Long Summer Country Drives.....and the odd teacup or two

The last couple of weeks my husband and I have been enjoying long country drives, discovering new roads that we have not yet explored and of course, stopping along the way for a coffee and a little vintage shopping when the opportunity arose. We stayed for a couple of days in a friend's son's house near Hobart which was advantageously situated with the most wonderful view of the water. Instead of watching TV at night, we would make ourselves comfy right in front of the huge picture windows and watch the constantly changing tableau. My husband would read and test his brain on the crosswords and I stitched happily away on my hexie.

Yes indeedy, my hexie went on holidays with me. It travelled in the car with me resting on my lap whilst I continued to stitch the binding on the back to cover the seams.

I wanted to finish the bindings on the hexies I had already stitched before joining new hexies to the quilt.

With the binding finished it was time to stitch more hexies to the quilt.

Although covering the seams with binding doubles the stitching time, I always love the look of it and the binding does strengthen the quilt.

Remember the delightful Esmeralda, Doris, Josiah and Jimmy who you met here.......well it seems they are still enjoying hanging out in our garden, though they have 'up sticks' and moved their little teapot mouse house to the Hydrangeas, under the shade of the Crabapple tree. Well.....it seems Doris has magically whipped up some more hexies for me. I am so thankful, as covering the seams with binding does take an age....and I can use all the help I can get!

Oh my goodness, the little teapot mouse house is certainly bathed in radiant sunshine.

A lovely stack of hexies. Mmmm.....only 6 inches high....enough for four more rows. I wonder....will this hexie ever be finished?? Oh, I do hope Doris doesn't move away any time soon.

On our travels I found this really cool vintage basket, spools of vintage ribbons and other ribbons to add to my collection. Oh.....and a beautiful, embroidered tablecloth.

I love this basket. When I was a little girl I remember everyone seemed to be recycling cards and fashioning boxes from them. I am always on the lookout for them and have a few in my collection. They are hard to find these days. Do you remember these??

Then.....I walked into a really fabulous shop called T2, which is an establishment wholly devoted to all things tea. I love this shop because there always seems to be some new designs on offer. Upon entering this Aladdin's cave, one's eyes ricochet from one teacup and teapot, to another. This delightful shop has teacups stacked on top of each other, forming kaleidoscopic towers of colour and pattern. This shop truly is a feast to the eyes.

Now Carla........yes you, lovely Carla, way up there in Kamlooops.....are you sitting down, because what I am going to show you might cause you to feel a little faint. =) I realise you are very, very busy at the moment....but you might just want to have a bo peep at this pretty. I know when my eyes gazed upon it I went weak at the knees!! Quite frankly, I nearly went into a state of apoplectic shock, but my good husband was on hand with a paper bag to keep me in the land of reality!! He didn't want his wife's knees to buckle from beneath her, being the cause of towers of china teeter tottering, smashing to smithereens on the ground. That could have been a wee bit embarrassing!

A teacup and  saucer covered in hexie delight!! Isn't it fabulous??

Who would've thought, that I, one who is quite potty....actually a little obsessed....with hexagons would find such a divine teacup. Of course I had to, had to, take it home with me. What do you think Carla.....you like???? Me love!!!! =)

Now.....these little shopping expeditions are not always about me. Sometimes my husband happens upon a 'must have'. He actually enjoys fossicking around shops with cachepots filled with treasure. Have a lookity look at what he found.

We both laughed when he spotted this. He has been on the lookout for a lip burner for a while now and the quote....well....it's about as good as it gets. Quite frankly it is perfect. The quote couldn't be more perfect if he wrote it himself.

But the piece de resistance of our little vintage shopping was this.

My husband spotted these pretties and decided these would make a perfect gift for by birthday which was this week. I didn't see these at all. Unbelievable I know, because I can usually sniff out pretties such as these from a mile away! I guess he has cottoned on to a few things, living with me in the land of matrimonial bliss for 38 years!! He has seen a lot china in our married life, poor man, but I wasn't the only one who ooohed and aaahed, a few escaped from his throat as well. =)

Be still my beating heart!! One cake plate, two teacups, saucers and plates and one sugar bowl with creamer, all overspilling with pastel, floralicious gorgeousness!!

Are they not the most gorgeous china you have laid eyes on since good ole Josiah Wedgwood opened the doors of his china factory way back when!! No?? Well they are to me...give or take a hexie teacup or two!! =)

It is Royal Staffordshire with the number F14527 stamped on the bottom.  I tried looking it up on the net to source it's name and the year it was made. Me, myself and I wouldn't mind finding the teapot......then my set would be complete.

If perchance there are any of you lovelies who might have seen this pattern in your travels, I would love to know the name of it. Me thinks the teapot really, really needs to be sitting on my sideboard.

I was wonderfully surprised by another birthday present which some very dear friends gifted me. Imagine my surprise, upon opening my present, these two pretties sitting there in all their scrumptiousness. A 'pretty as', pink concoction of a teapot and a funky teacup and saucer. Just too perfect!! There were a few too may squeals of delight escaping my lips when I saw these pretties.

The teapot is called 'Petal' which is apt, as the lid has a lovely flower flourishing out to the top of the pot, blending into the pinkness. I adore the shape. I almost imagine a genie to come swirling from the spout and joining me for a cup of tea. It's a great size too. It will hold oodles of cups of tea. Look at the infuser, there are some sweet little flowers attached to the chain. The teacup is so funky. It is called eclectic, which I suppose describes me perfectly. I love the quirkiness of the pretty floral saucer juxtaposing with the modern design of the cup. I love the hint of a flower in the inside of the cup, tying it in perfectly with the saucer. Too, too perfect.

With some of my pretties sitting on my sideboard alongside my other china, I am off to play ladies and partake in a spot of tea. The thought did fleetingly pass through my brainpan, that perhaps there is no more room for any more pretty teacups. But then.....perhaps I can squeeze in a few more from future teacup exchanges. Mmmm.....now to attend to matters of paramount importance......the pretty, pink, petal teapot will be perfect....but which cup will I use??

Until the next time........

Linking this week with Bernideen's Tea Time, Cottage & Garden
Stephanie's, Roses of Inspiration