Dogs And Roses

I found this little chap today and brought him home to join the rest of my little collection.

This one is very real though, being part beardy Josh has lots of long shaggy hair and it's hard to see his face. As the weather has been so hot Mr C took the scissors to him and gave him a trim. He looks like a young pup and is all soft and fluffy. He seems to like it and has been bounding around with even more energy than usual.

I found these lovely old deck chairs at the local antiques centre. After seeing some similar ones on the lovely Ted and Bunny blog and getting a few words of encouragement I went back and snapped them up just in time to make the most of them in the sunshine.

Finally I couldn't resist sharing some photos of the first of Mr C's David Austin roses that are blooming in the garden. They seem to have done surprisingly well this year and I love them. I don't do any of the hard work in the garden, I just enjoy the rewards of Mr C's work.

A Woman's Best Friend

This gorgeous calendar from 1954 arrived in the post today. It comes from Jayne's shop at country cottage chic and is even lovelier than in the photos .

My real life best friend 'Josh' has been struggling with the fire works the last few days so we have resorted to the old 'tight T shirt trick'. We heard about this a few months ago and it really seems to work for dogs frightened by fireworks. It seems to calm them in the same way as swaddling a baby. Today he is modeling another T shirt found in the bottom of my daughter's wardrobe, very Rock-n-Roll .

Today was the antiques market on the market square, there were a fair few stalls considering the weather was horrible. I seemed to find things with a pink and green theme which I love as a colour combination. This Paragon cup and saucer is very pretty.

I really like these bark cloth curtains with their original pelmet , the photos don't really show the lovely shade of green. I am not sure what to do with these yet, maybe cushion covers ?

This pair of hand worked nautical pictures are lovely.

Tomorrow is going to be very hectic. I have the day off work and will be spending the whole day on last minute preparations for Saturday's Vintage Fair here in Northampton. Fingers crossed the weather will be kind to us.

Autumn Treasures

What a beautiful day it has been ! We went on a lovely walk with Josh the dog to our local park. The ground was covered in wonderful gleaming deep chestnut conkers. I couldn't resist bringing some home with me although I don't know what I will do with them.

On the way to the park we passed a man loading a skip with the beautiful old stained glass windows from his house. He told us we could have them if we wanted them. They are very similar to the ones we have in our house and we have a bit of a weakness for stained glass so of course we had to go back for them. When we went back with the car an hour or so later I half expected them to be gone but instead they were neatly stacked and waiting for us. We have 14 windows now stored away in the garage ready for some future project !

My First Award

I am so pleased I have just received my first award from Sharon from The crafty Trundler. I now have to list my 5 current greatest obsessions and pass the Award on to some other lovely bloggers so here goes ...

1) Blogging of course - I am new to the world of blogging but love it. It can clearly become quite addictive but it is lovely to hear from other bloggers and get to know so many lovely and like minded people.

2)Car Boot Sales/Charity Shops - charity shops have always been a bit of an obsession but just lately I have been to quite a few car boot sales. I know some of my friends find me quite weird but I couldn't be happier than ambling around a boot sale on a sunny Sunday morning knowing that when I have completed my hunt for treasures I have a flask of coffee and croissants ready and waiting in the car. We usually enjoy sitting in the sunshine having breakfast and looking at my purchases.

3)Planning The Northampton Vintage and Homemade Fair- this has turned in to a bit of an obsession as it it entails far more work than Deb or I anticipated but it is still very exciting. I seem to be spending a lot of time planning and getting things ready and also worrying that no one will turn up ! For the time being it seems to have overtaken my previous big obsession of my Etsy shop.

4)Reading- I love reading but seem to have very little time and by the time I get in from work and catch up on jobs at home I am normally too tired to read. However just lately I have started to find time to read again and although I still love reading magazines like Period Living I have rediscovered the pleasure of reading a good novel and look forward to that bit of time before going to sleep when I can switch off and get lost in a good book.

5)Josh- Josh is my gorgeous dog and I can't imagine life without him. We have had him just over a year and he came from the Dog's Trust in Kenilworth. He is a black and white bearded collie cross with a border collie and very scruffy looking. When we first had him he was a bit of challenge and I spent the first few weeks in tears and desperately wanting to take him back. He had never lived in a house before and we think he came originally from a farm in Ireland. He was quite destructive and very dominant with me, I was actually quite scared of him. Now I am so pleased I stuck with him because I love him so much and he has made such a positive contribution to our lives. Most of his difficult behaviours have completely stopped and he is now just a loveable rogue who makes us laugh every day.

I am now passing on this lovely award to some of the wonderful blogs I enjoy reading...

Wendy of Ticking Stripes

Deb of Home Thoughts From Vintage wants

Annie of Birdcages and Butterflies

Laura of My Vintage Party

Hannah of Ivory Faces

Feel free just to add the award to you blog or pass on again Ann x

Josh

I just had to share a picture of my gorgeous dog with you. Yesterday we had terrible thunder storms here and Josh was terrified. My daughter was researching on the internet ways of calming dogs  and found out that dressing them in a tight T shirt can help ! I thought it was a joke but sure enough when I got home she showed me the information on various sites. I can only guess it makes them feel secure, a bit like swaddling a baby. Anyway he did calm down a bit and spent the rest of the evening in the T shirt in a very relaxed mood !