July Treacle Market

Thanks to an unexpected turn of events over the weekend, we were home, which meant that I could do my usual trip to the Treacle market. I am sure some of you have read about this lovely market in the posts I wrote here and here and will know that I love this market, which is full of wonderful vintage treasures and creations by very talented people. The market is in the centre of Macclesfield and takes place on the last Sunday of every month.

 

I love the Tweedy's stall, which is always filled with some wonderful bits. Don't you just love this ironing board?! I have been having my eye on one for many months, but from a different place, so watch this space, I might just get lucky in months to come (just need a few pennies!). This basket with the leather flap was perfect and I can just see it filled with some lemonade, a good magazine and some yarn to enjoy somewhere along a babbling brook, a girl can but dream, right?!

 

 

All these lovely bits belonged to a stall run by a very friendly lady called Penny. Her stall was packed with the most wonderful array of things that I could happily have spend a fortune on. There were tinned baths, a great selection of baskets , a lovely outside table set with gorgeous vintage china and these wonderful glass bottles, oh my!! Not to mention some very lovely rugs. I did make a couple of purchases here, which I will share with you shortly.

 

 

 

Then there was the lovely and also dear friend Saffron from Freddy and Violet, who makes the most wonderful oilcloth, leather and cotton bags as well as many other beautiful things. She is incredibly talented and she now has her website Freddy and Violet up and running so do pop over to have a look at her wonderful creations.

 

This is my friend Vanessa minutes before buying this lovely old double school desk that Saffron has revamped into a modern vintage desk, just perfect for any boys room.

 

This mirror had already sold, grrr! It seemed like a good opportunity to snap my yellow shoes, which I am just loving at the moment. Even though I have had them for over 9 years, they are fitting in so well with this year's summer colour-love of yellow. What is your colour-love this summer, and does it tend to change year to year?

 

 

Don't you just love this gorgeous blue cake stand (above) from the lovely Wanda's stall Fizzy Vintage. This is one of the lovely cake stands that Wanda kindly lent me for my vintage tea party that I mentioned here. I would so love to add this to my collection, but I am sure it will be snapped up very soon and go to a lovely home. If you haven't popped over to her website, please do, but make sure to have a dribble bib handy as you are sure to drool!

 

 

For any retro lover, this is the stall for you. These two ladies have some lovely retro bits and I generally struggle not to spend a couple of pounds here. I just love that dog!! I have to confess that I was very restrained this month as I have been spending a great deal of money on fabric lately, but more on that another day. It was a really lovely market day this month and although I didn't get round all the stalls, I thoroughly enjoyed the ones I visited in the company of a great friend.

 

So now on to my little purchases. For those who follow me on Instagram you will already know that after five years of waiting we are finally having all our external doors and windows painted as well as our utility room and downstairs toilet. I know that this is only painting, but I have been waiting for this moment for so long, that its actually making me feel rather giddy, sad I know! So with a little lick of paint, I hope to prettify our little utility space, which is filled with white electric goods, dog basket, cat & dog food stuff and pairs and pairs of shoes and wellies (in a rather small space I have to add!). Its not the prettiest corner in the house, but I hope that with a little shelf and a bit of tlc it can look a little better. The challenge here was to find a small shelf with rather unusual measurements in the style I like! Well look no further as my visit to the treacle market and Penny's stall delivered just what I was after and to top it, for once I don't even need to sand and paint it as it is already grey and to my taste, hooray!!

 

 

  

I also splurged (well all of £3 worth) on a lovely vintage red pinny by Ladygay. I am not familiar with this clothing brand, but would be very interested to find out if anyone knows a little more about it. I also managed to find another cotton reel filled with lovely cotton, to add to my collection.

 

 

My final purchase was a very gorgeous French glass bowl, which immediately called for being filled with quick and easy-to-make chocolate mousse. 

 

 

 

 

This chocolate mousse is super easy and very quick and a big hit with our family. The bonus, it's dairy free, yippee! For any of you interested in trying this recipe, you can find it on line here.

 

The school holidays are in full swing and time is flying with the first week gone already. We are all loving the more relaxed mornings and generally the kids are just loving being at home. My little batteries are feeling a little more taxed than usual and time for creative ventures are pretty hit and miss, but there are a few bits that I will share with you soon. In the meantime, wishing you all a creative and happy week wherever you are.

