Monday 22 June 2009

What a weekend!

Well, as you all know by now, I attended Floss's birthday party on Saturday, and what a party it was. I may have slightly overdone the Pimms, Elderflower champagne, and Kir Royale, and perhaps got a wee bit too carried away with my chauffeur, because when I got up on Sunday morning I wasn't feeling too bright. But then, who would at 6am? I had to get ready to go and set up at a craft fair.

The location was quite stunning, it was held in the grounds of the beautiful Herstmonceux Castle, along with an antique fair and a boot fair. Hmm. I did love having a bootfair to quickly stroll through after setting up, but............... I really don't think that particular arrangement worked for the crafters. Yes, there were loads of people, who took a very quick stroll through the craft marquee and then went back to the huge boot fair, without spending much. It was a long and pretty frustrating day, happily I was one of the few lucky people who did at least have a reasonable amount of sales. And Suzanne, the lovely girl with the gorgeous handmade handbags, whom I had met at a previous craft fair, was there, so at last we could natter when the going was dead slow.

This is the beautiful castle


I love the reflection of the arches in the water



The moat with beautiful water lilies


One one side of the castle was this row of the most amazing ancient sweet chestnuts. I got a bit carried away snapping pics with my little camera, for my son, really, who is a tree surgeon. Just look at the size of these trees, I wonder just how many hundreds of years old they are -


just click on the pics to see them full size, and really appreciate the beauty of the giants.

As I said earlier, I did manage a superquick sprint through the bootfair, while my darling son looked after the stand, and this is what I found -

A nice sized bunch of bits of old broderie anglaise and a good sized piece of very pretty dainty wide lace


I also found this dinky little flower brooch


and then there was this little copper kettle, which needs a LOT of elbow grease to make it all nice and shiny, but I don't care, its so cute


Oh, and I got a couple of tins as well


Ooh, oh, and I nearly forgot my 25p find, lol, this handbag, not very well made at all, but I loved the old wooden handles, and I am sure the quilted fabric, which is quite pretty, can be used for something as well -


I really did have a terrific headache at the end of the day, not a hangover I hasten to add, cyberdrinking doesn't usually have that effect, lol. I was sick as a dog, managed a quick bath when I got home, fell asleep on the settee as soon as I sat down, and was woken up very gently by my darling husband when it was time to go to bed.

What a weekend, eh?

4 comments:

Sally said...

What stunning trees, it certainly looked a beautiful venue. And what boot sale finds as well! I have you to blame for my growing tin collection! I love seeing your finds. I have a few flowers brooches similar to the one you picked up but don't know what to do with them or how to display them, they are in one of my old tins at the moment! By the way loved your party blog the other day, it made me smile a lot! You sure have style!
Sally x

Liz's Knitting said...

Ok so 1st I saw the castle and thought 'wow, how beautiful!'...then I saw the trees and thought 'wow, incredible!!', then the kettle and thought 'wow, how sweet!!' - lovely photos!

Sarah - Red Gingham said...

Nice kettle! Will you use it for your cuppas? I do love the castles in England. We don't have anything so lovely here. Lots of new buildings instead. Just not the same is it? We tend to pull things down when they get a bit shabby.

Those trees are really amazing, I love the trunks and how they curve around. Quite a sight I agree.

Was wondering if I could pop around on Friday, on my way back home from France. Perhaps we could have a cup of tea from that lovely old kettle? On the condition that it is cleaned up a bit first. Maybe we could have a look through that fabric stash of yours?

abeachcottage said...

oh the kettle! I lurve it, even all dull like that it is gorgeous

oh I really really miss boot sales and those trees...sigh...