April #Stylewise

The trouble with having eleven year old twin boys is they no longer want to go anywhere in the school holidays.  Its a real trial trying to encourage them out of their bedroom and away from the computers and gadgets !  So I decided to take myself off yesterday for a bit of a mooch around the local charity shops in Heavitree and Topsham.  

Boot Sale Treasure

Hubby is working today and I needed the car, so what else is there to do after dropping him at work at 6am, but pop along to the bootsale at Matford in Exeter.

Hidden History

Out treasure hunting I am always on the lookout for old picture frames I can upcycle into

The early bird and all that

Follow my blog with Bloglovin Getting back into the swing of the early starts for the bootsale after a long break can take some willpower.  I paid for my late arrival last week by having to park some distance from the market.  No such worries this morning.  I was up and out of bed at 5.30 without the aid of an alarm clock, my only worry was that it would still be raining, it wasn't , yipee!

I had no trouble parking this morning but also found, maybe I was a tiny bit early as there was barely a car or van on the site.

I took the opportunity to grab a coffee and a loo break so I wouldn't have any distractions once the gates opened proper to the sellers.  I always find this stage of the morning unsettling, it always appears like lots of people are delving into boots and backs of vans and making off with all manner of treasure.  Once I make my first purchase I am fine and feel like I am off and running.  The first purchase this morning was :

This fabulous  old plaster framed picture.  Obviously it was only the frame I was interested in and even in its battered state I think its wonderful !  Not even going to repair it, I know there are buyers in my shop who will also appreciate its shabby beauty and if nobody buys it, it will come home with me.

 

Always love a pretty stool, this will look perfect painted and also be a really useful addition to the home.

Pair of modern but pretty jugs

oh ! oh! oh!  If you can't have mason jars then these are the next best thing !  Snapped up these four La Parfait Preserve jars out from under the nose of a woman who was consulting a friend on the phone.  If you snooze, you loose ladies.

New wicker bicycle basket.

 

Pretty yellow enamel jug with pewter lid

Time for Tee !  Must be German looking at the spelling.  Love this.

I always try to find local pottery.  Love this pretty jar made by a local potter in Devon.

Two old slate boards, complete with little wooden shelf for the chalk.

Yep, definitely getting back into the bootsale swing of things.

Linking up with the lovely Liz at Magpie Monday

Something to be said for a lie in

Since opening the shop I work 6 days a week.  Four in the shop and two days as a school secretary.  Leaving the only "day off" Sunday, to clean the house, catch up on the washing, spend quality time with the children and hubby and go treasure hunting of course.  Yesterday I was determined come rain or shine I would make it to the boot sale this morning but its been a particularly tiring week again and when hubby woke me at 6am I already knew there was no way I was dragging my tired bones out of bed to treasure hunt in the darkness and rain.

I turned over and went back to sleep for two hours.  I woke up feeling much better if not a little annoyed with myself that I had missed all that potential treasure at the boot sale.  Nothing for it I would have to go out searching "just in case".  The boys really didn't want to leave the house and hubby was happy pottering in his shed so off I went.  I have several places I like to visit on the Sunday and they certainly didn't disappoint today.

Here is a little taster of the goodies I found .

You might wonder what I could possibly want with this beauty, but I can tell you my heart skipped a beat when I saw it.  A genuine French Plum drying rack !  A what ? I hear you say...

 

A plum drying rack, a rack for drying all those delicious French plums from the sunny orchards of France.

Anything remotely French, vintage and rustic is so desirable at the moment.  I LOVE it and I have a great idea for using it in the shop (unless, of course I sell it first ).

Next up this great galvanised Herb and Flower drying rack, it has all the hooks too.  Would look fab hanging from the ceiling with herbs and flowers (obviously) or even pots, pans or cups etc .

Love the colbolt blue of these glass Salt and Pepper pots.

A large, silver painted wooden letter Y.  Just because I love collecting random large letters and thinking this could be the start of my YO, HO, HO for christmas.  Or maybe somebody called Yolander or Yvonne will buy it.

and finally for now because I have to spend some time with my family before I start all over again.

A huge ceramic bowl and platter in the most divine Mink colour.  So as it turned out, my little lie in today was worth it.

Linking up with MagpieMonday