If you can't find me I'm down at the allotment

I made it to the top of the waiting list, and now have an allotment in my village. You can see it from the 303 as you zoom past the Ilchester junction and smell the sewage works.

I decided that this bed was far too big, and wanted to split it into two smaller beds or make it L shaped. This is why I have been so quiet lately.

I took over a small plot which has had some work done on it already, but the last tenant was moving out, so, the shed, gate, bench and wood from the raised beds were eventually taken away.

One thing I have noticed is how obsessed the English are about potatoes. Everyone wants to know 'Where are you going to put your potatoes?' 'How big is you potato bed going to be?' 'Will you be sowing earlies, late earlies and lates?' ...um well actually I wasn't going to grow any spuds at all!! We eat carrots and broccoli, some beans sweet potatoes, pasta, couscous, and rice at home. Why would I want to grow potatoes?

Mc has taken over the general direction of the allotment and if you haven't noticed he is Irish, so we are growing Charlotte and Desiree who as far as I knew were two of Elvis' girlfriends, but are actually potatoes.

We have now got a microwave cooking box thing in the kitchen and I have heard that you can put potatoes in it and wait for a ting noise and then they come out a bit like baked boiled potatoes. I think it is as much a waste of space as the similar looking TV box thing in the other room.

We have been working the allotment for a month now and I notice that we should start taking notes. We forget what we have sewn where and when. This info would be useful now and next year.

I've missed some good fairs due to having my head in the mud (that's another thing apparently it is called SOIL). I will have to visit a few blogs to see what I missed.

Rook Lane Retro Review

I've been visiting other blogs reading about Rook Lane Retro Fair. Even though I was as there selling it's still nice to see things through other's eyes and camera's. I've seen some lovely photo's of my stall and items people have bought from me. Also I've seen pictures of other stalls showing stuff I bought home with me! Alan's photo's on Suzy's Vintage Attic are wonderful. I took along a Mexican themed tin to keep my Toni Raymond Mexican Man sugar shaker company and it is now in the celestral company of a dog named Tog. I haven't seen the photo's Sophie (pictured here) took of the fair yet, she is busy with course work, so I won't distract her. I was going to just use everyone elses, but I do have some of my own. Look....








My stall was just inside the door with light from one of the large stained glass windows illuminating my stuff. The little doll behind one of the oxo tins now lives here

Toni Raymon Mexican Man sugar shaker renewing his aquaintance with the Toni Raymond Owl scissor and string holder.

I usually leave something or things behind (this time I left lots). I usually forget the airing rack, but not this time. I love things that unfold and can be put to many different uses.
Visiting this fair was just as much fun as last time perhaps even more fun. #1 son didn't come along this time, so I didn't have to keep nipping to the car park to see if he was still waiting in the camper. I just have to thank my two helpers Sophie and Mc and of course all the customers, organisers and café staff. I welcome cup of coffee and melting moment was provided at set-up. I'm beginning to think this treatment is normal. Stall holders got similar treatment at Bridport rag market. I'm sure it wasn't like this when I used to do craft fairs in the Taunton area...

New Diary

I'm very disorganised, but I like an interesting diary. Last year I had a Dodo diary and the year before I had a Benrik Diary This year I only have a basic supermarket own label affair. The first thing I do when I get a new diary is stick a pocket in the back if it doesn't already have one, so I was pleased when I found next years diary. It has a very substantial pouch fitted inside the back cover.

I don't usualy order the next years diary in March, but while I was ordering limited edition Liberty fabric from the V&A I noticed that they had a diary celerbrating their impending quilt exhibition. The photo's are sumptuous. Lovely shots of the back of quilts, haberdashery etc.


Of course I had to buy fabric . To make lovely things with.

There are great advantages to being prepared I can enter next years dates for the cat's flea treatment!!! I'm only worried that I might loose the diary before next year.

Rook Lane Retro 27th March 2010

I had a lovely time in Bridport at the Rag Market. I said good bye to lots of lovely fabric. The venue and facilities were wonderful, with tea, biscuits and cakes readily available for the stall holders. I didn't take my camera, sadly, so I have no pictures to show you.

