Treasures

Look what delight was waiting for me this morning ,beside my primark wellies
I LOVE this jam and the lovely attractive jars great to use for storage afterwards
Richmond market on a grey Saturday Lovely muted colours and the bodice is all pin tucked made by Liberty.
Looks so much better in reality , I might shorten it to wear with jeans.
so, pretty I think , great for spring ,and very Cath kidston

To day started off really well with the discovery of country homes and interiors magazine waiting on the door mat ( post man obviously survived monsoon yesterday)for me , yippee! this set the tone for the day, after a yummy leisurely breakie of stone ground toasted bread and raspberry Bonne Maman jam , I love this jam ,forget booze cruises to France I would do a Jam run!! D and I decided to pop in to Richmond as there is all ways a market on on Saturdays, ,leaving our 16 year old son and his friends who slept over last night (thought 3 were sleeping over ,but there seamed to me 4 Caterpillar shapes in sleeping bags littered about house this morning as well as son !) fast asleep , D was muttering about them all been vampires as they seam to be turning nocturnal , to buy provisions and have a potter as we didn't get our jaunt yesterday.Had to check out the charity shops as theres 7 in Richmond . In Age Concern I found treasure ,the ladies in there know me by now( erm...!) and when I entered , they beckoned me in to the back, a lady had donated 10 huge box,s of laura Ashley and Liberty print dresses, skirts , shirts, Ho WOW. they let me rummage , so many beautiful fabrics, and styles, all in amazing if not new condition,(loads with labels still on), If you live near Richmond (Yorkshire) do get your self in there , all for between £4.99 and £14,99 ,amazing , I bought 2 dresses , and two shirts , some shown in photos, so lovely and classic,s from when laura Ashey did her milk maid look I wish they still did this style I feel the currant Laura Ashley have lost their way a bit and The wonderful Cath Kidston has taken over now, what do you think?? D was,nt having such a good day by now ,he was loosing his will to live, and said as we left ( me smiling broadly,and silently mouthing I will be back to the ladies!) wish you would turn nocturnal , as the shops would be shut at night!

RAIN RAIN GO AWAY ,COME BACK ANOTHER DAY

Orla with her favorite read , she has identical tastes in magazines to me.
Some thing to make me smile, Malachy on a nest of Durham quilts and eider downs.
My lovely new belt hung on one of my favorite treasure my old mannequin


On Fridays my husband D finishes work at mid day ,so it has become a bit of a ritual the we try to get out and just have us time, with out dependants human or animal. This week we had decided to visit Barnard Castle a lovely Market town in Teesdale(about 20 miles away) Its such a pretty Dales town, with the famous Bowes Museum with its amazing automated silver swan ,but more importantly it has great antique , interior and charity shops!With the promise of coffee and cake and the the thought of the purchase a few bottles of specialist ale. D usually treks around fairly happily after me on my pilgrimages! Theres a particular steep street called The Bank, which is lined with wonderful old buildings , of which some of them house antique shops and at the bottom of this street there is a really interesting antique centre housed in the old mission hall,with a vintage clothes department upstairs, great place for a rummaged and I usually find some pretties to re home with me! When I woke this morning I was so looking forward to our little Tripp but when I opened the curtains it was poring down , I mean torrential, as in the sheep in the field opposite had life jackets ready and the cats were wearing wet-suits and snorkels when I went down stairs......, so I thought this is looking like no little trip today, so to cheer my self up I thought I would do a spot of housework, this usually do,s the trick... er... not... As I went upstairs , there was a plop as a parcel landed on the door mat , the post man hung on to the letter box to stop him self floating by just managing to post the parcel before drifting to next house. . Tore open parcel and inside was a little some thing from my drug of choice Ebay. A fantastic vintage style belt from my very favorite , very lovely clothes designer Noa Noa. They are a danish company and there clothes are just so gorgeous ,This arrival cheered me up no end, so did the sight of my two babies in there boudoir, some times its the little thing that give the most pleasure. Another day to cosy in and potter and catch up on lovely blogs, and put the kettle on as husband D checks on sea worthy ness of our two old canoes as It has not stopped raining all day here!

