Aahhh, boot fairs!

What can you do on a Sunday morning, when the doggies have made you get up at 6am? You go to a boot sale of course! After a cup of tea, that goes without saying. 7am, the sky was grey, the wind was pretty strong and it was bitterly cold. Isn't this supposed to be the summer? Hmmm. Out came a big winter sweater and so suitably attired, I was kindly taken to the early morning boot fair by my darling husband. It is not a huge affair this one, but there are always one or two stalls with a few interesting bits and pieces. You know I said it was bitterly cold? I was standing at one stall which also had clothes and accessories for sale, and a lady next to me asked the stall holder whether she had any gloves and/or scarves for sale, she was freezing. Yep, it was that cold in the morning. I wouldn't have minded a pair of gloves myself, lol.

Anyhoo, I certainly didn't need my trusted trolley for this one, all my purchases fitted nicely into my handbag. My lovely postcard man was there again, and although I have probably been through most of his shoe boxes full of cards, I managed to find a few more, including a lovely set of vintage PARIS postcards! A little bit of bling from another stall, and some ribbon, seam binding etc from another stall and that was it really. Boy, was I glad to get home and into the warmth.

The other boot fair I try to get to on Sundays is a late start one. Well, later than 6am that is. It used to start at midday, but it seems to start earlier and earlier these days. I usually try and get there for around 9/9.30. This time my DS No. 3 went with me. It is a much bigger boot fair and I usually spend a couple of hours there. It had warmed up a little by then as well, but it was still very windy and every so often you would hear clothes rails crashing down, or see things flying off stalls. All in all it was a satisfying morning, some of my favourite regular stall holders were there and I managed to find a few interesting things.

Darn, I do ramble on, don't I? Better get on to the photos, eh?

I ended up with SOME CHINA THINGS -

These two pieces of the pretty Midwinter were bought at two different stalls, but look so good together on a dressing table -

Another Victorian pudding/jelly mould for my collection-

And this really sweet little jug, so beautifully painted with what looks like heather flowers to me -

SOME GLASS THINGS -

This gorgeous Carnival Glass bowl for my collection in the cottage-

and these three old bottles, the glass is the yummiest aqua colour-
haven't quite got round to cleaning them yet, lol.

Then there were SOME BLING THINGS-

I love pearls, and the vintage ones have such lovely sparkly clasps. The hearts on the bracelet I am going to use for mixed media collages -

How about FABRICY THINGS? -

Ribbons and seam binding -

This dainty little hand sewn Victorian apron is sooooooo pretty, trimmed with velvet ribbon and beautiful antique lace-

Aaah, and from the same stall holder, this stunning piece of Victorian lace, it made me swoon -
It is a huge panel, perhaps it came from a dress, where it had been laid over satin or silk. It does have a few holes, but do I care? Not in the least, it is so precious. You can't really appreciate how gorgeous it is, I should have photographed it somewhere else, not on that busy white tablecloth.

On to some METAL THINGS-

I love this door knocker, I had never seen one shaped like a knight in armour before -

And this little metal box, how could I resist that when it is covered all over in such gorgeous floral designs -

A set of weights to replace the ones stolen in the break in a couple of years ago-

This gorgeous silver plated, errrmmm, thing, whatchamacallit-

These two silver plated goblets I bought in a charity shop a few weeks ago, but as I hadn't shown them before, I am doing so now-

And, best of all, there were the PAPERY THINGS -

Postcards from the first boot fair -

The haul from the second one-

It includes a set of 6 fabulous engravings-

and 4 of these things, care to guess what they are?

I had absolutely no idea at all, and I was thrilled to bits when I found out what they were -
VICTORIAN AND EDWARDIAN BANK BOOKS! One even had an old cheque stashed away in it.
Three were issued by the London County and Westminster Bank ( the Edwardian ones ) and the Victorian one by the London and County Banking Company ( before they became the above bank ). How cool are they?

I also found this fabulous title deed from 1869

and this quite amazing lease agreement from 1837, written most beautifully on thick parchment paper. But just look at the bottom of this huge piece -
The "mark" of Eliza Leach....... I really love these old documents, they set my imagination on fire and I can dream for ages about the people they concern.

Last but most definitely not least, three little baggies of authentic Victorian scraps, lucky lucky me. They are so rare and so difficult to find in good condition. The elderly gentleman who sold them to me had taken them out of tatty Victorian scrap books, which were beyond repair. You can guess how I spent yesterday evening, lol, sorting all these sweet little images of course-

And there you have it, a successful day at the boot fairs and one happy little bunny here. I'll try and share some of the lovely postcards and scraps with you over the next few days.

Have a great week! Toodlepip xxx

Edited to clarify that only the few things from the FIRST boot fair went into my handbag, for the SECOND, bigger one I most certainly used my trusted trolley. Tehehehee, sorry to have confused you gals.