Weeks have gone by....

So much for my resolution about blogging more often but I do have a few excuses.

1: Puppy

2: Painters

3: Puppy

4: Plumbers

5: Puppy

Let me explain....for the past few weeks our house has been invaded by painters and plumbers. We are doing some home decorating and completely redoing our en suite bathroom. I didn't mean to have them all at the same time but that's the way it worked out. My sole job has been keeping the dogs away from the paint and from under the workmen's feet (we have had about 5 at a time). It means I have had to move stuff from room to room to enable the painters to work and trying to keep a bouncy puppy away from slow drying gloss paint is not easy. The painting and decorating should be finished on Monday and the bathroom by the end of next week. 

As you can see, the dogs are not too impressed at being confined to the kitchen.

  

Piles of dolls and toys that had to be taken out of my big cabinet so it could be moved.

80's wallpaper discovered behind the radiators.

Hanging wallpaper above the stairs...quite a precarious job!

I'm thrilled with the finished result.

It is a wide width wallpaper by Lewis & Wood called Royal Oak. It depicts local landmarks such as Tetbury Church, the River Avon and various wildlife and trees.

It's all looking so smart and fresh but it's not finished yet....

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. 

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!

CHEERY THINGS ON A SUNNY DAY

 New strawberry bed made from a pallet that the horse bedding came on - the idea is that the fruit will grow on top of the wood & keep it nice & clean.

Morning cuddles...

Treacle tart...

Car boot buy...

Snoozing in the sunshine...

New shoes...

...and a nice cup of tea!

Hope you are all enjoying a lovely day.