Autumn Treats

Lovely shiny conkers picked up on this evening's walk with Josh

The pinks and purples brightening up the garden still

the cheerful faces of sunflowers, these were some I grew from a packet of Cath Kidston seeds bought earlier in the year

Our little pear tree laden with conference pears

Gorgeous cakes bought at Bay Tree Cottage open day today. These are chocolate and pumpkin cake and the most delicious blackberry,mint and ginger cake. It sounds strange but you have to try it, it was one of the finalist's recipes in the Great British Bake Off and the recipe is on the website. This one was made into a large cake rather than the little cup cakes in the recipe and it was decorated with big juicy blackberries.

As always we enjoyed getting out of the town and breathing in the country air, and it was a lovely sunny autumn day.

Inside the village hall we enjoyed tea out of Beryl Woods Ware china and home made cakes and had a browse around the stalls.

Back home and here is the little stool Mr C spotted earlier in the week. It is very grubby but will look perfect after a fresh coat of paint. It has a lovely smooth worn seat and chunky rustic legs.

This morning I caught up with Julie, a lovely vintage jewelery and accessories seller at our local collectables fair.

I treated myself to this original 1950s tapestry handbag which I have already used this afternoon. Some of you may have seen Cath Kidston's version of this in her latest collection. I had my eye on it but couldn't justify the price tag. This is the real thing and at a fraction of the price.

I also bought these beautiful silk handkerchiefs , two of them vintage Liberty .

The silk hanky with the pretty rosy blooms around the edge and the floral blue chiffon one will be staying with me . The sequin applique flowers and butterfly and corsage brooches are very pretty. I also bought some unusual vintage wooden Czechoslovakian hand painted buttons and a pair but not quite (have a closer look) of crocheted gloves. Some of these treasures will be coming with me to the vintage fair on the 23rd as long as I don't convince myself that I need to keep them myself.

Happy Halloween Weekend

The pumpkin is ready for carving later on, we usually leave it next to our front door lit with tea lights. The chrysanths are out in force in the garden in lovely autumnal shades. Amongst all the oranges and golds there are still a few remnants of summer, the odd pink rose and other tiny splashes of pink.

Earlier in the week I spotted this old wicker sewing basket in my local charity shop. I didn't have time to inspect it too closely so took a gamble and brought it home. I was amazed to find it crammed full of buttons, needle cases, old wooden bobbins, scissors, zips and numerous other things some of which I have yet to identify !

I have a day off today so will be preparing for tomorrow's Bicycle Basket Bazaar and next Saturday's vintage fair, so much to do and I really feel like putting my feet up and having a day relaxing with my lovely girl !

Autumn Garden Sale

Well it's been a difficult week at work and to get up this morning to lovely Autumn sunshine and the prospect of Julie's garden sale was a real boost. Julie has a stall at the local collectors fair selling vintage jewellery and over the years Deb and I have been regular customers. She had told us about the garden sale she was holding with her neighbour to clear out some of their clutter. I knew that Julie's clutter would actually be more like treasure so I headed off with a large bag at the ready. I got there just ahead of my friend Deb so had a bit of an unfair advantage although there was plenty left when she arrived. Some of the things are destined for my Etsy shop whilst some will be put aside for the vintage fair and the rest I won't want to part with and they will be found a home amongst my already cluttered shelves. I particularly like the wooden crinoline lady dressing table set and the lovely flowery hankerchief box as well as the painted glass vase.The best bit is getting home and spreading it all out to admire properly.

Autumn Flowers

The house seems to have been full of flowers this week. On Sunday we took mother in law to the annual dahlia show at a lovely garden centre nestled between thatched cottages in a pretty village in the east of Northamptonshire. We regularly go to the garden centre because it is so much nicer than a lot of the well known ones we have locally that are the same wherever you go in the country. This year we arrived towards the end of the dahlia show and my mother in law was given an arm full of dahlias once they started dismantling the arrangements.

I have never particularly been a fan of dahlias but after living with these for a week I think I have been converted. They are so cheerful and such fascinating shapes and forms I can really see why people love them. We also have a lot of different varieties of sunflowers in the garden and they really cheer me up too. I love the colours of a lot of the flowers this time of year particularly all of the heather colours. The Autumn pots are now planted following our visit to the garden centre, I really like the purple ornamental cabbages I have used with pansies and ivy.

The house is in chaos this week as we are in the middle of decorating the hall stairs and landing and work is also pretty demanding. I am doing a stall at our local antiques and collectables fair with Debbie on Saturday so at some point between now and then I have the mammoth job of getting all my stuff ready ! Oh well, back to work.

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 !