Pies and Wardrobes

Hi all

The pie was fab-u-lous. Sorry about the rather awful photo but I snapped this quickly while we were both drooling in anticipation of PIE.

It was very easy to make. I used ready-made pastry to save on time and the addition of big juicy blackberries with the apple was a definite success. My pie dish isn't very deep so there was enough of the filling mix left over to fill two large ramekins and top them off with a circle of pastry. The cinnamon topping was delicious and, although there didn't seem to be much of it when I crumbled it on, it did spread and cover the top of the pie during cooking. I left the sides rustic, rather than crimped, but probably should have brushed them with a little egg or milk too. All in all, it was a great success and no doubt we will be making this again.

I went back to check out those beautiful 1950s wardrobes today and they are on their way! I couldn't pass up the chance of having the matching dressing table too - so crossing everything that they will all fit in the bedroom. There are two matching wardrobes and a lovely mirrored dressing table, all in honey coloured wood, with pretty glass knobs. 

I'm all set for starting my new job - clothes are pressed, new notebook and pen packed ready, nerves on edge. Tomorrow we are having a day off from unpacking - the choice of where we go is all mine so I just need to decide now ...

Take care people,

Melanie

Rose Cottage

Hi all

I'm writing this in the kitchen of our new home. It's been a mammoth week and every part of me aches but we've made it here at last. As usual I underestimated the quantity of possessions we (primarily 'I') own but we made sure that our most precious items weren't left behind...

We had to make several trips between Basingstoke and Bath in the end. 

And Leigh had to murder our old sofa ... which was too unsafe for even the charity shop to take. This was the only way we could get it out of the house without taking off the front door!

We've spent the last two days unpacking and still have rather a long way to go. Leigh will be alphabetising the CDs and books - I do believe he loves moving just so that he can do this (!) I will continue to try and squeeze everything into the kitchen although I don't understand how I can have a kitchen twice the size of my last one but still not have room for everything. Where did it all go?

Having said that - I saw a sign today for an undercover car boot sale that starts in October. That's going to be impossible to resist so I'm going to need to organise the spare room pronto to justify bringing any more stuff into the house. 

We're already tried our local chippy - that was our first supper here. It's within walking distance of our new home (if our legs weren't hurting so much) and the fish and chips were not bad at all. We've also tried a local curry house but we have several more to try until we can choose 'the one'. The choice of 'the one' is based on the quality of the Chicken Dhansak (my husband's favourite) and may take some time and a lot of testing. Once chosen 'the one' will be used frequently and it won't matter too much how far we have to travel. We used to drive through snow and ice to get a curry when we lived in North Yorkshire - nothing will get in the way of my man and his favourite curry house.

We're so happy to be here at last - it hasn't quite sunk in. The rooms are light - which is brilliant as our last place was like a cave and we needed lights on at all times of day. We can watch the sun setting from the room at the back of the house too - and it's so quiet. No noisy trains passing in the middle of the night. We have so much more space than before - it feels quite odd though that we can sit in different rooms. We keep checking whether the other one is OK.

It is weirdly appropriate that our front door is emblazoned with a rose - so we have named the place Rose Cottage. It's not really a cottage (more of a bungalow) but it makes the place sound cozy and couldn't be more fitting for our English Rose HQ.

We still have a ton of things to do here. We spotted some lovely 1950s wardrobes in a thrift shop nearby but unfortunately it wasn't open so we will have to go back tomorrow and check if they are the right size. There's also a beautiful dressing table as part of the set - I'm seriously wondering whether the bedroom will look too full if we get that too.

We've already invested in a new sofa from Ikea - after years of second hand ones we thought this would be our main treat. We've also picked up an Ercol coffee table on Ebay that looks great with my Nan's old display cabinet. It can be hard to feel very inspired about rental homes but I'm hoping that I can create the kind of home we wish for even though we're limited to what we can do here. 

My next task though is to make this Sour Cream and Apple pie. I'm going to add some blackberries too as there are so many around at the moment. Fingers crossed it will taste as phenomenal as it looks.

I have two more days at home before I start my new job. Time to find my work clothes and try to get my mind in the right place. I have lots of plans for the future and look forward to sharing them with you...

Take care folks

Melanie

English Rose

From B to B

Hi all

Things have been a little quiet on the blog for a while and I've temporarily shut down my English Rose Vintage Etsy shop - but there's a good reason for this - I've got a new job in Bath and we're moving house! Bath is such a beautiful city - we really can't wait to get over there. It also has great associations for us as we took our honeymoon there back in 2000. So life has consisted of packing boxes and bubble wrap for the last few weeks and there's been lots of driving back and forth between Basingstoke and Bath.

We're going to have much more space than we do now and I have lots of plans. I've even been making scaled drawings of the rooms on squared paper and moving around little paper versions of our furniture. Does anyone else do this - my husband thinks I'm hilarious! I find myself lying awake at night, not worrying about the new job or the move, but planning cushion covers, colour schemes and furniture restorations.

Just a few miles from our new home is the fantastic Glove Factory Cafe in Holt. I can see this becoming a firm favourite.

The food is amazing and I love the colourful origami bird mobiles. Next time we go I will even think to take some pictures of the food - I'm afraid I was so hungry and it was so delicious I'd eaten it before it occurred to me. The old factory buildings in Holt are fabulous too.

