Tea And Cakes

On Saturday morning I popped round to our local monthly antiques fair and found this old oak cake stand. Slightly warped but with lots of potential for display purposes. I knew when I saw it that it would be very useful for Deb and I in our new venture (more of that another day). I raided Mr C's paint collection and gave it a couple of coats of 'Sky Blue' from The Little Greene Paint Company.

I also found these sweet book ends which I will add to my Etsy shop.

Mr C picked me this lovely apricot coloured David Austin rose and bright orange poppy.

On Saturday afternoon we went to our nearest National Trust property Canon's Ashby house and church. We had a look around the garden and had some lunch. It is a beautiful property and we visit fairly often as we are members of the National trust and it's lovely to have something like this so close to home.

This gate to the garden was so romantic looking, covered in honeysuckle allowed to grow wild.

This reminded me of the door to the 'Secret Garden'

We also went over to Farthingstone village and bought some cakes to take home from the Bay Tree Cottage open day. Mr C bought a few plants and we sat in the garden and enjoyed tea and cakes in the sunshine.

This old gate was just down the lane from Bay Tree cottage and the bench with the lovely inscription was down the lane on the way out of the village.

On Friday I went to London with my lovely girl who wanted a break from revision.It was incredibly hot but we still had fun. We had lunch on the South Bank outside the Royal Festival Hall and we sat and watched the world go by.

I treated myself to the basket bag from Cath Kidston's Covent Garden shop. This was after much excitement from seeing a couple of the stars from the Pineapple Dance Studio show. The studio is just round the corner from the Cath Kidston shop.

We then had to visit the new Jack Wills store on Long Acre, Covent Garden . This is probably the biggest of their shops and was beautifully decorated with vintage silverware, books, bathroom fittings, faded Union Jack flags and pictures. The chandelier on the stairway was enormous, and the walls were covered in vintage prints.

this is a lovely sweet shop on the edge of Covent Garden

and also a very nice bakery selling pretty cup cakes.

Well it's been a lovely week away from work and with amazing weather which I never usually seem to get when I take time off work. Back to reality tomorrow and a long week of GCSEs for my lovely girl.

Sunday Car Boot Sale Finds

Today has been lovely, up early before the heat of the sun and a leisurely wander around a a car boot sale followed by the usual coffee and cake . I have spent the rest of the day enjoying the beautiful weather in the garden and doing a little bit of sewing making lavender bags for the fair. I was pleased with my finds at the boot sale this morning, they included a Victory jigsaw puzzle, a number of books, a child's tea set as well as a couple of cake stands and an art nouveau style tin and another painted glass jug to add to my collection.I also found a sweet little wicker shopping basket and an old Smith's kitchen timer which may well find a home in my kitchen along with my other red bits and pieces.

Church Garden Fete

Today was the annual church garden fete at the lovely church of St Matthews on my road. Despite the weather it went ahead as planned and was as busy as ever. The home made teas and cakes were delicious and there was the usual array of plant and bric-a-brac stalls as well as a car park full of lovely vintage cars. I found a pretty rosy cake stand, assorted old children's books and a pretty trio decorated with violets.

St Matthews is the venue for our Vintage Fair we are holding on the 7th of November.