ZOLTAN KING OF THE UNDERWORLD

Happy Halloween girls, I would like to introduce Zoltan, as the label says he is king of the underworld, with his unearthly glowing eyes and his vintage charm he cast a spell on me a couple of weeks ago in York ,he mesmerised me, and entranced me in to liberating him from his under world lair and forced me to take him home , ho yes he did,

well his lair was really called Wild heart a wonderful shop in stone gate York which I have blogged about before, ( the label was wrote by Ian the owner it made us chuckle), and as i said he cast his spell, and D bought him for me, and then proceeded to carry him round York under his arm , he got loads of second looks and ,comments from people, when we went into Cath Kidstons D felt like a minor celeb (w lister) or a babe magnet as all the girls who worked in there came over and owed and hared over his demonic vintage charms ,zoltans not D,s!

When we all trooped into Jack wills as Nat has a birthday coming up (17,)and was lusting after several garments and wanted to show us ,hint hint mum-dad, the girl shop assistant rushed up and started chatting and yes owing and harring over zoltan , when she reached over to stroke the dog, D gave a load bark ,and scared the poor girl half to death, she screamed loudly, he said it had to be done!!!

but you see I knew I could tame him ,Zoltan not D, I have given up on him, as I know there is no hope!
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Here he is devoid of his demonic eyes or should I say buttons, two lovely soft angelic new eyes from ebay..don,t you think he looks a lot better?

He is rather a sweet spaniel now, look at his lovely old original Collar,

should he remain Zoltan ,or as I have exercised the evil from him ,should he have a new name???

While I was in Cath Kidstons , while D was distracted by his floral clad groupies, I purchased these lovely Stanley Christmas decorations, I thought they were so adorable, the Christmas things were just coming in , and i was rather excited as she does lovely Christmas things, and i can feel a second visit coming on soon,
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I promise this is my last dog mention(well this post any way) this is a little full size terrier, from the dogs home EBay, he is my oldest, he is Edwardian , and needed major surgery , and still needs glass eyes from an ophthalmologist viva eBay, flora has had several growls at this one ,as its quite real if you squint!

any ideas on names,some thing suitable ,downtown abbeyish, don't you think?

I hope you all have a good but ghoulish Halloween , and I have included this photo from American country living as I just felt it was rather joyous!!! so I am off to dust down my pointed hat, light my pumpkin, get the broom out of the cupboard and tuck my black cat under my arm ,so another normal day in the vintage heart house.. back soon my lovelies...

SUNDAY SUNDAY,SO GOOD TO ME...

Hello girls, how was your weekend? I had a rare at home day on Sunday,as its the only day D and I get off together we usually try to get out some where , but quite frankly I felt rather tired and just needed to catch up on lots of things and just chill .go a little slow and breath!! so my Sunday kicked off with me having a trawl around our local car boot, nothing much to tempt me,

apart from this winter/Christmas wreath, new with tags , mine for £1, my first Christmas purchase.. what do you think?

So after the car boot i returned home with the Sunday papers to wake my two still sleeping men, nat and

d and to make fresh coffee and breakfast for them, and slobbed for an hour with the papers ,harr breath..

Then it was up into the garden to pick apples in the weak autumn sunshine ,our tree has been laded with apples ,but they have not grown as big as other years , there cooking apples and I had promised the girls at work some.. so D climbed the tree and I caught, soon filling a basket ,

If you lived closer girls you could have some, in fact just post a comment if you live near and fancy some!!!

Then we were brave enough to face the devastation in the dining room ,to check the machines that wurr, suck ,blow and make a racket, the cats are petrified of them! they are slowly drying out the floor, as you can see from the picture , not the usual pretty posed picture ,but hopefully i will be able to do a after pretty shot soon, i will not cry, i will not cry.... I will be sorted by Christmas and D says I can buy a old dresser top /shelves for the wall in the picture ,sio that's a bonus, i fancy painting them a cath kidston colour when i get them ,so watch this space!!!


We then headed out with our two furry babies to enjoy some fresh air and more autumn late warmth, Richmond is such a pretty place ,it has been described in the past as the Bath of the north, but smaller of course , we headed to the waterfalls

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there used to be a huge mill here until the 50,s harnessing the power of the falls,but no trace now..

crunching and kicking our way through the leaves.. the colours entrancing ,

here's Flora, doesn't she look well, she enjoyed the sunshine and a carry home...

This area is called the batts ,a old Norse name, and is a lovely open area ,by the river enjoyed by all, under the shadow of the castle...

we walked past my sons old school, very Hogwarts from Harry Potter ,don't you think?

We then walked back through the town ,and past a lovely shop called york house, which has three floors of antique and new interiors stuff

I really liked this blue french style mesh fronted cupboard, but where would i put it?

Can you see any thing you Fancy

Luckily for my expanding waistline this fab chocolate shop was closed,can you see the strange angle of the doors and windows ,original Georgian and its distorted over the years!

