Monkey business!

This cheeky monkey was bought from my lighthouse man! (See other blogs). He's pretty old I think n is beautifully jointed with beady glass eyes. I am tempted to hold onto him! Talking about monkeys, I've recently been clearing out our loft which has thirty years worth of memories up there. There were hundreds of cuddly toys, some very special and some bought randomly by my children at school fairs, charity shops etc for twenty pence or so. I have found these characters from the monkey family of various sizes, colours and characters (see below). All this time, there has been a veritable zoo above my head. Some of them are heading to new homes.There must have been a secret loft world which I have now disturbed. Baby clothes, toys, games, tins, as well as pure rubbish, if rubbish can ever be pure! I don't think so, considering how dirty I am when I come out after a session cleaning up there! It's amazing how much we keep. Often the things we keep are really beautiful items worth holding onto for future generations. My daughter's baby has inherited some of her mummy's clothes, even her christening robe as well as lots of great toys from the eighties! I have photos of both of them wearing the same things thirty years apart! However, there are things which I think, why on earth have they been kept!! An old pair of trainers?? Two old pillows? A broken football game where the spinning teams have no pitch to play on as it was used as a stepladder until someone's foot went through it! Why you may be wondering, did I hold onto these things? Well, your guess is as good as mine. One positive thing though is that my and other people's hoarding instincts protects items which will become our collectables of the future. When I sell a lovely old tin, I wonder where it came from and why someone held onto for all these years so that I could find it and then pass it on to someone else. I do often wonder in this minimalist age, where will all the collectables of the future come from? So at least when I'm despairing as I trail through my loft treasures/trash, I can feel some justification in holding onto things so that they may one day be someone else's treasure bought from a stall just like mine. I think part of the problem is that it's hard to treasure something which is so common at the moment such as all the big Roses, Quality Street tins which abound around Christmas time. Even I have thrown quite a few of these out after using many of them to store pens, nails, candles etc and exhaustingly ran out of ideas for any more uses. But perhaps in forty/fifty years time when they're a bit bashed and maybe tin isn't used anymore as a material, those very same tins will be fawned over by young people. You just never know!!!

They're escaping from the attic!!!



Woof woof!

Last Saturday was another lovely day at North London Vintage Market. We even had a dog show with lots of funny characters, dogs n their owners included! The proceeds went to North London Hospice. It was great fun. We took our dog along too. She even had a bath to prepare for the big day. Alas she didn't win any of the categories which were: best dressed dog and owner, dog with attitude and rough diamond. As a Border Collie, she definitely has a category of her own for intelligence. It was really great to see so many people with their pets out in the sunshine. That's the last market until September but of course I'm at Spitalfields as usual every Thursday. I've got some lovely T G Green Cornish Ware mugs together with a mixture of blue n white egg cups. I've still got a couple of Chef-ware jugs. Along with my haul of china from the lighthouse, I also have some great blankets, patchwork, knitted and crocheted, in beautiful jewel-like colours. I think now that the sun has finally put his hat on, I may keep them in storage until the autumn. Look out for them here later in the year. Meanwhile the enamel fest continues with lovely clean lines of blue and white plates, mugs, bowls n pie dishes. These are great for picnics, camping and some for going straight  into the oven for a great apple pie!

I've got the blues, greens n budgerigars!

green and cream colourways and budgie tin

Pie dishes and loads of utensils

As I mentioned in my last blog, I will be at North London Vintage Market on 1st June 10-5. This will be the last one until September so do try to come along. As usual there will be a real mixture of vintage stalls including clothes, jewellery, textiles and  home ware, as well as delicious food and refreshments. This time there will be some stalls outside and hopefully a dog show with proceeds going to North London Hospice. It should be a really good day. For more details see: northlondonvintagemarket.blogspot.com   I'll be there with some of my recent finds including Cornish ware dinner plates, pudding dishes and side plates as well as jugs. I also have what is sometimes known as the poor man's Cornish ware, made by Chef Ware. I think Woolworth's stocked it but don't let that put you off as the famous design, 'Homemaker', was also sold by them! These are also blue and white striped and are just as handsome in a different way. There are lots more utensils in an array of colours including yellow, orange and the classic cream and green. Talking of green and cream, these are one of my favourite colour-ways in enamel and  tin items. They remind me of creamy white blossoms in the garden surrounded by fresh foliage. A classic combination. The photos I'm showing are examples of  these colours together with my one remaining budgie tin. The writing on top says, 'bird sand' and the one I've already sold said, 'bird seed'. It's amazing that such mundane ingredients were sold in such attractive tins! All of these items will be at Spitalfields Thursday market until then so some of them may be snapped up but there will always be more to follow!



Beautiful blue enamel

It's been too long!!

