Collections 1

At last, some semblance of regularity in what I might post in the future, seeing as this is number one.... in a series.

Being a bit lazy always terribly busy doing other things, I don't always post pics of bits and pieces I've hauled back from junk markets, charity shops, and sometimes the roadside... so here are some recent finds.

 I totally adore old Quality Street tins, with this gorgeous pinky-lilac colour and the 101-Dalmations-era illustrations. Next time I'm at my dad's I'll look for the one I had back in the day - his house is a total time capsule, from 1957-1973. Furnished in the late 50s, and not significantly decorated since my mum moved out in 73. (She marked time until she could divorce him by taking out the frustration in papering whole rooms in a constant cycle of the latest patterns, and dad being a typical man just updates the electrical goodies and ignores the decor.) There'll be Some Serious Wallpaper Photos coming here, circa summertime. Come to think of it, I'd love to enlarge those prints onto canvas and put them on my walls!

No real idea about this one - it seems to be an hors d'oeuvre/condiments dish and I would imagine its late 60s, as there was a lot of paua shell knick knacks coming over from New Zealand at that time. My Grandma had the most fantastic tiered paua shell stand - probably for plants - that her brother got her, but my cousin nabbed it first! I've got some coasters and a tray up in the depths of the loft - time to resurrect them.

 And of course this ain't remotely vintage but its the nearest thing to a vintage phone I have at the moment ;)

It's Gonna Be A Bright, Bright, Bright, Sunshiney Day

It is so definitely spring! Blogland is alive with it, and I took a shortcut yesterday from the World of Work and walked past The Posh Houses... buds, and catkins, and shoots galore in the gardens. I have a hankering to buy some freesias today; tulips are gorgeous but they don't have a scent. Freesias, which we always used to buy on the way to my grandma's, are deliciously scented. Hell, I might even buy a tiny car-type hoover so I can keep the floors Properly Clean. (Don't tell anyone, but the henry's been up on the top floor since the christmas tree nicked its spot...)

Of course, I am already overjoyed by this morning's news that Jedward will be doing eurovision for Ireland. And that Colin and Justin are going to be on Let's Dance for comic relief. Oh, the aching sides I can feel coming on in the weeks to come, and the finger poised on the button to dial-a-vote for them all...

Some more sunny-colourification came our way yesterday in the form of itv's May The Best House Win. A former male model, now head to foot in yellow in Margate, with not only his own nude photos  splashed over every wall in his kitchen but with permanent christmas decorations everywhere. He was quite endearing, but couldn't stop himself bitching at the magnolia clunch walls in the minimalist's house.

Moving a notch up the colour spectrum, Mary Portas of the Tangerine Hair was on the back of some norf london estate agents this week. She mocked the bed-head look of their star salesman and got him to realise that while west may be the new south in terms of house-orientation, taking a good look at a property before trying to flog it was a better way to do these things. There are probably many fashionista blogs, from which we may learn how to source Ms P's exotically-patterned hosiery, but in the meantime here's some stripey legs:

We also liked the way a few notes of Bela Lugosi's Dead were slipped into the Andrew Graham-Dixon piece on Westminster Abbey on Thursday's eye candy that was the Culture Show. That'll be 17p in royalties then....