Monday 27 June 2011

Car Boot Loot #6

What a looty weekend I had!  The Wee Man, during one of his leaflet hoarding expeditions, came across a leaflet for the Ruislip Lido Railway and had decided that it was his right to ride on that railway.  So of course being the push over parent that he is, the Big Man agreed and we headed to Ruislip on Sunday.

As is the tradition now, we headed to a new car boot first before we got there.  The Big Man has found that this is the only way to keep me sweet on train day outs.  Very wise of him.  We found one in Ruislip and headed there first thing in the morning.  

What a great car boot that was.  So very civilised, lots of lovely sellers and buyers and lots and lots of vintage gorgeousness.  I got so much stuff I'm going to have to show you some now and some later.  I had to stop myself from buying lots of things as the pennies seemed to disappear from my purse.


First up a Rawlings soda water syphon.  It's etched glass and is pre 1953 as it has a royal warrant on it for HM the King.  





It's all rather mucky inside and I am loath to clean it as it has an original label on the top.  I'd hate for it to wash off.  Does anyone have any tips on how to wash only the inside of a soda water syphon?  I got this for only £2.50.  I had my sweaty hands on it and chatted with the seller for ages, all the while a man was hovering behind me and when I finally said I'd buy it, Mr. Hover exclaimed "I wanted that!"  It's always good to buy something that someone else so desperately wants.  Ha! 

Next up some gorgeous china jugs, both just 50p each.  The seller was selling off her collection of china jugs as she had moved onto collecting tea pots.  I think I may have to start stalking this car boot in anticipation of her selling off her tea pot collection. 



This one is Paragon "Lavinia" and has the most gorgeous flowers.


And this one is Royal Adderley "Cornflower".


I also bought a load of other stuff which you'll need to wait to have a nose at as the book worm that is the Wee Man is waiting for me to read some stories to him.  

I always find it difficult to get my photos bright enough to show off my bits and pieces.  I tend to photograph things on my dresser which is in a corner of my dining room.  Short of having a full lighting rig, I'm really not sure how to get my pics better.  Anyone got any tips?  I'd love to photograph them outside but my garden is more jungle than garden.  If you know what I mean!  


9 comments:

  1. Short of filling it and just keep squirting through, not really - but the wonder of the internet means that someone will probably know! The cornflowers pattern is really pretty.

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  2. If it were mine I'd fill it 1/4 full with a mixture of water with a little ammonia added to it. Then I'd shake it and roll it so it covers the inside surface. If it's really cloudy inside I might let it soak overnight. Then I'd rise it with clean water. I think you could do this without further damaging the label. I'd also keep the ammonia mixture away from the metal parts.

    One trick I learned about drying bottles is after rinsing them, let them dry with paper napkin or towel stuffed into the opening. If it can touch the bottom that's better yet. It helps absorb the excess moisture without leaving water marks.

    What a find. I love it!

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  3. One other thing. If there is crud built up inside you might try scraping it with a skinny bottle brush (the long thin ones for cleaning coffee makers would work).

    In my opinion, you have a lovely piece just the way it is.

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  4. Gorgeous gorgeous soda bottle. Can you fill it with water and add some bicarb and vinegar?

    So great that you found a new stomping ground, I might have to try this ploy - my daughter would endure anything for a train ride too!

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  5. I love the siphon IO have a very similar one sitting on my kitchen window and it catches the sun beautifully x

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  6. Browse this website.
    http://mid2mod.blogspot.com/2011/01/ben-seibel-and-his-work-for-iroquois.html
    I think I remember a post on cleaning glassware. It involved bbs or rice to loosen the gunk inside. Sounded good to me. White vinegar leaves it shiny with no water spots in the final rinse.

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  7. I agree with Liz, bicarb and vinegar is great! Really lovely and pretty china jugs.
    I'd love tips on photography too, i have a really dark house, and have resorted to taking them in my conservatory recently, as my photographs are always dark :(

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  8. I love the soda thing as I have a thing about them. I would suggest white vinegar as cheap and effective

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  9. What great loot you have! I always clean the insides of my bottles with ice and salt. Just put a bunch of each into the bottle and madly swirl it around until clean. With the photos I often have the same problem. I just increase the "fill light" when doing the photo editing. Seems to help.

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