ROMANTIC YEARNINGS!

Just dream like.....
I adore this little cardigan , and can any of you crochet mad ladies out there tell me if you think this is crochet or lace, and do you think it would be difficult to make ?
Abbie cornish and Ben wishaw as Fanny Brawne and John Keats
Ben Wishaw plays John Keats , I fell just a little bit in love with him after watching the film... ... sigh..... dream ...... sigh


This dress is stunning ,as were all the costumes in the film , I am disappointed the costume designer did,nt win a Bafta.
Is,nt this a beautiful image ,cant you just smell those blue bells and feel the stillness. I read Wuthering Heights by Charlotte Bronte as a 12 year old , and my romantic yearning was very early formed by this book , so that for me a really good romance has to include tragedy , separation , longing, beautiful country side, stunning period houses and beautiful period clothes, and of course a irresistible man in a tail coat , Bright star has it all . . A couple of weeks ago I watched Bright Star a film about the love story between 19 th century poet John Keats and Fanny Brawne , and from the moment it started to the finish, I was utterly mesmerized. visually stunning ,and such a poignant true story. certain scenes from the film keep popping back into my head as I go about my day... you MUST watch it............ I wont say to much about the plot..... but it got me thinking that people died from things thy could be simply saved by thees days like antibiotics , so frustratingly tragic, and I hope in a hundred years or so people will say ( or less please god) that people used to frustratingly tragically die of cancer and now...... any way on a brighter note , would appreciate comments on the cardigan in the top picture , what do you think it is made of ???? as I love it. simple thoughts from a dales girl in cold foggy Yorkshire.

CUP CAKE LUST

Another snowy day in Swaledale,its a bitterly, bone chilling day and as we live near a river and wooded hills and there this strange cloying mist hanging about, its a day to stay in and catch up and hibernate,I told Orla this but no she insisted on going out... but only for five seconds.......let me in mum!!



I feel kind of odd starting this blog and apart from a few of my friends I don't know if any body else will read it, so I thought I would look upon it like a diary . I have been inspired so much by other peoples blogs (like posy and attic 24 )and thought it would be nice to have a record of my year and at the same time maybe connect with like minded people who share my loves,likes and passions. I was heading towards a big birthday last year in June and at the Beging of the year I felt kind of ho my god , how can I be this old!! I was rather over weight and was facing major surgery in September. So..... I couldn't do any thing about my age apart from lying heavily, had to face the surgery as there was no other option , so that left the podge..so in February I embarked on a diet and by September I had lost 3 1/2 stone and have lost a further 1/2 stone since Sept, notice I make this sound swift and painless but believe me it was constant hard work and I have kind of re educated my taste buds ,apart from still lusting after cupcakes and Victoria sponge type cakes ... I have had strange dreams about them , which I cant go into here...I can resist most food , but ho my..... do you dream of cupcake or any other culinary temptress..... ? So glad to sayI over came my strange year ,, healthier ,slimmer, and a year younger than the year before....... !!!!!! Wonder what this year will hold ?, lots of car boot fairs and a cupcakes or two , in moderation of course .

INTERIOR SCHIZOPHRENIA

My over cluttered , over dressed sitting room fireplace at Christmas .I am rather fond of this Georgian original fire place and it is home to my collection of Victorian parian ware figures and busts, parian so I am told was the poor mans alabaster in Victorian times .This is my 16 year olds stocking , I said he was too old for one this year and the forlorn look he gave me told me I would still be doing one for him at 45!!!! I silly put chocolate in it and on Christmas morning after hanging near the still warm fire all night............. erm.
This is my kitchen as you can see I have gone for the cath Kidston ,french shabby chic ,Georgian ,Victorian look in here! Can you see my new marks and Spencer heart stacking mugs, saw them and thought I have got to have you, £12 for 4 ,not bad I thought ? kind of cath Kidston if you squint!

