Car Boot Loot #18

Finally some sun!  It's been so long that I've forgotten what sunshine looks like.

I think the whole of the UK has me to thank for the sun!  Yesterday we all trooped out to buy the Wee Man some wet weather gear.  Not only a windproof, waterproof jacket but also an all in one rain suit thing.  The type that you zip yourself into with just your face and hands showing.  

So because of this timely purchase of wet gear, the sun has decided to spite me and shine it's smug glorious face all over us.  Shouldn't really complain should I.

What the rain did stop us from doing this weekend was go car booting.  They were all closed because the fields were pretty much lakes.  So I don't have much to show this week.  Just some goodies from charity shops.

First up, a beautiful set of Paragon tea plates.  They are the right shade of green and the pink roses are gorgeous.  I do love pink roses.

And another train game for the Wee Man.  He has so many board games they are taking over my house but for £1.50 and it's a train game, I had to buy it.  It'll be a lovely surprise for him when he comes in from school today. 

That was my lot for this week.  Not much to show really.  The rain really has a lot of answer for.

If you liked my Car Boot Loot post have a look see at my other Loot posts.  Just click here.  

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Vintage Easter Swap

 I've been slightly tardy with this post.  A wee while ago the lovely LissyLou organised a Vintage Easter Sap and I was lucky enough to be partnered with Katie.

I was thoroughly spoiled and received lots of gorgeous goodies.  The goodies were wrapped in pretty pastel coloured paper and ribbons.   I love receiving gifts that are prettily gift wrapped.  It makes me smile. 

What was inside the pretty wrapping paper?  Gorgeous pastel coloured crcheted bunting!  The bunting is currently decorating the top of my dresser.  The little roses really make the bunting special.   

Some sweet smelling Cath Kidston smellies.  I usually take showers, so I'm keeping the bath melt to use for a special occasion i.e. when I have the house to myself and I'm not rushed out of the bathroom with shouts of "MUM!" or "MADISON!".  Which is more often than you would think.  

A set of gorgeous hand painted glasses.  I've been hunting in charity shops and car boot sales for a set of painted glasses.  How did she know?!  

A very handy sewing kit.  I have been known to bung some needles and thread into a plastic food bag to take with me when I feel the need to sew on the move.  This little set is perfect to keep in my handbag. 

A sweet little pink bucket.  It's so cute and the pink is the perfect shade of pink.  

And inside the little bicket was a handmade hanging Easter egg.  Look at the detail on it.  I originally thought it was shop bought until Katie told me she had decorated it.  It's perfect!  The fabric on the egg is completely wrinkle free.  How did she do it?! 

And of course you can't have an Easter without Easter chicks!  These were given to the Wee Man.  We've been hunting for some Easter chicks to put into his plastic Easter eggs and they've all been either too big or too small.  These were the perfect size and he promptly stuffed them into his eggs ready for his Easter Egg hunt.  

I was rather spoiled wasn't I?

I can't seemed to find the photos of the things I sent her.  I'm off to have a more thorough search.  Where are those blimmin' photos?!

 

Car Boot Loot #17

Hasn't the weather improved?!  It's so lovely and sunny here I can finally believe that Spring is here.

Yesterday we hottailed it to our favourite car boot sale in a neighbouring town.  It's about a 25 minute drive away but well worth it.  Unfortunately there were not that many sellers there yesterday.  Only a quarter of the usual amount so the pickings were rather slim.

So slim in fact I only got two things for myself.  The Wee Man on the other hand got a huge bag full of books and a game.

First up for me was this cute little ceramic hen.  The seller informed me that is was a gravy seperator.  I thought it was a wee bit too small for gravy but smiled nicely and accepted her 50p offer.  I think in fact it's an egg seperator.   See the little lip on the hen's chest?

Unfortunatley I have no use for an egg seperator as I do not cook with eggs that often because of the Wee Man's allergies so the hen will be for display purposes only.  Love her eyelashes. 

Next up a chequered cake set for all of £1.  It's always a challenge to make exciting and different treats for the Wee Man and I thought this cake set would make a little surprise treat for him.  The seller said it belonged to her Mum so maybe it's vintage, though vintage "Made in Taiwan" is a bit of a stretch.

Reading the instructions I think there is a lot of room for disaster, but I'm willing to give it a go.  Maybe the cake will be more splodge than chequered?  Either way, I'll post some pics of the results once I get round to using it.  The Big Man observed that the cake set will most likely end up in the box of stuff for us to sell at a car boot sale!  Humph!

