Saturday 9 May 2020

Collectors' Lot

As April stepped aside for May, the world kept holding its breath for what this month's got in store. 

Weather-wise, Spring had temporarily packed up its bags and left us, turning down the thermostat several degrees and, while we were still treated to the odd sunny spell, intermittent showers were the order of the day. And while these might have put a damper on things for us, they were no doubt welcomed with open arms by our thirsty gardens. 



The cooler temperatures meant that I was back in the opaques I thought I'd left behind until October, choosing a green pair to match the leaves in my black frock printed with poppy-esque flowers.

Even with its three quarter sleeves, it was still far too chilly to go it alone, so that I added a green cardi when I stepped outside between showers.

A green beaded necklace, embroidered flower brooch and hessian belt were my accessories on that first day of May.



Before another shower drove us back indoors, I removed the spent flowers from the tête-à-tête daffs and put the bulbs with their foliage in an out-of-the-way corner, to die down and absorb its nutrients for next year. I'm determined to plant them out in the garden come Autumn.

In the space they'd vacated, I temporarily plonked down some of the plants we'd acquired at the garden centre, to be potted up properly once the weather improves.  



Browsing the 7000 square metre garden centre, we were seduced into buying a strawberry plant in a hanging bucket. They are of a repeat fruiting variety and, although we don't expect to be getting masses of fruit from it, we are looking forward to adding some homegrown strawberries to our breakfast fruit salad now and then.



Just before sundown, a heavy but sunlit shower prompted me to take out my camera for some parting shots. No need to get out the watering can that evening!


Showers became even more prolific on Saturday and it was only by late afternoon that there was a break long enough to allow us to take some outfit photos.

It had been another long-sleeve day, on which I opted for a skirt and blouse, both having have made previous appearances in different guises on the blog. Both with my trademark floral prints, the skirt was a charity shop find, while I picked up the blouse at Think Twice in Bruges while on a day trip last September. A red vinyl belt and red beaded necklace completed my outfit. 



The sun did her best to bleach out any colour and make my face look pale as a ghost's, so we moved to a shadier spot in the garden. By that time, I'd added a hat to tame my unruly hair and a charity shopped King Louie cardigan, to which I pinned a butterfly brooch.

Lots of real butterflies - mainly cabbage whites - seem to be flitting around in our garden, as do different varieties of dragonflies and damselflies. I even had to rescue a poor damselfly which had got itself into a pickle in a cobweb under the awning. I had to rescue a bumblebee which had ended up on its back that very same day.



That day's rainy weather prompted a continuation of Operation Kitchen Cleaning, which has now been going on (and off) for several weeks. It's slow going, mainly because of my procrastination habits, in their turn caused by the fact that we have so much stuff! There, I've said it. I wouldn't want to have it any other way, I should add.

The next area on the agenda was the set of shallow shelves to the right of our big kitchen cupboard and it was my plan to not only clean them but rearrange them in the process. First, I freed up some space by moving the coffee pots on the top shelf to the dresser in the dining room.


The shelves themselves are collector's items in their own right. They are by Tomado, a Dutch kitchenware company founded in 1923. Dating from the 1950s, Tomado's lacquered metal shelves, often painted in the red-yellow-blue colours associated with the Dutch De Stijl movement, have become highly collectable.

The two shallow sets we have in our kitchen are so-called mini Tomado shelves and are even more sought after.



A view of the top three shelves after they were cleaned and re-organized. 

The top shelf now features a Lurpak toast rack (bottom left), which was a local flea market find, and a creamer (bottom right), bought in an antique shop in Cardigan. The set of 1930s swallow decorated canisters on the third shelf were a flea market find from this time last year. I do miss our monthly flea market trawls very much!


Proceeding to the bottom three shelves, where some new introductions include the Devon Blue Ware jug and teapot, which previously lived behind the glass doors of the central display part in the big cupboard. The eagle eyed among you may spot them in there in the picture of the original arrangement with the coffee pots.

The wooden beehives at the back are two piggy banks. Although neither of them is the original, there used to be a similar one at my paternal grandparents' house. The beehive at the front is a ceramic honey pot.


