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Monday, 22 September 2025

Malvern roundup - and I wasn't expecting THAT

 THAT being the first frost of the autumn!  Just on rooves of stables and cars, but even so.  No wonder all the cats joined me on the bed from 4 a.m. onwards :)


These were American, and all priced at £120 -  £140 each.  They had reached that stage of use where they were wonderfully soft and much loved.


These little cot quilts were £40 and £65. The dearer one is on the left at the bottom of the picture - just being shaken out for a customer to look at.


I resisted temptation and didn't even ask the price.


This was a laugh, to show my friend Pam, who has a slight chicken theme going on in her kitchen!





The photos above from the same stall, which I regularly photograph  I don't know where they find their stock - I have never seen anything like any of these pieces in Wales.  Teddy bears - yes, and the occasional doll, but the rest doesn't turn up.  But then I've not been to big auctions regularly since before Covid.


The chap who specialises in quilts - nearly all modern mass produced ones, with the occasional hexagon or squares hand made one.


Elsewhere . . .


I rather liked this seaside scene.


Bits and pieces of Textiles and, below, a lovely old wholecloth quilt.





In the Avon Hall now.  Some nice big mugs and pretty jugs.





If you are into Bears or Dolls, this was your stall.


Look at that tiny crib, with equally tiny patchwork quilt . . .


Treen came my way yesterday.  Little bits, mainly Indian - these things just spoke to me (as I buy by instinct).  I saw lots of my friends, had hugs, and chats, and came away feeling happy.  Saturday had been a bad day - I was really missing Keith, and feeling so low.  Anyway, watched a couple of films - The Miracle Club with Maggie Smith and then Hampstead.  Preferred the latter.  Both were gentle watching.  I am looking forward to the next Series of All Creatures Great and Small, as that always cheers me up and I go to bed happy.


I made 6 jars of Very Berry Jam (having swept all the soft fruit from the freezer) - it was a mixture of blackberries, blueberries, elderberries and some cherries.  I used Jam Sugar and it set very easily.  Then I set to and made two big Apple Gingerbread cakes, one of which I froze.  I had some stewed apple in a jug which needed using up.  So not a wasted day, despite being in the doldrums.






I never bother with the icing, though I imagine it's nice with the cinnamon in.  Recipe comes from one of my first cook books - Farmhouse Fare - which is one for a desert island - even has recipes for soap making.  Plus main meals, baking, jam/jelly/chutney making etc.

Well, this won't do.  I have a floor to scrub and washing to put on, and quilting to do.

28 comments:

  1. That little crib and quilt are so sweet, I would have been very tempted. 😀

    Lots of berry jam, Rosie will be so pleased. Oh, and Hampstead is one of my favourite films, a good Sunday afternoon relaxing film.

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    1. I didn't ask the price. I was Good. Rosie will appreciate the jam, that's for sure.

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  2. Lots of interesting things at Malvern and what a good collection of dolls of all sorts. Neither of my granddaughters have played with dolls like I did when small - perhaps dolls now are only for collectors

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    1. I think Dolls from the 50s - 70s are easily come by. People must collect or that stall would be a waste of time.

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  3. What a marvellous collection of everything. Glad I have got too old to collect though ;)

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    1. Never to old to collect. Never to old to be wheeling and dealing either. A fellow dealer's mum was still at it aged 86 - and would RUN to get a comfy chair when she was setting up. Sadly, then along came Covid so perhaps it was difficult for her to get back to it after that.

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  4. That cook book would be right up my street and the recipe you featured looks lovely.
    And the beautiful quilts, but most of all ........ the dolls.......I'm fascinated by them but don't collect them as OH would be horrified 😄
    Alison in Devon x

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    1. You can still buy copies of it on Fleabay. This is the edition I've got: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/396870672331?_skw=farmhouse+fare&itmmeta=01K5RWKSHGQAWP7WYRFAVHGAKN&hash=item5c6755dfcb:g:1vcAAeSwHGxoeQXd&itmprp=enc%3AAQAKAAAA8FkggFvd1GGDu0w3yXCmi1eF1B5Nw0q1Gj7s0GkU2f%2B6KenqKkXadE2wx0U8Rkx%2Bh7G1njoq4gqZWkqIBnatETV2GJMSFBzXzo6cDBcGUk2jXU2q%2BXFEw8%2F6dwhgjuOqQLrvp5Ep1sUFCXqw0pgImenZb6xMpcHjoLX3hM6yLXxMp5ZSjlt6Tjx3mbC6I3VBm%2FXYu30gv%2BxDXijp1aVbnp5DKg3aabB7GkYfZ5cAsyezAAOn%2BQTD15sDXuiUzG7JkYd%2BO8T88fyQi8WD483zQG0GJ5n%2FpUaBZERca4dKiwL4ImEvJzu16EPkK%2B1b%2FROR5g%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABFBMhJnPnK5m Sorry about the looooooong link!

