boot sale bargains

Obviously the best thing about summer - apart from cider, festivals, barbeques, sun, holidays... ok, ONE of the best things - is the proliferation of car boot sales.

Derbyshire being full of fields means there's ample opportunity to don the wellies and get up at ridiculous-o'clock for some serious rummaging. And they're SO cheap. Maybe it's because I'm used to rising charity shop prices, but it still gives me giddy pleasure to pay 50p for something more than a bar of chocolate.

Last weekend was the turn of treetops hospice in risley. it was the largest boot i've been to in years - about 300 stalls - and some amazing bargains to be had.

 Sadly my camera is out of action until I find the lead so here's a sneak preview of the haul from my phone - this only slightly knocked about lakeland green Hornsea teapot. Must remember our kitchen has limited room for this kind of find.

kit kat

Well it's once again been an embarassingly long time since I last posted, but I think I've had pretty good reason. Turns out getting a couple of kittens really eats into your time.

(guess who also discovered Instagram recently)

Biffy and Misty are just about the best thing to happen in a long time. Something about having cats around just fills me with unbridled joy. If I had my way there would be nothing but pictures of these two from now on, but apparently that's not cricket. Here's a few to keep you going for the time being.

 

needle business

above image: lulusvintage.com

So knitting is de rigeur and it's no longer weird to be found lurking in wool shops on a Saturday afternoon. Late to the bandwagon as always, I've not been knitting properly that long (save an afternoon on the train in my first year of uni when I tried in vain to knit the beginnings of a patchwork quilt, failing miserably and no doubt being silently mocked by the commuters around me). I'm also one of those people that can't resist trying to step up their game before they're any good at something.

A couple of years ago I came across a fantastic wool shop in Norfolk whose name helpfully escapes me at present. Even though anything beyond a knit, purl, increase and decrease (end of rows only, obviously) was an alien land, I shelled out what seemed like a fortune (£16.99) for a Kim Hargreaves book. A thoughtful yarn-based birthday present and about 6 months of starting again (and again, and again) later, I finally managed to finish Fleur, a cashmere-blended t-shirt-jumper. The feeling was brilliant - I was invincible, I could rule the world, one skein at a time.

Then I spotted a huge bargain in John Lewis' always immense Christmas sale - £48 for 12 balls of Rowan Silky Tweed. I decided my skill level was up to conquering cable, double moss stitch, peplums and buttonholes (despite being a novice to them all) and snapped up the yarn with the aim of banging out Delphine, a kind of tweedy jacket from the same book. Obviously I couldn't even get past the first line, so I gave up and sulked for pretty much a year.

A couple of weeks ago I found myself staring at the knitting bag once again, daring myself to have a go at the stupid pattern. I would beat it. And, armed with a rare afternoon of nothingness, a couple of helpful Youtube clips and litres of tea, I finally cracked it. Victory! And now I have a new knitting project to while away my currently ill hours:



The back is done and I've just started the left front. Now I know what I'm doing it's one of the most fun things I've ever attempted. And it gave me a chance to acquire some new equipment - say hello to my lovely new stitch markers. They came from a tiny shop called Create and Knit in Breedon on the Hill. A really weird place actually, a kind of antiques-cum-craft-cum-garden centre affair. Full of elderly people of course, but that's the life you lead when you take an interest in knitting and antiques. It was a decent shop with a small but well-chosen selection of wool, and I couldn't resist these murano glass-esque markers. My Mum bought about 20 balls of aran for her own knitting project, and we spent a happy afternoon tackling cable for the first time together.

You can laugh/cry at my tedious progress on my Ravelry page.

new and delicious beginnings

Last week we moved to Belper which, if you didn't know, is a nice market town in the middle of Derbyshire. Luckily for us it's a bit of a foodie gem, stuffed with nice places to er, stuff your face. Not that that's the most important thing about a place, obviously, but it does help.

