a much wanted kitchen table.............

well this is the tale of the much wanted kitchen table............for some years now (6 yrs to be exact, and how fast they seem to have passed !!) i have wanted an old farmhouse kitchen table.. i have looked and seen and have been rather shocked at how much they seem to go for.......me being an old hat vintage buyer ( since the late 80's when vintage cost pennies) i begrudge paying too much for an item when i know that i can get it cheaper if you look hard enough........i kept holding out for a reasonable priced one....yes i had looked on ebay many times over the years and yes there have been bargains, but they have been many miles away and would have cost a small fortune in petrol.................

so little did i know on a warm sunny sunday morning....a few fields away from my house sat my new table.......yes.....a carboot sale....i try and get to them has often has possible, but it takes some effort on our part, you see me and man are night owls by nature, so early mornings are usually a no-no for us.......yes in the week the daily grind forces us up........but the weekends are for us...we can potter about at our own pace....so why oh why are carboots so early in the morning ???? an afternoon one would be excellent for us....but alas there are no such things ........

anyway getting back to the table.......after 1/2 hr of pushing and shoving, not by me might i add, and lots of lovely little buys...... i spotted it dirty, worn out and covered in old tools, i didn't want to appear too eager... i asked the man.... is this table for sale ? his reply...what this old thing.....yes i sweetly replied.....well i only chucked it in the back off the van to display these tools on it, but i guess i can sell it, if you want it..........not wanting to sound too crazy, i calmly said how much do you want for it ? gimme a fiver he said and it's yours..........and this is what i love about vintage buying........ a bargain !!
after getting the above table home............it was sanded by me for 5 hours....yes a real labour of love....and a very good workout !!!! we then went to homebase and got another bargain.... i originally wanted 'dix blue' eggshell by craig and rose....but i picked up an 1/2 price laura ashley eggshell paint in 'eau de nil', which i much prefered......bargains all around............

so that is the tale of my much wanted table................and the moral of this story is 'never give up the hunt'

SALE...........

pink melrose cushion £5-

vintage fabric cushion £4-

blue melrose cushion £5-

just a quick post today.............i have decided to have a good clearout of old stock.......i have so much i haven't put onto my website...etsy or folksy.....items that i have made and taken along to craft fairs etc.......that have stayed bagged up for sometime now.....so out it comes......and on sale it goes...so grab a bargain and keep checking my folksy page for bargains this week..........
www.folksy.com/shops/blossomdesign

blue melrose and aqua corduroy cushion £5-

tomorrow i will return with tales of a farmhouse kitchen table...............and more sale goods !!

(please note.............whilst writing this post the pink and blue melrose cushion have sold)

a normal day resumes...........................

peace at last...................the children are back at school and college.....and a more normal routine can be put back into practice.......don't get me wrong i love the school holidays and i love having the children at home....we get up to some great adventures.......but i also love getting back into the swing of things.......

i have done so much over these 7 weeks........vintage buying.........camping.......lots of days out......harvesting our vegetables........so much fun.......this i will be enlighting you with over the next few days !!

today i shall start with our little harvest....seriously this was very exiting for us......from the little patch we have...it really seemed like an abundance of veges and they all tasted so good.........

please note........new vintage tablecloth and new plate..... i buy alot of vintage ware but don't always get round to sharing any images of my purchases on here.......i must make more of an effort........really... i hear you say !!!!!

on a final note...this is a proud mother moment....a big whoop for my eldest who got an.......A* two A's and a B in her AS levels.........

folksy........etsy ???

i have had a folksy shop for a little while now and haven't really done alot with it......recently i have found that etsy is a little over-run with sellers, and sales are not great....so i have been loading up my folksy shop today.....sorted out a banner for it......and away i go.....i will be adding new items to it all week..... so if you fancy a peek go to.......

www.folksy.com/shops/blossomdesign

let me know what you think........ i will also be giving my website an overhaul later this week......all work and no play.......

