The Big Man has FINALLY Learned

The Big Man and I have known each other for a fair few years and finally after all those years he has come up trumps with his present buying.

Lookey what he gave me yesterday.

It's a gorgeous Johnson Bros Rose Dawn Coffee Pot.  It's in perfect condition and will be proudly displayed on my dresser.

Not only is it gorgeous and perfect, it was also bought from a charity shop.  Double points for the Big Man.

The Big Man done good!

Car Boot Loot #11

It's all gone "Pete Tong".  It's pee'ng it down outside and I had planned on taking pics of all my goodies today.  Tut!  No worries, I have some photos of goodies I haven't shown yet.  Today's Car Boot Loot will not have any vintage china at all.  Shock!  Instead I've got some gorgeous vintage cutlery to show you all.  Woo Hoo!

First up some silverware I bought at a car boot a couple of weeks ago.  Actually it was the day the Big Man's parents left and to celebrate we headed for the local car boot.  :0)

Hidden amongst some toot on a table, I spied this cute little silver plate sugar tongs.  I did my usual humming and hawwing and the lovely lady stall holder gave it me for a meagre 50p.

As I paid for it I also spied another very tarnished piece of silverware and as I picked it up the lady offered it to me for 50p also.  50p for a silver plated cake slice!  Of course I'll take it.  A lot of elbow grease and silver polish has brought it up a treat.  I love the detail on it.

Whilst the Big Man's parents were here we headed into London, to Greenwich.  The Wee Man "drove" us there on the DLR and whilst the boys headed for the Maritime museum, the girls headed to the flea market.  I must admit I had a lovely time with my Mum in Law.  We cooed at some lovelies and discussed some family politics i.e. gossiped.  Whilst at a stall I picked up a strange looking spoon to ask the stall holder what it was. 

Before I could stop her, my Mum in Law did her usual and whipped out her purse and paid the £5 the stall holder was asking for it.  I bit my tongue as I knew my Mum in Law had no use for such a thing and was merely buying it for the sake of buying it.  I knew this gorgeous vintage lovely would spend it's life in a plastic bag at the back of a drawer.  I knew that given some time I could have haggled the price down, but we were having such a lovely time I didn't want to spoil it with my moaning about her shopping habits.  

I'm really glad I did bite my tongue, cos my Mum in Law bought it as a present for me.   

I love the detail on it's handle.

Can you guess what the spoon is used for?   I'll tell you at the end of the post.  Go on, start guessing.  

Next up is a mystery "spoon" that I picked up ages ago at a car boot.  

It's kinda like a spoon shovel thingie.  I have not a clue what it's used for.  Does anyone have any ideas?  

And lastly another present my Mum in Law gave me.  She had a good rummage around in her overflowing cupboards before she came down and brought me loads of goodies.  You'll have to wait a bit longer to see them all but until then, here's a sneaky peek. 

A beautiful set of vintage sliver plated tea spoons.  She was given them over twenty years ago by an old lady she had befriended.  The spoons were the lady's grandmother's, so you can imagine how old they are.  My Mum in Law has a tendency to "pick" up little old ladies who seem to be drawn to her.  She spends every Tuesday afternoon with an old lady who lives round the corner and even though I have never met this lady, she always, always gives the Wee Man cards for his birthday, Christmas and Easter and always with a £10 note in it. A  couple of years ago the lady's brother started sending cards to the Wee Man with money in it too!  Again I have never met or spoken with this man or this lady.  It really is lovely and the Wee Man always, always sends a  handmade thank you card to both of them.

And the last picture...

It wouldn't be the same without some vintage china, would it?  Doesn't the spoon look pretty with the china?  

There will be more details of the vintage china when I get some proper photos taken.  

Oh and the spoon with the holes in it?  It's a spoon used to put sugar on strawberries.  Very ingenious don't you think?

This post is shared on Magpie Monday Flea Market Finds Thrifty Treasures Nifty Thrifty Tuesday, Twice Owned Tuesday Time Travel Thursday Show and Tell Friday  Thrifty Things Friday 

Car Boot Loot #10

It's been a couple of weeks hasn't it?  I've lost all sense of time.  Hopefully now the Wee Man has started school I can give my blog some dedicated time.  The house will most probably suffer but hey ho, I am a Lady of Leeeeeee-jure now.

This morning I've been playing catch up with taking photos of the lovelies.  I've had to take a rain break so I'll post the photos I have taken,  more to follow at a later date.

First up, something I paid a lot more than I usually pay for things but a real bargain none the less.  A complete Queen Anne tea set with six teacups, six saucers, six tea plates and a cake plate.  Nineteen pieces in all for £7.50.  That's 40p for each piece!  It's so lovely and in mint condition.

Next up found amongst a tarpaulin littered with old rusty tools and general garage crud was this china sandwich plate.

According to the seller it's Ming Dynasty!  But according to the mark it's Minton.  After some haggling down from the thousands of pounds the seller wanted for his very rare Chinese antiquity!  I got it for a very respectable 75p.  Some quick ebay research told me I had in fact bagged myself a serious bargain.  This exact piece is being sold for between £10 to £25.99.  I'm not sure what it's really worth but I do know it's worth a lot more than 75p.

Next up another piece by Minton.  I know it's a jug, but I'm not really sure what kind of jug as it's got a saucer with it.  Does that mean it's for something other than milk or cream?  Maybe it's just a posh jug?  A little bit extra added to justify an extortionate price?  Not that the price I paid was extortionate.  One shiny British pound was paid for this beauty.