This is my plate rack in in sitting room it has a SMALL collection of Victorian sugar bowls amongst other things on it ,I have this strange magnetic pull towards jugs and sugar bowls, the bowls have to be a certain shape , how strange is this and what does this say about me !!?
This is my barn room (It used to be a blacksmiths shop until conversion into part of the house), we use it as a dinning room and sitting room I have tryed to keep a frenchy feel in here as its such a light room , home to many ,many, many of my little collections.

This is a corner of my sitting room , I have a soft spot for collecting Victorian pictures of cats, naff I know but I do love em! the little wooden shaker style horse was hand carved from wood by my husband for a little pressie for me. and a lovely bit of spring cheer in a jug or two. I was wondering around the house this morning taking some photos of the rooms in my house and thinking I should be wandering around with a duster not a camera,...but hay ho.!... as I thought I would put some pics of my home on my next blog . I have been interested in collecting and interior aesthetics since I was tiny, my mum used to tell the story of how when I was about 3 I would magpie vases ,ornaments ect from around the house and make arrangements in my bedroom ( I must have been a precocious nightmare!). It also dawned on me I may have a bad case of interior schizophrenia as love so many different interior styles. I really should have several different houses, a Georgian mansion so I could create a pure classic Georgian antique museum like house, then I should have a fifties reto, cath kidston style house, then a remote stone croft so I could go all natural ,wood ,stone, pure wool muted tartan throws,seashells , flagstone floored simplicity, then I should have a french shabby chic house in Honfluer ( a very favorite place of mine ) as I didn't win the £56 million on the lottery ( this would have been a miracle.... I didn't buy a ticket!) will have to make do with my very mixed up one and only multi style little cottage! Do you think my type of schizophrenia can be cured or am I far to gone?

COLD AND FROSTY MORNING

Openened the window shutters to this view again this morning, so pretty but I am so done with snow, My 16 year old son Nat came down to breakfast ( after several shouts up the stairs from me) he was rather disapointed that the school was,st closed because of the snow, , and asked me with hope was there more forcast! After finally getting afore mentioned teenager out of the door (i always feel this is a major acheivment!) I then went for a lovely peaceful walk with my two old furry babies Flora and fergal, there are lovely old grounds and what used to be formal gardens to a long gone georgian mansion just 100 yards from our door and they all edge the river swale with a romatic folly on a hill thrown in for good measure the picture is of the view through the gates of grounds to the green where our cottage is and up to magnificent castle which towers over the town ,i never tire of this view. when i returned on the doormat awaiting for me was my copy of Period Living magazine ,I subscribe to several of the house magazines and i allways LOVE when one arrives ....so guess what i did next.... BLISS.....do you know what I mean?

CATS BOUDOIR

These are my two cats , Orla, black female ,and Malachy male tabby, as you can see theres nothing better than surfing the net on a quiet snowy Sunday, there in their boudoir, well actualy my bedroom, they are a very funny duo and we call them the two ronnies of the feline world. It has been snowing here in the dales since 8.30 this morning when I was driving back from a local indoor car boot fair and has not stopped all day, it looks beautiful ,but i am so sick of the cold and ice now and long for warmer weather.The car boot did,nt yield any thing, my husband could,nt beleave i had,nt bought any thing, and even frisked me and searced the car !!! ...can,t wait for spring when Bedale, Thirsk and Ripon car boot sales start, i,m getting palpatations just thinking about them!! i have found some real treasures there in the past. The left photo is the view from my bedroom( the cats boudoir ) window today .

HI, I have been an avid follower and fan of several blogs for a while and love dipping into and following other peoples lives ,loves and passions ,I find many so inspirational and interesting and find comfort in the fact there are other people out there who share my crazy passions and interests and have often found my self thinking i would love to share this when i have seen or read or heard some thing beautiful , so here i am taking my first baby steps in to blogdom!