Easily my favourite of them all is Fresh Basil, a deli on Strutt Street. It's tiny and unpretentious, with friendly staff, a reasonably priced menu and stacks of gorgeous fresh and baked produce on display. While I wish I had the budget to stock up on their parma ham and foccacia, I'm happy enough to munch away on a red pepper and goats cheese salad and admire the lovely stuff piled enticingly all around. Can't wait to try their all-day breakfast too, which recently won an award for the best in Derbyshire. And it's walking distance. Believe it or not I'm not on their payroll, though if they'd like to add me to it in exchange for cheese, I'm open to negotiations.

On the next street (it's only a small town you know) sits Liquid Treasure, alcohol specialist. When I first went in last year, I did that aimlessly-picking-up-attractive-looking-bottles thing and found myself suddenly being interrogated (in a friendly way!) on my favourite cocktail. Clearly the owners are passionate about nice things to drink and the small team of staff know plenty about wine, spirits and ales. It's one of the best stocked shops of its kind in the area, but it's sadly way beyond my budget at the moment. At least when the lottery win happens I'll know where to go for the champagne.

We've actually moved a bit further away from Croots, an excellent farm shop/deli/cafe combo in nearby Duffield. Oh well. It's worth the extra couple of minutes in the car though - another independent haven of tasty stuff. Again, not very pocket-friendly but nice for a treat. Perhaps the nicest things they sell are frozen half-baked pastries. Buy them by the bagful then get out a couple on a Friday night, let them rise overnight in a warm place and bingo, fresh and ready to bake croissants and pain au chocolat on a hungover Saturday morning. Bliss!

hello.

looks like it's been two years since my last update and oh boy, the things that have happened.

1. i got old. well, 25. though looking back i think i'm more or less the same person. anyone else in their twenties noticed that they lose the whole 'i'll be a different person every two months' thing?

2. i got a job. a pretty damn neat one too. it's my job to make sure money happens for an international humanitarian charity. you'll guess what it is, soon enough, if you don't know me already. and i love it.

3. i got a house, but lost a cat. finally left home, moved in with my lovely man. found the best place, more on this later.

4. i got excited about the idea of a blog again. for ages i thought i had nothing to say that hadn't been said already. then i thought fuck it, i think i can hunt out an epic bargain and i don't mind telling people where i got it from. and it's about time i put my mind to something other than work, small kittens and where i'm going to get my next pastry-based goodies from.

so. hello. nice to be back.

new year, old things

already we're eleven days into the new year, yet my resolutions feel weak and unmotivating. the usual 'be nicer' and 'do more' are floppy, vague promises, hard to quantify while i'm in the mood for tangible results.

so i AM going to do more. as stiflingly unimaginative as it is to set personal goals at this time of year, i'm going to embark on a little adventure:

from today, 11th january 2010, to 10th january 2011, i will not buy anything from the high street.

doing so will, i presume, make me feel better (more smug?) about my spending habits while simultaneously saving enough money to counter all the good work in a massive january sales binge this time next year. or, y'know, put down a deposit on a car, or a nice flat, or something actually useful.

obviously there are exceptions to this resolution, else i might go spare. there are challenges, and there's needless suffering. so i'm allowed to do the following:

1. buy presents for others. who genuinely appreciates half-arsed, slapdash homemade gifts from someone with zero creative ability? no-one, unless they're 100% nice (rare). at least my family and friends won't have to endure kirstie allsopp-esque thriftmares.

2. indugle in essentials. essentials as defined by me, not by, say, the people who run brat camp. so decent shampoo and conditioner, black/sheer tights and soap. i refuse to smell for a year for the sake of my moral fibre.

3. charity/second/hand/vintage shops. i suppose the 'high street' aspect i'm getting at consists of the big guns, arcadia, department stores, and anything else found in the shiny halls of consumerism in town centres. but this need not include shopping second hand.

ok, so i do most of my shopping in this environment already. which to some might suggest i'm not taking this challenge seriously. it's what you're thinking, isn't it? well you're wrong, because despite this get out clause, i'm going to limit spending in these environments to a frighteningly low £20 a month. why? why the hell not.

4. work clothes. cv and interview success willing, i plan on spending some, most, or all of this time in work. where a uniform isn't needed, i'll be after something to wear for this. i think, with all reasonableness, that this should be another exception, particularly where strict rules apply. for the purposes of clarification, i'm allowed a white shirt, a work skirt and work trousers, one of each, twice in the year. and only if i'm employed.

