What I love about France.......

Just got home from a wonderful few days in France. The weather was mixed as you can see, but here are some of the things that caught my eye. I love the stunning architecture of the cathedrals.

I love the fact that you can buy delicious sausages from barbecue-stands on every street corner on market day....

Secret gardens behind beautiful rusty old gates, and beautiful domestic architecture.

Very shabby Vide Greniers in the middle of small towns. Unlike the Car boots sales in this country everyone is relaxed and jolly, happy to haggle and they make a day of it. Even the rain doesn't deter the French, they just cover their stands with clear plastic sheeting and stand under their umbrella until it stops.

The lilac was particularly prolific this year, as was the wisteria and blossom.

Sunset over the graveyard, not a blade of grass in sight.. very French!

I love this old painted sign above the cottage where we stayed....

Flower shops bursting with colour were so tempting. I could have filled the back of the car with pots of hydrangea......

Another street market with an amazing cupboard that I would have loved to have brought home, but the car was filling up fast with vintage dresses, old linen smocks, flowery textiles, picture frames & some very pretty enamel teapots & jugs!





... and where else could you buy an ancient Mercedes hearse for £900!!!!! (but I resisted the temptation!!!!)

Five minutes peace........

When the boys were younger (a lot younger!) they had a wonderful book by Jill Murphy called Five minutes peace. A hilarious story about an elephant called Mrs Large who just needed to escape and enjoy a bath.... it has since stayed in my mind and years later I still sometimes feel like Mrs Large, craving for "just five minutes peace"!
Anyway, the above picture shows that after a busy few days at Ardingly Antiques fair I finally got there!
The book seen on the chair arrived from Amazon last week and is proving to be a very enjoyable read and a must for anyone who is potty about Vintage fashion. It is called A Vintage Affair and is by Isabel Wolff, and I am having trouble putting it down!

Had a wonderful 2 day fair at Ardingly & thank you to Lois for putting some splendid photos of my stand on her blog. http://morgaine-le-fays-textiles.blogspot.com/2009/04/wonderful-sunny-day-at-ardingly.html

Calm........

Yesterday I took a break from things (sort of) and drove down to the coast to deliver a few goodies to a lovely lady who has a wonderful shop in Lyme Regis. If you are ever down that way, do make sure you visit a shop in Broad Street called Suzie Cole. It is packed to to the ceiling with scrummy things, spotty china, photo frames, jewellery, vintage knick-knacks and much much more....

Suzie was in the midst of redoing the window, so didn't feel I could start taking piccies, instead I took these peaceful shots along the coast at Charmouth. A real quirky old fashioned seaside.... and beautifully serene at this time of year......

Dolly's Villa and other tiny things.......

Today I had great fun at an auction, and a bit of a "dolls house fix"....... The above is an amazing back opening house with a really unusual Lithographed front. I have no idea who made it, but there are a few clues to assist my investigations, It has the letters "CB" and the date 1892. There is also a charming sign above the front door which reads "Dolly's Villa number 1".....

Next is a little house to keep "Bijou" company (see earlier post!) It dates from early in the 20th century and was made in Germany.

and lastly.. a selection of other goodies which I purchased.... some of which I will have to keep, but the rest I will be taking to The New Forest Dolls house fair in Lyndhurst on April 5th. Early entry 10 am. See website for details.
http://www.wendysworldfairs.co.uk/

The contents of a wonderful sewing box.......

Last week I attended an auction and managed to be the lucky high bidder on 6 (yes six...) boxes of old sewing items.

A rather poignant selection of old knitting patterns, threads, trimmings, Crinoline lady shaped needle cases.... A lot of the items still in their lovely old paper bags with names of mostly long-gone local Somerset shops and departmental stores.

Also a fabulous old Deans toy catalogue....

What wonderful dolls....

Stitchcraft magazines from the 1930's to the 1950's, along with funky scraps of what appeared to be decorated shower-curtain plastic fabric. After further delving in the boxes I discovered templates to make plastic capes, the sort designed to protect your clothes when you were washing your hair!

These wonderful magazines advertising Baxters Felt makers, along with piles of old felt scraps....
A lot of these items will be coming with me to the Stroud International Textiles Rag Market on Saturday 14th March. This is being held at The Old Town Hall in the centre of Stroud, postcode GL5 1AP, go to multimap and it will show you the exact location.
The fair is open from 10 am to 4 pm. Entrance 50p

Hope to see you there!

PS Just to let you know my Internet problems have come to a head & I will probably be off line for the next week. Be back on Friday 13th for the house name draw!

Don't let it get to you!

I felt that I had to add this picture which a friend sent me yesterday. Somehow she and her family managed to find time to build this lovely smiling fella while her husband started major works on their home.... and I am talking MAJOR...... roof coming off and a whole first floor being added.. all taking place in the coldest winter for 20 yrs.

