Puppy Love

Well, my resolution of a weekly Monday blog went by the wayside this week due to this little time waster! It is like having a new baby except he can run around. He is so tiny it's easy to lose him under the furniture! His night time whining is becoming less but we are bleary eyed....it reminds me why we have children when we are young. He has already learnt his name and is being very good with house training so far and has even learnt to sit by copying Toby. Toby is not quite sure what he is yet but is being fairly tolerant....hopefully they will be the best of friends one of these days. The cats are showing their disapproval by retiring upstairs, they feel that old ladies shouldn't be subjected to such baby bounciness. Everybody else just loves him of course.

So...meet Milo, the Italian greyhound or 'Iggy' as they are affectionately known.

Almost Mid Summer!

Well, here I am, the second week in and I'm writing a post!

Hopefully the summer solstice tomorrow will bring a return of the lovely weather we had before the rain this past week.

I picked some lovely David Austin roses from my garden...the roses are flowering like crazy at the moment.

I visited the outlet at Clarks Village and bought two skirts...now, I don't usually have much luck with skirts as I think they can look frumpy on me, plus you have to find a top to go with them. I find they often don't fit well as they fit on the hips but are too big on the waist. This time I was in luck...this appliquéd horse design with Pom Pom trim was from White Stuff and fits a treat. Plus it was marked down from £55 to £20! One for the Autumn/Winter with a jumper, tights and boots I think.

The second one was from Seasalt and is a longer length, reduced from £60 to £25, so two good buys!

On Tuesday Michele and I enjoyed a delicious afternoon tea at Tortworth Court Hotel. It was a decadent treat which included Pimms...two happy V&H organisers. 

A view of the roses from my bedroom window.

We have a long and very fast growing hedge along the back of our garden. There are about 60 Leyllandii trees...they truly are the devil's trees. They never stop growing... I don't know why anyone plants them as they need constant cutting. Mr Cottage has started work on reducing them, removing some and cutting back others. He has to check each tree for birds nests first of course. If you consider that the platform in the photo is about 6 foot high you can see how big these trees are. Just cutting back a few reveals our view across the farm again.

On Saturday we held one of our Vintage Jumble Sales in Box, Wiltshire. They are always such fun and you never know what you may find. The next one is on the 16th July in Rangeworthy.

See our website or Facebook page for more info.

www.vintageandhandmade.co.uk

Finally, another puppy pic....we will be bringing him home on Friday. There is much excitement and preparation going on here at Cottage HQ! 

Trying to Blog

I really used to enjoy writing my blog and interacting with other bloggers and readers, but it seems that I have ended up hardly doing anything at all. This morning I was thinking about it and was wondering if I could get back into it again. I have come up with a plan (a cunning plan perhaps?). I think the most enjoyable part of reading blogs is looking at the photos that are posted of houses, gardens, pets, vintage

 finds and outings etc so I wondered if I should try and do a weekly post of the photos reflecting what I have done the previous week? I wrote some posts like that in the past and it encourages me to take photos too.

So, if anyone is actually reading this after all this time, do you think? 

Shall I start one now as it is Monday morning...a good time to reflect on the past week and perhaps think about what is happening this week....

Last Monday Mr C and I had breakfast at The Canteen in Nailsworth.

I am working on a new flower bed and look who moved in!

I bought a new waffle maker so had to try it out for breakfast.

The Boy earned his keep by mowing two acres of buttercups that had exploded like invading zombies while we were away on holiday.

My garden roses are looking so pretty.

Our big exciting news is that we are getting a new puppy. We went to visit him again on Saturday, he is 6 weeks old now and Mr C is in love! 

There was manic puppy love for 10 minutes and then he promptly fell asleep upside down. He is a little Italian Greyhound and he comes home in two weeks time so brace yourself for lots of puppy pics.

We bought the puppy a little igloo bed and look who managed to squeeze himself in! 

Finally, this week I am looking forward to the next V&H Vintage Jumble Sale in Box where there will be vintage bargains galore. 

