 years to flower.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter, I hope you are all having a wonderful Easter weekend.

I thought I would share a few more images from my lovely 1930s scrapbooks.

As well as this sweet old Rowntree's Easter egg box.

A vintage 1930s Easter chick lemon squeezer.

Some vintage bunny and chick nursery ware china on my dresser.

Dreaming Spires and Vintage Fairs

This little lady arrived in the post this week. She was very grubby but after a gentle clean came up looking fine. She has now joined the rest of my little bisque dolls.

We have had a lovely extended weekend which included a trip to Oxford.

This time the sun was shining and we had a tour of the city on an open topped bus followed by a relaxing lunch in Jamie's Italian.

We always love wandering around Oxford, peeping in to the colleges and exploring the narrow little streets.

The mellow stone looked lovely in the sunshine although the sun seems to have disappeared behind a cloud in this picture.

Yesterday I somehow managed to squeeze in a small boot sale and two vintage fairs in to the space of a couple of hours !

The first fair was a lovely little vintage fair in the church hall at Earls Barton. The tea and home made cake was delicious and there was a lovely atmosphere. Sharon from Clover Cottage had a stall and it was great to catch up with her.

This gorgeous linen , embroidered table cloth was one of my favourite purchases this weekend.

The gorgeous pink eiderdown was a purchase from the second fair we visited and I couldn't resist it although I know I don't need another one ! As soon a I got it home I gave it a gentle wash in the machine and got it out on the line in the sunshine to dry. The two little hand painted glasses were found at the same fair.

The lovely yellow Jasmine Ware jug was found at the Earls Barton fair and the Tala cake tin and rolling pin at the second fair in Northampton.

The rolling pin is really pretty, I think it dates to around the 1930s and is hand painted with flowers and butterflies.