Pretty enamel

Regular visitors to my website will have noticed how much I like enamelware by how much I have for sale.  I particularly like pretty enamelware because it seems kind of contradictory.  Enamel utensils are essentially utilitarian so to make them pretty and appealing seems strange.  Pink is an unusual colour for vintage enamel too.  Below are photos of some pink enamelware I currently have for sale



and floral enamelware which has recently sold

Do you like enamel and, if so, which is your favourite colour?

Hare's looking at you!

Just a quick post of the hare my husband made at his ceramics class.  I love him!



Shed, Summerhouse or Studio?

Back in April we had the ultimate in flat pack delivered - hundreds of pieces of wood and thousands of screws and nails.  Rather than pay £800 to have it 'made' we deided to do it ourselves (I say we but there wasn't much input from me!).  This is it half built, viewed from my office window.

Here it is now, all finished and painted.

Now the fun starts as I plan how to furnish the interior.  I'll post photos when I have done this.

I am loving all the sweet peas in the garden at the moment and the scent from the ones I have brought indoors is gorgeous.



Thankyou

Thankyou so much to everyone who left messages on my blog sending my mum good wishes after her stroke. I have spent most of May and June in Cornwall visiting her in hospital. She is still hospitalised but the good news is that she is recovering, allbeit slowly. We now have to decide where it will be best for her to live once she is discharged from hospital.

I have tried to leave comments on several people's blogs but there seems to be a fault and it doesn't work. I come up as 'Anonymous' then when I click 'Comment' it just send me back to my 'sign in' over and over again. Any ideas????

My husband and I had a few days in France last week. It was all to do with his work and we have already stayed at this wonderful chateau two years ago. This was our room.

and the pool.

The food was superb but unfortunately I was terribly sick on the ferry crossing which lasted more than 24 hours later and I couldn't eat a thing on the first night!

On the way home from this venue we decided to pay a visit to the Chateau de Versailles but the queue for the tickets and the separate queue for entrance into the palace were soooooo long and it was raining so we decided to abandon the idea. Shame!

We stayed in this chateau on the way home. It belongs to an English couple who also deal in antiques and it was amazing inside.

I hope to be able to comment on your blogs again very soon.

A Blogging Break

I am taking a break from blogging for a while.  I don't have the time to write any new posts or leave comments, though I will endeavour to read as many of yours as I can.  My mum has suffered a severe stroke and I am travelling between home and Cornwall to be with her as much as possible.

Shells

I can't have biscuits in the house whilst I am trying to lose weight so when I was photographing this biscuit barrel for the website I had to improvise.  I actually think it looks really nice with flowers or these shells in it and would look lovely in a bathroom.

I always seem to come back from the beach with pretty shells in my pockets so we have quite a collection (not these ones though).

I bought this Victorian shell purse when I was 10 (many years ago) and have treasured it ever since.

 

 

I have a new friend who has been following me all round the garden this week.  This female blackbird is so tame (though a little camera shy) and every time I have found a worm I have given it to her as she is feeding chicks.  As soon as I walk into the garden she appears.

 

My Garden

It has been a while since my last post.  I had to drive down to Cornwall as my elderly mother was rushed into hospital.  I actually stayed down there for 9 days until she was discharged (and is now on the mend, thank goodness).  This week I have been catching up on sending out all the orders which I hadn't been able to do whilst away.  I have also bought lots more French items and am trying to list these on the website .

Isn't it amazing how much the garden changes over a short period especially with all the sunshine and rain we were having.  My week has also been spent weeding and generally tidying up the garden.  I thought I would share some photos.  My husband created this pond and waterfall recently and it looks lovely now the plants are beginning to grow.  The wood at the back is driftwood from our local beach and we think it to be part of a very old hull.  On the right hand sideyou can just see the air raid shelter and on the left is the summerhouse which is being built.

My birthday present to my husband in March was a course on making a living willow chair, this is it just starting to come into leaf.  And his Christmas present was this pig and piglets.

We had a huge lily which we split and it seems to have survived. I love ferns and these are growing well. Does anyone know the name of this tree which has white pom pom blossom? It looks like snow now the petals are beginning to drop.

And last but not least the roses are going to be wonderful again this year.