Here are some more close-ups for you to enjoy. The pale green tea set is vintage Fire King and the boxed egg wedger is part of our Tala kitchenware collection.


The beehives are joined by several chocolate moulds, one of them Bakelite, while the only remaining two of the seven dwarfs are part of a ceramic set belonging to my paternal grandparents. I loved playing with them when I was a child, which is why the rest of them died an untimely death!



The lower shelf holds a collection of Melitta coffee filter holders, the two regular sized ones on the left actually being used at Dove Cottage!


Hanging from tiny hooks from the side of the shelves is a small collection of 1970s keyrings. Again, they are not the originals I collected as a young girl, but picked up at flea markets in recent years.

Encouraged by my Dad, who custom made a rack for them, they were my very first collection in the early 1970s, when during a short period of time they were a craze and given as freebies with many products.

How cute is the tiny Samo crisps packet (Samo was a popular Belgian brand of crisps, or chips, at the time) and the diminutive bar of Lux soap!


I took the opportunity of the weather's continuing fickleness on Sunday by undertaking yet another kitchen project, which I'll tell you all about it in my next post.

But before I go, here's what I wore that day.

Yet another dress that has remained unworn for years is this vintage burgundy number from the Swedish Aspens label.



It has alternating bands of light and dark burgundy sprinkled with a squiggly print, which is denser on the darker bands. 

To accompany it, I chose an elastic woven belt with a round buckle, a long glass beaded necklace and a multicoloured stone brooch. The latter two were both holiday souvenirs, the necklace bought retail from a shop in Wantage, Oxfordshire in 2006 or 2007, while the brooch came from Carmarthen Flea Market, when we visited it back in 2015. Happy times!

Finally, here's another of my #coronahair solutions, a slightly stretchy scarf (they seem to work best) with a hair flower clipped to it.

That's it for now, do stay safe and sane, my friends!



50 comments:

  1. I like it you wearing a headband. You look amazing in all these colourful flower outfits Ann.
    And you have little strawberrys :) Our plant is dead maybee, no strawberrys this year. :(
    Your kitchen cleaning is a great project, you have so much collected vintage stuff.
    I wish you a wonderful sunday, a very huge hug Tina

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    1. Thank you much Tina! I quite like the hair bands, in fact, but I'll still be glad to be able to go to the hairdresser's :-) xxx

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  2. I've been enjoying your colorful and aesthetic world for some time now, yet have never thanked you for sharing it. Thank you!

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    1. Thank you so much for your lovely comment, Elizabeth, and I'm pleased to read you've been enjoying my posts! You're very welcome! xxx

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  3. I love your miniature keychains. I have some mini telephones from the same era, but nothing as interesting as yours. How have you resisted making brooches from them?

    The headbands really work for you. I have a stupidly shaped head and they just don't work.

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    1. It took me a while to get the headbands right, as I'm not used to wearing anything at all in my hair. As for making brooches, you've planted an idea alright ;-) xxx

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  4. your garden looks like a little paradise already with all the flowers!
    i better say nothing to all the knick-knack on those shelves..... ;-D
    lets talk about frocks! especially love the black, poppy decorated one - there is something romantic about bright flowers on black.
    hugsies! xxxxx

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    1. Thank you Beate, and yes, I too love a bright flower print on black. As you might have noticed, I also love knick-knacks :-) xxx

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  5. Dove Cottage's garden is looking splendid, you've certainly used your lockdown time wisely, it's a little oasis of colour and blooming beauty.
    I'm glad that lovely red dress finally got an outing, red really suits you (as does all colours!), the first frock is a delight and the print on your skirt is divine.
    I do look a little peep at your marvellously curated collections. Love the Tomado shelving, they remind me of the much sought after Ladderax systems many a mid-century interior fan would kill for! The vintage swallow tins are my favourite things as well as the mini Pheobe sandwiched between them!
    Yo're getting so good with your lockdown hair do's! xxx

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    1. Thank you Vix, the lockdown has certainly been to our garden's advantage. Jos and I were telling each other just this morning how far we've come along in those two months. You can't believe the mess it was before. xxx

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  6. Flowers, flowers everywhere. Your kitchen is a museum. I love it. Stay safe and sound (body and mind), xxx Regula

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  7. Interesting how that first floral dress looks a bit like cherry print patterned dress from afar,maybe it is the arrangement of flowers, it resembles cherries. I do like how the flowers opo against the darker background. I have one navy floral dress that I must have worn to bits by now. Anyhow, I like how you paired that floral dress with a green cardi and tights. Very pretty styling.

