New Buttons!

Some new buttons can be found in my Etsy and Folksy shops. Please click the link beneath the photo to go to the item for sale:-

Woodland Friends Buttons / Embellishments £3.00 for the set, from Folksy or Etsy

25mm Flapper Girl Buttons - Striped Hat Variation £3.00 per pair, from Folksy or Etsy

12 x 25mm Green Marbled Buttons £3.60 for the set, from Folksy

25mm Flapper Girl Buttons - Black Hat Variation £3.00 per pair, from Folksy or Etsy

11 x 25mm Green Marbled Buttons £3.30 for the set, from Etsy

To see my full range of buttons available, please visit my Etsy and Folksy shops.

Gift Ideas for Lovers of Vintage

A small selection from my Fire Horse Vintage HQ shop on Etsy. Please click on the link beneath the photo to go to the item for sale:-

Ebonised Dressing Table Set, £35

Wine Bottle Stand/Holder, £8

Ceramic Wall Pocket/Vase, £20

Mexican Painted Ceramic Fish, £25

Arts & Crafts Chamber Stick, £45

To see the full range of items, including vintage buttons, books, postcards, ceramics and glass, please click here.

I'm Dreaming of a Pink Christmas

A selection of gift ideas from the designers and makers at Folksy.com

"Roses" crochet blanket, £29.50 from mushipi

Tree decoration, £3.80 from Just To Say...

Hot water bottle cover, £9.99 from Material Girl

Handmade blown glass bauble, £12.95 from Dakini

Cloth art doll, £85 from Jane Armstead Art

To see all 84 of the items on the Pinterest board, please visit: I'm Dreaming of a Pink Christmas.

Party Perfect in Pink and Aqua

A selection of finds on Etsy.com for the party season (please click on the link beneath the image to go to the item for sale:-

Ombre Pink Tassel Garland

6 x Glass Tumblers made from recycled bottles

Mint Aqua Earrings

1960s Party Dress

Satin Gloves With Rhinestones

To see the rest of the treasury, please click here.

Kielder Water Walk

Rob, Brock and I went for a walk by Kielder Water today. We started out from the Tower Knowe carpark. One annoyance is that you either pay £1.50 for an hour, or £4.50 for the day. We would have liked a couple of hours, but £4.50 seems extortionate to pay for that long, so we settled for an hour.

Anyway, we did a shortish walk along to the peninsula and onto the beach.

The weather was stunning: warm enough for us to sit outside and enjoy a coffee and cake at the café next to the visitor centre and car park (shown below). (It had been heavy fog when we left the house, and it still was when we returned!)

The café that we had hoped to visit for lunch at Falstone turns out to be closed Tuesday and Wednesday at this time of year - a fact they had not bothered to mention on their website - Grrr!

Instead we headed back to Newcastleton and had lunch at The Grapes Hotel. We both had the vegetable curry and rice (Rob had chips/rice). It consisted of carrots, broccoli and cauliflower in a tasty, mildly spiced, coconut sauce. It was well-cooked and we both enjoyed it. The staff were all very friendly and welcomed Brock in as well (and gave him a dog biscuit). The only downside is that it was rather pricey at £13.50 per portion.

Brockie Boy enjoying the walk.

Keswick Walk and Lunch at Treeby's Restaurant

We had a day out on Friday to celebrate Rob's birthday (a day early!). We did a four mile (two hour) walk near Keswick. It is walk number 3 in Countryside Dog Walks: Lake District - North (ISBN 9780957372238).

 The first part of the walk takes you along the shore of Derwentwater, with some great views of the mountains.

The second stage of the walk includes quite an uphill trek through woodland. You get some lovely views of the lake from the top of the hill.

We had lunch afterwards at a new place for us: Treeby's Gallery Cafe. 

Rob had a cheese and tomato omelette with fries; I had the mozzarella salad shown above (Rob has swapped some of the olives for a piece of his omelette!). The food was pretty good (the only minor irritations were that I had to pick over the rocket and remove a couple of brown/mouldy pieces, and that I was unable to have the bread with the salad because they don't stock gluten free). We also had a cup of coffee each, which was a fairly small cup, and standard in taste. The service was reasonably fast and friendly, even though it was very busy. We had to sit at a small high table on high stools. Although we didn't indulge, the cakes looked fabulous. I would recommend it as long as you don't need gluten free food. The bill came to £19.

Autumn Fruitfulness

Here is a selection from my Pinterest board 'Autumn Fruitfulness' made up of lovely handmade items, and supplies found on Folksy.com

Velveteen & Liberty Fabric Scarf from CatkinJane, £30.00

 Berry Bowl/Colander from Caractacus Pots, £14.99

Patchwork Quilt in Purple/Berry Tones from Nostalgia Knits, £195.00

Autumn Crochet Flower Wreath from DottyBo, £45.00

Berry Pie Suncatcher from Joys of Glass, £20.00

Patchwork Stars Wallhanging from Julia K Walton, £75.00

I was delighted to find that this collection had been picked to feature as a 'wishlist' on the Folksy Gift Guides page. Take a look for more great present ideas!

Ennerdale Water, The Lake District

Rob, Brock and I went to Ennerdale Water in the Lake District today. There is a path right around it, and we walked for about an hour, starting in an anti-clockwise direction from the carpark.

We had lunch in Cockermouth afterwards, in The Lanes Cafe. An enjoyable jacket potato with cheese, beans and side salad with peppermint tea to drink, for me; scrambled eggs, toast and chips with coffee for Rob, and two takeaway cakes, came to a very reasonable £15. On the downside, the staff were not particularly friendly and they forgot one item that we had ordered. On the whole, since it is dog-friendly, I would go back if we had Brock with us.

Victorian Terracotta Wall Pockets - Bearded Men

These wonderful, characterful Victorian terracotta wall pockets would look perfect on a conservatory wall, or perhaps outside on a sheltered patio. They could be used for small plants or left empty.

I love the patina of age on these pieces, and the interesting faces depicted.

To see the listing in my Etsy shop, Fire Horse Vintage, please click here.