Day 3: Antiques Galore
Posted: October 15, 2012 Filed under: Perambulations | Tags: antiques, holiday, Southwold Leave a comment »
There are lots of lovely little antiques places in Southwold. Today, we managed a walk up the high street and a look around a few of them. My challenge of just doing one picture a day has already gone out of the window, so just enjoy the pictures of old junk!
I resisted buying the Italian donkey as he had a chip. He was on display in the ‘Garden Room’ aka the shed outside. Tomorrow we’re off to Lowestoft, mainly so I can visit the wool shop there. We’ve been warned it’s not the most beautiful of towns in the area… We’ll see; Aidan and I quite like a rundown town.
Day 2: Settling In
Posted: October 14, 2012 Filed under: Perambulations | Tags: holiday, Southwold, Walberswick Leave a comment »
After a relatively late arrival yesterday, we had a lazy morning over a cooked breakfast and a slow meander along the seafront. We took the ferry across to Walberswick… When I say ferry, I mean a man with a rowing boat. Once there, we walked to the cafe and just had a little look in the couple of shops. I managed to forget to charge my phone up so no picturesque images of Walberswick I’m afraid. Instead, this is of inside our cottage. The jumper is Aidan’s dad’s, knitted by Aidan’s mum decades ago. There are lots of keen knitters here this week, all far more accomplished than me! The cottage is beautiful, albeit far too warm for me! And we’ve managed to get all of my five month old niece’s reusable marshes stuck in the washing machine. Fingers crossed we get those out soon! The handy man who came today had a hangover so said he couldn’t fix it today…
Day 1: Elsecar Heritage Centre
Posted: October 13, 2012 Filed under: Perambulations | Tags: antiques, Elsecar heritage centre, holiday, West German Pottery 1 Comment »
We didn’t set off until this afternoon, after a very late night and mad morning of decorating. We have a finished study and spare bedroom now though. Our journey to Southwold has also been delayed by a stop off at Elsecar Heritage Centre.
Run by the same people as Bygone Times, we were a little late today to look around all of the traders in the courtyard. However, we did manage a good look around the main antiques centre.
There were quite a few pieces of West German pottery on the various stalls. Also, lots of fantastic mid century glass: Whitefriars, Sklo etc.
We even found a Scheurich 414 in a glaze I don’t have. But I’m not supposed to know about that until Christmas… I also bought a piece of purple Sklo glass to give to my mum for Christmas. We’re very good at buying presents in advance in this household!
After a quick wander round, we’re now back on the road. We’ve got about three hours to go, but after our epic journeys to Germany, it doesn’t feel like such a long trip. We’re very much looking forward to sitting in front of the log fire once we get there.
A Holiday Project: Southwold
Posted: October 12, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: holiday, Southwold, Suffolk Leave a comment »
Image found here
We’re off on holiday tomorrow, travelling for over five hours to Southwold in Suffolk. Our cottage doesn’t have any internet (shock, horror!) so I’ve concocted a holiday project to keep me entertained. Using my phone, I’ll find a picture of something each day to upload to my blog. I’ll try and find vintage/retro inspired shots; if not, then I’ll use the Retro Camera app and at least make it look old! This will of course depend on there being enough signal for me to be able to use the internet on my phone.
I’ve never been to Southwold before. Not being particularly mobile at the moment, I’m looking forward to lazy days in front of the log fire; sitting wrapped up on the beach; reading; knitting and eating far too much than is probably good for me.
See you when we get back!
Back in Britain
Posted: February 18, 2012 Filed under: German Road Trip | Tags: Germany, holiday, road trip 1 Comment »We’re currently on the ferry, our last but one leg of the journey home. A quick stop off at Tesco for some non-cheese-or-bread related food before the drive back to Hadfield awaits.
Wanda is filthy. She looks like we’ve been rallying. Try snow, wind, rain, hail, sleet, frost… Not starting, failure to accelerate past 40mph and finally, a problem with the central locking after a repack in the rain, which meant it was a 50/50 chance whether the car would be locked or not upon our return. Jeez, as all the cool kids say nowadays.
