A rather special Shepton mallet Antiques Fair photo shoot.

Hands up - who has seen the latest Cath Kidston catalogue? Does anyone recognise the textile-laden back drop??

Several months ago while I was at the IACF 3 day Antiques Fair just outside the town of Shepton Mallet some very friendly and smiling people asked if they could use my stand as a backdrop for a photo-shoot? I then asked what the images were being used for...

The answer was the Autumn/Winter Cath Kidston magazine! It was a busy Saturday morning, so the stall was heaving with prospective customers, but everyone was smiling and good-humoured (apart from one grumpy gent who pushed his way into the stand. tut-tutting). Not sure what he thought he would find at the end of the totally floral girly emporium? .......but the beautiful models played and posed as the camera clicked oblivious to his rude comments.....

They took the top three photos on my stand and then moved on to my friend Terry (aka The Snooty Fox) for a more wintery tweedie look!

If you haven't seen the magazine, it is worth a peek. There are lots of interesting insights and articles (and recipes) as well as the usual tempting goodies that you might want to purchase.

More than a touch of Nostalgia!

Today I took a short visit "back in time" to the 1970's - well, a mock-up of a 70's boutique in Shepton Mallet. I would have liked to have visited earlier in the week when everything was happening there. Unfortunately I had chosen to host one of my Sales at Home on Thursday so was unable to get over to experience the 70's. Niki has done a brilliant job on her blog of  documenting the final part of the filming.

Anyway, I was there to collect the garments I had supplied for the making of the final part of the programme they have been filming there all summer.

A bit silly of me to wear a black linen skirt, I might have known there would be a white shag pile carpet in the boutique. I managed to get plenty of white hairs on my clothing as I sorted through the bags of stock! The interior was really funky and pretty authentic looking too. It would be great if somebody could open a vintage shop there, the décor is already in place!

Another shop that I would have loved to have visited when it was open was the 70's record shop with some tantalising covers displayed in the window. Had most of these albums.. needless to say. (except the Tom Jones as that was in my mum's collection!)

But of course no trip to Shepton Mallet is complete without a visit to Niki's shop. I thought this wedding inspired window was just beautiful. As usual I treated myself to something from the shop. I will blog that  another day!

PS I do not have any photos of my Home Sale, but hoping some of the following might have taken a few pics.... Sallie.... Tracey....or Clare might be able to oblige! Thank you to everyone who came to my sale on Thursday, it was a fab day despite the weather.

Catching Up!

After many weeks of frustration at not having full access to a computer, I have finally got an opportunity to catch up with my blog.... Here are a few sunny reminders of our most recent trip to France. 

We visited plenty of markets and vide greniers, but also had time on the beach

There was an opportunity to relax by the pool at a friends house.

Spotted this house which I fell in love with....it reminded me of something straight out of a TIn Tin book. It is in need of much love and attention....

......the sign on the front was temptation....

I bought this great little vintage dolls house bathroom at a Depo Vente. At present it is "resting" in my collection until the start of the fairs at the beginning of September.

Another day we watched a cycle race - the French do love their bicycles.

On our return from France we were off again to enjoy the sun at the WOMAD festival. At long last we got to see the wonderful Skip McDonald ( aka Little Axe). He is a regular at the WOMAD festival, but we usually missed seeing him as he played on the Thursday evening in previous years.

Other highlights were Toumast, if you like African music with a Hendrix influence, then this is the band to check out! Above are the excellent Toubab All stars - a lively French Ska band which got everyone dancing.
Below is Gilzene & the Blue Light Mento Band   traditional Jamaican music.

I have discovered a lot of new things to enjoy, including this - Kormac's Big band which has to be my absolute favourite find of the month! There is no CD available yet, but I am sure it won't be long....... Lastly, I was a little disappointed by the tracks that Gil Scott Heron played. He has a fantastic new CD, and should really have included this in his set. Hey ho!