5. a new phone. for november onwards only.

so that's it. goodbye high street indeed. watch as i fail spectacularly in week three!

snow days

as you may have noticed, we're currently snuggled under an icy blanket of frozen water. many, many people are complaining, sporting fractured limbs and smashed cars and chilly houses. i on the other hand am in seventh kidult heaven.

being as i am unemployed and penniless, the snow and its various associated funtimes instantly transport me back to being seven years old. freezing as i slip down the huge hill of my local park, or packing ice into monolithic structures vaguely resembling friends, or encountering mild frostbite lobbing lumps of solid freeze at my dad's head. as i've grown up and the epic snowfall of my youth has become more and more infrequent, any opportunity to enjoy it is welcomed with open arms.

so i spent yesterday, with the first serious deposit of the season, on the park, twatting my chin on passersby as they lingered stupidly at the foot of the hill. i've a hilarious but hideously sore bruise on my chin as a result. but i still kept it together in order to make a snowcat in my garden. with nowhere to go and no important appointments to keep, i hope it lasts!

christmas wishlist!

i LOVE christmas! it's pretty safe to assume any time specifically designated for excessive eating and drinking, parties and sharing nice things with each other will always go down well in my world, but there's still a magic to the season that hasn't yet been clouded by all the cynicism and bitterness that has become routine alongside it.

now it's officially christmas (yay!), i've drawn up a wishlist for the parentals to peruse, and despite knowing full well that most of it will remain locked in the realms of fantasy, my enthusiasm for coveting trinkets hasn't subsided. there's probably a lesson in here somewhere about craving too many luxury goods at a family time but as far as i'm concerned, christmas is a safe haven for magpies and treat-lovers like me. long may it's opulence reign!

so this is a condensed version of my 2009 list - some of it realistic, others so unlikely there's really not much point including them, save for a desire to share common lustful grounds. enjoy!

polo boot, £295, toast (toast.co.uk)

in my quest to find a pair of solid, hardworking winter boots i've come across a few beauties (most notably, a lovely pair of tan knee-highs in monsoon of all places), but none have ever (ever) compared to these. the whole toast a/w 09 catalogue is divine anyway but oh, everything about this pair makes me cry a little inside at their unattainability.

emerald suede bayswater clutch, £495, mulberry (mulberry.com

if only. i've tried telling myself that my purple patent bayswater-esque bag of joy from tkmax is decent enough until the happy day i can afford a real one arrives (it will come, right?), but it really isn't sufficient. sigh

christmas candy gift box, £16.50, lush

mm, lushy goodness. we're slightly more in the realms of possibility now - at least smelling nice isn't hugely expensive!

studded leather driving gloves, £28, warehouse

as i near the end of my driving lessons (test in january, eep!), i'm thinking more and more about saving up for a car of my own (where i'll get the money from is currently beyond me, however). and this means thinking about driving accessories! gloves are of course an essential part of the modern lady's motoring paraphenalia, and who could resist a lovely pair like these? (or, y'know, they're nice to look at and will keep my fingers nice and warm while waiting for the bus)

screen burn, £4, amazon

holiday reading from the master of funny is a must!

and not forgetting a load of socks and sweeties for good measure! i can't wait!

vintage shoes in large part one: the red pair

finding a pair of vintage shoes in good condition and the right size will always be difficult, but for the larger-footed lady the challenge is all the greater. it's hard enough to find new shoes to fit big feet, let alone the perfect vintage pair!

but despite being a size 8, i've been lucky enough in my thrift shop hunting to find several pairs that fit. so here's the first of a series of posts designed to prove that lovely vintage shoes in bigger sizes can be discovered among the plethora of size 4-6!

