Vintage Goodies From Norfolk

Every time I visit Norfolk I always get a little bit excited about the things I might find and what bargains might come home with me. I was lucky this visit to find quite a few lovely things - firstly this pastel blue cakestand, which I found in the beachside cafe we visited - The Funky Mackerel in Sheringham. They have a fab little 'rummage room' - you never know what your going to find!

The cakestand is a Johnsons Bros Greydawn and was a bargain I thought at £6. 

It goes with another blue utility cake stand which I have already at home. Im planning on using them for when we get married next year.

Also in the rummage room were some gorgeous pastel dinner plates, both of the sets were far too reasonable to leave behind!

I also got lucky in a little antique china shop spotting this Johnsons Bros sandwich platter (I think thats what it is - if anyone knows leave me a comment!) for a whole two quid! 

In the same shop I also found this lovely vintage embroidered tablecloth which matches exactly one that my mum has. Unfortunately my poor photography doesn't show it off to its best, it really is lovely.

Lastly, on a day out to Holt (my favourite place for a rummage) I found a couple of pretty vintage hankies, three mini pyrex rose bowls, and a gorgeous gorgeous saucer and plate - sadly no cup to be seen, but they are really sweet as a pair, and who knows one day I may find the matching cup!

I have a plan for these (I think!) I had seen on Selina Lake's lovely wedding post where she ties vintage floral hankies together to make bunting. This brilliant idea has stuck with me and I am hoping to find at least a few more hankies to make a little string of bunting. I really love Selina's styling, she just has a fabulous eye for it. I have her new book Pretty Pastel style and am completely in love with it! Its totally my kind of book, so much inspiration and eye candy!

The last thing we bought, which was something we really needed was a new bedside table, we found it in a shop in Holt, we didn't see it at first as there was a load of junk on top of it, but after clearing it off and pulling it out we thought it would be perfect. The fact that it was already painted in a pretty pastel green helped too, as thats one job I'm not keen on!

I think we will change the handles for something a bit nicer, but for now it is on my side of the bed!

Prettied up by some rather cute CK tins which I got free as I had been spending far too much of my money in there recently - oops! Also on my bedside are my colourful bits of jewellery, which I wear everyday. I've tried to minimize the clutter on my bedside as it was all looking a bit messy. 

So those are my vintage goodies from Norfolk,

I had such a fab time but it now feels like absolutley ages ago that we went!

Until next time Norfolk...thanks for the memories :)

A Week In Norfolk : Days Out

I thought I would post about some of the lovely days out we enjoyed whilst in Norfolk. My favourite favourite place is the old station in Sheringham. I could spent such a long time there just drinking in all the wonderful old details and enjoying the quiet. Everytime we have been to Norfolk we have visited the station, and we have always been out of season to actually get on one of the old trains that takes you to Holt. As we were visiting out of season it meant that we practically had the place to ourselves which was just perfect.

As you walk in you are greeted with a fantastic display of old advertising plaques and vintage suitcases stacked up ready for a journey. I really don't think it has changed since it was built, which gives it such charm and nostalgia, and is why I love visiting it so much!

The famous Sheringham poster - we have a version of this hanging up at home which always makes me smile. I love old railway posters - I don't know why they don't make them as lovely as this anymore, its such a shame.

As it was quiet I had the freedom to snap away - capturing all the little details that make the place special. It was a pretty afternoon - cold and crisp but lovely and bright, and I have to say it was one of the nicest afternoons I've ever enjoyed.

As you can see it was empty so we managed to get some lovely photos and I got to use my lovely Christmas present, my little Diana Mini camera - I can't wait to get the photos developed.

We peeked into the train carriages - first class with its lovely armchairs and private compartments (very Harry Potter!)

I seriously considered taking some of this lovely luggage home with me!

So much charm and nostalgia in such a little place, but it is a very special place and I really recommend a visit. Its one of those places that makes me smile and makes me happy just being here. I know that might sound silly, but there really is something about it that I love.

Now Norfolk is known for its beaches and I for one am a lover and great admirer of beach huts, so despite the cold wind the next day we bundled up warm and walked the short walk from the house down to the beach. Because there's just nothing more cheerful than a brightly painted beach hut - even if it is on a freezing cold and windy day!

Beach huts are also a rather nice spot for taking some pictures! I was wrapped up warm in my gorgeous snood made for me by the lovely Vanessa at Coco Rose Diaries, and my cosy red hat.

Grey sky and grey sea, but at least the beach huts were nice and colourful!

Nothing like a classic British Springtime! :)

Cold, but its time for hot chocolate!

We finished our brisk walk along the seafront with a visit to The Funky Mackerel cafe, were we enjoyed a yummy hot chocolate and a cookie looking out at the sea view whilst being lovely and warm!

