Lavender Girl

I fell in love with this statue when I first saw her at a garden show earlier in the year but didn't buy her so imagine my delight when I emailed the seller and found out she was still for sale! We bought her at the weekend and here she is in the dining room which is where she will live. The walls are white so I will paint an alcove a darker colour to show her off. She is gently weathered and has lichen growing on her which I love! One day she may move to the garden but for now I want her indoors!

If you are interested in similar items or any gardenalia do visit the seller's website at www.thevintagegardenco.co.uk as they have some lovely items at very reasonable prices.

Loving my....

I am loving my new paisley tights. I saw a lady wearing a pair in Chichester and asked her where she had bought them as I, too, wanted a pair.

Loving my new mug found in the local Oxfam shop.

and this mug I ordered from Susan Hill's website here. It says 'She is too fond of books and it has turned her brain', a quote from Louisa May Alcott. (£7.99 plus free p&p if you are interested).

Painting & Stripping

This last week I have spent quite some time applying and removing paint from two cupboards. The first I painted in my favourite, Farrow & Ball's 'French Grey'.


I forgot to photograph it before I painted it but this is the before


and after I distressed it.



A while ago I bought this cupboard on ebay for £25 as I thought it had 'potential'.





It took me a whole day (and two large tins of stripper) to remove all the layers of paint to reveal.......

I absolutely love it now and want to put it in our new bathroom (which is the next room to be tackled). I don't know what wood it is. It's not pine but is very heavy and stands on tiny wooden castors.

Winchester

Last night's 'Red sky at night....' promised a lovely day today and it has just been gorgeous, so warm and sunny.

We had booked to have lunch at the Hotel du Vin in Winchester (where the Creme Brulee is to die for!) then spent the afternoon wandering round the shops and walking along the river.

First a prezzie for hubby in Jack Wills

then just a little one for me in here.

It's very pretty walking along the river

Then through the backstreets to the car.

Last weekend the weather was equally nice and we visited a National Trust property called The Vyne in Hampshire. It's an impressive 16th century house dating back to Henry VIII's reign. It's a real mis-match of styles as one owner of the house was a definite recycler taking bits of the house such as doors, wall hangings, fireplaces etc. from one area and utilising them somewhere else.

We've been thinking of having a summerhouse at the bottom of our garden. I'd like one like this!

After another lovely lunch in here we walked round the walled garden.

Shrouded in Mystery

When I was in France I bought a piece of linen because I liked the detail and monogram at the top. I didn't know what its purpose was because of its shape (tapered at the bottom and buttonholes at both sides). I had decided it would look quite nice as a curtain on the long window in our spare bedroom ....until I asked my French cousin what he thought it was. Have you guessed? It's was obvious when he explained the shape and that the buttonholes are for tying the sides together. Yes, it's a shroud!!!! So the monogram is for the person who would be wrapped in it. But why was it for sale? Did the person not die? Intriguing. Would you still use it as a curtain, or not?

I love this maid's starched collar I bought recently

and this towel rail is just perfect for displaying some of my linens and lace.

So that's another item not going on the website.

On Monday Jane and I had a stand at Goodwood Antiques Fair. We did very well and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, meeting lots of lovely people. The only photos I have include me and they are awful so I won't be sharing them with you!

All I bought myself is a basket and a vintage scarf. I deserved a treat!

Dahlias & a Blue Basket

We recently celebrated our 31st wedding anniversary. We were married in a small chapel in a village in Cornwall which my mother had decorated with dahlias. I picked these few from our garden this morning.

I also painted this vintage basket in Farrow & Ball's 'Ballroom Blue'. It was intended for the website but, like so many things, I think I may end up keeping it for myself.

Petworth

On Sunday we visited Petworth House, a 17th century mansion owned by the National Trust.

Sadly photography is not allowed so I'm not able to share the interior with you.

Petworth has a lot of antique shops so we had to look in every one before our return home.

I liked this table but the prices in this shop were way out of our league. They did have some beautfiul things though.

In the antiques centre was 'The Linen Room' where I found a couple of pieces to buy. It was really difficult to photograph this as, despite there not being many people shopping I think they were all in this unit.

We bought a French pelmet but found it to be too small for our dining room window so have placed it around the picture rail above the fireplace.

This room was formerly our sitting room when I have previously blogged about it but now that we have finished decorating the other front room we have decided to have that as our living room because it is such a sunny room.

A friend of mine recently gave me this plaque for the kitchen . Do you think she is trying to tell me something?

I will leave you with this thought.....