Car Boot Bargains and Blooms

Happy Easter Monday everyone!

I hope everybody had a lovely Easter Sunday yesterday.

Thankyou for all the lovely comments on my last post.

Poppy loved her bag, and put it to use straightaway. She rushed round the garden with her walker, bag attached, little book in it already, and joined in the easter egg hunt in the garden with her older sister Daisy.

No photos I'm afraid as I forgot to take the camera.

We took Logan to the Boot Fair yesterday, and he had a great time sniffing and greeting all the other dogs. We missed the best of the stalls as we got there late, and many sellers were starting to pack up.

But I still managed a pretty good haul for £10

(not including the minimal entry fee and ice cream for Bella!)

Traditional stoneware jar - I love these and already have two, but for 50p...... couldn't leave it behind now could I?

A beautiful vintage flask - now I have seen these in the pages of magazines such as Country livng and Country Homes and Interiors, and have seen new reproduction ones too, so I was thrilled to find this for £1.

It is such a beautiful pale turquoise, with a lovely pink blossom design

Something a little more prosaic! Have often looked at buying these but have been put off by the price, usually £8 or £9, and doubts as to whether they actually are any good, but for £2 a pair I thought I'd give them a whirl!

A beautiful pale blue and white Spode dinner plate - not that old but still very pretty

And a lovely little tea plate with a blue and red folk design, reminiscent of spongeware

I love this, and it looked old from the front but on turning it over it is a Johnson Bros design, Hearts and Flowers, and is dish washer proof! So no antique here!

Two plates for £5

A couple of books for £1

A brilliant design source book full of stencil designs from the 1918 and 1920 catalogues of a Chicago firm.

And this wonderful annual from the late 50s, aimed at 9 to 14 year olds, full of interesting facts and exciting stories as those lovely books always were - my daughter has already been enjoying it even though she is a thoroughly cool 16 year old - she always loves old books and has read many novels that her Grandma gave her from when she was a girl (gems like Jam Tomorrow, and numerous school days books), and my own books too ( such as those wonderful Mary Stewart adventures set abroad).

Wonderful illustrations!

And a little Prinknash jug for 50p - I love Prinknash studio pottery, set up in 1942 by monks at Prinknash Abbey when they discovered clay on their land, and I particularly love the simple shapes of the black lustre, deep grey shimmery jugs - I already have one the same design but made at a different time as the backstamp is different.

Sorry about the dust and marks - they both needed a wipe down before photos, but I was too impatient!

So that was my haul for the day - we all enjoy going, even my husband does these days,  ever since I picked up a pair of Victorian oil paintings last summer for £12, signed by a minor but listed RA artist.

We found a similar pair by the same artist sold at Christies a few years ago for £900............

So now he can't wait to get me there instead of the usual grumbling and moaning we used to put up with!

Suddenly lots of new colour in the garden with rhododendrons and azaleas coming out

The lovely red acer out the front has its new leaves

Columbines flowering everywhere, with dandelion fluff caught up amongst the blooms

Incidentally, the mass of floating fluff is seeding all over the soil in the little pots of new plants I have hardening off outside - little green seedlings all ready!!!!

So goodness knows how many dandelions we will get in the lawn as the grass is covered with fluff  like unmelted sleet - we will have to mow again to disturb it to try and get rid of it I think.

Have a sunny Easter Monday!

Edited to add: Royal Wedding Giveaway Cushion

If you haven't already left a comment and you want to enter the giveaway, don't forget to leave a comment on the Royal Wedding Giveaway post of the 4th March by Thursday 28 th April,12 midnight, for the Giveaway on the day of the Royal Wedding, the 29th April.