A Month of Change

It has been exactly a month since my last post, a month since my little Bella left us.  My heart is still heavy, and I think of her and miss her every day, but the pain has lessened.  I want to thank each and every one of you who left kind words. I cannot tell you how comforting I found them.  I often wonder if it would make a difference to say anything to people I don't know very well when I read sad posts.  Now I know that it does.  The kindness of strangers, as some of you are, was so appreciated. Every comment like a gentle stroke on my arm, a whisper that 'it will be ok'.  So, Thank You lovely readers.

The end of Summer was a busy time for me, not busy with work as I shut the website for a few weeks, but busy with the important things,  holidays and family life.

My Mum, the children and I visited Lyme Regis, a favourite place of ours, and stayed at a friend's house for a week.  Lovely sunny days (and a few rainy ones) filled with sandcastle building, swimming in the sea, fish and chips, reading, mackerel fishing and treasure hunting in vintage shops.

We breakfasted in the wonderful Town Mill Bakery.  A perfect start to any day.

If you go to Lyme Regis do visit.  Their Eccles cakes are second to none.

The day after we got back from there we flew off to Spain and our first family holiday in 7 years!

How lovely it was to fly off, with the full moon bright in the sky, to warmer climes.  To spend hours in the pool, feeling the sun on my skin was just so healing and so needed.  I am not going to leave it so long again.

 So here we are, the end of Summer and looking towards Autumn. There is a real crispness in the air and the nights are drawing in, it is getting darker so much earlier these days.

I love this time of year.  I adore knitwear and look forward to wearing my tights and boots.  The fire will be lit soon and we will be cosying up.

I have added lots of new stock to the website. Treasures found on my travels and things tucked away in readiness for the new season.  I have listed lots of beautiful quilts and eiderdowns.

 Lots of new fabrics have been added too, including some amazing 1940's French dress fabrics that I found still on the bolt. They would make the most amazing tea dresses and I have LOADS of it!

Lots of lovely new stock, all of which can be found here.


Sadly, due to family commitments, I have had to cancel my stall at the Vintage Bazaar being held this Saturday in Hartley Wintney, Hampshire.  If you get the opportunity do try and go.  Lizzie and Clare, who organise the Bazaar,  select the very best sellers to be at their events  making them a not-to-be-missed fair. I'm only sorry I am not going!

However next Saturday (29th September) I will be stalling at the Original Vintage and Handmade Autumn Vintage Fashion and Textile Fair.  Another wonderfully organised fair by Jayne Soule and Michele Chivers, this is an event not to be missed.  Two rooms of the finest sellers of vintage textiles in the beautiful town of Chipping Sodbury. This is truly a great day out for any vintage lover. 

I have a huge amount of new stock, as you can see, as well as a rail full of vintage clothes to bring along. I do hope to see you there.

Last but not least, I am sure many of you enjoyed the Olympics this summer, I know I did.  A few months before they were about to start I got a call from them asking for some vintage 1960's stretch fabric to make shorts for the dancers who entertained the crowds during 'time out' at the Beach Volleyball games. 

I wonder if I should have 'Official Supplier to the 2012 Olympics' on my headed notepaper?

It was a very proud moment for me seeing these dancers in my fabrics.

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Love and Loss (and the hardest thing I ever had to do)

Saying goodbye to a friend of 17 years is unbearable.  That the friend was a 4-legged, furry  moggy makes it no easier.

My beloved cat, Bella, my constant companion for the last 17 years died today, in my arms.

I held her while the vet did the kindest thing and released her from the obvious pain she was suffered.

It broke my heart.

My funny faced little girl was the sweetest cat I have ever met.  We got her and her sister at the same time, from a lady my Mum met on holiday in Greece.  We had wanted a cat for my little girl, then 5 years old, (she is now 22), but when we heard about the 2 on offer we couldn't possibly choose between them and so Bella and her sister Fifi came to live with us.

They couldn't have been more different.  Fifi was brave, the leader, whilst Bella was a nervous, shy little thing.  She quickly latched on to me and became 'Mummy's cat'.  She was never far from  my side.

2 years later my daughter and I were shopping in a garden centre/pet shop for pond plants and fell in love with a fluffy black kitten who came home with us and became part of our family.

Hebe was never accepted by Fifi who still hisses at him every time she sees him, some 15 years later, but Bella loved him.

A few weeks ago we found Hebe in our garden unable to walk or stand and so he was rushed  to the vets.  Tests were done, X-Rays taken and he spent a week on a drip, antibiotics and heart tablets until the vets told us that nothing more could be done without extensive tests which would run into thousands of pounds.  We had visited him in the vets and each time he was purring and so happy to see us so we made the decision to bring him home and give him lots of TLC. I am a big believer in the power of love and I wanted him home.

For days he was so wobbly and to tell the truth I wasn't sure he would get through the first night.  He was unable to walk more than a few steps.  He would fall over all the time and be unable to get up and was a pitiful sight.

During this time Bella had been pining and had stopped eating. I think she missed him when he was away and was distressed to see him when he got back.

Hebe has now made such an amazing recovery and is walking, jumping and eating almost normally again.

Sadly Bella had declined very fast and because of her advanced years she became very poorly.


I will miss her more than words can say.  Her almost constant presence in front of the Aga, her cuddles with me on the sofa when the children have gone to bed, her little 'meep' meow, her painful happy feet which she always did on us, forgetting to put her claws away!  I will miss her sweet nature, the balance of having 3 cats, all so different in their ways.  I have had her longer than 2 of my children.

RIP Bella, my sweet little girl.

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