Utter clutter

I live in a small terraced house built in the 1930s, which we call “Dove Cottage” as the street we live in translates as “Dove Street”.

Dove cottage was originally a two up two down, which was later extended with a kitchen and bathroom downstairs.

Although the house is big enough for the two of us, it is the accumulated clutter which at times makes it feel a little cramped.

We do have a big basement, as well as a built-in cupboard over the stairs, both of which we’ve been promising ourselves to sort out for years. But although once in a while we bag up some things for the charity shop, we have only been making small dents in the job at hand.

As I am quite orderly and organized, things are not looking too cluttered, but minimalist it certainly isn't!

The Easter weekend would have been a great opportunity for a clear out, but what did we do? Yes, that's right: we succumbed to the lure of two charity shops and one flea market and came home with yet more stuff ...

This was what we got at the charity shop on Friday.

This jam pot in a brown plastic holder with pretty flower decoration is from Emsa, a German company who have produced plastic tableware since the 1940s.




This one dates from the 1970s and as we already have several items of the same design and the price was right, it would have been quite foolish to leave it behind.






I also found several vintage strings of beads, shown here by the lovely Angelica, a brown felted hat and a handmade 1950s style dress which is a perfect fit.

The charity shop we went to is one of the few that have a coffee corner, where you can get a free cup of coffee. Nice, isn’t it? And what do you think of that wall decoration, shown in the top right picture?

Saturday's charity shopping trip yielded these two boxes, which originally held cutlery. I am using them to store my ever-expanding collection of brooches.

There was a red and white Karelia dress waiting for me on the clothing rail and as it was only € 4 I just had to snap it up.

On Sunday, we were at a bit of a loose end, as our original plans for the day were cancelled.
As luck would have it, there was an indoor flea market in a nearby town, so that is what we did instead.

This particular flea market is held every month from September to June, and here’s a small impression:

So, what did we find? In spite of the myriad of things on offer, we restrained ourselves and only came away with a few bits and pieces.

A volume of 1963 magazines, which is covering the murder of John F. Kennedy in its November issue.

A pretty sewing basket and some more vintage brooches, and last but not least, these cute little deer!




















To finish this picture-heavy post, I would like to share the inspiration for its title: an "utterly" divine shop in Leominster, Herefordshire!

So, what will the next weekend bring?