Ribbons all round

Miss Cottage & Dylan made us proud at the horse show - they came second in their jumping class. First of all they did a good clear round & as there were 11 clear rounds they then had to compete again, this time going for the fastest clear round. They were in the lead for a while & then were beaten by point three of a second!
All together now...awwwwww!

But we think Dylan suits red - what do you think?

He obviously thinks it's quite amusing too!

A Perfect Party!

One of the joys of having an online shop is the contact that you get with like-minded people from all over the world. Some people buy their item, I post it & that's it. But others send lovely emails once the item has been received & some of them come back to shop again or keep up a friendly correspondence.

One such customer is Tammy from the USA - she purchased a selection of vintage china cups & saucers from me a little while ago as she was planning a tea party for her sweet daughter's 3rd birthday.

This week she sent me some lovely photos of the event that looked as if they were straight out of a magazine. I knew all you bloggers would love these photos too, I asked Tammy for permission to post them on my blog & she kindly agreed.

So, here are the photos of a superb tea party - I'm sure you will all be impressed with the gorgeous girls & the very smart "butler"!!

What big teeth you have!

"Who me? I'm just tired & bored of you taking photos!"

Latest Finds

Vintage books

Vintage sewing


Vintage teaware

Plates

Vintage tins

Retro kitchenalia

Covered coathangers

More china

Yet more china

Cute stuff

From The Sublime....

.....to the ridiculous! Looks like one of the girls was on strike & the other on overtime!

Floss's Garden Party

We've all been invited to Floss's birthday bash - a garden party!

The garden is all beautified & the prettiest china has been set out....

...the paper chains & bunting are strung up.....

....a chair is waiting for the birthday girl
(Pippa is keeping it warm in the mean time)......

I've bought a bouquet of flowers.......

....and a gift......

The cakes are baked.....chocolate.....

....Victoria sponge.......




....and muffins......

....so, come out into the garden & enjoy (but mind out for the bumble bees!)

Dressing Tables

I was wafting a duster & some polish around my bedroom (not my favourite occupation I might add!) and started thinking about dressing tables.

I remember my mum having a sleek 60's/70's one when I was a child. A long one with a knee hole in the middle so you could sit down while preening, applying your make up or completing your bee hive hair do. It had various drawers containing fascinating lotions & potions, brushes & rollers etc.

My sister & I had our hair cut on many occasions while sitting in front of it & probabably experimented with applying my mum's make up too!

I had a little white painted kidney shaped one with a free standing mirror on top & a curtain around the front - a "Dolly Varden" I think!
It went very well with my fringed pink candlewick bedspread in the days before duvets.

You don't see that many dressing tables in bedrooms these days do you? Once an essential part of a lady's life it seems they have become a little obsolete.

Having said that, I do have a dressing table - my mum bought it at auction for me when I was about 15 & it has travelled to various houses with me & across the sea too - it probably originated in England before being taken to South Africa & now it is back here.



It is such a practical item of furniture, one wonders why they ever fell out of fashion.

It holds lots of things in it's various drawers & I keep some pretties on display too.





Above the dressing table I display my small collection of Victorian silver purses & a chatelaine which holds various useful items such as a tiny hand mirror, a propelling pencil, a coin holder & a button hook.


I'm always impressed with how even practical, useful things were always pretty as well as functional - perhaps that is the attraction of vintage? The effort put into even the simplest item?

So....how many of you still have a dressing table or have memories of one?