The Funky Mackerel is a great quirky cafe, famous for its flapjacks and bacon rolls which has a fab little  'rummage room' full of all sorts of bits and bobs, some of which were purchased by me (I think I'll do another post on my fab Norfolk finds next).

The next day we visited the lovely little town of Holt, where I have been known to spend many an hour looking in the antiques shop! We stopped in a really sweet little cafe/tearoom called Folly. It must have been quite new as it hadn't been there the last time we visited, but we stopped in for a delicious afternoon tea!

The tea arrived and was served in pretty china teacups

Albert had sandwiches. Myself, I just went straight in for the cream tea! 

Two gorgeous scones with jam and clotted cream - a perfect end to our stay.

Back soon with my Norfolk purchases ;) x

A Week In Norfolk : Indoors Time

Just before Easter Albert and I travelled up to Sheringham in Norfolk for a relaxing week together by the sea. We were lucky enough to stay in the gorgeous house that we have stayed in a couple of times before which makes the trip really special (you can read about previous visits to Norfolk and see more lovely pics here, here, here, here and here). We arrived on a Monday afternoon and had the whole week ahead of us to potter around, visit some of our favourite places and get some sea air! 

The house is just gorgeous, so welcoming and cosy but with a lovely beachy feel. 

Even the front door is lovely!

I just loved the bench in the front garden which matches the woodwork of the house, and with the cheerful bunting in the window as you walk to the front door of Coopers Cottage.

Inside is the open plan kitchen, with absolutely everything we needed for our stay, its colourful and quirky but its so homely and one of my favourite places to be!

I really loved this sofa under the stairs covered in a pretty floral throw. Perfect for cosying up and reading a good book - I spent rather a lot of time on this sofa!!

The master bedroom up in the attic...Oh what I wouldn't do to have a bedroom as lovely as this one day!

I can obviously vouch for how lovely this house is, and it is often available to rent for a week or two, if you'd like more info please contact the lovely lovely owner Lucinda who can give you more details and tell you all about it. Her email is lucindacooper@hotmail.co.uk.

 In the kitchen admiring the cute little shed with its pretty bunting. I loved the Emma Bridgewater bits and the retro scales!

The living room was were we also spent a lot of time watching DVDs in the evening, reading, drinking tea and where I enjoyed a spot of crochet or two! I took my granny square blanket with me to try to get a little more done progress wise - although its taking me absolutely ages to get all the way around and on to the next colour. I can't wait to finish it and I will do a proper reveal when I've finished off the edging and sewn in all those pesky ends!

My crochet armchair of choice - close to the lovely roaring fire!

Copious amounts of tea were drunk all day long to keep us warm - it was awfully cold when we went out and we always needed a nice cuppa when we got back indoors from our trips exploring.

We brought lots of blankets with us, to snuggle up under, and was overjoyed to find a rather large stash of Mollie Makes magazines to flick through and get some crafty inspiration. These kept me occupied for quite some time I must admit, and it was lovely to sit and read a whole magazine from front to back without having anything else to do!

Crochet and yet more magazines - this is the blanket - I have done a little more work on it since we went, and am so so pleased with it, I love the colours and can't believe how easy it was once I got going - I've enjoyed making this so much, I've never found it a chore, and always look forward to doing a row or two when I get home from work. Also, its a nice snuggly size now - which is a bonus!

Crochet and treats from the bakery - gorgeous millionaires shortbread and yet more tea :)

(Hmm fingernails not looking so great - must stop biting them!)

I really loved the knitted bunting hanging on the mirror and think I would quite like to make some for myself, but am thinking it might be easier to crochet them rather than knit them! There's a project to add to the ever growing list of 'things I want to make'.

I did happen to start my next project whilst I was away as I thought it would be perfect to do a little work on my Springtime throw (pic below from an old Mollie Makes)

I'm going a little off pattern and working trebles in the third round instead of double crochet. My thinking was that it would make the squares bigger, and therefore I'd need to do less of them (the pattern suggests around 400 squares!!!)

I started with my favourite colour combination of pastel blue and mustard yellow and am loving the look of the squares. I am hoping it will be a pretty pastel blanket but also quite grown up and not too baby like. 

I've done quite a few so far, and have introduced some more colours since, which I think I shall have to do a separate blog post about as I have waffled on far too much and shown you far too many photos of cups of tea! Sorry about that!

Ooh one last magazine shot - styled by the wonderful Selina Lake - I do love those stripey straws and gorgeous roses don't you? Very springlike, and with my springtime throw on the go I am hoping for some actual spring like weather and not all this rain!!

Come on Spring!

I'm ready for you!

g