 

Warm wishes

Hannapat

xoxo

 

 

 

Vintage teaparty

Despite turning 40 in June, it took some time to actually get around to organising a little gathering with some close friends. I didn't really fancy sitting around a table in a restaurant and with all this glorious weather we've been blessed with lately a vintage afternoon tea party with the girls seemed the perfect way to celebrate.

 

 

 

All my lovely and special friends were amazing, they all baked (gluten and dairy free especially for me, which was such a lovely touch!) and brought food and drink for us all to indulge in. I made my favourite chocolate brownies, which I have mentioned here. I also made the best lemon drizzle that I have ever eaten which I wrote about here and for anyone interested in the recipe I will do a post with the recipe soon.

 

I had to be very disciplined and spend the morning in bed as usual. A couple of my besties came early to help with setting the table and doing the final touches. I hung the bunting the night before and got everything ready so it was just a case of setting the table and waiting for all the cakes to arrive.

 

 

I used my lovely vintage cake stand (the one with the brownies on), but one of my friends, owner of Fizzy Vintage kindly brought another couple for us to use. Do pop over to her website, she has the most amazing vintage china and whenever I see her I am generally overcome with the urge to add a little more to my collection, I find the whole vintage china thing rather addictive, I must confess.

 

 

 

I filled my new decoupage mayo jars with some flowers from the garden and they looked so lovely. It was a shame that we constantly had to keep rescuing them from being blown over by the wind. It made me giggle really, all week we have had the loveliest and hottest weather with not a breeze in sight, but of course as soon as there are flowers on a table things changed, most definitely Murphy's law, as we would say in South Africa.

We enjoyed some Pimm's, courtesy of the lovely Emma and served in her Grandmother's jug, wearing her Grandmother's dress, got to love that frock!! I normally don't drink, purely for health reasons, but one has to make a little exception for a big occasion and I felt it would be rather rude not to enjoy a small glass of the lovely Pimm's in the company of such lovely woman. On this note I want to say just how much I love woman, I am definitely a feminist of sorts and often feel so lucky to be a woman. I love the inner strength I so often see in woman, the passion they have for life and the skill and talent they so often exhibit during a normal day. This does not mean that I don't think men are strong and talented and amazing, I do, but there is something rather special about woman and I feel incredibly lucky to be one and to be surrounded by such wonderful woman in my life.

 

 

 

It was such a wonderful afternoon with my lovely friends, which soon flew by and before we could say bliss, the men and children arrived for the braai (bbq) (I think we could've happily carried on without them for at least another couple of hours to be honest and felt a little shocked that time had flown by so quickly).  The calm girlie chatter and laughter quickly turned into noisy screams and fortunately more laughter as the kids stripped off, jumped in the paddling pool, ran around, bounced on the trampoline, ate cake and played games.

 

 The oldies carried on chatting and the garden suddenly felt really full and very busy, but in a very lovely way.

Prosecco and Champagne was opened and copious bottles enjoyed by all and the next course was served with more puddings and cake to follow. It truly was a feast fit for a King. Much later on marshmallows were toasted on the fire by the kids who eagerly awaited their next turn.

 

The conversation continued into the late hours, so it seemed like the perfect opportunity to rope in the boys to show off some muscle and move our chiminea that's been in our front garden ever since we moved in. A couple of beers helped their level of enthusiam and within no time all the girls were huddled around a lovely warm glow from the chiminea.

The party ended with the kids doing several versions of Gangham style and a little wrestling (what is it with this song and kids?!).

 

Hours later once everyone had left and the kids were tucked up in bed, I enjoyed a quiet moment in front of the warm chiminea with the man I love more than words will ever say, reflecting on a wonderful day shared with the very special people in my life.

 

 

 

 

It truly was a wonderful day, thanks to my lovely friends and amazing hubby. Thanks to everyone for making it so special and for making such a lovely effort to make it a day to remember.

 

The holidays have officially started and my tears shed about little E leaving preschool. Now its time to make the most of these last few weeks together.

 

Wishing you all a happy and creative week wherever you are. A big welcome to my new followers and thank you to everyone for always leaving such lovely comments, I really appreciate each and every one of them.

 

Warm wishes

Hannapat

xoxo