24 Carrot Love.....

I love my boy when he offers to unpack the shopping.... actually.. I love him all the time.. just more so!

Country matters ....

I have been on the verge of writing a blog post for days.. but each time losing the momentum and slipping back in to a lazy fug.
As the days get longer.. I have become more distracted and my heart and head have yearned for leafy landscapes and wide open spaces. We are blessed to live in a 'city in the country' .. Evident of the lush skyline wrapped around the hollow of Bath urban life.. but deep down I really feel I belong in the country.. I am a 'welly' girl at heart and would love nothing more than to live in a stone cottage tucked down a winding lane with open vistas across fields ... A Country Girl.. just like the characters in one of my favourite old books by Edna O'Brien..There is something deeply romantic about rural life.. though I am sure those of you who live in the greener pastures of our fine land might disagree with me... 'What about the constant ferrying of offspring to their various pursuits, treks to the shops.... muddy lanes and the cacophony of nature that shatters the peaceful rural idyll...?
I would still trade in my neighbourhood noises... car alarms, screeching ambulance sirens.. the nocturnal sing song of an inebriated pedestrian or two.... and the living cheek by jowl with numerous earthlings....
Mr Custard and I took the opportunity to drive out to a village a few miles from Bath, to walk along a stretch of river.. unexplored territory.. and magnificent at this time of year.. with the abundant flora and fauna...The pale blue field of Linseed shimmered like mercury....Leafy, lovely, lush and oh so peaceful....Having decided some years ago that I was never going to be a driver.. despite passing my driving test.. I might find the 'Good Life' a little challenging.. without wheels... but there are bonuses..
Endless walks and the opportunity to finally own one of these.. or two even...Though in order to get some real exercise... it would be preferable to own the real thing.. and today I fell hook line and sinker for this little girl...She really stole my heart and made me more determined to up sticks one day and head for the hills... and own my very own Border Terrier.. who I will name Miffy.. Sigh!

A rabbit in the headlights..

The last week has been a busy one.. most surprising as I was sure that the 'post Fair' blues would settle in and I would be twiddling my thumbs for a while..
Far from it... I have been firmly glued to my trusty pooter .. tapping out emails to all and sundry and batting enquiries about the next Fair.. in November. It has tied up a lot of my creative time but I do so love chatting to people and finding out more about them.. so.. it seems that the tables have turned and this morning when checking my emails.. (something I do at 5.30 a.m every morning when I am brutally awoken my beloved snorting and sneezing.. chronic hayfever sufferer.. poor love) I find I have been tagged by one of the lovely people I met at the V & H ...Sarah from Hardaker & Pope..
I spend a fair amount of time ducking and diving and running from these things.. but I must admit to being quite pleased about this tag.. the questions are some that I can relate to instantly..
I am not sure you will find my answers particularly riveting... but here goes...

Q. What's your favourite colour?
A. Not a straight forward answer.. I love colours in relation to others... an acid green Alchamilla Mollis in the garden next to a plummy Allium.. beautiful...! But I would have to say blue is my favourite.. as long as it isn't the blue of a bruise... more the blue of an azure sky..Q. What's your favourite clothing in your wardrobe?
A. This should be an easy one.. Anything that fits!! I have put on a lot of unwelcome pounds over the last few years and my wardrobe has become more of a costume museum.. a shrine to dresses that belong to a smaller woman. I would have to say though.. my Boden Tea Dress.. comes out of the mothballs every summer.Q.What's your dream job?
A. I think to some degree I already have a dream job... working from home and being creative.
Collecting vintage toys and spreading sweet nostalgia on to others... but.. in my heart.. I would love love love my own little shop..a Curiosity Shop meets Chocolat!Q. What's the last thing you bought?
A. Well to be honest .. it was a 1000 blank cards and envelopes to re-stock my greeting card business.. but that is boring so.. the last thing I bought for me.....not something I do often these days.. is my gorgeous kitschy shell frame from Lizzie at the V & H Fair.. I love it and it sits happily alongside my collection of shell frames in the bathroom..Q. What are you listening to right now..?
A. The drone of distant traffic from my lofty boudoir.. and the sound of my son scrabbling around trying to locate his discarded school uniform from the night before..

Q.What's your favourite ice-cream?
A. My mother used to make a vanilla ice-cream with hot chocolate sauce and crushed hazelnuts.. scrumptious!

Q.What's your favourite fruit?
A. Dried apricots.. non dried.. tomatoes.

