Charity shop find

Isn't this a pretty little dish!  Simple, but lovely colours.

It is Burleigh Ware made in Burselm, England.  Burleigh were established in 1851 and I love the little logo on the reverse of the dish.  Does anyone have any idea what the words under Burleigh Ware might read?

I found it in a charity shop and just had to rescue it!

Have a lovely, relaxing Sunday.

Love, Liz

Old kitchen friends

These kitchen appliances were given to me as wedding presents way back in the (late) 1970s.  They have only recently broken down, but I've been loath to part with them.  Somehow they are part of the fabric of my family life.  They have been well used and gave great service.

My mixer - wonder how many cakes and desserts this has helped to make?

Moulinex Blender - used to have a little tub thingy for grinding things - really useful and well used.  Check out the trendy orange trim!

Electric knife - remember them?  Also a Moulinex in cream and orange.  Great for cutting joints of meat.  Somehow I manage with an ordinary knife now!

These old friends, now 40 years old, are off to the tip.  Funnily enough, as I was taking these photographs the song that was playing on the radio was "I'll stand by you" by the Pretenders.  Dear reader, I will admit that I had a wee tear in my eye - what an appropriate song!

Wonder if my replacements will last 40 years?  (I'll never know!)  What's your oldest kitchen appliance?
See if you can spot them in this photograph of my "show of presents" which I blogged about here!

Liz

Forgotten Royal Winton

It's amazing what you find when you clear out cupboards!

I had totally forgotten about this dish - how could I have done that!  It was one of the first vintage china pieces that I ever bought - many, many years ago.

It is a beautiful Royal Winton, Grimwades, Queen Anne dish (made in England).

I love the pattern - just like cross stitch.

I blogged about another dish I have in the same pattern here.  But I much prefer the shape of this dish.

It is now where it belongs - displayed on my dining room Welsh dresser.

Perhaps one day I will get around to making an actual cross stitch piece from this pattern!
Liz

Dear Diary

One of the things I used to love about New Year's Day was that I could start my new diary!  When I was young, I always got a Girl Guide Diary every year in my Christmas stocking.  (I can't believe it is 50 years since I got these!)

I always thought it was bad luck to write anything in it before the first of January, so that's when I would start filling in all my family's birthdays, even the dog's and then start off full of good intentions about filling it in every day.

The great thing about the Guide Diary was that there were lots of other little interesting bits and pieces too.  These pages show the bird and wild flowers I'd seen.

This takes me back - favourite songs from 1968!  Remember having to learn the Guide Promise, Motto and Law?

Reading through these has been a real nostalgia trip!  Good luck if you are intending to keep a diary or journal this year!

Liz

The comfort of knitting

I'd forgotten just how comforting and relaxing knitting could be.

I started this scarf in January - then put it away unfinished.  Yesterday I looked it out, surprised at how little I had accomplished before I gave up.  I haven't done any knitting since then.  But that has changed!  Sitting this morning in the quiet - just knitting, it occurred to me how peaceful and relaxed I felt. 

My worries, thoughts, dreams, anxieties were all being knit into this scarf, leaving me somehow comforted and feeling much more relaxed.  I had forgotten the peace that comes with creating.  The scarf is far from perfect - just like my life.  But both are works in progress! 

Liz

Reflections

Gosh, it has been a long time since I even looked at this blog!

I've missed catching up with everyone and hearing about other people's lives.

I've not even been busy crafting or searching out vintage goodies!

Good time to change!  I'm now looking forward to getting back into my knitting and crochet and and will enjoy visiting some blogging friends.
Liz

Luss, Loch Lomond

Had a fabulous trip to the village of Luss on the bonnie banks of Loch Lomond last week and the sun was shining!

It is the most beautiful setting, no matter what time of year you visit.  The village has a variety of little shops and cafes as well as some lovely views across the Loch.  If you think the place looks familiar - the Scottish soap opera "Take the High Road" was filmed there!

We had lunch at the Loch Lomond Arms Hotel - the food was fabulous.  The interior is wonderfully decorated - full of great vintage bits and pieces to look at.

