Weekend Finds

Sigh, is it really Monday again? How was your weekend? My cold is diminishing and yesterday after some discussion, we headed off for the day, with a picnic packed and a game plan for the day ahead.

Firstly, there was a yard sale in a little village north of here. We went last year and a friend scored an amazing drum kit for her brother's birthday. So I had high hopes! It wasn't anywhere near as good though sadly, but we did get some groovy sun loungers for the garden and for use on forthcoming camping trips this summer. I'll post some photos soon.

We stopped off at a nature reserve for an al fresco lunch in a buttercup-strewn meadow, which was a delightful lull in the day. Then onto the carboot sale, which was huge (overwhelmingly so) and busy too. But I found a few special things - shall we have a look?

This is a beautiful Wedgwood plate of Hans Christian Andersen's tale, The Little Mermaid, from 1975.



The woman selling it had another five, all boxed, in perfect condition, given to her by her grandmother. She said she was selling them because she didn't have any children to leave them to. I should've bought them all but it was late in the day and my budget of £10 was shrinking, so I just bought one, and now, of course, I wish I had bought them all...



Included in the box, is a leaflet, telling the story and unfolding to this line drawing which they suggest,
'children can compare the illustration on the inside fold with the illustration on the plate and spot twelve objects which have been left out in the paper illustration. The missing objects can then be drawn in and the picture coloured with water colours or crayons.' How sweet!



Another regret from yesterday, was a huge pile of Dr Suess books, spotted on the way out, all from the late 1960s and early 1970s. I only had enough to buy three, Marvin K. Mooney Will You Please Go NOW!, Are You My Mother? and The Digging-est Dog. Iris does love them so, and they're so much fun to read aloud so now I am really kicking myself that I didn't ask for the seller's number or something. Gah!



A few other nice books - have you read The Magic Finger by Roald Dahl? I loved it as a child, and the illustrations in this copy are so perfect.



Look at these three! They remind me of Pulp!



And this is a great look don't you think? Purrrrrrrrr!



We're reading a lot of Mr Men books at the moment. Iris is talking a great deal about going to the butchers, after reading Mr Clumsy who on his visit to the butcher ends up in a tangle of sausages. Very funny.





Another future read for Iris



What to look for in Spring



This is what May is supposed to look like, and it does! It does!



A tiny pelican



Vintage clothes hangers, all with names of hotels on them. Elegant, no?



Also for me, a black and gold bangle. The most toddler-friendly of jewellery I find.



Back with a few more bits and pieces shortly... £10 can go a looooooong way!

Sunday Finds and Blackbirds

Here are my finds from yesterday's carboot sale - it was really all about Iris, but I must say I'm enjoying that wind-up horse just as much (if not a little bit more) as she is.

A Wind-up Horse - I suddenly have something approaching a drove or string of vintage horses (see here for a fascinating list of collective nouns for animals).

This horse is wonderfully prance-y and quite realistic, so much so that Iris clutched her slice of honey cake all the more tightly as horsey clippety clopped across the table toward her.


Three Tin Cars - these might find themselves on a grown-up shelf if Iris doesn't pay close attention. I heart them all.


A Number 11 London Bus (not actual size) - Well, quite right, London IS the ace place. Especially to us country mice.



A pot for utensils - More graphic abstract linear flowers. Another theme developing...


A lovely book published in 1978 - Yok-Yok The Blackbird and Three Other Stories. Such beautiful illustrations, we have a thing for blackbirds in our house.


And here's another little blackbird especially for Monday!

Jumble Sailing

What fun! A jumble sale! With jumble sales, you have to be quick and decisive and ready and assertive. Otherwise you miss out on things - I just missed out on a Liberty silk scarf yesterday. Damn, writing that down smarts.

But on the upside, look at what I did score...

A pair of Penguin paperbacks, including one of my favourite books of all time, the sun-drenched My Family and Other Animals (and yes, I did already have a copy)


A Swedish biscuit jar


An Alfred Meakin bowl (love the colours and prance-y horses)


A floral plate


And a lovely copy of The Owl and The Pussycat by Edward Lear - here's my favourite illustration


So all was not lost by any means. I reminisce far more than is probably healthy about the jumble sales I used to go to as a teenager. Halcyon days, oh yes.

And do check out the song Jumble Sailing by Clearlake.

A Bird By Hand

Some collages and drawings I made of birds

A Bird for Monday

Oh what a grey, wet and miserable day. Iris and I braved the weather this morning and got totally soaked. But it was fun to splash in the puddles in our wellies and to find some books in the library for a big cosy read this afternoon.

Here's a tiny sweet-faced owl. More of an owlet really. The last treasure that was unearthed on Saturday. Found languishing in a box full of 10p bits and bobs. Welcome Owly, you've found a home!

Bird Day - A Found (Then Lost) Pheasant

Today's bird is a real one. A pheasant found by the side of the road, still warm. Intended for dinner in the next day or so, but snatched from outside our shed by an unknown assailant. I think a wily old fox. I would’ve loved to have seen him take it, and run carrying it off to his den as pleased as punch and surely, to a very warm welcome from Mrs Fox and family. So, I can’t be too cross about it, but I was looking forward to getting my hands on all those glorious feathers though…

Bird Day Number 2

Here we are again - the start of a new week. We're all a bit tired (me) and overwrought (Iris). It was a lovely busy weekend, but the repercussions of a very late night and catching Iris's cold has left me feeling as though a period of hibernation would be just the ticket.

So, I have chosen a very simple bird for today's post. I love the distilled simplicity of its shape and how, even on a grey nondescript January day like today, this little glass bird seems to hold a beam of golden light and warmth.

Bird day! Better Late Than Never...

Is it still Monday? Well it is here for a little while longer. Mondays are going to be Bird Day from now on, when I will post a favourite bird, be it illustration, ceramics, jewellery, photographs or actual little birdies, there will be something beautifully birdlike to feast your eyes upon.

So, today we're starting with some wonderful illustrations from a children's book I found in a charity shop a while ago, the book is called Long Ago and Faraway Stories published in the early 1960s with stories such as The Little Red Hen and The Gingerbread Boy.

It was illustrated by Bill and Bonnie Rutherford whose drawing style is so energetic, joyful and vibrant, both in colour and black & white. Really there are so many amazing illustrations to choose from and I feel sure we'll be back in amongst these pages before long, but these three are my favourites.