I need another weekend to get over the weekend !

A busy weekend here with a house full of small people ..... the two resident grands of course plus the others on Saturday afternoon while their parents went off to look for a new bed and yesterday just the two small ones while they went off to Wembley for the play off finals.

I can't believe Harry is 4 weeks old this Wednesday .... he is focusing and starting to take in what is around him and he had his eldest cousin watching over him.

My little bargain hunting friend and I did manage to pop to the charity shop and a church Bazarre on Saturday morning and a car boot yesterday morning before they arrived ..... well a girl has to fit in a little bargain hunting doesn't she!

We were one of the first into the church hall and while Ellie sat with some lovely ladies and made a key ring I wandered off to the bric a brac.  Sitting all on her own at the back of the tables was this just begging me to take her home.

She belonged to one of the elder ladies of the church who had recently passed away and when I went back to show Ellie a voice from behind said that used to belong to my sister.  When I turned around it was my sons' old scout master and he continued to tell me his sister was born in 1955 and she'd had the doll since very young.  She is dressed in 1950s knickers, dress and a soft fleece jacket and apart from a little wobble to the head where the stringing is a bit slack she is in lovely condition.  She is sitting in the little Lloyd loom chair I got a while back and poor Millie couldn't make out why someone else was sitting in her chair.

In the charity shop standing by the door were these ...... the wotnot will be given a coat of Annie Sloan paint and used for display at the Vintage Fairs and I'm sure I can find a corner for the pot stand

On Sunday at the car boot I spied another pot to add to my growing Michel Caugant collection of game pate pots

and I couldn't resist this cheeky little number

They are all Soulet prints from the 1960s

One more little treasure to add to the doll's china collection too .... a little cup standing just 2" tall and dating to 1890

It reads .... The Fairy appeared to Cinderella and shows the fairy godmother standing beside a grandfather clock while Cinderella sits in front of the fire with a lovely dresser laden with china behind her.  Such detail on such a tiny cup.

Today is resting today because tomorrow my OH has to go for his pre-op checks in preparation for an exploratory op in a couple of weeks to see what is going on with the left knee replacement he had in August 2009.  Then the whole referral procedure has to start again as his right knee has now given up on him and he can barely walk.  The daft brush sat there this morning and said he would go back to work next week .... doh .... he can just about get to the loo without being in agony so I have no idea what makes him think he can do a half hour walk to work, an 8 hour shift and then walk home again!  What is it with men that they can't give in and admit they cannot achieve what they did in their 20s and 30s?  Quite honestly I cannot see him returning to work at all and the prospect looms of him being on the scrap heap at 55 because he will be unable to work because of his health and age.  Oh well will face that when and if it arises.

Time for a cuppa and a cake I think

Hope you all had a good weekend x

I'm just wild about Harry.....

Ahhhh ..... I fall in love again every time ..... with the sad news in the press today about innocent young children's lives being snuffed out I really cannot understand how people can be so cruel even in the most dire circumstances :-(

Our new little man is thriving and if he can sleep through the din in our house he can sleep through anything.  Nanny will be babysitting him and his sister next Sunday whilst the rest of the family head for Wembley.

Quelle surprise this morning to awake to blue skies and dryness so there was only one thing to be done ..... head for the hills and the car boots of course!

We weren't particularly early (I had two of the other grands in tow) but we all enjoyed the wander around and the littlies were on their best behaviour.  A few bargains were bagged and Jack was happy when he found yet another fire engine to add to his collection and Ellie found some gardening gloves for when she is in the garden with her grandad.

Nanny found a pretty Beswick toast rack and a pair of carved wooden Scottie Dog bookends

Now I can't wait till tomorrow morning to go off bargain hunting again this time just with Ellie who is becoming a seasoned professional and can spot a bargain quicker than me sometimes.  We had just said this morning that a basketball hoop would be nice to put up in the garden and lo and behold she found one and it was just a pound .... just have to get someone to fix it on the wall now.

I did manage to get to our bigger CS last weekend and ended up blitzing their bric-a-brac shelf ..... I was in vintage heaven

Yesterday afternoon was spent doing a few hours on the desk at Country Matters in Hexton ..... it's lovely to sit in the middle of a wonderful Aladdin's Cave of goodies with a cafetier of fresh coffee and chat to the visitors ..... even better when I am selling them some of my handmades!

I found a couple of bargains there too for myself

This lovely old wooden box is going to be used for display at the vintage fairs ..... haven't quite decided what for yet :-)

This afternoon I have been finishing some cushion covers ...... I saw the cuckoo clock design in Mollie Makes magazine and decided to design my own grandfather clock and mantle clock to compliment it.  Some old Aida and linen was dug out of the stash and teamed with some blue ticking fabric.

This week we have also welcome some more new additions to the family .... as if we didn't have enough mouths to feed my OH has acquired six Chinese Quail .... yet more eggs!

 

Well best be off to bed now if I am to be up bright eyed and bushy tailed tomorrow!

Have a good weekend whatever you are doing x

A wet welcome .......

If anybody mentions a hosepipe ban or drought I am liable to slap them ;-)

We now have an unplanned water feature in the centre of the garden ..... we are on clay soil so it will take ages for it to soak away properly.  It was such a shame because the children had just started playing down on the grass now we'll have to wait until it dries out.

