New York, Neeeeew Yooooork!

 I’m spray tanned and pedicured, now all I need to do is a mini manicure and of course pack. Then I’m off to New York tomorrow morning! I’ll make sure I take pics of everything and anything x

Car Boot Sales, Sunshine and Baby Birds

I’ve just got back from a busy day of car booting, hunting for summer dresses for my NY trip and relaxing on my Nan’s decking overlooking the river. She’s got a duck nesting in one of her large plant pots and her nest is beautiful, all covered with downy feathers. When she’s not sat on her nest ‘Jemima’s’ taken full advantage of my Nan’s hostess skills, tapping on the conservatory door when she’s hungry and using her flower boxes as her own private balcony overlooking the river. There are also a family of black birds nesting in the shed and they’re on their second brood of the season. The birds are fine with people going into the shed and I went in to see two bald tiny heads with enormous mouths pocking out from beneath their mum.

Earlier today I was at Stoneleigh car boot with my mum. Even at 7.45 the weather was lovely and despite there being fewer sellers than usual I picked up a few bargains for my new house (I finally have a moving date...8th June, woo). I got an old glass decanter for 20p, perfect for holding brightly coloured bubble baths, a few vintage handbags for my Bicycle Basket Bazaar stall, The Wasp Factory which I’ve been dying to read for ages, a couple of glass cake stands and a lovely shabby chic egg holder. I haven’t got any pics of this week’s purchases as my car has temporarily become a storage facility until the house move and I can’t face rummaging through the car to find my purchases.

I also had a successful rummage at the booter and the tip shop last week so I’ll fill this blog post with pics from those. I bought lots of lovely tins, vanity cases and the like and drove people mad with my ‘erm I know this tin/case is full of things but can I empty it and buy it’. My favourite purchase was a 1940s/1950s cake tin with the most gorgeous red, pastel green and black colour scheme. In fact it’s provided me with some inspiration for paint colours for the new house. I also picked up some vintage greetings cards from an old man who sells coins, medals and old photos etc and was very excited to find one with a Scottie and Westie on, just like my Jack and Alfie. I got talking to the seller a few weeks ago when my aunt and I were doing a car boot sale and remembering that I had a 50s cocktail cabinet, he’d brought along a vintage cocktail tray that he’d had for 30s years as a present for me! It was so kind and when I got home I realised it was an exact match to the tea trolley I’d been given by the seller of my cocktail cabinet.

I also bought an old Kit Carson Cowboy annual, which I’ll probably turn into badges, gift tags or use to decoupage some boxes, a fan shaped pink dressing table set, a Cath Kidston style glass and a matching perfume bottle and pot with embroidered lids. At the Stratford and Kenilworth tip shops I picked up a set of rose themed dishes, a wooden table with a picture insert, some matching rose dishes and the most gorgeous tea pot...oh and a kitsch and cute ‘Alfie’ plant pot too!

Moving House...well almost

I’ve spent the last few weeks packing up the massive amounts of stuff in my apartment ready to move into my new house. It was a never ending task, largely because I kept buying things from carboots, charity and second hand shops, all of which obviously needed packing! I moved out of my apartment on Tuesday and set up camp in my aunt’s spare room for what was supposed to be a few days. As with all best laid plans a few days has now turned into at least a few weeks as I’m unlikely to get a moving date before I jet off to New York next Thursday.

My original trip to America was meant to be for four weeks, but with all my house stuff ongoing my cousin went on the four week trip and her mum and I are now meeting up with her and her brother in New York. I’m super excited about going to New York as I’ve never been before, and on Ann’s (http://vintageatthecornerhouse.blogspot.com/) recommendation we’re fitting in a trip to the Hell’s Kitchen flea market. My aunt loves planning trips and has got a pretty full itinerary for us all, full of the usual touristy stuff and the not quite so usual.

With me having Aspergers and being very OCD I’ve woken up in a cold sweat the past few nights. It’s stressful enough with a house move disrupting all my usual routines but the fact that all of my stuff’s in storage until I move house, including lots of stuff that I’ve been specifically saving for my America trip, is even worse! My Mum bought me a matching set of make-up bag, toiletries bag, coin purse, passport holder and luggage tag for Christmas which I tucked away to be used for my holiday and now...it’s still tucked away, only in an inaccessible storage container. Sob. So too are all my holiday miniatures that I’d also tucked away ready for what was going to be a massive trip, and they still would have come in handy for the small one. Hmmm, how silly was I to think that my solicitor saying you’re moving house on Monday (a week and a bit before I go to NY) actually meant I was going to be moving then.

An Outing With Alfie

Today my Westie Alfie and I went on a little recycling shop trip, going to both the furniture recycling warehouse and the smaller bric a brac shop. Alfie has loved going out in the car since he was a pup and he insists on leaning on the dashboard so he can have a nose at everything as we drive about. Our other dog Bettie has her own doggie high chair and seatbelt harness but Alfie has always refused to wear one, chewing his last one to pieces. After Alfie had had a good rummage through my handbag to check I wasn’t hiding anything delicious we pulled up at the bric a brac shop and I picked up a few pieces of mismatched china ready for when I finally move house, set up my craft room and set about making all my china oddments in to beautiful cake stands. I also bought a gorgeous stained glass window that will either find a home in my new garden or perhaps on my Bicycle Basket Bazaar stall. Oh, and a little cuddly toy for Alfie, after checking it had no plastic eyes or anything for him to tear off and choke on.

After giving Alfie his new toy (he spent the rest of his time in the car deciding whether to play with it on the seat or in the foot well) and a trip to the cash point to replenish my funds we went to the other side of town to the furniture recycling shop. I managed to resist buying any pieces of furniture and stuck to the books section. I love crime fiction and found a Ruth Rendell book I hadn’t read before and a load of Puffin and Penguin classics to brighten up my bookshelves. As I was having a final wander I spied a big box of children’s annuals hidden under a Flymo leaf blower.

Having nearly knocked over a tray of glassware wrestling the Flymo onto the floor I had a look through the annuals, the hoarder in me kicked in, and I decided that I needed to leave with all of them. Some of them were relatively pricey but I managed to get a good price for the job lot of 16 and was very excited to find there was a story with some really lovely drawings of a Scottie in one(our Jack being a Scottie dog). I love the illustrations, old fashioned hairstyles and the fact that the entire collection belonged to one person who had obviously treasured them enough to hang onto them for years. Her name was written in the front of most of the annuals, along with beautifully written dedications from her family wishing her a Happy Christmas and so on. The annuals range in date from the late 1920s to the mid 60s and feature all sorts of interesting characters in the stories. I had intended to put these on my stall but I’m not too sure now I’ve seen the illustrations and the beautiful and unusual colours used on the covers. Hmm, I fear another hoarding moment coming on. 

p.s. Having flicked through the annuals again and peeling off the price labels (grrr, who uses sticky labels on old books? , it’s ruined most of the covers!) I found a few family photos from the 50s inside one of the annuals. I’ve just spent the last hour on Google trying to find out if there is any way of me returning these to the family so finger crossed.