 Hi anyone who is still reading this. I promised I'd write more regularly but life gets in the way. I've been doing Spitalfields  as usual, buying and selling and generally enjoying myself. It's a great place not only to work but just to be there. Since last writing, I've been up to Scotland where it was snowing all around us but not actually where we were staying! Strange! I managed to collect a few goodies to sell and some of them have already gone. T.G. Green pots and a nice mixing bowl went very quickly. I bought three lovely tobacco tins from another stall holder. They were such amazing colours. One was bright yellow and blue, one brown and yellow called 'Brown Beauty' and the one I have left is called 'Nosegay'. It's a fab combination of bright green and red. They are big enough to store items other than tobacco in! The other day I bought a wonderful collection of items from a man who used to own a lighthouse in Ireland. All the items came from there. It's a really interesting collection including TG Green plates, bowls, cups and jugs. This blue and white cornishware is so fresh and reminiscent of the coast, always popular and sells quickly.Also included in my haul are a pile of patchwork quilts together with Figgjo Flint Norwegian plates decorated with prawns, mussels and vegetables in such beautiful realistic colours that they seem to be coming alive on the plates! Gradually these things will be appearing on my stall at Spitalfields and also at Crouch End Vintage Market on June 1st. This will be the last market until September so do come along. More news about it nearer the time. I missed the last one as I was away in lovely Whitstable for my birthday treat. We had amazing weather and spent lots of time on the beach eating fish n chips n sipping champagne!! It's such a lovely town with lots of interesting shops. We also visited Deal which has a lovely row of shops in what I think is the old part of the town and includes a great furniture shop with a cute cafe at the back. I was very spoilt!

Cornishware plates and cool blue enamel

I've been meaning to post this photo for a while. A young woman came to my stall and bought this basket. She promptly popped her little pooch inside and walked off very happy with her new doggie carrier/basket!


A happy pooch in his new basket!

To split or not to split!

Curious objects
I had a strange request at the weekend. Someone asked me if they could buy one butter pat. If you're not sure why this sounds a bit odd, then perhaps you're not sure what butter pats are. They are small wooden paddles with ridges on one side and they were traditionally used to create blocks of butter when making hand made butter. The butter was slapped around to make rectangular shapes. They are very handsome and are nicely tactile. To split a pair is like splitting a cruet set. I had to explain to the customer why I was reluctant to do so and then explain what they were and how they were used. Sometimes I know what it feels like to work in a museum. I'm often asked about items on the stall and I do my best to explain what the item is and what it is used for (of course that's assuming I know what it's for myself!). Sometimes I buy items which I really don't have a clue about. I must photograph some of them and maybe someone reading this can tell me! Often I have items which are so beautifully crafted and so detailed and beautifully made even though they are created for such a small mundane kitchen job. For example, a bean slicer, a mincer or a nutmeg grater. I'll look for some of these objects in my stock and put photos on here. Then you can see for yourself.

North London vintage market
North London vintage market was very good as always. It's lovely to see regular customers as well as new ones. I sold a good lot of items. I always enjoy it there. The atmosphere is very reminiscent of a village hall. We had a new person serving the food and refreshments. The food was fantastic. Samosas were so tasty and the cakes so dreamy. Well done!

Facebook and milk bottles!

Hi anyone who reads this. I've been really remiss recently at attending to this blogspot. You may be just reading this after me being highlighted on Old Spitalfields Market Facebook page. If so, welcome! This is the kickstart I need to get me going again. I don't have any excuses except that I was really ill a few weeks back with the dreaded flu bug but that's no excuse for the rest of the time! Thank you to Nana who works for Old Spitalfields Market who recently highlighted my stall at Spitalfields. Cheers! Also thanks to Mike, manager of the market on Thursdays who has also featured me on his Facebook page (Old Spitalfields antique and vintage flea market). You can look at my stall on both these pages.

It's been hard work at the market in recent times as it's been so cold. We still get the intrepid regulars to whom we are always grateful to for their support even in such dogged circumstances as of recent weeks. I am still doing the regular monthly market at Crouch End. Info can be found on northlondonvintagemarket Facebook page and on Twitter. The next one is on 2nd March 10-4. There will be lots of exciting things there, vintage clothes, textiles, homeware and a great cafe for goodies.

These are some of the items I will be selling there.The teaset is by Kathy Winkle who produced china in the fifties. The marbled coffee pot is French. The large wide necked milk bottles make great vases for a few flowers, minimilist but effective. I even have some tiny ones which were used as school milk bottles, very cute. I look forward to seing you at either Spitalfields or Crouch End.
I am now going to try to write this blog at least once a week! Thanks for reading this.

Back for business!

Hi all, here I am back in London after my travels from Venice to Scotland and back home again! It's been a very busy few weeks. I meant to write something between the two but didn't get round to it. The trip to Venice was our third and it was just as wonderful as before. The weather was amazing. On our first visit there, we stumbled on an amazing bookshop which was absolutely full to the ceiling with old and new books on every subject, in many languages etc. It also had photographs, film and travel postersand postcards. The guy who owns is a very friendly welcoming chap called Luigi. This visit, we tried for ages to find it but didn't know the name. All we had to go on was that it had a gondola in the shop as well as another boat and an old bath all full of books! There aren't many of those about. Can you imagine Waterstones with a narrow boat in the middle of the shop?! Eventually a gondolier told us how to find it and that it was called Aqua Alta which means High Water, something that Venice knows only too well about when it floods.


Inside Aqua Alta bookshop

There was Luigi as friendly as ever greeting us in many languages until he got the correct one. He guided us to look at a strange 3D picture of Venice which made our eyes go funny. When he realised we were British, he guided us to a similar picture of Big Ben - I guess so we wouldn't feel homesick! The reason why I'm writing about Venice is not that I want to be a budding travel journalist but because in that amazing warren of books, I managed to find some old postcards from the 50s/60s which I had to buy for the market. They are so funny; some remind me of the old knitting patterns which are so posed. There were about eighty of them and Luigi must have thought I was either mad or had lots of friends to send them to as an alternative to the gondola postcards for sale throughout Venice! They're now on sale at Spitalfields and are providing lots of interest already.
Here are some examples:

Postcards printed in Italy but looking very 50s/60s American!



These characters are much more Italian looking but reminiscent of old knitting pattern photos!