That was it for me.  I also got a huge pile of books for the Wee Man, a lot of them old Ladybird non-fiction books, for £1.

Also a Mousetrap game which unfortunately had no instructions in the box.  I bought it from a man who had just got a call to say his daughter was in labour with his first grandchild.  I didn't have the heart to keep him back whilst I checked the contents.  He was desperately packing up and I think the buyers felt his desperation because a crowd converged on his stall picking up anything and everything and demanding a price for it.   For the record I was already eyeing up the game when he got the call, so I was not one of the vultures, though to be honest I did have a quick squizz around his stall to make sure there wasn't anything else I wanted.  Am I naughty?

And last but not least a fantastic Egypitan craft set.  My 10 year old niece is obsessed about all things Egyptian.  She can name all the rulers of ancient Egypt, who their parents were, how they got to be ruler and anything else you would care to know about them.  I always keep an eye out for anything Ancient Egypt related for her.  

The box is full to the brim of crafty things.  She's also very arty and crafty.  I can't wait to give it to her.  She will be so excited. 

That's my lot for this week.  We were suppose to go to another car boot sale today but the Wee Man and the Big Man are off riding miniature steam trains instead. 

If you've enjoyed reading my Car Boot Loot post why not have a look at my other Car Boot Loot posts. Just click on the link,  Madison's Car Boot Loot

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Welsh Slate Tile Chalkboard

One of the places we visited on our Welsh holiday was Chirk Castle.  I'll write a more detailed post about our visit later but for now I want to show you the souvenir I bought from the very pricey farm shop on the castle grounds.

In amongst all the lush homemade cakes and goodies, organic meats and treats, plants and flowers was a huge pile of slate tiles.

I ignored all the goodies and went for the slate tiles.  At 50p each how could I resist!  The slate tiles were taken from the castle roof itself and were rather manky to say the least.

I thought they would make a great hanging chalkboard sign.  Unfortunatley they all seemed to have only one hole in them probably where they were nailed down.  But after a lot of rummaging around I found one solitary tile with two holes.  I know I could have asked the Big Man to drill an extra hole in but unfortunately I have a husband who does not really prioritise my crafty needs i.e. he would have chucked the tile into his "workshop" in the hopes that I would forget about it!

After much scrubbing of the tile, it came up lovely.  I couldn't find any twine in my stash so have had to make do with some ribbon (I hope it's strong enough).

The sign is now hanging in my porch.  It's all lumps and bumps and rather difficult to write or draw anything neatly on it.  But I think it all adds to it's charm. 

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The Perfect Railway Holiday (aka as the "Best Train Holiday EVER") - Part 1

Where do you go on holiday if your child is mad about trains?

The answer is simple, Wales.  Berwyn to be precise where for a reasonable amount of money you can hire the Station Master's house at Berwyn station.  It's situated right on the railway platform where regular steam and vintage diesel trains run.

Here's the link if you want to have a nose. Berwyn Station Masters House

I can't remember how I found the house but find it I did and I booked it there and then.

I can hand on heart say it is the BEST holiday home I have ever stayed in.  The view from the living room is stunning with sweeping views of the platform and the River Dee.

 
Berwyn station is a vintage lovers dream with lovely vintage touches here and there.

The house is beautifully furnished with everything you would ever need on holiday, including an iron.  Several of our past holiday homes were without one so I was especially thrilled to find an iron in a cupboard.  Simple things!  To welcome us on our arrival at the house there was a lovely bottle of wine and beautiful fresh flowers.  And of course the obligatory carton of fresh milk in the fridge for a cuppa. 

The Wee Man spent many happy hours playing on the platform.  The station is rather quiet with not many people getting on and off at Berwyn so he had the run of the platform and for one whole week he was the Station Master of Berwyn railway station, complete with train cap, whistle, flag and official badge.

As part of the holiday home hire we were given complementary tickets for the railway which allowed us to ride the trains as many times as we wanted during our stay.  This made the holiday very worthwhile as at £12 for an adult ticket and there being four adults we saved a lot of money.  The tickets were used almost on a daily basis.

The majority of the railway staff are volunteers and were exceptionally lovely which really made the Wee Man's holiday.  He was given a tour of the signal box at Llangollen station, allowed into the driver's cab of a steam train, helped with the coupling up of several trains and the highlight for him was a ride in the driver's cab of a vintage diesel train.

