Birthday Tea

Sunday 6th March. A birthday afternoon tea. Cucumber sandwiches, cut into fingers, no crust. Egg and cress too. Scones, clotted cream, damson jam, strawberry jam, made with fruit from the garden last summer. Chocolate cupcakes, lemon drizzle, blondies made by a WI friend. Birthday cake, made and iced by Mum, sponge, buttercream, jam, thick white icing, nostalgia on a plate.

Tea, lots of it.

Past Finds - Part I

I seem not to have been doing very well on visiting charity shops, car-boot sales and auctions recently (Deptford market from last weekend aside). Mainly I think because I have spent the last few weekends in London, and I never seem to be able to find as many bargains in the capital. I find myself wandering round Spitalfields or Portobello admiring lots and lots of the vintage brooches and floral teacups, but resisting buying them as I know that sooner or later, if I am patient, I will find something very similar in one of my out-of-London charity shop trawls, and for a fraction of the price.

The town where my family live in Norfolk is excellent on the charity shop front, and also boasts a weekly auction where my sister currently works. I also always found Cambridge pretty good, and spent many a Saturday morning in the last year browsing the charity shops whilst M battled through Physics exercises in the library (I had graduated at this point, M, on his four year degree course compared to my three, had not).

So, in an effort to prove that my home is populated by many a second-hand item, and in the spirit of celebrating what I already own rather than going out and buying more STUFF (of which I have far too much), here are a few of my favourites....

A trio of gold birds that hang on the wall in the style of those old-school flying ducks, from a Norfolk charity shop.

One of my larger buys; an old nursing chair bought in auction for £12. It was originally covered in a faded green velvet, rather worn, with awful fluffy binding like a giant caterpillar. It's a shame I don't have any 'before' images. Anyway, I loved the shape, and the detailing at the top of the legs, so put in a bid for it with the intention of having it re-upholstered. The fabric was from a remnant roll in a sale and only cost a tenner, and the re-upholstering was about £50. Not my cheapest ever buy, but it is completely unique and I reckon it still cost less than a basic Ikea armchair. It sits in the corner of my bedroom for me to throw discarded items of clothing onto, or for friends to perch on for a quick chat whilst I finish getting ready, and I love it.


I have lots and lots of second-hand china that I have collected over the years from charity shops, boot sales and hand-me-downs from friends and relatives. These are just a few of the more recent pieces (aside from the stacked rose teacups in the bottom right-hand corner which are part of the very first rose-patterned tea set I ever bought). I think I will go on and on collecting this sort of thing, and then one day have a huge mismatched tea party for everyone I know.

(and thanks to Seeds and Stitches and I will Make Do and Mend for giving me the idea of a 'home shopping' post)

Down the rabbit hole

I have just seen some images from the new Tim Burton version of Alice in Wonderland on the Guardian website. Not sure when it is out but I can't wait, I really like his work. The colours look amazing, although I suspect that this is going to be a far darker version than the Disney one if this rather creepy image of Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter is anything to go by!


Or how about this for the garden with the talking flowers?

The flower garden bit was only ever my second favourite scene, after the Mad Hatter's tea party as a definite first. I loved that eclectic collection of teacups and teapots even as a child! For my 23rd birthday in March I had my very own down-the-rabbit-hole tea party, only it wasn't tea in the teacups but cocktails instead. There were lots of cupcakes iced in salmon pink and pistachio green with edible glitter, and plenty of cucumber sandwiches. Three different types of cocktail, some of which we did actually pour from teapots, and a big bowl of raspberry punch, served in a massive glass punch bowl (with matching glass cups) that my sister picked up for me for just £3 in the auction house where she currently works.

And here are some pictures...

P.s I promise to tag some people with the questions Fay gave me soon...