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    1. Thank you Ivana, I never noticed that about the cherry print, but now that I've had another look, I think you are right! xxx

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  8. I like your skirt and blouse matching. The colours are different but somehow these two look perfect together. I like the red cardi you paired with it. Your hair styling ideas are lovely. I often braid mine in these times and I don't plan to visit a hair salon anytime soon. I'm letting it grow.

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    1. I sometimes wish my hair was long like yours, so that I could braid it! xxx

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  9. Your garden looks lovely. I see your hard work has payed off. Have a nice weekend ahead.

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  10. p.s The burgundy vintage dress is gorgeous and I like your corona hair solution.
    Cute keyrings.

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  11. I really like that burgundy dress on you and I like the scarf in your hair too! :) It's nice you are able to make the most of your time in lockdown and get so many things organised! your keyring collection is the cutest :)

    Hope that you have had a good weekend! We had a picnic on Saturday taking advantage of the relaxed restrictions, and then had a lovely Mother's Day :)

    Away From Blue

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    1. Thank you Mica! I'd love to go on a picnic, but I'm not sure it's allowed yet over here. We can walk but cannot sit down in our parks here! xxx

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  12. Hello Ann. Your garden is looking lovely with your new additions. I hope you get lots of strawberries. They're delicious when home grown. And white butterflies everywhere here too!

    Am loving more of a sneak peek into your kitchen. Those beehives are irresistible! I have seen many of them on my treasure hunts in various styles, but yours are my favourite. It'll be one of the first things I look for next time we're allowed to treasure hunt.

    Gosh you have some gorgeous outfits! The first two are absolutely brilliant. Now I am off to try this headband thing too .......

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    1. Thank you Suzy! Those beehive piggy banks are a flashback to childhood for me, so I couldn't resist buying them. Good luck with the headbands! xxx

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  13. Your beautiful floral frocks and separates continue to be so cheery - that second outfit with the hat is just stunning! The bits of red are wonderful in it.

    How lovely to have a hanging basket with endlessly re-growing strawberries! I'm so envious!

    I love seeing all your collectibles in your kitchen. Don't you love it when something you've collected becomes valuable? That always gives me a thrill. Sigh, I miss thrift shopping too!

    Your headband looks awesome! The flower is so pretty. I hope you and Jos and Phoebe had a good weekend!

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    1. Thank you Sheila! It's Jos's job to water the strawberries, so I'm not sure how long they will actually last. I had to remind him a couple of times already! I'd been using those flower clips as corsages, so I was really lucky to already have quite a collection of them! xxx

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  14. Other then your outfits ands accessories, you also have a amazing collection in your home! Those keyrings are amazing! And the pale green teaset is so beautiful! I am a sucker for gorgeous colored teasets. I have this gorgeous lilac ones. Bought when I was 19, Just living on my own, no money to spend, but I had to have this set! Such gorgeous color, couldn t resist. I never drank from it because the shape doesn t drink fine, but I adore the set.

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    1. I'd love to see that lilac tea set some time! I wish I had more of the pale blue, but they're very hard to find for reasonable prices. The pieces I've got were all from charity shops and were very cheap. xxx

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  15. Your garden looks wonderful and full of colour, which you complement perfectly in your outfits.
    I do love kitchenalia, the shelves look like a treasure trove, a feast for the eyes.
    The hair designs are suiting you, they look very bohemian. You've found the perfect lockdown hair solution Ann. xxx

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    1. Thank you Sally. I love having all my collected treasures on display, but it's quite a job keeping it all clean! I do love a Bohemian look, so thanks for that! xxx

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  16. I absolutely love your swallow tins; they're beautiful! All the kitchenalia is lovely and what a brilliant collection you've built up!

    The only thing I've ever collected as a child were miniature things which I called 'treasures' and kept in a cigar box and books. I only started collecting things as an adult but you clearly started much earlier.

