Ruby, Jones and Springtime.

A couple of times a year I see this sign dotted around the town. It is usually held at our local college and I always mean to pop along and have a look but never seem to get round to it. So my 'new thing' for this week was to visit the Vintage fair and also to find out who Ruby is. I assumed that Ruby ran / organized the event and was possibly the lady on the adverts with the bright lipstick getting rather overexcited about a teacup.

So, on Saturday I dropped E off at her orchestra practice and went to find Ruby. Here she is - isn't she beautiful?

Ruby also has a sign, telling you all about her:

For a modest £1 entry fee you could browse 2 rooms of vintage tat treasures! Seriously, it was rather lovely. Lots of clothes, jewellery, craft items, cookware etc. There was a 1950's kitchen cabinet, just like the one my Mum had, but I was too shy to take any photos inside. I did, however, buy 2 enamel bowls:

 

The 'eggs' one will get lots of use, even though it would take the girls several days to fill it! The 'soaps' one I just bought because...... Sadly, I have to be very boring about the soap I use; anything with even a hint of perfume/colour/niceness and my hands come out in eczema. So, unfortunately,  it will not be filled with items of aromatic loveliness, unless of course you count my basil! 

This weekend, we also looked after 'Jones' our neighbours' cat whilst they were away. We loved looking after their old cat, Barney, who at 16 just liked to lie in the sun. Jones, however, is still pretty much a kitten and the last time I went round to feed her, I made the mistake of wearing a skirt. Never again! She scaled my leg while I was trying to put her food in the bowl and we have been wary ever since. This time though, we had a cunning plan. See the small red dot on the carpet? This is a little laser light key ring which J&B left out for me in readiness. Jones is rather keen on it, so E distracted her with the exciting, wiggly dot while I quickly dished out her breakfast. The only problem then was getting her back into the kitchen (the dot shows up better on the hall carpet), putting the key ring back on the table and getting out again before Jones noticed that the dot had disappeared - we managed it on the 3rd attempt! Scratch free legs - result!

Sunday was beautiful - is it too early to risk saying that 'Spring has Sprung' do you think? Possibly it's tempting fate. We had lunch in the garden and then took lots of photos:

Blossom against that lovely blue sky.

A peacock butterfly:

Celandines :

A tortoiseshell on the willow:

So many bees, which was good to see. Initially, we thought it must be a swarm in the willow as the buzzing was so loud.

R holding 'The Ladies' - Phyllis (the black Pekin) and Harriet (the grey lavender one!).

A robin eyeing up the newly filled feeder (actually, this one was taken the following day - you can see it's not so sunny!):

Finally, a quick photo of my WIP, the Stripy Blanket ( NOT to be called the granny stripe, in the hope that it doesn't put E off it!)

 Finally, finally (!) I seem to be in a very happy flower place at the moment. These, I picked from the garden just to have something to put in my thrifted vase.:

These carnations I picked up at the supermarket whilst doing the weekly shop:

And these daffodils were an unnecessary, but much appreciated, present from J&B for risking life and limb (alright, maybe not life but definitely limb!) feeding Jones.

Tomorrow I am booked in for the next item on my 50 list - a Pilates session. Wish me luck. x