Dainty Doilies

On a cold, wet morning, mum and I rugged up and drove the ten miles or so to Y Fali car boot sale in search of ribbons and vintage beauty.  Would we return home empty handed? Only one way to find out!

While the rest of the country seems to be getting a fair sprinkling of snow, we had to make do with rain and the odd hail storm.  The beauty of the mountains kept us company on our short journey and the biting cold reminded us from where it came!

Rain hung in the air when we arrived but there were still quite a few stalls out with their intrepid owners well wrapped up against the elements, drinking steaming mugs of coffee and devouring huge beef burgers that made my tummy rumble with hunger.  The first stall we came to was owned by a lovely lady who is ploughing her way through years of accumulated fabrics, yarns and ribbons and offering them for sale to any lucky soul who happened to find the exact treasure hidden in her 'shop'.  I was one such person.  I unearthed   several pretty tapes and embroidered ribbons for my collection, always with a purpose in mind, of course!

I absolutely love, love, love the apricot flower ribbon and the blue embroidered tape in this picture.  They make me very happy indeed.  Just as we were leaving, I noticed a basket full of rolls of beautiful paper, just right for some paper cutting I have in mind.  So I bought two rolls.  They were 50p each.

Absolutely gorgeous.  Fuelled by my early success, we moved on to the next self-contained shop, which was a haven for all vintage lovers.  Owned by a lady who writes the blog 'Anglesey Allsorts', it is filled to the rafters with vintage buttons, lace, clothing, silk scarves, patterns and all manner of covetable items in between.  I spotted a little china bowl filled with crocheted doilies.  You may remember my recent love of doilies, so this was a splendid find and my eyes were the size of dinner plates with excitement.  Oh sad little person that I am!  I chose one and asked how much it was.  The answer?  Fifty pence for two.  What?  Mum chose 3 more for me and we came away clutching our purchases (mum bought a tiny teddy with movable limbs).

By this time my feet were like blocks of ice and my fingers so numb I could hardly get my money out of my purse.  A tragedy indeed.  One last little item to purchase before the heavens opened was a Ladybird book on British Birds.  Some little child had scribbled on the cover, but I love old Ladybird books and as the kind man was only asking 25p for it, I brought it home with me.  Looking through it later on, bought back unexpected memories.  I knew these gorgeous pictures so well.  I had spent many of my childhood hours staring at them.  I can only conclude that I must have, at some point in my life, owned a copy of this exact book.  That made it extra special and I am really pleased to have it sit alongside my other Ladybird books on top of the piano.

Love it!

A bit later on once I had dropped mum at home, had a coffee and a chat with dad, (always an experience as dad is a very intelligent man, with a dry sense of humour, who loves nothing better than teasing me and then having a good laugh at my expense.  Bless him.), I set about making some pillar candles.

I don't know what it is about this process, but I find it all very satisfying.  I am brimming over with ideas that I am looking forward to sharing with you in the near future!

The weather man keeps talking of lots of snow to come for Wales, but we will have to wait and see if it arrives on the island.  I am a bit worried about it now though and have gone off the whole idea of being snowed in, on account of the lambs being born in the fields around us.  Fortunately, there aren't too many yet, so I'm hoping most of them won't be born until it warms up a bit.  Also, I've run out of hot chocolate.  Disaster.
Where ever you are, what ever you do, enjoy it and be happy. xxx