Another day in France...another brocante to find treasures..............

Today was the day of the second brocante of our holidays and what a charming little collection of stalls it was, children selling their old toys, people selling homemade jam and home grown vegetables and fruit, stalls with cafe au lait et crepes and lots of other treasures....

I got a cast iron french recipe book holder - which has been on my wish list for a while....

A wire basket with wooden handles....

And two rusty old french keys...........

Also purchased in one of my favourite french homeware shops GIFI - a gorgeous birdhouse pictured hanging in my dad's walnut tree...........

Au Revoir 'til tomorrow

xx

Sunny France..............

Well here I am in sunny France enjoying the sunshine and the brocantes, the english equivalent to car boot but somehow feeling more sophiticated....

My love of all things enamel and french was rewarded on Sunday at a huge brocante where I picked up these beauties.....

We have 2 more local brocantes to go to so who knows what I will discover.......................

The Vintage Queen does tea...............

With much anticipation the day of the Vintage Tea Party arrived... when I booked it with my lovely friend Vici from Dragonfly Bakery her status on facebook read....

"Have had a lovely couple of out door days with the kids but one of the highlights was definitely a suprise visit from a lovely friend who was a vision in vintage! A living walking beautiful homage to Cath Kidston! Xxx"

I spent the afternoon running up vintage looking Peter Rabbit bunting for a baby shower pressie .....

First, the styling of the windowsills with relevant vintage bits and pieces including gorgeous flower hairslides for all the guests to wear.....

The fireplace adorned with floral bunting......

More styling....

A china pram, a baby picture..........

Everything was vintage, the plates, cups, even the cutlery and the napkins.............

Then the food, we had a choice of menus and we chose retro mushroom and prawn vol au vents....

 Vintage summer fruit jellies served in mis-matched retro glasses..........

Traditional sandwiches - with the crusts cut off obviously....cupcakes, a large victoria sandwich cake, muffins, pasta salad and filo goats cheese parcel,a quiche and a gorgeous lemon cheesecake with summer fruit compote.....



And to wash it all down a choice of fruit juice and different teas all served in large vintage teapots and pretty mismatched cups..............

The mum to be with the buffet.............

One final note, the company was amazing we laughed 'til we cried, the food was gorgeous and the styling brilliant - it was everything I dreamed off and more.........

 Anyone wanting to host one of these amazing parties please look up Dragonfly Bakery on facebook or contact Vici for info on

	07870 368925

Cakes and more cakes..........

Well we started last week with a birthday - Oldest T was 12 - as tall as me and larger feet by 3 sizes! Goodness knows what 13 and onwards will bring.............

I did a bit of arty vintage styling with his enormous chocolate cake........

 Last friday, royal wedding fever hit the T family and we had friends round to celebrate - which obviously involved more cake eating.............

 In the excitement baby T thought he would be a princess bride too, wearing my original veil from 1996...

So this week sees a vintage tea party baby shower.... pics to follow...and next week a week off from cakes I feel.................

All cakes were made by the Dragonfly Bakery of Saltburn please facebook it for more details..............

Shopping with the feel good factor...........

Well today we have out and about to our local shopping centre - we always go by car but today I thought I would give the little T's a treat and go on the train. They thought it was great fun and with petrol and parking so pricey - it was actually a cheaper way to go - althought the shopping was heavy coming home ..............

We went to Laura Ashley and they were having a sale - so bargains galore - the fabric I wanted to cover my stool was half price and then a further 10% off !wow!- and I obviously had to pick up another couple of bits whilst I was there!!

When I shop I love to raid the charity shops to see what bargains I can find - I today I came across a fab vintage boutique - with bargains galore. It was all set out beautifully - china displayed on a shabby chic wooden farmhouse table, rails of clothes all laundered and smelling fresh, and a reading room with comfy vintage chairs to sit and read the day away.... I came away with a glass bowl with little feet- a snip at £2.49 and it will look great in my dining room...

And the name of this vintage boutique - YMCA - wow - I'm impressed they have taken on the love of all things vintage and turned their 'charity shop'  image into something on trend.....

We also had a have a few Easter makes - all half price at ELC...

Sweet or what?

birds...........

We have been feeding the birds in our garden and have had loads of the usual - blue tits, robins, sparrows, even little birds nesting in our box but we didn't expect this..........

A big fat greedy duck of epic proportions.........

Or this..............

We have named him Phil and he is very shy but has been back on several occasions.....



I'm back.............

Well here we are up and running again........
Mr T (with a little help) has been revamping our bedroom and here it is - in all its shabby chic/country cottage glory..........

Wow what a difference...............

So, the wallpaper is Abbeville and paint- pale biscuit, both from Laura Ashley, bed and chest from ebay, bunting and cushions made with Cath Kidston fabric by my friend at Moola in Saltburn. Bed throw to match in working progress......

The alcove with my Mother's Day basket from the little T's and my gorgeous letters looking expensive but actually very cheap!

Laura Ashley Abbeville wallpaper (very ditsy and country cottage looking) with my gorgeous bunting....

Top of my chest of drawers - french 1930's painted in Farrow and Ball Old English - similar letters as before, gorgeous little bee embroidered linen from a local charity shop and my black ladies as seen in previous posts......

My bed in full glory - I have just put plain white bed linen on from argos...

Wow I just love it all so much.....

Still to do

• Paint the brass lamp fitting in cream metal paint
• Prime and paint my pine dressing table
• Prime and paint my stool and find fabric for the top
• Pick up my new bed throw
• Make my own lampshades

So still plenty to do - will post again soon and please let me know what you think......