80s russell and bromley, ebay, £30

what a gorgeous colour! i'd been after some red shoes for ages and these lovelies, in leather with suede bow/heel detail, stood out a mile. ironically for such a post, these are just a pinch too small, so i'm having to sell them on! but it doesn't stop me fondling them on a daily basis...

check out the super cute suede bows on the back!

these will be heading back to ebay in the next week - i'll post the item link here when they're up.

marcasite and me

over six months without a post! sadly, when you have a dissertation followed by a full time job and a festival to organise there's little time for musing on pretty things. but now i've graduated, and ended my temporary job, i have plenty of time and even more to talk about!

i have an enormous mug of hot tea in front of me and a story to tell about my love of marcasite. once upon a time, dawdling about in a local antiques fair, i caught a tiny flash of something glinting beneath a pile of costume jewellery. on closer inspection it turned out to be a lovely little squirrel, bedecked from his neck down to a gorgeous curled tail in shining, sparkling marcasite. i couldn't resist him, and have been collecting bits of jewellery in the stone ever since!

this lovely swallow was a gift from my mum, and sits happily on the lapel of my green coat throughout the winter. perhaps it's the glimmer it adds to an otherwise dull outfit, but it always cheers me up when i glance down and see him there.

i had lusted after this perfect fleur de lis for months before i finally caved in a bought it. i think everything about it is wonderful - from the carefully chosen stones, graded so perfectly, to the delicate silver piping around the edges. to make it even more covetable (to me at least!), it dates back to the mid 1800s, and would have been worn for dress by french militia. it's possibly the favourite of all my jewellery, for its understated glamour and the simple but beautiful design.

but the best thing about this stone is the price. though undergoing something of a renaissance in the antiques world thanks to high street imitations having a moment, there are most definitely bargains to be had at fairs - the most expensive of the above, the fleur de lis, was £22. for a piece that will last another hundred years at least, the cost-per-wear is unbeatable, not to mention the shine!

hairspiration

tomorrow is hairdying day. after failing yet again to get the colour i want via box dye, it's to the hairdressers i go.

i've been lusting after a rich, deep auburn colour for several years now. there's something particularly striking about this tone, and with an important interview for a pr graduate scheme next week, i'm certain this will help me stand out.

here are some of the pictures i'll be taking to the chops with me:

i'll let you know how i get on.

folksy favourites no. 1

i'm planning on showcasing some of my favourite folksy finds here; partially because they're nice to look at and partially so i can keep track of them myself! the problem with sites like folksy and etsy is the choice - it can get very wearisome looking through hundreds of knitted ipod cosies to get to that one gorgeous dress. so when i find something nice, i'm always sure to keep a strong hold on it. here are a couple of my favourite sellers to begin with.

easily suede

my dissertation (even in its infant state) is crying out to be served up to the politics department in this exquisitely made antelope leather binder. just as the other bags and holders in this store, everything has an extravagant shabbiness to it, thanks to the reclaimed materials and weathered finishes, cut to perfection and photographed beautifully. one day, when i can afford such luxuries, i'm going to invest in their glorious purple satchel.



blackoutwell

one for the future house: lovely little prints with almost-too-cute birds and foxes and badgers. autumn is my second favourite season, and amy's illustrations are adept at capturing all its vibrancy and cosiness. for artwork on folksy, it's remarkably cheap, so all the more reason to love and invest in this delightful store. props for the large amount of tea love too.

introduction

my name is alex, and i'm a twenty two year old student living in manchester. this blog is a space for me to share all the lovely things i find both online and offline, including vintage/thrift/high street discoveries, handmade treats, homewares, art, music and photography. but first, here is some more information about me:

1. my family has two cats, rosie and darcy, and one dog, badger. look out for them in my home posts.

2. i have always loved birds, and the long tailed tit (aegithalos caudatus) is my favourite species. i like talking about wildlife, especially because living in the city, it's harder to spot.

3. one day i will live in a little terraced house in a village in northern england. inspiration for the interior of this house will feature heavily here.

4. i don't live or breathe fashion, but i certainly enjoy it. it's my mission to buy only three high street items of clothing from now until my birthday (24th july). see how i fare with only thrift and vintage shopping to go on.

5. i'm a foodie. delicious food will be prevalent throughout.

6. other people are much better than me. expect to see a lot from my wonderfully talented and creative friends.

i welcome comments pretty and ugly. all are appreciated.