Santa kindly gave me a cold for Christmas. I’ve had it ever since and it seems to be getting worse, not better. And this morning, after two days in bed I woke up with an eye infection to top it off. A runny nose, dry cough and bung eye does not equal glamour in my books. Fortunately I have some lovely plates on the wall and Columbia Road roses courtesy of the Mr to cheer me up from my sick bed.
I hope to be back at work and back in the land of the living tomorrow. x
Posted in Lifestyle, Rambles, Teapot love
After a quick visit to Columbia Road flower markets to get some big blousy pink roses there seemed nothing better to do on a rainy, dreary Sunday afternoon than visit Liberty for afternoon tea.
I am a big fan of Burleigh’s black and white willow pattern. I quite fancy the whole dinner set for everyday use. My old china is just too fragile.
The coffee cake was delicious, although I can still feel the clotted cream clogging my arteries.
Posted in Lifestyle, Places to visit, Teapot love
Tagged Cake, Liberty, Liberty of London, tea, teacup
Here are some more photos taken on my recent weekend in Bruges, staying at the wonderful B&B - Bread & Butter. You can see my last post about our weekend away here.
Belgium chocolate for breakfast? Yes please! Fresh melon and peaches, cheeses, pastries, homemade museli and yoghurt was all served on gorgeous mismatched china, including Zara home, Wedgewood and hand made pottery pieces. Multigrain and rye breads were served in mini wooden boxes. A giant glass jar of homemade museli sat at the end of table. All glowing golden in soft candlelight, it looked like it was straight from the pages of an interiors magazine. We sat down to a gloriously beautiful feast each morning. Breakfast at my work desk is just not the same!
Kitty!
The resident cat was a bit shy but would sit safely on the other side of the doors to the back garden and watch us drinking our coffee through the glass.
This is unfortunately the only shot I have of the amazing vintage wallpaper that was in our loft bedroom.
I couldn’t resist adding another shot of the bath tub.
We had amazing perfect blue skies.
We spent many hours getting happily lost in the winding cobbled streets along the pretty canals, fuelled by the delicious breakfast and strong coffee at the Bread & Butter.
Posted in Food, Places to visit, Teapot love, Travel
Tagged accomodation, B&B, Belgium, Bruges, Des, food, interior design, teacup, travel, vintage
Sorry. I’ve been away from the blogosphere for a little while. Life just got in the way for bit. Here are some photos of a recent weekend trip to Bruges. We stayed at a gorgeous B&B, Bread & Butter. With just one bedroom in the loft of a big old house, incredible breakfasts from the lovely host Frederika, vintage wallpaper, velvet curtains and your own private 60s orange bathtub, it really doesn’t get much better.
I miss that bath.
There's even a mezzanine floor in the loft...
so you can climb up and hang out watching Flemish telly.
Comfy bed for a cosy sleep-in
Photos by Lukulele.
This is a just a taster. I have a load more pics to post, including the vintage 60′s wallpaper from the bedroom and some of the exciting things I blew my cash on during our stay.
x
Posted in Places to visit, Teapot love, Travel, Vintage
Tagged B&B, Bread & Butter, Bruges, design, sixities bathtub, travel, vintage wallpaper
Why am I bothering with collecting plates to hang from my walls when there are so many lovely versions of china printed wallpaper around? Hanging plates is supposed to be bad for them anyway and place them under stress.
Are you being served
Teacup Alley
Little Teapot
(available from Caravan Style)
Paper Plates
Porcelain Wallpaper
Posted in Bits & pieces, Lovely things, Teapot love
Tagged Anthropolgie, china, plates, wallpaper
I’m back on a self-imposed teacup buying ban at the moment. My shelves are overflowing with china and each time I take down a vase or book I’m terrified something is gonna bite the dust.
But gifts are okay right? One of the recent additions to my collection is a beautiful 1930′s Susie Cooper trio. A pale greenish-grey and cream number with delicate burgundy decoration.
The trio was a 30th birthday present and considering it’s age, is in almost immaculate condition. There’s just a bit of light crazing on the bottom of the plates, which is hardly noticeable. I like to think it used to belong to a dark-haired, elegant lady called Elisa. A thin woman who drank her tea unsweetened, black and never with cake.
According to Wikipedia, Susie Cooper (29 October 1902 – 28 July 1995) was a prolific English ceramic designer working in the Stroke-on-Trent pottery industries from the 1920s to the 1980s. She worked for many firms, including Wedgwood, and was even awarded an OBE in 1979.
Her work is pretty and very collectable. This is labelled (on the plates not the cup as shown above) ‘A Susie Cooper Production, Crown Works, Buslem’ so dates back to when she was running her own business that she started in 1929. There’s a good site here, which has loads of information about collecting Susie Cooper.
Posted in Lovely things, Teapot love, Vintage
Tagged china, collecting, susie cooper, tea, teacups, vintage
My 30th birthday was, well quite fabulous really. Without going on too much…
The day started with breakfast with two of my favourite people at Islington’s Ottolenghi. Ricotta and orange filled crepes covered in lashings of berry sauce served up with lots of strong coffee. Yum.
This was when one of my many amazing birthday presents was unveiled. So amazing in fact that I’ve dedicated the rest of this post to it. Introducing my 1950′s teasmade.
In pride of place.
Amazing.
Alarm clock to get me out of bed.
And even the light works!
Thanks Asha you rule. More exciting birthday present updates to come…
Posted in Bits & pieces, Food, Lifestyle, Lovely things, Teapot love, Vintage
Look at these teacups! I spied them being talked about on Splendora. Shame they are all the way back home in New Zealand. I love the way they are all mismatched and being given a new lease of live with their sinful labels and random saucers. Probably more fitting to fill these cups with Gin cocktails than sweet milky tea. Certainly enough to liven up any tea party.
They are by trixiedelicious and you can find her vandalised vintage china here on Etsy. Rad.
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Posted in Floral fantasy, Teapot love, Vintage
Tagged china, Etsy, Seven deadly sins, vintage
Like everyone else I hate Mondays. Loathe them. Tired, grumpy, meh. Weekend over, work blah. Heart’s really not in it. Luckily I am surrounded by nice things to cheer me up a bit.
1. Lovely blooms from Columbia Road Sunday flower markets. Ahhhh, lilacs and peonies – loooooovely.
2. Shelves full of shoes, books and tea cups…
3. And finally my Spongebob ukulele. No, I can’t play it. Nor have I really tried. But still it’s a nice prop. You can read more about my uke here.
Now it’s time for hula hoop class. That should make me much jollier. And by the time I get home it will almost be Tuesday. Even better.
Posted in Floral fantasy, Rambles, Teapot love
Tagged china, Flowers; Columbia Road, tea cups
Every boy needs a little blue teacup. No ugly, fugly chipped mugs of builders tea around here please. It’s bad enough that my housemates insist on buying horrendous, cheap mugs that I can’t even bear to put in the dishwasher. Ugh.
Little Blue
This delicate eggshell blue cup and saucer with silver trim is in perfect condition was a mere £8 from Vintage Heaven on Columbia Road. The photo doesn’t really do the colour justice. It is a much softer shade of blue in real life. The perfect present for the male in my life who thinks my teacup collection is out of control and that I should start selling them. Pfffffft.
Made in France
The stamp says it is made in France by Limoges - even though it would be more at home in 1950s America? I can’t help but wonder how it made it’s journey to East London and who owned it before. I hope it was an exciting journey and I hope it was loved. Dammit. I should’ve kept it.