I'm planning a relaunch of the shop once we are a bit more settled and I can find everything again. I have plans for a new banner and logo - which will depend a lot on learning a new skill - more on that later! I must get off now and do some more tidying and packing. 

Aren't these little fellows adorable?

I saw them under the sink in the cafe loos

they look so sad and forlorn

I may have to go back and rescue some ...

Bye bye peeps,

Take care

Victorian Calligraphy

Hi again!

I thought I would quickly share with you this Victorian (1878) legal document that I've just listed in the English Rose Vintage shop.

It's quite a beauty! Three very large pages (about 26 x 21 inches) of lovely calligraphy on vellum including signatures and various seals and stamps.

The pages are still joined at the bottom by fabric ties, held in place on the front with red wax seals. It would be relatively simple to separate the sheets so that they could be framed separately. There seems to be plenty of information online about taking creases out of vellum, although I've never tried this myself. I'd be interested to know if anyone has done this.

The document relates to a Mortgage of property in Marylebone (then in Middlesex) on behalf of Mr Frederick Mark and Messrs Constable Curtis and Frederick S Clarkson. It is for £1,500, which would have been a very considerable sum in the Victorian era. I had a lot of fun trying to find these characters online and managed to trace some information regarding the Constable Curtis family as that is such a distinctive name. There is a record of a Constable Curtis who died on 30th March 1909 at The Hall, Great Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire. He was a retired Captain of the 12th Royal Lancers and left the huge sum of c. £59,000 in his estate. I think this is the same person, as the Mortgage was witnessed by Edward Constable Curtis (Gentleman), Constable's eldest son.

A fascinating piece of history that I think would look wonderful mounted into antique frames. There are also endless possibilities for scanning the document and using this gorgeous calligraphy in crafting projects such as decoupage.

I'm planning another treasure hunt tomorrow morning so there will be no lie-in for me this Sunday! 

Whatever you're up to this weekend, have a happy time,

M 

Very Juicy

Howdy peeps!

I'm going to be listing some new treasures in the shop over the coming weeks so here's a sneaky look at something new in the English Rose Vintage shop today. It's 8.00am and I've done something useful already today - woo hoo!

This little ceramic citrus juicer has tiny little bunches of purple flowers on the inside and 'A Present from Evesham' in gold lettering on the outside. 

It's quite a delicate little juicer, at just over 3" across, and is perfect for gently squeezing lemon on a fillet of fish or squeezing a little lemon in your tea.

I'm hoping to get out to do some more treasure hunting this weekend - hope this gorgeous weather keeps up a little longer!

Take care

M

Love Sardinia

Howdy peeps!

We've just returned from two weeks on the sunny Mediterranean island of Sardinia exploring the archaeological sites, lazing on the beautiful beaches, eating the local delicacies and supping cocktails in floor length summer dresses (me, not my husband).

Such a stunning island and so much to see and do - I would highly recommend it! 

I've also been a busy bee updating the About page on my English Rose Vintage Etsy shop and would love to know what you think about it. You can take a look at the new page here. Feedback is most welcome!

Take care,
M

Heaven Scent

One of my favourite luxuries is perfume and I have quite a few scents that I use according to my mood. I am a big fan of Jo Malone colognes - they are divided into Citrus, Fruity, Light Floral, Floral, Spicy and Woody fragrances and the idea is to mix and match them to create your own favourite combination. I still have some of my first bottle of Orange Blossom Cologne I bought 10 years ago - now that's pretty good value! I love the way that a scent can capture a moment and preserve that memory. I bought the Orange Blossom cologne - a heady floral fragrance - at the beginning of a trip across America with my husband and first wore it on Cape Cod. I can remember my husband commenting that morning that Cape Cod smelled beautiful! I hated to point out that I'd just been spraying Orange Blossom all over myself but now, every time I use it, we're taken back to that very happy time.

I've since added Wild Fig and Cassis (warm, sensual and good for 'grounding' a floral scent), English Pear and Freesia (sweet, summery and warm), and Lime, Basil and Mandarin (spicy, fruity, unisex scent that always gets comments when I wear it) to my collection and the Blackberry and Bay is on my wish list.

I'm hooked on combining scents now and I've found that another firm favourite of mine, Mitsouko by Guerlain, smells divine when mixed with Wild Fig and Cassis. Probably not what Jacques Guerlain had in mind when he created it!

Although some perfume bottles are gorgeous in themselves, I do like to decant perfumes into little cut glass or unusual bottles when I can. This tiny green bottle has a small glass stopper that can be used to dab a drop of pure perfume behind the ear or onto the decolletage. Very decadent.

At the moment my little green bottle holds the smallest drop of L'Air du Desert Marocain by Tauer. A very intriguing perfume that I recently bought a sample of. It's probably not for everyone - not at all floral or feminine but dry, woody and spicy, with some initial top notes of piney resin (or toilet cleaner according to my husband). Not that we don't both like it - there's something a bit addictive about it and Tauer has captured that dry, desert air combined with the rich spicy smell you get from Moroccan Thuja wood - heavenly! It also seems to go rather well with a drop of the Orange Blossom. I will definitely be trying some more of Tauer perfumes in future.

 

What's your favourite perfume and do you combine?