Vintage wonderland in frosty Dorset, Sizzling sardines in Spain

A wonderful day at Vintage in the Village Hall Pamphill near Wimborne, Dorset. The hall dates from 1919 and is linked to the nearby Kingston Lacey estate and country house.

It started with a slightly scary frosty drive through the dark of an early winter morning on country roads that had recently been covered in snow. We were so apprehensive of skidding on black ice in our heavily laden estate car. But as the dawn broke we arrived safely at the sweetest larchlapped village hall. Inside all the tables were set out and above our heads long strings of joyful bunting made from vintage fabrics by the talented organiser Elaine of teandbunny blog and eBay seller of quirky and desirable vintage treasures.

Quilts a go-go ( though they didn't)

Who will buy my lovely vintage quilts? Only one lovely buyer with excellent taste. And no-one even enquired about the vintage metal cot from Normandy in which I had piled the pretty quilts. Nor the miniature version for dolls that had its own sweet blue and white ticking mattress. 

End of a very busy day at the fair...

Oo-er out of focus (this was before the G'n T)

Sadly in the rush and dark of a 6.30am departure, I forgot to take my camera so had to make do with my mobile phone for pics.  I am very disappointed as usually it takes very good photos but this time they are mostly out of focus. Though they were taken towards the end of the fair when the hubbub had died down. It was a very busy and successful fair and many thanks must go to Elaine for her terrific promotion all over Dorset, Hampshire and Wiltshire.  Not to mention the delicious teas and cakes - lavender cupcakes - yummmy! And Mr EM also devoured the delicious chocolate cake. 

The other great pleasure of this fair was meeting up with fellow bloggers and followers. Stallholders around me were: Liz from The Washerwoman; Tracey from The Vintage Bothy ; Shirley from Simply-Chateau ; Elaine from tedandbunny and many others.

My only regret is that the delightful Jill from Nice Day at Rosies arrived as promised but I had hardly spoken to her when I was inundated with buyers and when I surfaced she had disappeared. I looked everywhere for her but she had gone! Jill if you are reading this I am so sorry. I wanted time to chat to you and talk about your pretty Rosiebud Designs - I love the beach huts cushion cover I bought from you.

Back to Spain and my sunny mini-break a couple of weekends ago.

   

Sardines by the Sea 

Yum

No rain in Spain in November

Well-behaved children on the beach - my favourite!

Mijas - the famous white hillside village.

But what's that just below the church?

Sunday - not just in in old Spain 

Mihas - the Bullring

Seat in the Shade or the Sun, por favor?

Feet (incl bunion) in the Med in November - bliss!

My favourite Spanish composer and music - click on the link and enjoy. Sorry I don't know how to embed it into this blog so that it plays in the background. 

Joaquín RODRIGO: Concierto de Aranjuez - Paintings by "JOAN MIRÓ"
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2184641555023461914#

Vintage at the Village Hall, Pamphill Dorset, Monday 29 November

Vintage at the Village Hall

Monday 29th November - Christmas Shopping Exclusive

A small group of dedicated specialists will be displaying their fabulous trove of vintage, decorative and handmade treasures in a lovely National Trust heritage setting deep in the historical county of Dorset on Monday 29th November. Free entry and a tea shop with homemade cakes - what's not to like?

Venez numbreux! ( Come one, come all) as they say in Normandy from where several of us have sourced our beautiful finds on your behalf. But of course the majority will be very much English style and sourced vintage and collectable decorative  items, including original jewellery. 

With such a splendid array of original and exclusive items at very reasonable prices, this could be your best Christmas shopping experience. Absolutely NOT available on every high street.

I shall  be there with my selection of vintage day and evening dresses and coats, vintage home decorative items, vintage French and English quilts, monogrammed French dowry linens, old knitting and sewing patterns, buttons, trimmings, fashion prints, old tins, and so much more to delight you!

Click on the poster above to find out more about all the stall-holders and their stock.

New Worlds for Old, Bubbly not blubbling

Off to seek her fortune in Australia

Tonight we tried toasting with Taittinger Champagne our beautiful elder daughter's departure for life in Australia. Better bubbles than tears, we thought, but we shall miss her so much. She joins her beloved sister who is expecting her second child (and our second grandchild) at New Year. Bonjour tristesse.