Wednesday was wet welcome day to my 5th grandchild ..... Harry Lewis arrived at 11.50 am weighing a healthy 8lb 4oz and he is a little beauty even if I do say so myself !

with his proud cousin who has been a very clever girl today in her first streetdance competition ..... she came 3rd out of 100 children in her age group .... well done Ellie xx

This afternoon they have visited so that he could meet his great nanny and he was wide awake

All this wetness has put paid to car booting ..... if I don't get out next weekend there are going to be some serious withdrawal symptoms round here

Time has been spent sorting out the fabric stash and yesterday I sat cutting up scraps into hexagons for future quilt projects and I've been on a red, white and blue theme with the Jubilee in mind ..... I do have a correction to make here as my menobrain made me think that the Jubilee Garden Party on 26th May isn't in Kettering but is in Northampton on the Kettering Road ..... must get to Specsavers !!   Apologies if I confused anyone .... I seem to have confused myself.

Country Matters at Hexton have a Jubilee themed table display at the moment .... the colours are very eye catching as you walk in the door.

Now I am looking forward to a relaxing Sunday evening in front of the box with a nice glass of red.

Hope you've all had a good weekend x

A week of highs and lows

Well Easter weekend was a bit of a wash out .... I spent most of it in bed feeling as though I'd been in the ring with Tyson .... just as well the weather was rubbish too so I didn't miss much!

I was up and running by Tuesday which was just as well as I had three children to look after .... I have come to the conclusion that my old body just shuts down when I don't have anything to keep me busy ... funny how it seems to know that it just needs a flipping good rest.

Wednesday was a sad day .... the 48 year old mother of a child I used to look after lost her valiant battle with ovarian cancer and was laid to rest that day.  As we get older it is natural process that we attend more funerals but this one had to be the hardest yet for me as I watched a beautiful, dignified and brave 13 year old read out a poem she had written especially for her mum.

As a balance to a sad day my daughter received some good news .... she has been accepted on a midwifery degree course in Hertfordshire and is still waiting to hear from our local university.  She has been working very hard on an Access course since September .... there is so much more work involved than when I did mine when she was a baby.  So it looks like there will be two midwives in the family in a few years time.  I am so proud of my girls.

Mum rang me on Thursday morning to say that there was an old photo in a local newspaper and she was sure her mum and brother were on it.  It was from 1949 when the Duke of Edinburgh visited the town ..... my nan was a staunch royalist and wouldn't have a word said against the Queen.  Mum was right too ..... nan is at the bottom right of the photo holding my uncle in her arms.

She would have enjoyed all the forthcoming Jubilee celebrations

I've been picking up some bit and pieces for the Kettering Jubilee Fair and making too

With my able assistant Miss Ellie I have been car booting this weekend.  My favourites started again and it was so nice to escape into the fresh air and delve around in other people's cast offs again :-)

Four little ducks when swimming one day and found themselves in my shopping trolley!

The ceramic ones are pate tureens made by the same maker as my bunny which you can just see in the photo .... Frenchman Michel Caugant.

Ellie has a school project to complete on Ancient Egypt and we managed to find some books, a mummy pencil tin and a lovely plaster moulding set unused and complete with everything to make a tomb, sarcophagus and mummy.  We're just waiting for the plaster and papier mache to dry and the decorating can commence tomorrow.

One more day and they will be back to school .... teacher training tomorrow so I will have a house full as usual.  Roll on Tuesday morning and some peace and quiet.

We will all be on tenterhooks this week as grandchild number 5 is due on the 19th ..... the day before his big brother's 5th birthday on Friday.

I finished a little cot size quilt for him made with some lovely vintage Laura Ashley charm squares purchased on a well known auction website

I had the Laura Ashley Harlequin border fabric in my stash which matched perfectly !

Lala's little helper ................

Phew what a busy weekend!

Saturday was my 54th birthday ...... the day whizzed by (much like the last 54 years) with visits from family and friends .... cards and pressies to be opened and then a family dinner to finish the day.

Sunday was the day of the first Buckingham Vintage & Handmade Fair organised by Trevor and Ann .... the sun was shining for us and the venue was lovely despite being on the first floor ..... certainly got some cardio-vascular exercise taking the stock in!

Fortunately we had an extra pair of hands with us ... Ellie has been nagging to come with us and yesterday was her day.  We had an early start leaving home at 7.30 and not getting back until 5.30 and despite this she behaved perfectly and was a great help.  She found a new role as unofficial fair photographer and here are her pix to give you a flavour of the day

Did get carried away a little didn't she??  These are just a few .... she used my camera and my phone and almost filled both memory cards!

Some of our regular sellers from Northampton were there plus some newcomers who were venturing out for the first time ... the atmosphere was just right and a steady flow of visitors wandered round admiring all the loveliness on display.

This morning has been spent sorting out stock brought back home and the rest that I have stashed in various nooks and crannies ..... my next fair will be the Jubilee Garden Party

followed by the 2nd Vintage Jumble

It's half term and this week I am having a week off from childminding .... there is a lot of spring cleaning to be done round here and the accounts books are calling too ... if the forecast snow arrives that should keep me out of mischief for several days!

I am thinking about resurrecting  my other blog Aunty Wainwright's Treasures ..... with car booty starting seriously this coming weekend I really do have to make some space around here ..... keep any eye out for some vintage goodies at very sensible prices !