Paradise Found!

As many of you will already know from reading Niki's, Sue's and Ginny's blogs, Niki held a Vintage Sale at her home on Friday and Saturday. We visited on Friday and enjoyed a lovely lunch in the company of some even lovelier people! I can honestly say Niki has the most beautiful home, which is all down to her hard work and exceptional talent and creativity. Sue and I really were like young schoolgirls, clutching each other's arms and 'oohing' at everything!

Having seen some of the photos taken early on Friday, my only regret is that I didn't get there sooner! I did manage to come away with some really pretty items, some of which are shown here. Thank you Niki for a lovely time, some beautiful things and allowing us to see your wonderful home and garden!

After such an inspirational time I was eager to carry on shopping and spent Sunday treasure hunting for my website. One of the things I found was this lovely shell covered box - I haven't seen one for years and thought this was a really pretty example.

Now I must get back to working on the website! Until next time, here's a picture of one of my oldest roses, holding up bravely against the wind and rain that have been battering us for several days now!

Glorious Florals at Pottery Cottage!

I can hardly believe it's been over a week since my last post! I seem to be so busy at the moment finding stock for my shop and tending the garden - weather permitting! June hasn't exactly been glorious so far but the frequent rainfall has meant a bumper crop of blooms in every shape and form!

One of my favourite flowering plants is the geranium. Apart from the English cottage style which look so perfect in their terracotta pots, I also particularly love the hardy variety. Every year they provide a wonderful show of colour and at the last count I think I have 10 different varieties growing all over the garden.

This year my white campanula has done really well - but its adjacent neighbour - a beautiful blue one - did not appear!

Lupins are another favourite of mine - just as I took this picture a bee appeared - if you enlarge the photo you should be able to see him more clearly.

I am always reticent to cut the flowers which grow in my garden. So, when I saw this pretty floral oil painting at the flea market on Sunday I couldn't resist it! I do have an awful lot of floral paintings so I think I will part with this one and add it to my shop next week, along with lots of other pretty items.

In the meantime, there's more work to be done in the garden. Although I may just have to move those geraniums off the stool and sit and appreciate the garden for a while - not for long though, there's weeding and tidying up to be done! Enjoy the rest of your week!

A Focus on Books

A 'vintage home' wouldn't be complete without a good selection of vintage books, would it? I thought it was high-time I shared some of my old books with you - and the subject of books is very appropriate for me at the moment as I collected my new 'reading glasses' last week and at long last can have the pleasure of reading a book again! I think I was in denial for a while but my love of reading eventually drove me to the opticians and now I can be found sporting a pair of lilac-coloured glasses at reading time - well they had to be feminine didn't they?! - and any other time I need to check the small print!

One of my favourite books for 'dipping into' now and then is entitled 'House into Home' and was written by Elizabeth Kendall in 1962 - although you'd be forgiven for thinking it was written in the 1940s instead of the swinging sixties! it is full of wonderful old-fashioned advice and tips for furnishing, decorating, managing and organising your home. Every now and then I dip into it for a flavour of a bygone era. In her introduction to the book, Elizabeth closes the Preface with these words: 'Above all, I should like to thank my husband for his kind forbearance in letting me try to do three jobs at once'. This excerpt lets you know you're in for a real treat! Chapter 2 is my particular favourite and starts thus: 'When tired to tears after a day with a paint pot and with the clearing up - the worst part - still to do, I always say; "never again, I'll save up, give up smoking, anything, and have an interior decorator do the whole thing." But I doubt I ever will. Not that they aren't splendid chaps and worth the money they earn. It's a matter of temperament. To begin with, it's a fallacy to assume that these nice young men - and I've yet to meet one who wasn't competent, cheerful and charming - will relieve you of the responsibility...' They don't write 'em like that any more!

Apart from the obvious reason for buying books, I cannot help being drawn to the beautifully decorative dust jackets that old books have. It's amazing so many survive in such good condition. Classic childrens books are a wonderful example and carry fantastic illustrations...

...gardening books will always please the eye with their colourful displays of flowers and plants...

...this set of 'doctor' books were made into films in the 1960s - I love these illustrations!

I certainly intend to catch up with some reading over the Summer months - let's just hope I get used to carrying glasses around with me!

Floral Bounty!

I thought I would share some pictures of my flower beds with you. We have multi-coloured sweet williams growing everywhere this year and they look wonderful amongst the foxgloves.

I was amazed at this pretty pink rose - it has been squashed between the surrounding buds! If you enlarge the second photo, you will see an unwelcome guest! (Well, unwelcome where I'm concerned - they are not my favourite creepy-crawly!)


I had a couple of special packages arrive today! The lovely handmade tags and beautiful cards are from Alison of Foxgloves and the gorgeous corsages are from Kim of Ragged Roses! I was overjoyed when I opened up their delightfully wrapped goodies! It's one thing to receive these beautiful handmade items from such talented ladies but the thought and care which goes into their presentation is just amazing! Thank you both very much!