Moving to Australia Sale, Fashion Bargains on Ebay, Bon Voyage Giveaway!

Number One daughter modelling designer gown for Ebay

As some of my elegant followers know, our eldest daughter is moving to Australia to join her sister and family who have settled there. They are leaving very soon and while most arrangements for departure are well under way, she can't take all her clothes! She has now posted some of her fashion items on Ebay. Most are practically unworn as she is a compulsive shopper - with Top Shop being her favourite destination but this selection includes Deisel and Joseph jeans, and other items including from GAP, Cos and Reiss. They all have low starting bids and are great bargains for approx size 12 fashionistas. 

Below I've picked out a few examples - but do check out all her listings. There's some very on-trend items for this season. 

Sexy knitted cap sleeve, knee length dress with scoop neck. Surprisingly figure skimming and flattering, the dress rocks with knee length boots and tights. 

Jigsaw navy pinstripe sexy 'Apprentice' style skirt ( darker than photo)

Beautiful Grey Wide Leg Trousers from Reiss.  Size twelve with front pocket detailing.

*PRIZE BON VOYAGE GIVEAWAY* - to encourage anyone who would kindly help my daughter's Ebay sales, by copying a link to her Ebay listings onto their blogs, I am offering the chance to win a special Giveaway from my vintage fashion or vintage home stock (item yet to be decided as I have only just had the idea!) The photos I have used above are all her own so you are free to copy any of them as I have not actually downloaded them from Ebay. But obviously the links are genuine.  

So to enter the Giveaway - first post a link to daughter's Ebay listings on your blog. Then leave a comment to let me know. Get in! 

PS - thanks to all who sent me get well wishes. Am now on my second course of rather stronger antibiotics - "warning - may cause nightmares" ???  WTF. ( Sorry for sweary words Martha.)

PPS - hey peeps - just to be clear - you don't need to actually bid on any items - just put a link on your blog!

Poorly ill, Vintage Weekend, Blogger Visitor!

A week of this but feeling better now 

Not Halloween - any night at home with Mol our three-legged cat

The Fantastically Successful Vintage Bazaar, Frome

I don't know how I managed to set up my stand at The Vintage Bazaar on Saturday - I think I was on a brief high from the antibiotics. Huge thanks must go to to the clever and hard-working organisers - Liz The Washerwoman, and Clare http://www.daisydarlingmillineryboutique.blogspot.com/. Clare was the publicity ace - with mentions all over the media including national glossy homes and antiques magazines as well as the antique trade publications. Do check their blogs for photos as I forgot to take my camera. For me it all went by in a bit of a daze, but it was so busy with 1150 visitors and it felt like most of them were buying from me. What a lovely bunch of people, what a pretty town, thank you Frome. I shall be visiting again one day very soon, just to wander those picturesque streets and all the interesting independent shops.

Then onto Sunday and another early start - what was I on? But Dr Theatre was calling, the show must go on!

FROCK ME!  at Chelsea Town Hall

The lovely Sharon of My Style-Thrifting, Fashion, Me...

Sharon is modelling a YSL jacket that I bought in France on my recent visit - not very vintage - but very desirable. It was snapped up by an eager buyer a few minutes later with a little encouragement Sharon's boyf - Super Salesman Chris - thanks guys!

After all that excitement at the weekend, I'm afraid that I then took to my bed again on Tuesday. Pathetic I know but my excuse is that I suffered badly from bronchitis as a child at a time when there were fewer quick cures from pills. A course of 'Sunray' lamp treatment was the thing. Although I have enjoyed very good health all my life since then, in recent years I have become susceptible to winter chest infections which apparently is a throw back to that childhood illness. Apparently it is quite common for the more serious childhood ailments to revisit you in your 'senior' years. Aha - it didn't get you then, but it's coming for you later! Well I'm off to get some winter sun next week. Sadly not Australia - but Spain will do nicely for now.

PS - Another post that took AGES to set up. What on earth is the matter with Blogger and it's new 'improved' image uploading method? This old laptop is on its last legs and it was touch and go whether I could post this before it crashed again. Hopefully next week I'll have a new model - if only I could do the same for the rest of me!