My lovely Scandy pattern Torquay Pottery teapot stand. Now I have to try and find a teapot to go with it! The folk selling it had come all the way from Plymouth to sell there!
The first of the Doulton series-ware pieces - I couldn't resist the ploughing team. Ancestral links and all that.
Doulton series-ware sandwich plate.
5 Doulton series-ware side plates. This whole lot (all the Doulton photographed here) came to £10. Not that long ago you could have added a nought to the end as Doulton was SO desirable). May as well buy what we like whilst it is still so cheap.
Meanwhile, the birds are singing their hearts out in the garden and we saw Rooks nest-building the other day, and this morning Herons were carrying twigs back to the Whitemill heronry. Out in our pond . . . the frogs have suddenly taken up residence, with the inevitable consequences. Frog spawn!
And the wildlife pond is even busier : )
Yesterday we saw the first silver paws of pussy willows out as we drove to Whitland, the other side of Carmarthen. On Sunday we saw the first Primroses on a roundabout on the outskirts of Abergavenny. This has lifted my spirits so much.
Meanwhile, my Super Tastebuds and heightened sense of smell, forced us to go into town again today (why didn't I think of this yesterday?) for fresh fish from M&S (where it CAN be relied upon to be fresh and toothsome), a huge head of fresh Broccoli also from M&S, and then a stop-off at Abergwili for fresh fruit - £4 worth here. £1 for the vine tomatoes; £1 for 15 big apricots; £1 for 7 Mineolas and £1 for the box of Russets (my favourite apple). I am losing weight, which I need to do, for the sake of my asthma and my general health, and need to grab the bull by the horns whilst I don't fancy eating much at all. I have just chucked out for the birds, 2 chocolate fresh cream eclairs as I can't face anything sweet at the moment. I thought they might tempt my appetite last week, but no . . .
You have bought some beautiful items. It feels much more like Spring here too - no frogs yet in the pond but yesterday I saw pussy willows turning grey and fluffy with pollen :)
ReplyDeleteI've bought Wine of Angels by Phil Rickman for my Kindle - was hooked after the first chapter :)
Very early for frogspawn. We don't seem to get any around here anywhere nowadays.
ReplyDeleteFrogspawn - hooray!
ReplyDeleteEvery little sign of Spring is so welcome after a wet, wet winter.
I would have found the ploughing team on the Doulton plate hard to resist. You found some real treasures on your travels!
Lots of frogspawn here too. It all appeared in one morning......tons of the stuff!
ReplyDeleteMine seemed to appear overnight too. The wildlife pond is BONKERS this morning, with double the amount of arrivals, and an absolute orgy of frog sex out there!
ReplyDeleteDW - it was so evocative of an age, that plough-team plate and aat £3, who could resist it? You are so right about every little sign of spring being so welcome after this wet wet winter.
Smallholder - well, we've had it in January before now - this is actually quite late for these parts, probably because we haven't really had a cold spell and then warming, to get them out and about earlier.
R. Robin - I think you will enjoy Phil Rickman's novels - he writes very well.
I love the liberty fabric in particular. Our frogs were out last night too, but our pond is full of algae- have you got any tips? We only made it last summer so I'm new to pond maintenance!
ReplyDeleteC/Tales - I think you need to get a bamboo cane and twirl it round to remove as much algae as possible. If you have fish, get rid of the fish! as their left over food and excreta feed the algae. Plus you won't be able to use a chemical additive to kill the algae (but then that would also kill your tadpoles, so you can't use that in the first place.)
ReplyDeleteI've just gone to look it up and eHow says to shade the pond as algae need the sunshine to increase, and that pond plants will also help. A pond filter helps, as does a UV sterilizer, and that can be used I think even if you have fish/wildlife in the pond.
Our wildlife pond is quite shady but has SUCH incredibly clear water, so we obviously have the balance right, but I can't claim to knowing how I got that! We have caddis fly larvae, newts ad infinitim in spring and summer (I get all Gussie Finknottle about them!), various water beetles, dragonfly larvae etc.
Thanks for advice- have spent afternoon twirling with the bamboo which has got worst of it out. Will pursue a more long-term solution. Hopefully, if we do get tadpoles they will help eat it! CT :-)
DeleteYou have bought some lovely things-I don't know where you put it all, but that material is very pretty. It is uplifting to see flowers coming out and buds appearing.
ReplyDeleteSuzie - we have a VERY BIG farmhouse here - over 6,000 square feet! THAT'S why we HAVE to downsize, with just us rattling around in it! I've got rid of a lot of china in the past year or so, and concentrated ONLY on the pieces we want to add to - the Doulton series-ware (Coaching ones and Countryside), my Torquay pottery etc. The birds were again singing their hearts out today and the frogs in the wildlife pond . . . well, THAT was X-rated!!!
ReplyDeleteFrogs look happy, and the Liberty fabric is beautiful, the birds definitely think spring is on the way. Paul has answered you by the way in his usual grumpy manner ;)
ReplyDelete