Leave your cares in the parking lot

What with all my daydreaming about our upcoming holiday in Wales, I completely forgot to tell you what we did on Sunday before last!

So, what did we do? No prices for guessing: we went to a flea market!

It was our last indoor market of the season (the last one is in June, but we'll be in Wales then), and in spite of the time of year, there were quite a few interesting stalls, which I was especially glad of, since we'd taken along our friend Inez for the very first time.

Dipping again into my spring wardrobe, I chose a forest green Diolen dress with a - surprise! - floral print, in orange, light green, white and beige.

There's something to be said for having two distinctly different seasons, as you get to choose from a fresh set of clothes every six months!

The dress was one of my last buys from a sorely missed vintage shop which closed down last June.

The brooch is one of my oldest, in terms of ownership, and came from H&M, and the ochre beads were from Think Twice.

Sadly, the string broke when we were getting out of the car, scattering beads everywhere. I think I was able to retrieve most of them, so all I need now is replacement string and the patience of a saint. The latter will be the most problematic, I'm sure.

The sun played hide-and-seek for most of the day, so that we were happy to be inside but, although I started out wearing both my orange leather jacket and a cardigan, it turned out too warm for both, so I wisely removed the latter before leaving the car.

Almost immediately upon entering the venue, I spotted some vintage lime green beads, which I wore as a replacement.

I was lucky enough to find two more strings of green beads - not an easy colour to find - as well as a vintage pair of clip-on daisy earrings.

This delicate brooch, which was made in France (and bought from a nice French speaking lady), features a lady walking along the beach, carrying a basket and wearing clothes fashioned from real fabric.

We happily browsed and browsed, pausing to chat with some of the sellers, and marveling at some of the unusual objects for sale, as there are, a Princess Diana paper dress-up doll (left) and a clever device designed for ironing ties (right).

This cute little Scottie dog bookend, which had sadly lost its twin, came home with us, and is now playing with the other dog ornaments which live on top of our 1930s display cabinet, watched by the haughty Idina, named after Idina Sackville as I think she is kind of a lookalike.

There was a huge stall with an eye-catching display of kitchenalia, trying to lure us into making an impulse buy. We did keep our cool though, as space in Dove Cottage's kitchen is at a premium.

Our next find was this colourful little plaque of a Mexican boy, happily shaking his maracas, another addition for our by now unstoppable collection of head plaques adorning the mantlepiece and wall of our blue room.

The owner has promised us first dibs at another wall plaque, which she will bring along for our next visit in September.

Further purchases were, clockwise from top left: green embossed tumbler, to be used in our bathroom as a toothbrush holder (two for € 1,-), porcelain light fitting (one of Jos's foibles), daisy embossed mug (€ 0,50), which I'm using for my morning and evening cup of tea, and two classic Belgian comics.

Then there was this OXO cup and saucer set. Although it's not unusual to find OXO cups and mugs from different eras, this is the first one I've come across complete with its saucer.

I was particularly enchanted by this delightful blue toy washbasin, complete with accessories, which I would have loved to have played with as a child.

Our last purchase were these old Belgian 5 Francs pieces which, although I remember them from my youth, became obsolete long before the introduction of the Euro.

Obviously, they aren't worth anything, so you will probably be mystified why we have been buying these.

Well, here's the reason:

Jos was given this vintage parking meter by a friend. It dates from the late 1950s, early 1960s, and in its former life it lived on the streets of Antwerp.

Pre-dating Pay and Display, you could turn the dial for 10 minutes' free parking, while 5 Belgian Francs (the equivalent of about € 0,12) paid for 30 minutes' parking.

Those were the days!

In spite of suggestions of putting it in front of our house as a nice little earner (it takes € 0,50 which are approximately the same size!), it will somehow find a home in our garden!

I will keep you posted!