25 Beautiful Homes

Many of you may remember this. Well one year on it is now in print. See the current edition (December) of 25 Beautiful Homes. It brings back lovely memories for me and makes me excited about decorating the house once again. I LOVE Christmas.

All I can say is that as it is half term the house looks NOTHING like it does in the photos. Due to the cold and often wet weather the children have been indoors a lot and have made a complete mess in each and every room. Not that they call it mess of course, they are camps, space ships, boats and castles made with all the cushions, blankets, cardboard boxes and toys they can find! Hey ho, Happy Half Term!

(Click on photos to enlarge)






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One Day Like This

Yesterday was a wonderful day. I persuaded Paul that he and I should take the day away off work and spend some time together. We were going to a gig in Truro in the evening so I thought it would be nice to slowly make our way down, as it takes 1 hour 45 minutes to get there. It was the perfect weather, bright blue sky, warm autumnal sun, a few clouds peppered here and there. We managed to set off at 12.15, not quite as early as I had hoped but we were still both trying to tie up loose ends, the downside of both running our own businesses from home. We drove first to Crackington Haven as Paul had never been.



We then drove on to Port Isaac. I adore Port Isaac, especially when it is sunny and out of season. I always rent a cottage and take the children there for a week during the holidays but didn't this year as our house was on the market and I imagined myself moving this summer! I have missed it. We had a lovely lunch sat outside the Slipway Hotel overlooking the pretty harbour. Paul had the freshest crab salad.








After a little wander around the shops we decided to drive on to Truro. We had thought about going to Charlestown to see the tall ships as Johnny Depp has been down there filming his new role in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland but we were running out of time (and I suspected Johnny wouldn't be there).

Truro is a lovely town, sorry, city. I can't believe that I have never been there before. Having gone every year to Port Isaac I have only ventured as far as Newquay before scuttling back to the sleepiness of Port Isaac and the beach of Daymer. Truro is a different experience to the madness of Newquay. It had a nice vibe to it and some great shops. The first one I found was a HUGE fabric shop. I was so very controlled but I have to say I was mesmerised by the amount of great fabrics on offer. I bought a few polka dot cottons and some balls of Rowan cotton for my blanket I am crocheting. Paul said he had never seen so much fabric and living with me that is saying something! I need to go back and spend more time there, this was our time together, not fabric buying time.

We had time to stroll around Truro, have afternoon tea and read newspapers (!)



Strolling back past the venue of the evenings gig, The Hall for Cornwall, who should we spot but the lead singer of Elbow, one Guy Garvey, the band we were going to see! This man's music has seen me through one of the toughest years of my life and his beautiful lyrics really touch me, so to meet this big bear of a man with the sweetest voice was a great thing for me (and I do have a bit of a crush). I would like to say I was cool and calm but I think I was a babbling fool of a woman, a silly middle aged fan who talked utter nonsense but he was so sweet and friendly to us and we stood and chatted for quite a while as he introduced us to other members of his band. My friend Amanda had seen them In Cambridge on Monday, the first date of their tour, and I mentioned this. He said they were nervous that night but he promised they would be 'on fire' for us.




We had supper at an Italian restaurant and after a few glasses of wine I skipped off to the gig I had been waiting for and was not disappointed. Guy and the band were on fire. It was amazing and everything I had hoped it would be. I sat through the first few numbers with tears rolling down my silly face (that would be the wine!)



A truly wonderful day and I can only think of one song to leave you all with so here it is .......


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Vintage Fashion Fair

Yesterday was the vintage fashion fair in Exeter. Organised by Blind Lemon Vintage, this event is a must for vintage fashion fans and I was glad to see lots of familiar faces and meet new vintage-loving friends. Lizzie was there with Bronia and an old school friend of Lizzie's, Aline, who had a stall

Lizzie and Aline in front of Aline's stall

Here I am with the stunning Shabby Chick, Amanda and the lovely Lizzie. My hair looked pants as I was just off to Toni and Guy for highlights and hadn't washed my hair that morning!


The lady on the left of this photo is the glamorous GOW aka my Mum who was pulling along my trolley. I bought this for £3 at a bootsale, it is originally from Ikea but as our nearest Ikea is a 2 hour drive away I didn't ever see them in store. It was the subject of much trolley envy among the ladies at the fair!

These are some of my purchases

Vintage children's patterns

One with the unPC title 'adaptable for chubbies'!

A lovely couple of Polish dolls

Great fabrics

Toffee tin for storing buttons

French fabric drawers

and some wonderful children's fabrics

Including my favourite, a piece of fabric from Enid Blyton's Magic Faraway Tree

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