Apart from the flea at the Bath & West weather permitting, the next fair I'm doing will be the fabulous Rook Lane Retro in Frome. These photo's are of my last visit there which was as long ago as September 2008!

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Black and White

We are well into a new year and I haven't done an update!

Christmas went well. I've come up with a brill plan which I aim to follow every Christmas from now on ... KEEP IT SIMPLE! Feeding 3 generations, 3 different religions, vegetarians, nut allergy victims, and type 1 diabetics is easy. The easiest part was being allowed to use the same oven. Even though there was no bacon on the turkey and for the vegies no turkey in the 'turkey' (no nuts in the nut roast) and no goose fat in the roast spuds and no chestnuts with the sprouts. It was all quite easy, because I didn't do sprouts with chestnuts (straight forward sprouts are easy), no glazed carrots (straight forward carrots are easy and have no added sugar) pigs in blankets/kilted sausages in their own tray (easier to keep an eye on) The only thing I made was the gravey (vegetarian).

We had snow again in the new year. I only took one photo this time .......

My cats foot print in the snow.

After taking down the christmas display in the shop window I decided to go for a black and white theme.

That got changed for Valentine's day, and now it's back to natural wood. Before long I will be looking to add a splash of colour, but I'm too busy sorting stock for the rag market in Bridport this weekend. I've been before as a customer, but never sold there. I love Bridport and I'm looking forward to a lovely day.

New haberdashery cabinet has arrived.

It's here!!! and it's so cute!! with its little drawers and custom built side console.

It looked so old and fragile with all the little drawers taken out, leaving just a glass shell and wooden skeleton. Then it didn't quite fit into my van, so Mc drove the 6 miles from Glastonbury to Ilchester, because he has far more nerve than me. We were told to bring more help than we thought we would need, but managed with three of us: Mc, me and Yusuf. Plus a helpful shove from a lady who saw it being removed and thought were moving in to the shop we were taking it from (I would always ask if I saw someone removing a haberdashery cabinet just incase they were dumping it!)

Moving an aged glass cabinet is nerve wracking stuff. Once it was in situ I had to rush off to meet the school bus and arrived back to find Mc had moved it into position and put the drawers back in. The rearranging to make space for it to fit through the door and to the back of the shop had taken all week. Next I can work out a new layout. It looks more like a shop now I have a counter.

Some of the drawers went missing during the many years and I have 20 of the 24 left.

The cabinet and console aren't the only items I bought.

I used to admire the copper display poles that the Hardware shop in Glastonbuy had in their window and now I have one of them in my shop. Millers the hardware shop closed in the last few years and the premises is now called Hunab Ku. I've supplied Hunab Ku with my glittery badges.

This copper piller is very very heavy, and the glass sheets stay in place as if by magic. It will be very usefull in the odd shaped window area at the front of the shop. I wonder where the other pillers have ended up.

Make way for the new

I'm excited about securing a new (1950's) counter which should arrive at the end of next week. It should compliment the set of drawers I already have. Some rearranging will have to be done to make room for it. The shop is going to look a little different.

Some of these settings will stay and some will go. They have already changed as things got sold and replaced with more treasures.

The dark afternoons have made an impact on the shopping habits of my customers. None of the rush hour commuters seem stop to visit me anymore. I was closing at 6, but I close at a more sociable 5 now. The year is marching on. I didn't grow any pumpkins this year, so I had to buy them in! The shop was open for Trick or treaters and facepainting on halloween and I remember thinking it wasn't getting dark quickly enough to make our pumpkin lanterns look their best.

I remembered to plant some forced bulbs and made a note to myself in chalk on the stairs that they in in the cupboard below. The paper whites are nearly over now. I love their scent and took one pot to the shop and kept one at home. The hyacinths under the stairs will need to come out into the light soon and should be ready for christmas to give as gifts or keep. They are great as last minute gifts to unexpected visitors. I've put some in water in hyacinth jars. I found some vintage jars at a boot sale and they have coloured frosted bottom halves so the roots shouldn't look too freeky. Actually I think I'll go and check on them now........