What time do you go to the dentist? Tooth-hurty!

I have felt like this little fellow this week. On Saturday night while brushing my teeth before bed, a great lump of one of my wisdom teeth fell out! A bit of a shock as you can imagine. So after an uncomfortable Sunday I went with dread to see a dentist on Monday morning, he was surprised I was not in agony as the tooth was very decayed inside and said it had to come out. Now I am not the bravest person at the dentist in fact I have not been for 15 years so this was my worst nightmare come true. I made an appointment for the following morning but the dentist called later to say he had a cancellation would I like to come in at 2.30 (!) he thought I would rather get it over with and not have a sleepless night (he is a very nice man). After reassuring me it would not take long, "Just a flick of the wrist" I spent a horrific hour in the chair while he attempted every means possible to extract the reluctant tooth from my jaw bone! He said he only had two or three like mine in a year where the tooth is SO attached to the bone, just my blooming luck! All sorts of different instruments were tried by the end I would not have cared if he had whacked it out with a shovel, I just wanted it out. With one last horrible crunch the nurse assured me it was out and started to mop the blood off my face, on leaving the two people in the waiting room looked a bit glum, possibly my squeals and groans had got to them. I felt pretty dreadful the rest of the day and cannot chew very well yet still, but at least it should be OK for the V&H fair, I was dreading having a swollen face and not able to talk very well. I have to go back next week for an old filling to be replaced and a couple of tiny ones but other wise I got off lightly, I dont think I will leave it 15 years again!

On to nicer things, this sweet little pram is coming with me to the fair. I could not resist taking a photo of Midgie trying it out for me. I wheeled her about the kitchen in it but I dont think she liked it very much, its just right for a teddy or a dolly. The lady I bought it off had it when she was a little girl in the 50s. I have lots of other vintage treasures and some little bits I have made to tempt you so do come and say Hi and have a look. See lots of you on Saturday, have safe journeys. XX

Memories are made of this.

Last week the boot sale season down here got into full swing and I was out scouring the tables for possible hidden treasures. So far the pickings have been kind of slim, if I had a small child though it would not be short of clothes and toys! But in a field full of disappointments I did come across these two little boxes of someone's treasured memories. The lady I bought it off did not know who they belonged to which makes them all the more poignant.
The first box was packed tight with little wedding cards, sent out to friends and guests with the piece of cake. The earliest one is dated 1919 and they span the years to the 1950s. All have the names of the bride and groom and where they were married and the date. I can only assume the collector either went to a LOT of weddings or was given them by friends, but they kept them all those years. They are beautiful little things, all celebrating love and the start of I hope of many happy lives together.
I did not even bother to look through the other box, leaving it till I got home. When I opened it I found little wax flowers on top of other small decorations from different wedding cakes and at the bottom of the box even a tiny amount of confetti all I am sure memories of happy days and dear friends and relatives, I can imagine her (I can only think its a woman who collected these) stooping down as the happy couple passed by and scooping up a few bits of coloured paper, slipping them into her purse and storing them away later, capturing that little moment to be looked back on with joy from time to time.

But the best and most charming items in the box are these gorgeous little silver paper shoes, they are only around a couple of inches long and oh so delicate. I wonder how long it has been since the boxes where opened and looked through, maybe I am the first since the owner tucked them away for them to then end up in a big box full of anonymous stuff at an auction years later. I am so pleased I paid that couple of pounds on the off chance, it would have been so sad for these to end up in the bin, which is what the lady selling them was going to do with them if she didnt get rid of them. All I can say is Lucky Me!

Country Living Photo Shoot

I have had a very exciting time since I last blogged. We had the Homespun Fair on Monday, we all had a great day and it was so nice to see everyone again. This time I did manage to get around and have a bit of a chat with most of you and I also had the lovely surprise of Michele from Cowboys and Custard turning up to support the fair even though she could not take part, very much appreciated Michele and Claire from Daisy Darling came by too. You can have a look at the goings on over on the Homespun Blog.

Well I did not even have time to recover from the fair before on Wednesday we had a photographer from Country Living come and take the photos for a forthcoming article in the magazine. It is to be about Me, Christine, Gertie and Angela and how we make things out of vintage fabrics and stuff and meet and have tea so we can chat about work and swap some bits with each other. It was all good fun and Brent, the photographer was lovely and made it all so relaxed and natural we sort of forgot he was there a lot of the time.

Here we are having tea in our kitchen, we always have plenty of cake to choose from.

We were not allowed to eat straight away and had to wait while Brent set up some shots, the smell of chocolate cake wafting around the room was tantalising to say the least! Once replete, no I should say stuffed, with tea and cake Brent set up outside for some shots of us lot together.

Lovely Brent setting up on the front lawn.

While we took a break in the sun.

All together tying to look like it was a cold winter day when it was really warm and we were all glowing in our coats! Boris and Midge make an appearance.

Then back into my new studio for some close up shots of our work. A week ago this was an empty room, I have been backwards and forwards from the house moving stuff over there. I must have walked miles with boxes and baskets and there is still stuff to move. I am very happy with how it is shaping up its a lovely big space and very tranquil and calm. I cannot wait to get on with some work out there. I have only gone and sat out there gloating so far, I hope to finish off a painting next week.
We all had loads of stuff on the table which made a colourful display, loads of textiles, lovely bags of Gerties, hand stitched quilts by Angela, fabrics and handmade jewellery by Christine and some textiles by me. We sat around working, chatting and laughing mainly about men, Brent snapped away and has promised not to publish any of our conversation! It was a great day full of vintagy things, laughter and above all warm friendships which we hope will come across in the article. Look out for it in January or February edition 2011.