Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Good Times.....

I hope that you all enjoyed the weekend, with the added bonus for us in the UK, who had a Bank Holiday on the Monday.
On Saturday hubby and I made our annual trip to the local woods where the Bluebells are in full bloom at the moment.

It was so peaceful - we never see anyone else walking here, so we are convinced that no one else knows the Bluebells are here......

....except for the butterflies....

and the bumble bees. I love these sweet violets growing in the shadows of the trees too.
Heaven on earth.

The afternoon was a slightly different story, as we had errands to run in Bath, which was rather busy with it being such a fine day.
Sunday was flea market fun at Shepton Mallet. (I would like to include this as my post for the 'Show and Tell Sunday' if I'm not too late - it is one of my favourite places to shop for vintage goodies)
It rained a little, but there was still plenty to see (and buy!) outside.....
....and inside, Liz's stand looked as lovely as ever.......
Where I found this pretty tray with its embroidered and appliqued lady under glass.


My other finds include these tiny Victorian scraps to add to my furniture......
A fabulously shabby chic wall shelf, which I shall use in my new workroom to store cards of vintage lace.

A French millinery flower and Deco tin.....

A teeny bottle of Violet perfume and a French powder box....

A French fabric covered sewing box and some pretty greetings cards......
and some amazing early 1900's French magazines.....

I love the advertisements for corsets - I would like to use them in some collage work, if I can find the time......

and I think it would be nice to create some labels for bottles with these.

Monday was my Birthday. Hubby wanted to take me out for the day, so we decided to go to Ludlow. Sadly, because it was a Bank Holiday, all of my favourite shops were closed!! It takes around two hours to get to the town centre from our home, so I was a bit gutted to say the least!! (But then I guess the shop workers deserve a break too!)



There were a lot of American tourists who didn't look very pleased either!

So we headed off to Burford House, which has a lovely garden centre, where we sat in the gardens and had a yummy lunch. Afterwards we carried on to Leominster, but unfortunately it was the same story there and everywhere was closed.
I was spoilt in other ways though and received some beautiful presents from friends and relatives. Thank you to Maggie, Liz, Helen, Debbie, and Josie. Hubby bought the silver watch for me. x

Today was an amazingly warm day, so I decided to repaint my very shabby (not chic!) French garden table and chairs.


A quick coat of metal paint.......

Ahhhhhh....that's better. The humongous geranium is one that I have saved from last year, growing it on my kitchen windowsill. It seems happy to be outside again. ******************************
I received a few comments/questions to my last post, which I shall briefly answer here:
The pink mirror is a vintage Murano glass one, which I found at a flea market. (The floral painted one was taken out of an old wooden firescreen. The miniature one is a Barbola mirror with a rose garland on the top - both from flea markets.)
The banisters to my new workroom have plain spindles - unfortunately I am unable to say where they can be found, as they were supplied by our builder.
******************************
I hope you all had a wonderful weekend too and have a great week,
Niki x
Update 07/05/08 Good Morning!
I have completed a small update to my on-line catalogue this morning.
I would hope to add more handmade items once my new workroom is complete.
In the meantime, I hope you will enjoy taking a look at some of the vintage treasures that I have been able to add.
With many thanks to all of you who have made a purchase from my last update and for all of your kind and friendly emails.
Have a lovely day,
Niki.

21 comments:

  1. Anonymous9:34 pm

    A belated Happy Birthday to you Niki. What a shame the shops were shut it Ludlow. Jane from Posy has been there lately and mentioned many gorgeous shops. Still looks like you were spoilt rotten anyway, like a birthday girl should be!

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  2. Well a very Happy Birthday to you, Niki! Mine was two weeks ago on Monday (and son #2 and hubby's birthdays are next week)! =) What fabulous finds you purchased at the flea market. I think the shelf has to be my personal favorite. =)

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  3. Happy Birthday Niki, sounds like you've had a wonderful few days. Sorry to hear about Ludlow but it sounds like you came up trumps at Shepton Mallet, what beautiful finds
    Kimx

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  4. Happy Birthday!..hope all the lovely finds and pressies made up for Ludlow and Leominster being closed!... how frustrating!

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  5. Wishing you many happy returns Niki, you certainly got some wonderful presents, and great purchases at Shepton. I'll be posting mine sometime this week too. It's a shame we didn't get to meet up there, maybe next time...
    Lucy x

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  6. Happy belated birthday! Lovely pics of your treasures.Sal;-)

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  7. Happy Belated Birthday!

    What a great weekend the Bank Holiday was and even better for being your birthday!

    Great finds! I LOVE the wall shelf!

    Victoria x

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  8. Love the pictures of the bluebell woods,we are so lucky to be able to stroll through them at this time of year.
    looking forward to seeing your workroom.
    Debbie

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  9. Happy Belated Birthday to you!!! Looks like you received some fabulous gifts!! I love the sweet shelf you found and your new bags are gorgeous, as always!!
    Michelle

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  10. Some beautiful stuff here, I love the little shelf that you bought and the old magazines, lovely stuff. Glad you had such a nice day, I love bluebell woods, totally gorgeous.
    Twiggy

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  11. Belated birthday grettings my bloggy friend.

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  12. hi Nikki - I have awarded you an Excellence award - just post it on your blog and nominate 5 other people - i have coloured it in red and blue to match my blog...but it is actually black and white, you can get the black and white version from the person that nominated me...Congratulations, your blog is EXCELLENT - luv Happy x

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  13. Hi, I just found your blog and it is so charming. What pretty pictures of the bluebells. Come for a visit.
    Karen

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  14. So many gorgeous things I don't know where to begin! LOVE the bluebells...I love that name bluebells, would be such a cute blog name wouldn't it?

    Some beautiful treasures you found Niki! lovin the tin and tray. :))

    loved everything you added to your catalog too! xoxo

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  15. im so sorry i missed your birthday,i hope you had a yummy cake, and lots of lemonade......

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  16. Hello Niki,
    Happy Birthday! I loved seeing all your flea market finds...I think my favorite is the tray so beautiful the
    lady is and that shelf is so wonderful, I am sure it will be so great in your new work room. I will have to check out your shop Pinkie

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  17. That shelf is to die for!

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  18. I love reading your blog!! You vintage finds are simply dreamy!!!
    Isabel

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  19. Just stopping by to Wish You a WONDERFUL HAPPY HAPPY JOY JOY MOTHER'S DAY!!!
    Hugs and Love,
    Amy (Mom to the Four Sisters)

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  20. Nikki, been away down under. Love the doll you finished and happy you like the bag too, love all of the site, beautiful
    aloha Lilla

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  21. Love the table set that was repainted! Very cute. Also all the other goodies you got were great too.

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Thank you for finding the time to visit me...
Niki xx