Pretty things

It has been good to make the most of the weekend. We had lovely warm weather, so getting out and about yesterday was a real pleasure. The Crafty Neighbour and I headed for Beckenham, then ended up in the central city. She was hunting for fabric to cover a vintage rocking chair, and I went along for the fun of it. It was very inspiring seeing shops I haven't seen before. Ever since the earthquakes I have been mostly staying at home or heading out to the farm at the weekend, rather than venturing to the shops. 

We started with Fabric House which was fantastic to visit and well worth a look because they have lots of beautiful fabrics, all arranged on bolts with matching colours. I could see many fabrics I would have happily used for curtains here. The ladies were very friendly and not pushy too. 

We had to have some delicious refreshments to keep our energy levels up, so popped into The Cupcake Collection which is a dear little shop filled with pretty vintage china and decorated in soft candy colours. I wasn't allowed to take photos around the shop, but could show you our cupcakes. Mine was called "Tall, Dark and Handsome." 

 The Crafty Neighbour had an apple and custard one, with fresh cream.

 Yum, yum, yum! As good as homemade, and happily, one was enough. They were very rich. The staff are immaculately presented with pretty aprons and bright lipstick, but I had a feeling the girl who served us wasn't quite as sweet as she appeared, which was a little unsettling.

I bought myself a couple of treats while we were out and about. I found this printed canvas picture. It is waiting for a permanent home on one of our walls.

 I was thrilled to find this gorgeous oilcloth bag. It is a bit smaller than my usual tote bags, so I'll have to cut down on the load of junk I carry around everywhere.

 I love the rose print. It looks beautiful on the navy background.

 This morning when I got up the sky was very pink. I'm not sure how pink the sky in this photo looks on your screen. It isn't as bright or pink as it was in real life. It was stunning.

 Mr Mouse has discovered my hair ties are heaps of fun. He carries them around in his mouth, and pounces on them like he's tormenting live prey.

 I found so much of his fur under the table when I vacuumed today. He must have been rolling around under there a lot. He'll be able to hide under the tablecloth now. I decided desperate measures were required because my MDF table top is so big I haven't got a tablecloth big enough. I pulled out a big piece of quilt backing fabric and flung it over. Now I'm going to give it a good iron and hem it so that it can stay. It is very lightweight, which is a bit of a problem, but I'll see about getting a white sheet to layer under it.

 Miss Dog is still all curled up like this as I type. She has enjoyed following me around, and helping me to fill the green big with garden waste.

 She helped herself to one of these this morning. They were in the paper bag they came in and she pulled the whole bag down onto the floor and (thankfully) took just one out to the deck to consume. It took her a bit of time to get the wrapper off, and seconds to gobble up the sweet. I wonder what she thought of the lemon sherbet flavour. They are one of my favourite sweeties.

 I made a wee display on the top of one of the bookshelves with my primula china and matching items. I hope Mr Mouse tiptoes when he explores up there. He likes to check things out.

Yes, the bookshelf is still unpainted, but I have plans to use some Annie Sloan Chalk Paint to decorate quite a lot of things around here. I'm going to do the dining room chairs cream, I think. They'll look much better. I've only got one week left of school this term, then two weeks to do stuff. I'm not sure what adventures we will have, but I'd love to spend plenty of time at home.