It's good to have a sense of humour.

Deep and crisp and (sometimes) even...

This is the view from my kitchen window at 6 am this morning, we woke up to an incredible amount of snow and no electricity! (This was NOT forecast, the official weather weather website said we would be having "light rain"......)

Time to light the woodburner & boil some water for a much needed cuppa...


Later, as it gets light the state of the lane becomes apparent, and all plans for the day are shelved (yet again).... The tracks you can see were made by tractors. A neighbour did attempt to drive along here in a normal vehicle... his abandoned car is just around the corner!

But as always I cannot resist wrapping up warm and stomping outside with the camera. The above view is the front garden. The weight of the snow has brought down a few branches.

The back garden, just love the way the bare branches of the apple tree are coated. All very pretty, but sadly it means we will not be selling at the Vintage fashion fair in Stroud tomorrow. In fact I have just heard that it has been cancelled.

As for the fair in Cardiff on Sunday, only time will tell......

There is also the small problem of food (and drink) supplies as I had intended to do a big shop today. It would appear we have a few random tins of this & that (what can you make with tinned tomatoes, pumpkin seeds and a melon!).... ah aha, whats this a whole bottle of port left over from Christmas... yummy!

The swinging sixties......

Last week I was fortunate enough to visit a lady who had kept some of her clothes from the late 60's. What a treat to have the opportunity to purchase some much-loved items from the Biba store in London, an Ossie Clark pair of fabulous silky trousers, a raunchy zip-up leather jacket, a pair of courreges French sunglasses and several other goodies.....
These will be coming with me to the Stroud fair on Saturday, but you are welcome to email me at jltg40@aol.com if you feel the temptation to purchase a slice of Fashion History!

Holiday time!

Just remembered that I bought this 1950's china just before my holiday. I had to have them to add to my collection of wacky vintage china. Each little skiing figure appears to be handpainted.
The mark on the bottom says "Broadhurst, England. Alpine". I bought them at the Exeter Flea market which is a new event & well worth a visit. The next one is on March 14th.

So, what is this all about then?

Here they are, let me introduce you to the annual "torture boots"..... We just got home from a lovely holiday in Austria, but on that first day in the basement boot room you really do wonder why on earth you are cramming your poor feet into these glamorous things....... and then to attach them to long pieces of fibre glass in order to hurtle down icy slopes at ridiculous speed..... why?

it has to be worth it for the view from the top.......


..or stopping at a charming mountain restaurant for a delicious cup of hot chocolate......( isn't that a wonderful shade of green on those shutters).


.. in order to ski further to enjoy more views......these trees were absolutely amazing....



Then back at the hotel one can admire the fantastic old painted furniture (how I would have liked to have smuggled this one home!)



Another fab view on another day. I do have dozens more piccies from the holiday, but I won't bore you all too much. We met some really lovely people, and some not so great ones (throwing furniture out of your hotel room at midnight is NOT the way to behave on holiday) ... there was also a ski instructor with an attitude problem. I endured 3 days of ski school with him, then played hooky for the rest of the week!
It is good to get away, but coming home is wonderful.... apart from the amount of washing that you have to face!

Reasons to be cheerful..part one!

In the words of the late, great Ian Dury.. Reasons to be cheerful...... a new pair of Doctor Marten boots! Well. he didn't exactly sing that but I am sure he would have approved!
I went in search of a "sensible pair of plain black boots that I could wear with anything" and came back with a fabulous funky shiny purple pair of DM's that I will have difficultly matching up with a single thing in my wardrobe!
How does that happen? Funnily enough, it often happens to me if I attempt to go anywhere near the shops.....
One of the main problems with the more conservative trendy designs was the embarrassing fact that most of them were too tight around the calf area. I know I don't have the skinniest legs in the world, but I know for a fact that this isn't the undernourished 1970's any more and people are just a bit bigger than they used to be. (so why make the boots so darn skinny?)
Anyway, here they are in all their purple glory, along with the fabulous bag they came in as a background & the butterfly laundry bag that I also could not resist as it was only £1.99.
I did want to add the Youtube clip of Alexie Sayle singing the Dr Marten Boots song, but having a few technical problems as per usual, so here is the link
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Dhg_QIyMxZw if there are any Young Ones fans out there!

Having a bad day? Try mine!

Back in August when I started this blog I promised "rural ramblings" - well, you almost got a rural rant at 4.30 this morning! The weathermen predicted "severe weather" and temperatures as low as minus 10. However they forgot to mention the Chance of the old handbrake freezing up.
Yes, imagine the scene in the pitch black at 4 am as we are trying to attempt to drive halfway across Southern England to the Ardingly showground in East Sussex.... there was me crouched on the floor with a hairdryer in hand trying to defrost the back wheels of the trusty Peugeot 807.
After 40 minutes with heater and hairdryer, we were on our way..... only to reach the motorway which was closed! Next thing we know we are driving in totally the wrong direction asking ourselves if somebody somewhere was trying to tell us something....
We then made the awful decision to turn back and head for home. As anyone knows who has ever been in the Antiques trade, it is a real tough one as the stall is pre-paid and after weeks of inertia due to the Christmas "holidays" (as it now seems to be known as in this country).... we really needed to be out there selling today.
So, have just finished unpacking the car and stomping around the house and think a calming trip to the local pub might be in order?