Then back home to cosy in and cook Sunday lunch, and as the dinning room is out of order we slummed it ,on our knees on trays in front of the telly and this.....

the fire was lovely and the first time this year we have lit it, i collect pine cones on my walks ,dry them then they make great kindling.. curled up on sofa, a glass of rose, and a bit of apple crumble and ice-cream....

then a staple of my Sunday night watching Downton, I am loving it,and love the period indulgence, any body else enjoying this? so that was my Sunday, I expect it was similar to some of your Sundays, but a rare slow day for me, and I enjoyed every minute of its ordinariness, if you know what I mean? so have a great week and I will blog again in the week as I have set my self the challenge of blogging more.. show you my new purchase in next blog.... erm are you wonder what I have gone and bought??? Linda x x

Behind the Green door

Thought I would share the view through my sitting room window with you, the autumn light was making the horse chestnut (conker) tree look like it was glowing this morning, as I had my breakfast I was transfixed by it, the tree Shields the opposite houses across the village green ,but too soon all the leaves will be gone and I will be able to see the pretty Georgian houses through the empty branches , but for now the lovely autumn glow is a delight to see.... and certainly cheers the spirit while your eating your toast.!


As I promised I will reveal what colour I finally choose for my doors and windows ,after much dilly-dallying and lots of input from you lovely ladies da dar... I choose olive..from Farrow and Ball.

I am pleased with the colour, darker than the last colour I used and I think its a lovely old cottagey shade, what do you think??

the windows and doors are now smart looking and weather proof for the coming winter, which apparently is going to be another hard one, this old house has stood against many winters ,as a while ago a local historian showed me a map of my town from the 15Th century and there was a dwelling showing the exactly the same foot print that my house has now, its probably seen loads of changes as living conditions and fashions in architecture have changed , but from the minute I first saw it it felt like home and wrapped its arms and walls around us.....did any of you fell this way about your homes,I am sure you have some stories to share??

Just a quick blog ,short and I hope sweet, lots more to share and tell very soon, I am going to try to blog a few times a week instead of my war and peace weekly blogs, as I always look forward to many of of the frequent blogs you do and get withdrawal symptoms when you have big gaps between your posts,as I love

keeping in touch with your worlds, back soon Linda x x

POTTED MEMORIES

How are you all on this autumn morning? I was going to do a blog on the great antique and vintage fair I went to up in Durham this week end, but the camera batteries ran out so I couldn't up load photos, and as I had allotted a little time over a grabbed lunch to drop in and do a post to let you know i am still hanging in here!! As you know from my last post we had a bit of a flood .... insurance men, and builders to quote for work have been and gone , we are living with dehumidifiers ,machines that blow, some that suck and others i have no idea what they are doing!!! this morning I went into the dinning room to check on them ,coffee cup in hand and to survey the mess and all my belongings piled at the Dry end of the room, and I thought please let it all be sorted for Christmas ,as i hate to say it its not that far away, and as I let my mind slip away with thoughts of Christmas( I have been designing and starting Christmas hampers where I work,yes all ready!) my eyes fell on my armoire full of my Victorian dinner service, which will all have to be taken out and stored safely when the floors come up,... and I began to realise what a special place these pieces of pottery have in my memories of family Christmases and special occasions,





This design is called Alexandria and as made by Wallis and gimpson, of lane delph potteries staffordshire, and was made in about 1885, I started collecting this pottery over 26 years a go when a friend in wales gave me 6 plates as a thank you for looking after his antique shop when he went to Australia for holiday, ( he is no longer with us so, a added extra layer of love attached to them) they were on a dresser in his shop and I so admired them and thought about collecting blue and white stuff ,but thought this turquoises and white just a little different, so by hook and by crook have amassed over the years over a hundred and odd pieces,




I can remember the story behind finding every pieces, I was told by a antique dealer it would be near impossible to find a teapot as they got broke so easily, so when I spotted this at the back of a closed antique shop in a little village in Ireland when we had stopped for chips on the way back to catch the ferry back from our family holiday. i refused to budge and was jumping up and down outside on the pavement ,because to me it was like finding the holy grail!!!we phoned the owner with D wailing we WILL miss the bl--dy ferry.. thank fully the owner came, opened up we did the deal and I hugged the teapot all the way across the Irish sea on the ferry!!!

I find it harder and harder to find ,and i have bid on pieces on ebay but there is a lovely lady called Antonia who lives near Windsor who also collects it and we have had bidding wars, we contacted each other and now correspond and tip each other off on pieces , but still hard to get, if i am ever murdered ,please inform the police it was Antonia who would kill for my muffin dish as she really wants it!!!


