Celebrating in Salisbury

Hubs and I are just back from a couple of nights away to celebrate my Birthday. After shopping for hours at our local flea market first (for most of Sunday), we then headed-off to Salisbury for the evening, staying at the Rose & Crown which is a pleasant 10 minute walk out of the city from Cathedral Close. 

The next morning we visited C18th Mompesson House, which was featured  in the  award winning film Sense and Sensibility - (One of my all-time favourite films! ;-))

On Tuesday, before returning home, we visited Salisbury Cathedral... 

And booked ourselves on a Tower Tour. The guided tour took over an hour and a half to complete and was very worthwhile. There were six of us on the tour, where we were  taken behind the scenes of the fine architecture and elaborate decoration to appreciate how the cathedral was constructed and the measures that have been taken over the centuries to keep it standing!  

The first level is a balcony just above the huge arches that swamp the visitors below.

And eye to eye at stained glass level! 

Then its up further to view the roof structure and the reverse side of the curved stone ceilings. 

Onwards towards the tower and spire...which involves climbing several spiral staircases built in the 1930's. 

Ancient graffiti scribed into the limestone can be seen throughout the tour... 

The small clear glass window sections at the top of the tower were engraved by visitors to the cathedral in the 1990's as a fundraiser...There are some lovely messages and dedications.

A final glance up inside the spire...Then its out onto the parapets on each side of the tower for more far reaching views! 

(Looking up to the top of the spire that no longer stands straight, and which often sways several inches in high winds! - Thankfully all was calm on Tuesday!)

We had a very special time away. I was also spoilt with some wonderful gifts from friends and family - I'll show some  on my next post if I can find the time...I found some treasures at the flea which I'd love to show too...I'll be back when I can.
Enjoy the rest of your week,
Niki x

Vintage Flowers

A friend of mine recommended this book to me...

She told me she had been able to buy her bargain copy from The Works (A high street discount book and art supplies store). Whilst shopping in Bristol with my daughters, we popped into The Works there...but sadly no copies of the book were available. None at Clarke's Village, Street...The Bath store was the same story...I also asked at Waterstones, but they didn't stock it either. I'm not sure why its so scarce, as it was only published in 2011.

I then tried on-line at Amazon...I was able to order a copy, but 4 weeks later and no book, they finally got back in touch to tell me that they couldn't fulfil my order and so were cancelling it...

Maybe it just wasn't to be?...
Until, that is, our jolly jaunt down to Poole at the beginning of last month! On the off-chance I thought I'd just check in their branch of The Works...And there, in the Hobbies section, were three copies of Vintage Flowers! I grabbed a copy, not believing my luck; Price: Was £25.00, Now £5.99...I took the book to the cash desk and was told they'd been marked down further and were now £4.99!

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More an inspirational book, than a 'how to', the creative florist and author of the book ,Vic Brotherson, makes the sometimes daunting prospect of flower display seem accessible to all. The simple text and beautiful photographs showing vases and containers many of us may already own at home, means the task appears achievable using her style. With no real need for expensive shop bought blooms, a few stems from the garden will suffice, and so the results are not about any financial outlay, but more about having fun!

Vic is the owner of Scarlet & Violet, nominated by Time Out as one of London's best specialist shops. In her book she says that "I have never been formally trained and learnt 'the rules' entirely through working in flower shops and from admiring and reading endless old flower books. Technicality certainly isn't my strength, but this lack has worked to my advantage and allowed me to explore ways of using flowers in a less inhibited style than I might have done had I been taught."

What I love about this book is her use of old containers - some almost outshine the flowers they hold...

I always thought when I opened my little shop that I'd be able to offer a few small posies for sale amongst my merchandise. I dreamed of filling the odd chipped cup, lidless tea pot, or redundant vase with water and to arrange simple flowers from my garden. Sadly a low footfall means many of the arrangements would go unsold, so there would be a lot of wastage. Occasionally I've added floral accents - such as the watering cans shown on this post, but have not really gone for it in a big way.

I think if I had not been able to sew, I may have been a florist ...I love flowers, colour, and  gardening too...It may have been a natural progression...
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Anyway, inspired by my new book Vintage Flowers, I thought I'd create a simple country style posy today...

I decided to use an old vintage tea pot as my container, with a similar glazed design to some jugs in the book. 

All the flowers came from our garden and include apple blossoms, cowslips, bluebells and pulmonaria. 

Like spring sunshine!

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I've had my parents-in-law and sister-in-law staying with us for a few days...

My sister-in-law bought me a lovely bouquet of exotic flowers. 

Proteas from South Africa are amongst them.

Call me old fashioned if you like though...I don't think you can beat simple spring flowers from your own back yard!...Placed in a tiny vintage pressed glass vase that was passed-on by a friend...(thank you Helen! x)

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Thank you too, to all who visit my blog and for the comments some of you leave here. I'm taking a short break from my blog to free-up some time to think. 

Take care,

Niki x  

Pretty Nostalgic

Yes, once again I am here with a mention for Pretty Nostalgic magazine! ;-)) - But hopefully with good reason...Today the brand new magazine was launched and my copy arrived on my doorstep around lunchtime...(we have a very laid-back postman!)
I quick flick through has me very excited, not least because my little shop is featured...

Thanks to Jo and Jen for the lovely feature, both in the words and the photographs. I feel very lucky to have my small unassuming workplace included amongst the pages, and am warmed by the words of welcome by Nicole and Sarah inside the front cover which read; "By treating everyone we deal with fairly, supporting those who truly deserve it (rather than just those who can afford to pay) showing respect for the past and appreciating the important things in life, we hope to become a great magazine and bring Pretty Nostalgic living to Britain." 

I'm looking forward to savouring every page of this publication, which is in many ways more of a book than a magazine.There looks to be lots of interesting articles and a refreshing lack of those full page ads that generally punctuate the more glossy mags on every other page. The advertisements that are included have relevance and seem to add to the general nostalgic flavour of the magazine. 

A relaxing evening beckons!...:)
Niki x

Fabrics and Fairs

For now I am continuing to open my shop three days per week - Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays,  9.30am to 4pm. 

This means I can spend quality time there, but also have the time to spend sourcing lovely stock and making lots of handmade products for the vintage fairs during the rest of the week. I have booked another two fairs for this year: The Cotswolds Vintage Fair, Toddington in August and the Vintage Christmas Bazaar, Frome in December.                              

I've bought some gorgeous vintage and antique fabrics from a textile dealer friend of mine and am looking forward to using them. This very old linen has a beautiful watercolour painted look to it.

A French fancy

More wonderful antique linen. 

Stunning hand embroidery.

And Chinese embroidery fragments too. 

I can't wait to get started...Its perfect weather for sitting at a sewing machine in a cosy workroom stitching new treasures...Well, there needs to be a bright side to all this awful rain! Have a great day,
Niki x