PS I meant to add that the photo was taken at 10 am this morning when we had to go through the whole sketch again as the handbrake froze again..... and we needed to go out to collect the cats from their luxury "hotel" (aka the cattery) where they were booked in for 2 nights as we usually do 2 days at the Ardingly fair!

Funky 50's dress fabric designs

Recently some really interesting dresses have come my way. They all have a common theme, but I know very little about the makers. The above print has a definite "map and compass" theme. There is no makers label, and it appears to have been made by hand.

Another hand made item is this wonderful skirt depicting a wild night at the theatre, don't you just love the way the figure in the background is leaping through the air!

This demure dress has a fabulous street market scene going around the lower part of the skirt. The label on this garment reads "Vicky Johnson, London".

and last, but not least - my favourite with the Ballerina design. There is a very positive influence of the artist Edgar Degas in this print.

The label reads "Karin Lee by Hellas". You can just see one of the characters in "Mad Men" wearing this one! (Do check out Mad Men on Youtube if you like your TV viewing to be set in the 1950's and distinctly off-beat).

We got Season one on DVD for Christmas and have been glued to it most evenings...

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=IZ0lSLX6S30

Jolly Girls Outing

Yesterday was a great day, like minded girlies together at the wonderful Textile fair in Ilminster.
From left to right Donna of http://www.donnaflower.com/
Sue from http://www.vintagetovictorian.co.uk/
Niki http://www.nostalgia-stonehouse.co.uk/
and me... no website address as I am the mad one who prefers to drive all over the country selling my textiles, costume & other fripperies... talking of which.....
A small sample of goodies I will be taking to The Oxford Vintage fashion fair on Saturday. The fair is being held in St Michael & All Angels Hall, Summertown, Oxford OX2 7EZ.
The fair is open from 10 am to 4 pm Admission £2.00/£1.00 conc.
If that isn't enough excitement for one day, on Sunday I will being selling at The Vintage fashion Fair in Cardiff City Hall, CF10 3ND. fair opens at 10 am (9.30 trade). See the Blind Lemon Vintage website for further details.

Another week, another town.........

Monday morning already, and trying to recover from the excitements of the weekend. On Saturday was the amazing Vintage & Handmade fair in Rangeworthy Village hall. This charming building was transformed into a fantastic & alternative shopping experience for the day. Those who missed it must put it on the calendar for next year (Saturday 30th May in Chipping Sodbury Town hall). I did take plenty of photos at the fair, but after seeing that everyone elses were better than mine I will keep them for another day! It was lovely to meet so many new people, my only regret was that there wasn't more time to chat (as we were busy selling). So, look forward to seeing you all again next year.

Sunday was another very busy day....Here is a piccie of my stall at the Fair in Bath. The fair in the Assembly rooms is fast becoming well known for its selection of top quality stalls & is a great hunting ground for collectors, designers and anyone who is passionate about Vintage clothes and textiles. The next fair is February 22nd, so another important date for the 2009 calendar.

So, onto this week.... it is all systems go to prepare for the Textile Fair in Ilminster on Wednesday the 26th November. It takes place in the meeting house at the top of the high street & you can park right outside. Open from 10 am to 4 pm.
As always there will be a wonderful selection of textiles, trimmings, buttons, quilts, lace and of course.......................................

No visit to Ilminster is complete unless you visit the wonderful time capsule that is Dyers (shown at the top of this post). This shop has to be seen to be believed, it really is just like stepping back in time. It is not a museum, but a working commercial outlet, selling ladies & gents clothing.. also haberdashery & much more.

Vintage clothes & the mysteries they hide....

I recently purchased this gorgeous jacket & at first believed it to date from the 1940's. Imagine my surprise to find a handwritten note in the pocket which gave a lovely insight into the previous owner. Here are a few lines from the note.
"This Irish tweed Hebe sports jacket was bought in a "posh" small shop in Keynsham on the Bristol to Bath road in about 1952. I liked it because it reminded me of a field of buttercups & daisies!!! (But I was young and silly then!)
I saw many of these suits in Bath, but few in Bristol, but i have heard that the money is made in Bristol and spent in Bath!"

However, this dress (shown below) does date from the 1940's as it has a Utility label and came with its very own "make do & mend" wartime brooch made from plastic covered wire. It came complete in the bag (above) with its price label & shop bill. The mystery is why it remained in the bag for over 60 years and was obviously never worn.