Q.What inspires you?
A. Oh.. so much and so many..
Those who have the ability to think outside the box and follow their convictions.. last but not least.. my mother. She was an icon to me..Q.What's on the walls of your bedroom?
A. Some of my favourite peices from artists such as Edwina Bridgeman... and Cleo Mussi.. oh and a few cobwebs..Q.Who is your favourite designer?
A. I find this a difficult one to answer.. there are so many wonderful designers.. I think Terence Conran is a bit of a god in that department and my fave designer right now.. am I allowed two...
Viv from Hen's Teeth... she has oodles of style!

Q. Do you admire anyone's style?
A. Oh all the time.... I am forever seeing people in the street that have a flair with the way they dress..anybody who doesn't follow the masses!

Q.Describe your personal style?
A. Nanny McPhee on a bad day... Widow Twanky on a good day!

Q.What language would you like to learn?
A. French.. my mother's native tongue and learnt badly by me at school.

Q.What is your favourite quote for now?
A. 'Never give up' as my father would often say.

Q.What is your favourite magazine?
A. Selvedge... a classy and beautiful publication.

Q.If you had £100 what would you spend it on?
A. One of Sarah's lovely paisley or polka dot bags, some anti-wrinkle cream ( oh how I need some) and a sticky bun.

Q. What is your current obsession?
A. Vintage mercury glass and celluloid reindeer....

Q.What are you wearing today?
A. My beloved's dressing gown.. for now at least.

Q.What's for dinner?
A. A Thai chicken curry.. if I can find the lemongrass.

Q.What would you eat for your last meal?
A. Singapore noodles washed down with a lovely glass of Dom Pérignon.

Q.What do you think of the person who tagged you?
A. I think she has a great talent and a sweet nature.

Q.If you could have a house paid for and furnished, anywhere in the world where would it be?
A. Tuscany.. Chianti hillsQ. If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour.. where would it be?
A. A walk along the river Teign in Devon at Fingle BridgeQ. What are you going to do after this?
A. Get dressed and stagger in to town with some parcels to post.

Q.What are your favourite movies?
A. Can't possibly list them all.. but The Railway Children is all time fave.. Far from the Madding Crowd...Draughtsman's Contract..ad infinitum.

Q.What's your favourite book?
A. My address book... all my friends in one place

Q.Do you collect something?
A. Far too much.. vintage tin toys, vintage rabbit toys, vintage bisque penny dolls, wooden shoe lasts, Victorian shell pictures, hearts.... dust.. plastic carrier bags etc etc..

Q.What's the most important rule of life?
A. Do unto others.....

I would like to pass this on to five others.. to be completed at your leisure or not at all....

Lizzie

Jane

Lili M

Viv

Kim ( sorry!)

June is bustin' out all over..

I have had that song dancing around my head since Monday.. along with the Steeleye Span song.. 'Didn't we have a lovely time... the day we went to the V & H Fair'... slightly altered lyrics of course!
Thank you to everyone, for all the tremendous feedback we have had about the fair..
It is very comforting to know that those of you who did visit, had a good time.. even if your purses didn't!
The icing on the cake is knowing that so many of you enjoyed your day out amongst fellow bloggers whilst shopping for vintage and handmade goodies... the best of both worlds.

As the dust gently settles on the last fair.. the mind is firmly set upon the next fair in November.. the 14th to be precise.. and though I wouldn't want to wish away the summer months .. I really can't wait to start the whole process of plotting and planning and gathering items for the next...

To offer up some distraction.. the garden has put on a dazzling show of colour to tempt me out of doors.. Hence the song.. June is bustin' out all over...May and June are the 'main act' in most gardens as flowers put on their best frocks and compete with each other with colour and growth..I must confess that I wasn't a particular devotee of roses before I had my own garden.. but the variety and character of these plants have seduced me and I have collected a few ..This stripy rose.. yet to open up... is my favourite... though the name escapes me.. it is an old fashioned English rose with a heavenly scent..
I think the green fly would agree with me... oops!The foxgloves have done me proud this year and self seeded freely around the garden.. one can never have too many.. and so good for the bees! This little statuesque lady.. is affectionately known as Flora.. she was named by my son when he was a very small boy and he would wrap his arms around her neck and plant kisses on her stony cheek..I am hoping that our modest crop of strawberries will ripen in time for a strawberry cream tea this weekend.. though judging by the weather report on Metcheck.. a weather site that I visit daily.. the signs were for a dramatic dip in the old mercury in these parts on Saturday and can you believe ..sleet was forecast..
Time to get those woollies out again!