House Sitting

I have left our lovely corner of Cornwall this week to house sit for my brother and his wife in equally as lovely North Devon. They live in a gorgeous old farmhouse with lots of land around it where they have sheep, they used to have some cattle as well but lost them to T.B. I am here to look after the Red Setter in the picture, Boo, and the very spoilt cat Tom who adopted them some years ago and has them totally wrapped around his little claw! I also go and give the sheep some treats in the morning and am trying to outwit them so as not to get mugged as I come through the gate, some are very tame and nearly trample you as soon as they see the bucket. Chickens need feeding too but it doesnt take long to get round them all with Boo taking herself off for a run round the fields finishing every day with a dip in the water trough, then the day is my own and with only me to think about I am enjoying a relaxing time.

I can sit outside and enjoy the garden. Caroline is a true gardener and the garden round the house is a joy.
She has a little greenhouse in its own little vegetable plot with topiary cats guarding the gate all beautifully laid out.
Its a shame I dont eat lettuce as there are lots of lovely ones ready to eat, but I do enjoy the strawberries

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There are even morning visitors, I think they are eyeing up the juicy specimens growing down near the fence.

But as you can imagine I have not been able to stop myself getting out and about seeing if there are any vintage treasures around! And of course there are! On Sunday I found a great boot sale near Barnstaple, on Monday I found a treasure trove on the way home from Liz's house (see below) and yesterday went to Bideford and found a lot more, all that is worrying me now is how its all going to fit in the car as it was full when I got here as I bought lots of projects to get on with.

As I said I went to see Liz The Washerwoman on Monday to see all her dolls houses and I had a wonderful day, thankyou so much Liz it was lovely to see you and all your treasures and have a good chat.

I would have loved to have taken this home with me.

In a smallish room off the lounge Liz has managed to cram a large number of wonderful dolls houses which are all furnished with period bits and bobs. I can see how it has taken her around twenty years to amass all this stuff, true dedication! But it is all, oh so wonderful, I was in miniature heaven! I took loads of photos but am having the devil of a job uploading today so this is a much shorter post than I intended.

Just look at the little girl in this bedroom, such a sweet little outfit and the little lamb on wheels....

And (sigh) this little chap nearly made it into my pocket, but not quite!

I will show you some of my vintage finds next time as no more photos will load on this post.