And the last item I got to photograph before the rain started was this lonesome little teacup.  I cannot for the life of me remember where or when I bought it.  I do know it was from a carboot sale this past fortnight.  But I have no recollection whatsoever of the actual purchase or the price paid.  I'm thinking it was a bargain price because I only buy things at bargain prices.  But I just can't remember.

Is this a sign of old age or maybe it's because I've bought so much stuff it's all becoming a blur. Yikes!  Another sign of hoarding?!

Do you ever get home from a carboot sale/ charity shop/ flea market (etc) and forget how much you paid for things?

This post is shared on Whatever Goes Wednesday Time Travel Thursday, Vintage Thingie Thursday Thrifty Thursday, Show and Tell Friday Thrifty Things Friday

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!  

This post is shared on Flea Market Finds  Treasure Hunt Finds Magpie Monday  Thrift Share Monday  Nifty Thrift Tuesday , Show and Share Sunday  Whatever Wednesday  Treasure Hunt Thursday

Tat or Treasure?

On Sunday I saw a little something at the car boot sale which made me think of a fellow blogger.  Her laptop is a bit poorly and has gone to the laptop hospital for some TLC which means I can blog about it without her knowing.  Ha!

The lovely blogger is Scarlett from Scarlett Loves Elvis.  Scarlett, if you've snagged a PC from somewhere and you're reading this, "Stop Reading!"

Can you guess what it is?

How about another clue?

Got it?  Look at the jawline, the sideburns and the squashed nose(!)  OK, another clue then....

You must have guessed by now?  Big hair, big glasses?

OK, this one looks like Prince William in camouflage, so one last clue...

It's the King himself, immortalised in a wooden Russian Doll!  Did you guess right?

It's so tacky it's chic!  I love it!  The real question is will Scarlett see her little pressie as Tat or Treasure?  What do you think?

This post is shared on Treasure Hunt Thursday, Would you Buy it Wednesday Whatever Wednesday

...a Tea Cup Treasure Tuesday #2

Since I wrote my first Tea Cup Treasure Tuesday post I've been wracking my brains trying to think of another one.  Once I thought of one, another came along, then another.  I realised that I do have lots of little treasures stashed away as I am sure everyone else has.

It really has been a revelation.  I have kept so many little things that have become long forgotten at the back of a drawer or in a cupboard.  Actually having a purpose to seek them out has reminded me of lots of good memories and given my little treasures a new lease of life.

This week's TTT is a very special one that is dear to me.

It's a vintage pill box with a beautiful pink rose lid.  It's metallic and I suspect silver plate.  The box is rather ornate with "carvings" on the sides and inside of the lid.

Many years ago, before we were married the Big Man's dear aunt passed away.  She was a lovely lady who never had any children so treated the Big Man as her own son.  She was a second mother to him so it was a very difficult time for all the family.

We'd traveled back to Glasgow for the funeral and to support the Big Man's family (my now in-laws). When we were clearing her little flat we were allowed to take anything that we wanted.  This little pill box was one of the things I asked for.  It was rather pretty but I'm afraid to say I didn't have much taste back then.  I only wanted the pill box as a functional storage unit for the real treasure that I had found.


Can you guess what it is?

Whilst clearing her bedroom and sorting things for the charity shop, I made sure I checked pockets etc.  And tucked away inside an empty glasses case I found my treasure.  It's a little lock of curly ginger hair, the Big Man's baby hair.

My face lit up when I found it and the awfulness of the task was no more as I showed it to the Big Man's parents and begged to keep it.  My mother in law has since commented that, that was the moment she and her husband knew I was the right girl for their son.  My sheer delight at finding their baby boy's hair was enough to convince them of my good intentions.

I've since added to the treasure.  If you look very closely you can see one white hair.  That is my first ever white hair!  Why did I keep my first white hair?!  I have no idea.

This post is shared on "Teacup Treasure Tuesday", Show and Tell Friday

...a Teacup Treasure Tuesday #1

Over on Not Quite Perfect, Esther has started a new linky party called Teacup Treasure Tuesday.  The rule is simple, show treasures you have that are no bigger than the size of a teacup.  Esther has shown a fair few already, my favourite being a hippo shaped piece of wood she found when she was a little girl.

So my first teacup treasure is this....

The inside of a Kinder Surprise egg with three little baby teeth in it.  The baby teeth belong to my very big 31 year old brother.  When we were kids my parents were pretty much "Boring" and never did Tooth Fairies or Easter Bunnies or indeed Santa Claus.  So when my little baby brother lost his teeth I wanted to be the Mum that I wanted our Mum to be and told him the story of the tooth fairy.

He'd hide his teeth under his pillow and when he was asleep I'd swap it for some money.  Money was scarce in those days and I remember feeling like a millionaire when I had saved £5 in my little purse.  I remember being rather generous and giving him between 50p and a pound for each tooth.  This was back in the early 80s, so mega bucks in those days.

I've kept them all these years with the intention of giving it to my future sister in law.  I planned to present her with it and guage her love for him by her reaction to them.  All very contrived and devious for a child to think up don't you think?   Well my brother is now married and expecting his first child in August, so maybe it's time for me to part with this treasure and pass it on to it's rightful owner.