daily bread

It's very easy to lead the simple life here, the bread shop sells just three types of bread; long, round and my favourite, only on Saturday the beautiful lacey coca. The tomatoes were grown on Agethas allotment here in the village.
Quinipota has commented that these images show the ingredients for 'pa am tomaquet' the frugal but delicious local dish of bread rubbed with ripe tomatoes and sprinkled with olive oil and salt, thank-you! I am going to make some tonight!

keeping busy

I love euro shops! I bought these dishcloths for 75c each and as it's raining today I kept myself busy by making a bread bag, essential here as bread from the local bakers is straight from the oven and too hot to carry. If I still feel creative the other cloths may become cushions or another bag. Today's thunder storm is very welcome as a fire has been burning through the woods behind our village and the air has been thick with helicopters scooping up water from the local river to stop the spread, the rain should finish the job.

a morning in girona

Girona is our nearest city, just a short bus ride away. I went there this morning to look for a birthday present. I forgot the first rule for shopping in Spain - buy it when you see it because when you go back later the shop will be closed for siesta. So I took some time out to wander around the Jewish quarter in the old town. Girona is small enough to see everything on foot but big enough to want to go back again and again, a beautiful city of ancient steps, narrow streets and  secret courtyards.

still at it

Here I am here in Spain and I still can't help rummaging for vintage, I found this cute illustrated learn to read book from the '70s on a shelf of very old stock at the back of a dusty bookshop. Maybe it will help me improve my Spanish!

the simple life

I will be spending the next few weeks in Spain enjoying the simple life in our sleepy village while the rest of my family kite surf on the beach (this sort of crazy activity is not for me!). We have now moved into the 21st century and are connected to the internet, so I will try to make a few posts, hope it works!

where is that dress now!

I wish my mum had kept that dress, it probably ended up in the dressing up box. The Horrockses exhibition was a feast, the textile design looked amazingly fresh and contemporary ranging from african prints, delicate florals to fruit and lobsters! A real inspiration, I bought the book of the exhibition which tells the full story along with lovely illustrations.

stylish folks

Here's a family portrait of my mum and dad and older sister back in the days when a neat parting and cravat were essential weekend wear. Also essential was a Horrockses dress and my mum is wearing a perfect example in white and grey stem print on crisp cotton. Horrockses was an iconic British fashion label of the 40s and 50s, bringing off-the-peg style in colourful and innovative prints to fashionable women from Queen Elizabeth downwards. There is an exhibition of Horrockses style at the Museum of Fashion and Textiles in Bermondsey which opened last week so I am off there today to take a look. Sadly, our kids won't have such elegant images of us to treasure as we spent the equivalent years looking like rejects from Wham and Bananarama auditions!

bravo espana!

I am sure they were dancing in the streets in our sleepy little village last night, well done to Spain for winning the World Cup!

fabrics galore

Every now and then our house is used as a location for photo shoots (well, we do have two hungry teenagers to feed!). As we have an abundance of props it is often used for vintage and retro pieces. Just lately it was used by BBC Homes magazine for a feature on vintage fabrics and our house was filled with a heady selection of glorious textiles from the '50s and '60s. Our ercol sofa was elevated from it's normal use of dumping ground to glamourous prop, festooned with beautiful vintage fabric cushions from Jane Foster . A couple of roddy&ginger cushions crept in so I have put them back into my shop.

city windows

I have been printing some simple patterns to mix in with my other cushions, this one is called City Windows printed in aqua, lime or grey onto white linen.  Available as 40x40cm cushions in my online and etsy shop. My old copy of the classic This Is London was a perfect prop for these shots.

I know my place

I went back to Marchpanes in Cecil Court (see last entry) and crept out, tail between my legs after innocently asking if they had any illustrated children's books from the '60s and '70s. It seems that they only deal in rare first editions and there is no market for the books I am after. Well, I am more than happy with a well thumbed, ex-library edition on its 20th reprint so it's back to the jumble sales for me! However, I crossed the road to a very nice shop called Nigel Williams and picked up this ultra sweet 1959 copy of Tales Told Again by Walter de la Mare with lovely and rather apt illustrations by Alan Howard.