I like to think of all the other people who have dinned off these plates down the last 125 years ,there celebrations , there shared times as family's , and how it has survived wars etc, I like to think of them treasuring and keeping it for best like I do,



If I don't blog for a while I may be in prison ... as I have spotted 8 cups and saucers in a house at Beamish museum , and as i don't have them in my collection, I have to have them ho yes I do.., I wrote a begging letter to the curator, but as they had been gifted to the museum she wouldn't let me buy them even though I said name your price(GOD , hope D doesn't read this!!) so I am planning a raid, soon...


our table at Christmas, boxing day evening , supper for the family, not fully laded yet.. so please ladies fingers crossed for me and my dinning room ,so it can look like this again and create another memory to be added to the many allready........ batteries charging as I write this so I can blog soon about Durham ,and meeting two lovely blog ladies!!

REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL

DO any of you remember the Ian Dury song reasons to be cheerful part three( never heard part i or 2!)Well this post is me trying to hang on to reasons to be cheerful as its been a strange old week or so. Firstly thank you so much for all the best wishes and love sent our way for Flora and the vintage heart house. I was so touched so many of you cared, and I am glad to report she is recovering a bit more every day,and even managed a 10 second chase of the cats this morning !!!!!!! I think she had in fact did have a stroke as her balance is still a bit off, but i am so grateful she is hanging on. Well as I said firstly there was Flora drama, then I fell over first thing in a morning on the way to the car for work and am supporting technicolor bruises on arms etc, but I am okish( no drink was responsible for this stunt !!!) ,Then the hoover blew up ,(hurray,reasons not too do cleaning!),D went away for a few days on Friday, and this morning Sunday I have had a huge flood in the house ,a pipe burst some time last night in the wall in the dining room and flooded three rooms, two wonderful builder neighbours came to my rescue ,and having ripped up wooden floors and half of one wall , managing to locate the burst, girls the devastation , two floors ,one in my dining room will have to come up completely ,and the insurance people will have contacted ,i had a little weep when men left, brave i can cope face when they were here! after slaving for a couple of hours mopping , pointless as it keeps seeping up through the floors,i have laid on the bed ,coffee, cabburys flake bar and decided to weep on your shoulders!! so these are a few thing that have given me reasons to be cheerful in the last week or so..



lovely images from this months American country living plus some from back copies,


All this pumpkin loveliness cheered me , a blast of colour on a grey foggy wet day, America do Fall/autumn much better than us don't you think ,but glad too see more Halloween stuff in shops, TKMAXX, is good for Autumn decorations..
Fergal and Flora cuddled up together trying to keep there feet dry fergal is glad his sis is returning to her cranky self!!
Having had to abort my carboot pilgrimage for mopping duties i went up stairs for dry clothes , and i found these two in my bed!





again a paw keeping dry exercise, and to hide from scary mops,
This is pearl my lovely neighbours and friend s rescue grey hound, she is so beautiful I call her the super model ( the white one) no. she has the most soulful eyes and has had a bad past life ,but has a wonderful loving home with her new human mum now its always a joy to see her, well my Friend has done it a again and rescued the lovely Penny, are they not adorable?so many of these wonderful dogs need homes,just look at there eyes!



This is D beavering away putting the undercoat on the front door, and I will reveal which colour i finally choose ,thanks for your great input about the colour choice.the front of the house is finish and looks very smart, but the back has not being even started, have you heard the expression fur coat and no Knickers ,well that's our house!!!


These are just drool able pictures of Cath kidstons In york when I went 10 days a go ,


this is the entrance, love .love love the colours, so cheery.That is it I am buying some bright red paint and trans forming a couple of things, as i love this little table and glass cupboard, does any one know where I can buy Cath Kidston paint,as the actual ck shops dont stock it, strange but true, so any tips to where I can actually get some gladly received!
This is the new autumn stock and of course I fell on this knit ware, as it obviously features Stanley

I try ed the hat on and my friend Di said it looked great on me, but I thought i looked very like Les Dawson when he wore that Beret!!
so I am thinking about it,also really liked the jumper, but thought it may be was a step to far, what do you think?




I did buy this little bag, its Cath kids, but I thought it would be useful when you just need a purse and phone, only £10.00, a bargain.






also brought home this little Cath elephant on wheels, so jolly,to feed my second childhood phase,




this is a lovely 30,s cot quilt and i loved the fabrics so much, york charity shop find, are you ready? £2,yes,yes yes. I will use it as a through over the back of a chair..
and finally my Primark , cath look-a- likeys, lap top case and toilet bag, not quite as sutle as cath ,but £3, and £6, not not such a guilty pleasure!! I use my sons laptop so hoping father Christmas comes up trumps with one for me to put in my case!! so , yes I am felling a lot more cheerful , and when things go wrong its some times hard to remain up beat, but every thing compared to flora been OK, doesn't seem to matter that much, any way i have great floral wellies to cope with down stair's, hope you all had have a better week than i have had, and good times are a head or us all , Linda x x x