It’s not surprising though, is it really? When you think about the amount of mileage we get out of her and the pressure on the suspension by the end of a trip. When you visit places like this, it’s difficult not to pile in the potaually, we didn’t buy anything from that place as it was extortionate in its prices. Made for a good sneaky picture though.
I discovered the ‘retro camera’ app on my phone this holiday. This has resulted in lots of random pictures of buildings, the Schwebebahn in Wuppertal, and Aidan in various vintage tinged hues.
Kept me entertained anyway.
Tomorrow will be a day of recuperation and planning for the week of work ahead. Pottery photos will appear once we’re unpacked and I’ve got my forty year 11 reports written and controlled assessments marked… What a difference a day will make!
This week has been pretty fantastic. Trekking around the troedels of Germany, staying in budget hotels and eating nothing but cheese and bread for a week might not be everyone’s idea of fun. Yet we love it.
The F1 at Bochum
Happy birthday to Aidan for today!
An Early Christmas
Posted: December 23, 2011 Filed under: Random Retroness | Tags: christmas, Christmas tree, Decorations and Props, Glossop, holiday, Manchester, owl, pottery, retro, vintage 2 Comments »Each year we have a (fairly) strict timetable of who, where and when to visit over the Christmas period. We go to my parents the weekend before Christmas, spend the day itself in Glossop by ourselves, some friends come over on Boxing Day; after that, it’s a slow, day-to-day movement over to Barnsley then up north to Sedgfield. Although it can be fairly tiring, it does mean that Christmas feels like it’s stretched out.
This year, I had to go to my parents on my own, as Aidan was in Australia with work. I would call him a lucky so-and-so but not after seeing the state he’s been in since he got back! Anyway, this meant that I couldn’t physically carry all of my presents from my parents back home. So I brought just one:
Retro Owl Ornament
Not only is this the cutest piece of owl paraphenalia that I’ve seen in a long time, it has another feature that just adds to the kitschy cuteness:
Detachable baby owl!
It’s a detachable, pottery, baby owl! So, not only is this a decorative item but, if you are that kind of person, you can take out the tiny baby owl and hold it for a bit. Or hide it in unexpected places. Not that I would do any of those things of course…
Our house is fairly Christmassed up this year. We do have a stack of stuff that we roll out each year. My mum has been watching Kirsty’s Homemade Britain and made us one of these to add to the decorations:
Hanging hearts decoration
My picture doesn’t really do it justice, but it does look lovely hanging in the window. Aidan has also made us a wreath for the door, I’ve made a strange Christmas tree shape from a magazine like this, and I’ve half made some bird baubles like this. However, I’ve forgotten to take pictures of those. I do have a picture of the tree though:
Christmas tree!
We did our usual trick of getting it cheap from the German market in Manchester and just hoping for the best. Last year, we had a double-trunker (or a Siamese Tree); this year it’s just a very, very odd, tall, sparse, thick-then-thin shape. We’ve still bunged on all of the baubles though. Hang on, when I say we, what I actually mean is Aidan. I was out on work Christmas do. Less said the better…
We’ve also put the West German pottery to good use:
West German Pottery decorations
The stars came from a window display when I worked at Monsoon in Manchester (boo, hiss!); they were being thrown away so I ‘rescued’ them. You can see a few of our cards here too. We’ve had so many this year! Mainly because I now have a Year Seven form so received lots of misspelled cards from them. The best one was from a little lad who had stuck one of his old primary school photos on the inside of it (“I had to cut D— and L—- out so it would fit just me!”).
More West German Pottery displays
Last but definitely not least on the handmade front… Aidan made me an advent calendar for the second year running. Once again it featured one of the fantastic Christmas images from the Galaxy magazines:
Handmade Advent Calendar
Today, I’ve got plans to: wrap Aidan’s presents, make his card, plan the veggie Christmas dinner, make a friendship bracelet as a present for someone, go to the gym, meet one friend for coffee, meet another for a hot toddy, meet Aidan for a pint once he’s finished work… It’s not all going to happen is it?
I Used To Know What I Wanted To Say…