Victorian plant pots come to Stoke Newington.

Hello all,
The shop is coming along wonderfully - the latest news is that we're kickin' out with a little outdoor space. The emphasis is on 'little' at the moment: it's essentially the space of two porta-loos but the little concrete garden is nice! There's room for some of my favourite Victorian plant pots, a couple of chairs and some tubs of nice things. It makes me happy to nurture a little living plant and having outdoor space has meant there's a whole new variety of shrubs to buy from car boot sales. Huzzah.

Ta-da!

What's the name of these plants again? I've forgotten.

Euphorbia, my favourite.

And there's even some greenery happening inside the shop - some succulents for a start but the range is growing each week! Aargh! It's a little bit dead exciting - I've found some splendid people in London to buy from as well as heading to my usual countryside dealers. My new friend to buy from is so clued up and kind: he knows all the Latin names for the plants (and uses them all casual-like) but also doesn't mind when I ask questions like: 'where do you keep your danglers?' (They're called trailing plants apparently, so you know).

Plimsolls and succulents.

I know you're probably wondering which of those plants is my favourite . . .

Well - it's this one

If you'd like to visit the shop it's number 3A Evering Road in Stoke Newington (N16 7QA)
 - and if you come on a Saturday there's a nice farmers market just opposite.

That's all.

x

Běla Kolářová

I really loved the recent exhibition of Běla Kolářová's work at Raven Row (in fact I love Raven Row in general)

This morning I was looking through the catalogue, it made me so happy I thought I would share some images with you. I hope you like them and if you ever get the chance to see the works for real you should definitely do it. They're all so wonderful and considered and sparse; using simple everyday objects and often beautifully and carefully framed by the artist herself.

Thank you Robin Welch.

I have a new pot in my kitchen and it's a beauty! It's made by Robin Welch; a most wonderful ceramicist. (You can read a little more about him here). It's in a slightly bad way - all chipped and with baked on food but I take this as a blessing: it means I won't be tempted to sell it or just leave it on a shelf. I will cook with it, and enjoy it. I love the shape and the feel of it: it's chunky but even, it just feels wholesome to the hands.
I'm so pleased with it - my ceramic love is reignited, I've even started a Pinterest if you're interested.The other thing I like about it is just how easy it was to find out who made it . . . If there are any studio potters reading this (which there probably are because only the best, most high-brow folk read this blog) please take note! Don't make yourself a tiny cryptic signature stamp and then change it every few years just to be extra confusing. Just sign it big on the bottom - simple.
Thank you Robin Welch

Mayday.

Today I went to the Sweeps Festival in Rochester - an outing planned by that lovely beast Ali. It were dead good. 

We all got kissed by the Jack in the Green (who is my favourite) and I got gifted with ivy . . . which I didn't realise was for fertility until after I took it. I love folk traditions, they're so inspiring and bizzarre.
Do you have a favourite folk tradition or character?

Hardworking blankets

Being a furniture dealer involves a lot of lugging and praying things don't break in the back of your juddery old van. Luckily I've managed to amass a whole load of trusty blankets real quick. If I was a real dealer I'd have a load of shaggy grey blanketish-things that I'd call 'wraps'.
'I've got some wraps in the back'.
Lucky for you guys I'm a poncy pattern fairy who wants only the the most handsome wraps. And here they are displayed for you. These photos were taken in the back garden of the shop - which I'm in the process of clearing out to make nice. Exciting! I will show you pictures when it's looking lovely - this will mean a lot of hard work as well as evicting the resident fox.

Adventures in Toot Town.

Ok you lovely lumps - here is some Toot.

A nice souvenir bag that looks and feels a bit like a rag rug.

A handsome dustpan and brush - so you can be dead authentic even when you're on your knees scrabbling at dust bunnies.

A swirly cutlery tray - I really like it. When Mum spotted it in my box of stuff she was like BLEURGH!

Handsome bookends. On a similar swirly, whirly theme.

Modern, sleek bookends that can be used together or . . . 

. . . individually. You can roll out the curl of metal and grip the books with it - dead smart.

A nice lino print.

A mangy horse made of real mangy horse hide.

A stonkin' bakelite bracelet.

Saucers in nice patterns - would look good under a lush and healthy pot plant (I haven't got many of those at the moment).

An espresso machine. 

Some Victorian playing cards - such nice designs.

Some WW1 lead toys - poor spindly folk heading off to war.

A large wall-mounted mouth.

A mug with ears.

And some scientific posters that are made of whiteboard material, I thought they'd be pretty fun to have in the kitchen to write your shopping lists on.

Phewf! There you have it. I'm off to work in the shop and today and I'm expecting a visit from a chum who is due to have a baby any minute now (maybe we'll have the most tasteful birth session ever, straddling an Ernest Race) and a person named Lion.

So that's nice.