Thankyou

I have been very lucky over the last few days, receiving a number of lovely unexpected surprises. January can be such a miserable month, it has really cheered me up receiving these kind gifts.

First of all I was lucky enough to win the giveaway on Maria's great blog, 'country style living'. I won this fab book that I had been reading about in the latest edition of Homes and Antiques magazine. It is full of great ideas and lovely pictures. I was really excited to win this as I never win anything and have never won anything in a giveaway before, so thank you Maria very much.

Today I received a surprise parcel from my sister in Scotland. She has recently started sewing and crafting and I had sent her my much loved Cath Kidston cardigan that Mr C had unfortunately put through a hot wash. I thought she might find some use for it at her craft group. She has turned it in to this lovely cuddly cushion for me and I love it. The photo really doesn't do it justice and the colour is actually much brighter.

On Saturday my mum left me a bag of bits and pieces that had come from my grandma's house. Amongst the things were lots of pieces of ephemera including the brochure for her old Rolls Rapide twin tub and her copy of ' The Big book Of Needlecraft' which I thought had been lost.

This original Lloyd Loom 'Lusty' linen basket , upholstered in pretty vintage fabric was a present from Mr C after he saw me admiring it at a vintage fair before Christmas.I fell in love with the faded fabric and original worn paint.

Saturday was The vintage Jumble organised by Mr C. It was a great success and amazingly busy considering it is January. It was good fun and really nice to catch up with so many people.

There was an amazing array of goodies on offer but I was incredibly restrained. I did treat myself to this cute egg cup from Jo of Hesta Nesta.

I bought this pretty bolt of fabric from another Jo although I have no idea what I will use it for.

I also found this old wooden scoring board that for some reason appealed to me.

On a sadder note I lost one of my lovely chickens just over a week ago when she suddenly became unwell and died. I had only had her a few months but I had already become quite fond of her. Happily my other two are still as lively and inquisitive as ever and laying lots of lovely eggs.

Meet The New Resident At The Corner House

Anyone who knows me well will know how much I have wanted one of these little chaps. I have endlessly watched them on ebay and never felt able to justify the high prices. I knew that one day I would find one when I was least expecting it. That's exactly what happened a few days ago. I was dashing past a second hand shop when out of the corner of my eye through the window I spotted him standing on the counter. I ran in heart racing, thinking he was on the counter because someone was paying for him. Unbelievably he was on the counter because he had just been brought in for sale ! I knew it was my lucky day when the owner agreed to let me have him for a very reasonable price.

Josh isn't too sure what to make of him and has given him a good sniff.

My lovely girl is very fond of him too which is a bit of a surprise as I thought she would probably groan when I walked through the door with him.

This little fella also arrived this week and has moved in to the old W.I. cabinet with some friends.

I have a a few days off now this week and Mr C and I found these pretty Lloyd Loom style shelves today. They are a little dusty and I found the old photo of the couple wedged down the back. There is also a matching chair and linen basket, I am planning on re-covering the chair in some vintage fabric. I will have to decide whether to sell the little shelves or find a space somewhere for them. I already have a similar set in a faded sea green, and I love them.

Mr C and my lovely girl had a day out together in London earlier in the week and Mr C returned with some lovely pieces of Liberty fabric for me. I am not sure how they will be used yet but I love the dark pink roses print.

I am off for a couple of days now with my lovely girl on our usual half term jaunt. So far the week has been dominated by AS mock revision and preparations for the Northampton Vintage Fair in March. We have also found a wonderful new venue in the pretty market town of Olney and have booked another two dates for further fairs. It will be nice to have some time to relax before things get really busy for all of us. I am sure I will be back with some photos of our trip to share.

A Day In The Cotswolds

Friday started off slightly grey and wet but as Mr C and I had the day off and my lovely girl was in London all day with her friends, we decided to have a trip out. We both love the Cotswolds and parts are within easy reach of home. We headed off and the weather immediately started to improve. First stop en route for some lunch was the pretty village of Deddington. I had a delicious lunch of homemade pate and crusty bread. I then popped next door to the quaint Deddington Antiques Centre . My best purchase of the day was a Lloyd Loom style set of shelves with faded sea green paint. They were being used to display old linens but of course I had to ask if they were sale and the lady quickly unpacked them and agreed to let me have them. I have wanted some of these for a long time but have never seen any for sale.

I knew straight away what I would use them for, a little spot on the landing between the bathroom and loo.

They look a bit empty still but I will gradually fill them with more of my seaside themed bits and pieces.I positioned them underneath my two Vernon Ward seaside pictures. The two colourful pictures at the top are covers of the 'Girls Own' from the 1930s. I bought them last year because I just loved the cover illustrations.

The Deddington Antiques Centre is well worth a visit. It has around four floors full of little rooms crammed with linens, blue and white china, vintage clothing and jewellery.

Next stop was Chipping Norton and I found a couple of old glass sweet jars in the local charity shop. Of course I had to pop in to this little shop and came away with a sweet little nursery ware plate for a few pounds.

We carried on to pretty Chipping Campden and had a delicious cream tea. I thought these worn stone steps were really pretty.

Hollyhocks are one of my favourite summer flowers and they looked amazing growing at the front of these gorgeous stone houses.

On the way home we stopped off at Moreton-In -Marsh and a beautiful village called Blockley where we spent a wonderful holiday when my lovely girl was very little.

My lovely girl had been in London for the day with her friends. They had gone to see Les Miserables , mainly because Nic Jonas (one of the Jonas Brothers, American band much loved by teenage girls) had a starring role. She returned home with some lovely Cath Kidston goodies, some tea towels for me from the sale and this gorgeous Stanley dog for us both to share. He is pink on one side and blue on the other and apparently part of the new Kids range.I thought for a minute that she was finally starting to see the light on the vintage loveliness front but that was shattered a few minutes later when she shouted ' what's this disgusting thing on the landing ?!' obviously referring to my lovely new shelves. Oh well I think she has made some progress.

Special Day

Today was my birthday and I treated myself to a day off work and slow start to the day. I caught up on some lovely blogs over a nice cup of tea and opened some lovely pressies.

I had some beautiful flowers including this gorgeous hyacinth and rose posy from Crocus. This was a lovely surprise from my sister up in Scotland.

The pretty green enamel 'pot' planted with Spring flowers was from my friend Deb.

My lovely girl knows me well and bought me some pretty earrings, a new mug for my morning cuppa and a lovely spotty glass I had commented on when we were in CK in london a few weeks ago.

My biggest surprise was this fabulous tomato red coat that I had spotted weeks ago but couldn't justify buying it for myself. This will be something I wear and wear, it has a fabulous lining and a 50s/60s style swing shape.

Mr Corner House and I then set off for a trip to Stamford which is a beautiful market town with some fantastic architecture spanning centuries. It is also full of lots of lovely shops and places to eat.

There seemed to be lots of doors painted in varying shades of green.

I love this shop, full of lots of lovely things including a great range of Cath Kidston and Emma Bridgewater. I treated myself to a couple of bits of Cath.

This week I have found a few charity shop bargains including this original Lloyd Loom Lusty table.

I found three of these printed 1950s tablecloths for pennies. I particularly like this one with the roses and cottage design, I think it looks very Cath Kidston but the real thing.

I hope you all have a lovely Mothers Day weekend.