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  5. I should get to Malvern as there is so much there....or perhaps I shouldn't because of that!!

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    1. Make it a Bank Holiday one as they have the most stalls.

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  6. So many lovely things to look at though I guess seeing old friends was an even nicer treat. I'm keeping my fingers crossed there wasn't any frost in Borth as my succulents are still outside. We're usually fairly frost free. I've resigned myself to finding this year's tomato crop on the ground but it will have been worth it. Just been for a walk to take more photos of the goats. The big billy is the size of a small donkey. Ruta.

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  7. Yes, seeing friends was the best bit for me. You're by the coast, so should have been warmer - it wasn't much of a frost here. Looking forward to seeing photos of donkey-sized goats!

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  8. Me too {looking forward to All Creatures Great and Small}, and I know!!!!! the sudden plummeting of the temperature just a handful of weeks after hollering how hot it was!
    Lovely "stuff" at the fair!

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    1. Another frost tonight I fear. There was a lot to look at in Malvern, despite there being less stands outside. But then, the August Bank Holiday fair there is inundated with sellers, so this is bound to look less by comparison.

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  9. There were some lovely items for sale and I liked the seascape picture too. Have read back a week's worth of blog as we have been away in Skegness staying in a lovely cottage on the edge of Gibraltar Point Nature Reserve. Lots of walking and bird watching, and OH insisted we had one meal out every day, so hardly any cooking. Hope your finger is healing nicely, I've found with age I don't heal as well and if you are on heart medication you will bleed more. Cat was pleased to see us anyway. Take care. Xx

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    1. How lovely to be right by a Nature Reserve. I hope you spotted some birds worth finding. Back to the grind with the cooking again now though!

      I certainly bled well with this finger, being on the blood thinners.

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  10. The German Navy hat would have come home with us. My FIL was in the Kreigsmarine and on the UBoats. We have a picture of him in his uniform in 1938 looking very young.

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    1. Military memorabilia sells well. There's a Military Fair at Malvern in November I think. Anything from Tanks downwards!!

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  11. I was drawn in by the unique finds on the table you mention. I'm hoping to browse some antique shops while on my hols but I don't find it as interesting as a market. My fingers are crossed for the ferry. In fact we have two, one leads ultimately to Vancouver and was the one broken. The other goes over to Vancouver Island and, like a Welsh detour, takes us further away but we can catch a flight there to Calgary and from there to London. I've tacked a weekend on at either end in Calgary to see the adorable grandchildren before getting home. Which airport do you fly out of for NZ and is it one long flight or do you get a break somewhere?

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    1. If you're in the UK, you can Google antiques fairs in the areas you are visiting and hopefully go to one whilst you're here. Still a fair few antique shops/antiques centres around. Glad you will see your grandchildren in Calgary either end of the holiday. I fly from Heathrow (UK's biggest and busiest airport) and am dreading it. From UK next stop is Singapore for a couple of hours, then onto NZ.

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  12. I have a friend who has collected some softly worn old quilts as decorative pieces. Usually the finer workmanship in piecing and quilting were kept 'for best.' My favorite there would be the whole-cloth quilt. The one in shades of hot pink and green made me think of 'Kate.'

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    1. Mine too (wholecloth quilt). I thought the American ones seemed they had been used day in, day out. Hot pink and green - Kate may love them together, but a bit overwhelming for me and thee . . .

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  13. Lots of items for sale. My downfall would be the pretty pots, pitchers, and mugs.

    God bless.

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    1. There were some lovely ones there. I have a box of jugs upstairs that moved with us, but I need to sort through and sell.

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  14. I like the painting too. Beautiful colours.

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    1. It reminded me of somewhere in N. Devon - Ilfracombe? Can't remember exactly.

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  15. Love the quilts American and locals [how did I know the first stack was American as it scrolled into view?]. Love the peg dolls and tiny china dolls. Maybe they bought a collection? And I d snap up those baggies of remnants of fabrics etc. So fun, thanks to taking us along!
    Your cake looks, and I i imagine smells, delicious. Oddly we cannot buy demerara sugar or golden syrup easily here [if at all? I have never seen it]. Maybe I ll try the subs offered by Google. Also I never see self rising flour? I saw the most delightful fall cinnamon sugar cookies the other day. IG translated the Swedish post but not the recipe! Even the metric measurements were unfamiliar , what is 1 dl of sugar? dl ?

    Rambling, back to work. Today is sew for friends day, shorten this, tie dye that.

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    1. Thought you'd like those quilts. Perhaps they had bought a collection. That stand always seems to have a good display of them, and toys.

      The cake is SO yummy. A shame you find the ingredients so difficult to source. The Self Raising flour is just plain flour with baking powder already added. 1 dl? No idea! dessertspoonful perhaps?

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