mad dogs and englishmen......................

last week was too hot to do much at all..........i don't like to moan but heatwaves are not for me !!
whilst relaxing in the garden........seriously that is all i could manage.....it gave me lots of thinking time......mainly creative thinking.......and i have some new crafty work in the pipeline....very exiting...amongst the relaxing and creative brainwaves i did manage to craft three new cushions for the sofa........all made from my stash of vintage fabrics, i love the 50's orange roses fabric, it was a great find 7 metres in total from a local charity shop...........
although.... without moaning though heatwaves are great for getting your washing dry (uk readers will understand this exitement!) i washed almost everything in the house......just because....i could !!
and i love to see clean washing hanging in the garden.....it's so pretty............................................

mary mary quite contrary how does your garden grow.....part 2.....

today the village that i live in had its annual open gardens.......being an extremely nosy person coupled with my new love of gardening.......(yes i think i am growing up.....well it's about time as i am 39) it was ideal for me....so.....armed with youngest child my friend and her youngest child we set off....... 4 hrs we walked around our village and a lovely time we had......it is so fascinating to me as i often walk past some houses (whilst walking matilda) and fall in love with them and their front gardens and always wonder what their gardens look like at the back....well i was so exited when 2 of them had their gardens open......and let me tell you they were just as magical has i expected them to be...if not better.......i took lots of pics with the kind permission of the owners, but i won't post any here...as that is probably invading their privacy.....but i have taken away some fantastic ideas and lots of advice......in fact me and my friend are thinking of joining the gardening club !!! wonders never cease........

we rounded off our afternoon at the local band hall (which is where they hold the gardening club)

we had tea and cake.......very much needed !! it is a fantastic old little hall which is victorian built and has not been touched since the 1950's seriously i was in heaven..... this i have taken pics off for your perusal.......i wish i had taken one of the outside.....in fact i will and i will post the pics.....

and lastly i will leave you wth some more up-to-date pics of our little veggie patch..............

mary mary quite contrary how does your garden grow

again i have fallen off the 'i will try and blog on a more regular basis' ladder.........but eh.......i think i'm the only one who is beating myself up over this......we are our own greatest critics........ so i have taken the attitude that i will blog as and when i have time (and time.... i do so wish i had more of that ).....

but on to more exiting things.........the garden......these pics were taken a few weeks ago now with the intention to share them with you then, but eh.... better late than never !

it is so exiting growing your own vegetables......i feel like neil from the young ones !! does anyone else remember that ?.....i plant the seeds, nature grows the seeds, then we eat the seeds.......so funny, a tv must for 80's teenagers......getting back to the growing of veg. ( i do ramble on, go of subject and can't remember what i was talking about !) every morning i take a walk down the garden, matilda hot on my heels... tending to our little patch, we are growing...potatoes( which are in flower right now , and getting extremely out of hand )...carrots...parsnips...brussels....cabbages...peas...green beans....onions....beetroot...lettuces...and in our little makeshift green house we have tomato plants and lots of chilli plants (24 in total !!?? yes i said alot ) we also have gooseberry bushes which were kindly donated to me by my aunt, a blackberry bush....and 9 raspberry bushes... well raspberry canes..... which surprisingly all have some raspberries growing on them !!.....strawberry plants...garlic and last but not least pumpkins which have been lovingly reared by our youngest ( whom might i add has flown the nest this week...she is on a school pgl holiday... take care our little one, your presence is greatly missed ) and to add to that list our little herb garden.... which has been going for a few years now..... to add to this 'good life' all we need now are chickens.... which have been on the back burner for sometime now... although we are needing a house move and will probably wait till then.......

looking at what i have wrote i feel rather proud of what we have acheived in the last few months....and hats off to my man who has contructed the raised beds and lovinly tends to the veges every night !!

p.s. looking back at these pics..... i really must take some more upto date ones, as they have grown so much........

and finally i couldn't post without a pic of miss matilda...........