If you are planning a holiday in Scotland, Luss is a great place to visit.  Find out more here.

Love, Liz

Cute cottage cross stitch

This is a cute cross stitch cottage which I finished a wee while ago.

I set it in some pretty fabric to make a wall hanging.

Love the simplicity of it.

Hope you are all well and enjoying the first signs of spring!

Love, Liz

I still love Time Team

Ok, there I've said it!  I absolutely love Time Team - do you remember it?

It was a fabulous programme about archaeology presented by Tony Robinson and had a wonderful cast of clever, intelligent archaeologists and historians and for my family it was must-see TV.  We even joined the Time Team Club and got little pin badges to wear.  I'm still watching the repeats on channel More 4 - there are two a day on at the moment- some I remember well, some I'd forgotten. The great thing is that I still learn something new each time I watch.  I've been interested in archaeology since I was a young girl, but was laughed at when I told the school careers adviser that's what I wanted to be.  It didn't dampen my interest, I still love reading about digs and finds.  There's a great site called Dig Ventures which is all about digs taking place and Raksha from Time Team is one of the archaeologists involved.

Time Team used to be shown on Channel 4 on Sunday evenings and I would make sure that we had finished our tea and the dishes were all done before we sat down to watch together.  My sons were young at the time, but I do think it gave them a love of history.  I happened to mention to my elder son that I was watching it again and, even although he has a family of his own now, he said that he remembered us all watching it together on Sunday evenings.

I do think that most of its success was down to the wonderful people who worked on the show - they never talked down or patronised.  (Nor did they repeat themselves like so many documentary shows now which drive me mad with their repetition - do they think we are all idiots?)  Time Team was intelligent TV.  I loved the late Mick Aston, Phil Harding and his digging, Carenza Lewis, Stuart the landscape guy, John geophys and all the other wonderful, cheery and knowledgeable workers on the programme.  The illustrations by Victor Ambrus were always a great way seeing how things would have looked in the past.  It is a shame that the last series or so seemed to show less archaeology and were sort of "dumbed down".  But for me it was a fabulous, intelligent and interesting programme, and do you remember ... they only had three days to do it!

Love, Liz

Red, white and blue knitting

I've gone a bit majestic for my latest knitted tea cosy.

Red, white and blue in honour of Her Majesty the Queen.

Quite jolly isn't it?

It is for sale, so email me if you would like details.

Love, Liz
If you love the Hornblower novels, you might like the latest blog post on The Greenockian - espionage, and imprisonment during the Napoleonic Wars!

Queen Victoria close up

These are just some of the amazingly intricate details from the statue of Queen Victoria by William Silver Frith (1860 - 1934) which stands at the top of the Doulton Fountain.  It was sculpted as a celebration of Victoria's golden jubilee.  The fountain is sometimes called the Victoria Fountain.

The Doulton Fountain is just outside the People's Palace in Glasgow.  Originally it was situated in Kelvingrove Park as part of the International Exhibition of 1888 and later gifted to the city by Sir Henry Doulton (you may have heard of Doulton Pottery).

The fountain itself was designed by Arthur Ernest  Pearce (1859 - 1934) who worked for the Doulton Company.  It has lots of other beautiful sculpture and it is hard to believe that the fountain was almost destroyed by vandals in the 1990s before it was moved to its present position. 

You can read more about this amazing fountain at Glasgow - City of Sculpture.

Love, Liz

It's the Polis!

Got another fabulous vintage Ladybird Book from my collection to show you today.  It is The Policeman from 1962 and how much of a different world does this show!  Look at those old traffic signs in the background.

Personally I think these uniforms are so much smarter, but where on earth would the modern police officer keep all their kit?

The book comes from Ladybird's Easy Reading, People at Work Series by L & J Havenhand with illustrations by John Berry.  Published by Wills & Hepworth Ltd, Loughborough, England in 1962.

Traffic duty wearing a white coat - the neon of the day!

Hope you've enjoyed this wee trip back to the 60s.

Love, Liz