Tall Ships Ahoy!

I've mentioned before that Greenock is the venue for the Tall Ships Race this year.  It is going to be taking place from 9 - 12 July and I think that it is going to be spectacular. 

This is James Watt Dock and you can see some work going on (photo taken last month) as preparations get underway for all the activities which are going to be taking place on the quayside.  These photos were taken from "The Point" a lovely bar and restaurant situated right on the waterfront.  This area was all once shipyards and heavy industry, now it has been regenerated and it is lovely to go for a walk along the river.  The dock still has some remnants of its old industrial past.

There are going to be various areas for entertainment, children's activities, bars and restaurants, a fairground, displays, - the list goes on!  Deacon Blue and Lulu are two of the music acts appearing.



Titan Crane



There will be a parade of the crews of the various vessels.  I read that there are to be about 60 ships from 10 countries, so there will be a varied assortment of people and ships. 



View downriver to Greenock Ocean Terminal

There will also be a parade of sail as they leave on the Tuesday evening which I think will be wonderful to see!  I'm lucky that I'll have a grandstand view of that from my window, but I'm sure I'll be spending some time down at the waterfront to get a closer view of the ships.

I'll no doubt find lots to blog about during those few days!  Keep your fingers crossed for some lovely weather.

Here's a link for the Tall Ships Race to find out more.

Love, Liz

Bringing Up Baby

Isn't this a beautiful illustration?

Click on pic to see more detail

It comes from a little booklet from the 50s called - "The New Baby", produced by the Church of Scotland and probably given to parents at the baby's baptism.

It is full of advice - not sure if there were different versions for baby boys and baby girls.  But this one assumes that every baby is male (I think that was quite a common thing in those days - male being normal (!?!)and female being ..... !).

I think this is the cutest little baby picture - seems that the inside illustrations are from "The Nursery Cookery Book" by Mrs K Jameson.

So, great advice and well needed, because, as it says in this ad from the 50s - we wouldn't want baby turning into a Two Spoon Pete!

Have a great weekend!

Love, Liz

Is it my imagination or is blogland very quiet just now?

Wedgwood Wonder

Got a question for you today!

Does anyone know anything about this little plate?

The marks on the back denote Wedgwood, but can't find any information about this pattern online. 

Don't even know if it is really Wedgwood!

Thought I'd ask you clever folks, because of all the brilliant information Scarlett got when she blogged about her lovely scarf.

Hope someone out there can help - really curious about this plate.

Love, Liz

Flowers & Fabric

Made a couple of nice finds today!

I came across this very pretty little plate in a charity shop, couldn't believe my luck as lovely things like this are becoming rarer and rarer!

Love the delicate colours.

These curtains were another great find - lovely Winnie the Pooh.



Sorry its unironed!!!!

So what shall I do with the fabric - some nursery cushions and/or some book bags (gosh, I am getting brave!)?  Any other suggestions?

Its a dreary and dismal day here today - when are we going to get some nice weather?????? 

Hope its not too bad where you are.

Love, Liz

Today - I See All!

Had a great morning - met a friend for coffee, then a trawl round the charity shops.  Came away with a couple of great finds.

 

This encyclopaedia dates from the late 1920s and is full of information on just about everything.  It is called "I See All - The World's First Picture Encyclopedia" and is crammed full of the most amazing illustrations and photographs.  This is volume 5.

There's a world map at the back, and some colour plates.

Most of the pictures are in black and white.

Love it! 

I tell you about my other finds later in the week.

Love, Liz

Tea Towel Bag

I discovered an old tea towel at the bottom of my linen cupboard yesterday - it used to hang on my kitchen wall with another similar one, in our flat when we were first married.  Decided to do something with it.  This is what I ended up with - a nice wee bag!

Found some toning fabric in my stash for lining and handles.  I haven't sewn anything as complicated (well, to me) than a straight line for many years!

back of bag

Really pleased with the way it turned out.  I'm sure I got this idea of turning a tea towel into something else from someone's blog, but can't remember who - so if it was you, please let me know and I'll link to your post.

Think it will be handy for all sorts of things, especially -

taking to meetings, and

for my knitting.  Well, it can't be worse than my present knitting bag!

Have a lovely weekend.

Love, Liz

Blue and White

I  had a particularly good week charity shopping - last week!

I found this plate and thought it was lovely.  I'm really attracted to blue and white china, but don't have much of it.  So when I was thinking about  photographing this plate to show you, I had a wee wander about the house to see what else I had in blue and white which would look nice with it.

Isn't it amazing what you find?

Little blue and white cats - how sweet are those faces!

A little clog which I brought back from Amsterdam in the 70s.

Last but not least, a blue and white pottery heart.

Think I'll keep them here for a while - they look quite nice together.

Blue and white are also favourite colours in this house because they are the colours of the local football team - Greenock Morton!  Hubby and younger son are "enthusiastic" supporters! 

Morton are sponsored by Buchanan's - a local sweetie company - how good is that!  They make (amongst other things), "Millions", tiny, tasty, chewy sweets!

Love Liz

Lazy Day - Just Reading!

I have just finished reading A Whispered Name by William Brodrick - it is a fantastic book. 

It is the story of a monk, Father Anselm who meets a woman and an old man in a cemetery and is intrigued by the bits and pieces of the story they tell.  This leads him to investigate the life of an Irish soldier charged with desertion during World War I.  It is part detective story, as Anselm researches the history of the main characters, and part war story as we are taken back to the battlefields of WWI.  But it is so much more than that and reaches into the minds of the men fighting and facing almost certain death during the appalling daily carnage in Flanders.  The story unfolds slowly and I couldn't wait to find out what happened.  Terrific storytelling!

I woke up with a terrible cold and a sore throat this morning, so spent a few hours lounging on the couch surrounded by tissues - finishing off this book - it really is good.

Going to spend some more time catching up with magazines which I haven't got round to reading yet.  What a lazy day!

When I feel better ... well, I've got a new project!  Can you tell what it is?

Love, Liz

Rattling Teacups

I've a bit of a spooky story for you today! 

It concerns these two lovely teacups and saucers.

I was in a charity shop in a town I hadn't visited before.  I don't know about you, but my routine in charity shops is to quickly scan shelves then explore items that have appealed to me.  I had done that and had looked at some cups and saucers, but they weren't my sort of thing, and I only buy things that I really like.

The shop was empty, so I had plenty of time to look and was attracted to some small decorated glasses to my right.  At that moment I heard a rattle and strangely enough, my first reaction was - something is trying to attract my attention! 

That "something" was the little set I'm, showing you today.  The cups were literally rattling in the saucers!!!!  Nothing else on the shelf was moving, and there was no one else around the part of the shop I was in!!!

I hadn't noticed them on my first look, and the price was excellent - I immediately took them to the desk and bought them.

When I got home, I noticed that they were "Royal Cauldron" - well, that shook me up a wee bit - who do we usually associate with cauldrons?

Edit - yes, I read this wrong ... oops ... they still rattled, though!

Anyway, I'm glad I got them - I think that they are absolutely lovely.

Needless to say, hubby was less than impressed when I said that they made me buy them!

Have any of you had anything similar happen, or am I the only one with a strange experience in a charity shop?!!! 

Love, Liz

I'm joining up with -

Martha at Martha’s Favourites

Terri at Artful Affirmations

Wanda Lee at Teapot and Tea Things Tuesday

Trisha at Tea Party Tuesday