A Pretty English Country Wedding....

I thought you ladies might like to see a few of these?

I happend to be passing through the preparations for an 'English Country Wedding' in my local village. My mum was there hanging the bunting so i popped in.

What an overwhelming array of amazing tea cups - i so wish i had found the time to photograph each one. They were all begged, borrowed and stolen from local villagers - many sets having been wedding gifts to those ladies some 50 years previously.

I could have taken quite a few of these pretty little sets home in my basket, had it not been for the fact that i do know the bride and the ladies who donated the tea cups, so i could have lost a few good neighbour points. But it was a moment of bliss.

I feel the need for a Jumble Sale and a Car Boot rummage coming on.... despite the fact i have a few boxes of tea sets sat wrapped in my garage.

There are so many amazing chintzy designs to discover *sigh*

And this was the official - wedding Breakfast! You're right to hate me for not getting any shots of the tea pots that arrived and triple tiered vintage cake stands... the sugar bowls and milk jugs.

Yes, this IS the sort of village where a man walks his Shire Horse every morning and people talk about breeding bullocks over the shop counter, collecting their morning paper.

(we don't just buy "local eggs" round here, we can practically name every hen they came from!)

So, moving house has been a somewhat hellish experience in many ways - but how could i ever complain? This is the sort of village i have arrived in, and it rather suits me, don't you think?

Notice me, sat, with the teacup in hand whilst my poor 'ole Mam is struggling up a ladder in the background. teehee xxx

What we did today at... The Craft Cafe...

Every School Holiday, for the past, hmmmm, 4 and a half years? I have run what we called The Craft Cafe.
2 hours of creative mayhem for local children aged 3-13yrs. Todays theme was: ROBOTS!! There are various tables with different crafting activities, all set up and ready for when the families arrive... and one fantastic Crafter had already started his own ROBOT and decided to bring it along:

The children's joy, enthusiasm and talents! really astound me. Before i worked in 'craft' i worked with children. I loved it (love it still)

Parents, Grandparents, siblings, dads... they all pitch in with the children and the atmosphere is lovely.

Seeing the Dads get stuck in, really warms my soul... "Boys don't like Craft": what hogwash! The boys who attend are always hugely creative and enthusiastic - they often come and tell me their ideas for 'next time'

I average about 35 children per morning's session. Today's attendance hit an all time high with 50 children involved in crafting!! Plus a few extra babies who were passed from sticky handed to cake-y fingered adults.

I imagine that the parents are relieved to be able to 'walk away' from the mess at the end. The children seem happy that there are no real 'rules' for 2 solid hours and they can use as much of the crafty stuff as they want. As it's local, they get to see a few friends or meet some new faces too.

The activities were appropriate for ages 3 - 13yrs, with Robot puppets and badges. Design your own paper robot (and laminate him / her... Ooooh we all loved the laminating today)

And, the EVER popular "Junk Table" where anything goes!

You might imagine that a hall full of 50 children, plus adults, was rather chaotic? But children are not chaotic and hectic by nature - quite the opposite. Children are clever, observant, dilligent, curious and creative. It is just that THEY choose when to apply all these skills. Today was one of those occasions.

Of course, there is the 'Cafe' side to all this creativity. Today the Cafe was run by my Sister-in-Law to raise funds for the local Playgroup Association. mMMMmmmMM cakes....

I loved it!! ....I am also knackered.

I know not all the Crafters from today will read this but, if you do drop by, thankyou so much for coming, it was a great way to spend a VERY snowy half term Thursday xxx

Weekend Thrift-a-rama....

A typically English afternoon - bar one thing... it was sunny!! So, off to the local "Bric-a-Brac" sale in Dodford.
Cute Summer dress = check
Sunnies = check
Rogue Trader style 4x4 truck = check Super sweet vintage style bag = check
SmallFish...... = check... but WAIT a minute!!

Somebody wasn't too keen on a trip out thrifty hunting... "What's up PongoFish?"

"Mama, you forgot my purse and now i can't buy anything"....

Run back inside for the Little Hello Kitty purse = check!

She soon cheered up as we entered the Village Green - they had a full on BAND playing!! Cool! and oh so English. It was dreamy :)

So dreamy, i did forget to photograph all my purchases for you to share.... Herbs, a rug, some books, .... SmallFish's plastic turtle and 'Tigger' Cocktail stirrer....

Tea from a true Utility Wear 'Village Hall' cup and saucer (i wanted a second cup but they didn't sell their tea by the pot, mores the pity)

Dreamy dreamy cake... Victoria Sponge with real strawberries. OH be still my fluttering heart... this cake will make it to the Food Blog sometime, it was delicious.

The Plant Stall with Parasol - this thrift sale spilled out of the Village Hall, over the Village Green and away up the winding village road.

I sat in the sunshine, enjoying the band and swatting the wasps off my cake with this *new* old book (all about English gramar and punctuation - i could do with the tuition)

Oh English-ness, i did enjoy a warm slice of your pomp and circumstance this weekend. Thankyou for your eccentricity and love of Tea, Cake and thriftiness x x x