I think you need to be a parent to a train mad child to fully appreciate why all of the little extra treats were really special.  I have to add though that the little extras are not part of the holiday package, but merely the staff recognising how especially train obsessed the Wee Man is and indulging him in his obsession.  He really is obsessed!

More holiday posts to follow where the Wee Man's train obsession will become very apparent.

Car Boot Loot #16

Well I'm back from my hols in Wales and the Wee Man had a fantastic time.  More of our Welsh Adventure at a later date.  But today a quick - ish rundown of all the loot I have gathered since the last Car Boot Loot Post.

I was a bit disappointed that I didn't get to go to as many charity shops as I had hoped to on hols, but I still found some treasures during my travels.

First up a vintage Oxo cube tin.  All for a mere 10p.  The tin design was the winning design in the Oxo Graphic Design Award for schools and colleges in 1992.  It was designed by a very talented Martin Sanders age 19 and the theme shows that OXO can be enjoyed by everyone throughout the day.   (I write this as if I am knowledgable about all things Oxo tins, but really I'm only copying it from the tin!)

My favourite part of the design is the circus lion licking it's lips.  I wonder if he's eyeng up the cup of Oxo or the lion tamer.  

Next up some serious vintage china porn.

Four very gorgeous Johnson Brothers tea cups and saucers.  I love the bright Spring colours and the lovely floral detail. 

My first ever handled cake plate.  It's an Old Foley one bought from a charity shop in Porthmadog for a very reasonable £1.99.  The price sticker said £2.99 but the lady behind the till gave it a look and said it was only worth £1.99, so that's what I got it for.  And of course I put a little donation in the collection tin at the till.  

We found an attic sale in a church hall and amongst all the toot there was this fine example of a stately tea pot poking it's spout out of the chaos.  It's Royal Albert Inspiration and is currently looking lovely and serene on my dresser.  

And lastly a "little" something I picked up on our last day on hols.  Two lovely and very heavy red enamel pots.  The colour reminds me of "Keep Calm and Carry On" and I'm thinking of either stencilling the logo on to the pots or using a decal.  Not sure yet.  Bought for a meagre £1 each from a vintage steam train station platform.

That's my lot today.  More holiday adventures to follow.  I hope you all had a fabbo Easter holiday.  Not sure what your weather was like, Wales was wet!

If you've enjoyed gawking at my loot, why not gawk some more at my other Car Boot Loot posts here.

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Do I need to check my Home Insurance?

play date (noun) The occasion of a child having a friend come over to play at their house.

The play date is a fairly new concept and one that I associate with a particular episode of "Friends" where Ross takes his son on a play date with a stripper and her son, much to Rachel's annoyance.

In my day we were shoved out the house to roam the streets in a pack with our runny noses and scraped knees.  Our social lives weren't managed by our parents.  We made our "dates" in the school playground with questions of "Yoo goan oot t'play the night?".  Plans were made to meet at a street corner where many happy hours of skipping, bouncing balls and hula hooping were to be had.  Those were the days.

Now it takes at least an email and three texts before children can play with their friends outside of school.  Parents have to check their child's diaries to find a suitable slot between gymnastics club, tennis club and spanish lessons.

The Wee Man has been on a few play dates with class mates.  I always tag along of course, under the pretence of the Wee Man's allergies when in fact I just want to have a nose at other people's houses.  :0)  Not really. I'm sure  the parents expect and indeed demand that I tag along with the Wee Man for all his social engagements.  I'm pretty sure they don't relish the thought of having to deal with an allergic reaction and I for one wouldn't trust them.

It seems I have been rather selfish in the play date department though and have not invited any of the Wee Man's classmates to our house to play.  The Wee Man has asked several times and in fact one child practically followed us all the way home, all the while his mother trying in vain to reason with him. Only a well timed Milky Way bribe distracted him enough not to follow us onto our street.

So, this term I am going to invite at least one child over to play.  In preparation I have moved all the Wee Man's toys into his room to try and contain any ensuing mayhem. I told the Big Man my plan and a brief look of panic skipped across his face and he said two words to me and walked out the room.  "Home insurance".

Really?  Do I really need to go the the extreme of checking my home insurance?  What are the chances of a major disaster happening that needs me to hunt out our policy documents?

Note to Self:  Hide the Chalk Paint