    Loved the colourful outfits and the fab accessories.

    Take care
    xxx

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    1. Thank you Vronni. I love those swallow tins too, and they were such a bargain to boot. My Dad tried to get me to collect stamps, but I wasn't interested. The keyrings were the first thing I collected, but as you'll have gathered, by no means the last! xxx

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  17. I love your posts. They're always so cheerful and full of color. Those shelves are fabulous. Wish I could find some for my kitchen. But I imagine they'd be extremely rare in the US. Enjoyed seeing all your adorable vintage kitchenware displays. They're presented beautifully.

    Theresa

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    1. Thank you so much for your comment Theresa! Lovely to hear from you. Yes, I do imagine these shelves would be very rare in the U.S., but I'm sure there must be something similar over there. xxx

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  18. Corona Hair solutions! Love it!
    I love seeing your beautiful china collections! So cool and the keyrings are beautiful!!!
    Your green tights match that cardigan perfectly! I can't bring myself to wear tights. I have to say though that I am wearing a fleece jumper over the top of my more delicate kimono top! Ahrgh!
    I do hope you get some strawberries. I've got a whole load of strawberry plants from previous years in a bed but last yeear, I bought an Alpine strawberry and I put it in my old hanging basket and I really did get loads of them!
    We got a lovely surprise last week when a Lemon tree arrived with a courier- it was a late birthday present for Chris!x

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    1. Thank you Kezzie! I actually love wearing tights, and have to wean myself of them each Summer. How lovely for Chris to get a lemon tree! xxx

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  19. Firstly, I do love your dark floral dress, the fab color combo and green cardi and tights matchiness!
    Love your collages, the flowers, the details in your garden, and your creativity picking those pictures!.
    Love to see you rocking in your 'trademark floral prints'!, and looking gorgeous!. Those colors put a smile on my face!
    And I'm admiring your kitchen colorful details and fabulous collections: the swallow canisters, the Melitta coffee filter holders with their classic and remarkable design! and the keyholders collection which made me feel a pinch of nostalgia. I remember them well! and they are so cute, the tiny bar of soap is fab!
    And love that you're making the most of headscarves and looking so elegant and cool!. Love your burgundy dress too, such a rich color!
    besos

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    1. I'm so happy that I was able to put a smile on your face, Monica. Your comments are always a pleasure to read too! xxx

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  20. Goodness, do I adore your Coronahair solution. So fun, stylish and cute, to boot.

    And speaking of cute things, I'm smitten with your charming beehive collection. It's buzzing with whimsy and loveliness! :)

    Oodles of hugs,
    Autumn Zenith 🎃 Witchcrafted Life

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  21. That first outfit is so pretty, Ann! I love that dress! It looks fabulous with those tights! I do enjoy seeing photos of your treasures. You have such an amazing collection of wonderful wares! Take care, Ann! XXX

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  22. What a gorgeous floral brooch Ann. Anything embroidered catches my eye at the moment.

    The hanging pot plants are looking fantastic, and adding some homegrown strawberries to your breakfasts sounds delicious.

    I loved seeing your shelves and all the collectibles it holds. The ceramic honey pot is endearing!
    Oh yes, the 70s key rings are so cute- I’ve never seen vintage key rings like that before! Also your red dress is stunning. Hope you’re having a lovely weekend. X

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    1. Thank you Jess! I've got quite a few of these embroidered brooches. They're tiny works of art, aren't they? xxx

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  23. I love your swallow tins what a fabulous find. I seem to remember similar keyrings form when I was young, I'm pretty sure I had some, but it may have been from trips to Germany rather than here in the UK.

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    1. Thank you Gisela! The keyring thing was big here in the 1970s, perhaps in Germany as well? xxx

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  24. I always enjoy just pottering about in the garden pulling the occasional strawberry off the plant. They're best like that! Hanging them up is a good plan; the woodlice eat mine if I'm not careful.

    I love your shelves. You have such fascinating things in your collection. Every single one has a story.

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    1. Pottering in the garden is one of my favourite things to do. Deadheading is the perfect stress reducer after a hectic day at work too! xxx

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