Aga Saga

This week I had the 18th visit from an Aga engineer. In human terms, 18 is an auspicious number - the number when you become an adult, it represents independence & freedom. Sadly, for my Aga it just means yet another rescue mission. Since this baby was created & delivered to my home it has been a very poorly child indeed with constant visits from the engineer to resuscitate & revive it. Now, while J the engineer is a very fine fellow I would prefer to not see him quite as often as I do! This past Christmas the Aga has once again been out cold in a coma awaiting J's expertise in the New Year. This is not the first Christmas that the poor thing has been dead & in need of a 'heart' transplant (or burner as it is known in Aga circles). It has been purely decorative!

This particular Aga (3 oven oil fired) has been such a troublesome child that Aga have stopped reproducing them & abandoned them. Now, you'd think that Aga, that great icon of the British country kitchen, would be concerned about the welfare of their offspring, but no, they have washed their hands of all responsibility & told us poor adoptive parents that it is our problem, not theirs, but we could have a complete change for a mere £5000! After spending a great deal to adopt this beauty & many more pounds to repair it, I somehow think not!

In the Aga publicity materials we are told that besides cooking, we will no longer need an electric kettle, a toaster, a tumble dryer...which is true when the Aga works. What they failed to mention is that we would need an entire other cooker to use when the Aga is out of order once again or else the family would starve!

Currently it is working after yet another new burner having been installed, but I fully expect it to give up the ghost again within the year.

So come on Aga...take pity on this ill conceived offspring of yours & come up with a proper & final solution for this problem child!

November

Time does fly and I've just realised how long it has been since I last wrote a post. I don't even know if anyone is still reading my blog after all this time! My time seems to be taken up mainly with hunting out vintage treasures, keeping my unit at Gloucester Antique Centre stocked, organising the V&H Fairs with Michele and looking after animals. The garden has been tidied up for winter, the chickens are moulting so we don't have any eggs, I have made chutney for Christmas with the last of my tomatoes and my neighbours excess apples.

 I thought I'd share some photos to highlight what has been going on in my life instead of writing reams of text for you to read as there is a bit of catching up to do!

I surprised myself by winning a cup at the village show for my flower arrangement (a vintage cup of course!).

Dylan had a bath...yes, that is newsworthy!

I bought a new car - another Mini (my third so far!)

The Boy started university in Wales ....when did he grow up??

We held our V&H Textile & Fashion Fair in October.

We have had a wonderful feature about the Christmas Fair in the December issue of Homes & Antiques Magazine - out now!

The Girl & I made some new cushions for the winter.

 

We had a fun family trip to Gifford Circus in Bath.

Toby hurt his paw....don't worry, he is fine now!

The Girl & Balli have had lots of fun.

And Dylan got new pyjamas!

Vintage Horsepower

Balli & Dylan wondering how many horses are under the bonnet!

THEY KNOW....

He knows when you're happy
He knows when you're comfortable
He knows when you're confident
And he always knows when you have carrots.
~Author Unknown

VILLAGE WALK

On a recent sunny day I was walking home through the village & thought I'd take some photos as I went along & share my walk with you. Things that you don't notice when you are driving. Interesting things, pretty things & every day things.

One of the first I photographed was the village pound - I am pleased that it is still there. For those of you who don't know, the pound was a small walled area where any loose animals would be rounded up & placed & then the owner would have to pay a fine to reclaim them.

Nowadays there is a bench & information about the village in there.

There are always abandoned & derelict farm buildings crumbling away here & there - they must have been useful once.

We have lots of stone around here, therefore lots of stone walls around the houses & farms.

This big rock has a plaque which commemorated the planting of an oak tree for the Queen's Golden Jubilee & the little tree is doing very well 11 years on.

Of course almost everyone grows flowers & vegetables so there are always surplus plants to buy - the 'honesty boxes' always please me - it is so trusting.

Hay racks make excellent planters.

There is a lot of cow parsley around at the moment...or Queen Anne's Lace, which sounds so much more important! Our horses love eating it.

A very old milestone so we know how far it is to Wotton.

We are now just about coming to the turn into our lane & here is the old Ebenezer Chapel which was derelict when we came to live here but is now a pretty house.

On our lane now, a very well tended veggie garden (these neighbours almost always win lots of the vegetable categories at the annual flower show!)

No straying here - well behaved sheep & lambs.

Beautiful & wonderfully scented bluebells on the roadside.

The last stretch until we are home.

Mind the tractor & trailer - this one doesn't smell good at all - it is full of slurry for spreading on the fields - peg on nose!

Home at last - tulips on the doorstep....time for a cuppa?