Car Booty

I had a very successful trip to the local car boot sale yesterday and thought I would share some of my finds with you. I found a beautiful hairbrush and clothes brush set with embroidered flowers, and this cream beaded purse and pearl choker necklace. I think the silver bowl would be a beautiful way to display flowers - I may keep that for a while and try it out.

  

I also found another gorgeous leather document case with a decorative front, some old photographs and a postcard book from Carcassonne. I love wood, so I couldn't resist this unusual candlestick - it's beautifully made and once the layers of dust were removed and a bit of beeswax applied it came back to life.

A set of wonderful shabby chic place mats in a minty green with bright roses and a silver 1960s/70s clutch bag that still had a ticket inside for a 1971 Ball.



Best of all though was this pencil sketch.

It caught my eye while passing the stall but it was in a dull looking frame and behind glass it looked like it was a probably a print. However, on looking closer I started to wonder whether it wasn't a sketch and it was so skilfully done I just had to have it. When I got it home and took the back off the frame I discovered that, sadly, someone had folded over the edges of the sketch at some point. Still, it would have been worse if the edges had been cut off! This close-up shows a little more of how the sketch was done. I particularly like the little figures under the archway that form the focal point of the picture.

There are two names written on the bottom but I can't tell whether one is the artist and one is the name of the place and if so which is which! If anyone looking at this has any idea please let me know.

The town looks Italian or French to me but I'm going to need to do some research on this as I'd love to know more about the artist and where this was made.

Altogether a very good trip out yesterday - and it didn't rain!

Happy Holiday Weekend!

If any of you live in England you'll probably appreciate a bright, sunny picture to cheer up your Bank Holiday Weekend. We've been sitting under a blanket of grey cloud for several weeks now and even going into May hasn't brought about any change. We're famous for talking about the weather in England - which isn't really surprising given its unpredictability. March was hot and sunny (most unusual), April was grey and wet (instead of sunny and showery) and May has so far been chilly and damp (instead of sunny and warm) and is apparently likely to remain that way.

Mind you, we needed some rain - we had already been told that hose pipes were banned in many parts of the country and the drought that has brought our rivers and reservoirs very low looked like continuing. So as much as I dislike the grey skies, the rain was much needed and is bringing out the beautiful fresh new leaves on the trees and encouraging the grass to sprout lush and green. Even if it rains for the whole of May, we will still need a steady drizzle throughout the summer to end the drought. Whatever we have coming - I hope you enjoy some photographs of sunflowers that I took last summer to remind you of the colour of sunshine. Have a happy weekend!