NumberNineteen

An Anglophile's Space

I thought that I'd take you on a little tour of my special space.  It is called the craft room, but it has become my craft room, yoga room, business center and private space to create and just be.  

I have filled it with my favorite things, bits and bobs that capture my heart or bring back memories.  More and more, those bits are little pieces of England that make my Anglophile heart sing.

Each corner has a bit of England.

This little cabinet holds souvenirs from various trips, including a china phone box from London.  Topping the cabinet are just a few of my pieces of royalty memorabilia.

This shelf shows off the rest of my ever growing collection.

These two books, given to me by a lovely co-worker, are the latest additions to my collection.

Even my inspiration board has a red phone booth.

It's not all about London, as you can see from these prints of English country cottages.  The one on the lower right once had a working thermometer.

In this corner is a vintage British biscuit tin with a seaside village scene.  The English seaside?  Why yes, don't mind if I do!

I'm always finding more bits of England that need a spot in my room.  The ideal, of course, would be to go back to England to pick them up in person....!

 

Caught My Fancy -- April

Happy Monday everyone!  I hope that you all had a wonderful and relaxing weekend.  I tried to go to a flea market on Saturday, but it got rained out.  So, that was disappointing -- you know how I love treasure hunting.  However, I more than made up for it by spending the afternoon in the kitchen, experimenting with scone recipes.  I still haven't found one that I love but it was fun trying them out.  If anyone has the perfect English scone recipe, please send it my way!

All right, onto what has caught my fancy this month....

Adorable Instagrammer Sally Potts - I recently spent some time going down the rabbit hole that is Instagram and found the most wonderful feed, full of wonderful English eye candy.  Sally Potts chronicles her home and life in Sussex, complete with the most amazing collection of Emma Bridgewater that you've ever seen.  I look forward to her daily posts.

Escape to the Country - Speaking of English inspiration, I've recently discovered Escape to the Country, England's version of House Hunters. In each episode, buyers are looking to move from their metropolitan life to a home in the British countryside.  The homes and scenery are to die for. I like it better than HGTV shows, as the people are truly looking for a house and don't always end up buying one that they see on the show.  It's so relaxing to spend 45 minutes looking at English cottages and dales.  The first 25 episodes are available on Netflix and loads more are posted on Youtube.

Betsy-Tacy Reading Group - I'm so excited, as I found a Betsy-Tacy reading group on Instagram this week (I said I'd been going down that rabbit hole....).  For those of you who are unfamiliar with Betsy-Tacy, it is a series of books that follow the main character, Betsy Ray, from the age of 5 until she is married in her 20s.  These books are not only my favorite books in the entire world, I'd say that they are one of the biggest influences on who I am.  They aren't as well known as some other series, so it is always a joyful surprise to find other fans.  A group of us are going to read and discuss the later books starting this week.  If you happen to be a B-T fan or are interested in reading this wonderful series, please join us by following  the link.

Spring Break and Easter

Hi All!  I hope that you had a wonderful, joyous Easter!  Ours was just perfect.  It was absolutely beautiful here -- warm and sunny, just right for an egg hunt.  

 

We were able to spend the holiday with Glenn's mother, who visited for the weekend. Hope was thrilled with lots of grandma time.

 

We shared a traditional dinner of ham, potatoes, biscuits, beans

 

and our tradition, butterfly cake.

 

Spring break has been blissful.  I had a couple of stressful weeks at work leading up to break -- several large projects going on at the same time -- I was sorely in need of rejuvenation. 

 

It was hard for me to let go and just take care of myself.  I often had thoughts of "maybe I should do a project since you have the time".  I had to let that go.  

I did yoga and walked every day.  I watched British TV.  I read old favorite books. 

I spent time with Hope.  We had tea at an adorable tea room. We shopped and went to the library.

I feel restored and happy now, ready to go back to real life being my best self.  I hope that you had a wonderful Easter and if you had a little break, it was as restful as mine.

Easter Tablescape - Pink Easter Tablesetting

I'm finally on spring break! Glory hallelujah! I am so ready for some rest and devoting time to my favorite home things.  First up, creating our Easter table.

I decided to base the entire table around my favorite find from last summer, my pink rose tablecloth.  Remember how I waited and waited at the flea market last year for the booth owner to show up so that I could buy it?  The pink roses are just so pretty that I want to make it the basis of this year's table.

I went with our every day white dishes, set on top of wicker chargers.  I found the pink gingham napkins on ebay and am using our good silver and my grandmother's etched crystal glasses. 

 

Everyone will have a foil wrapped treat set in a little pink cup adorned with Easter bunnies.  How cute are they?  I just nestled the bunnies in paper grass to help them stand up.

I love to have place cards.  I feel like they make everyone feel just a little more special because there is a place set just for them.  I traced and cut out a rabbit silhouette onto white card stock, which I then adhered to a piece of pink card stock that is printed with each name in calligraphy font.

My favorite part of the Easter table is always the flowers.  I wanted to keep it simple this year, in keeping with the cottage-y feel of the floral tablecloth and gingham napkins, so I chose to use mason jars as vases.  

I chose pink carnations accented by charmelia.  In the past, I wasn't a fan of carnations, but they are really growing on me and I love how they look with this table setting.

I think that this is my favorite Easter table yet!  For more Easter table setting ideas, see my tables from the past few years:

2016 Yellow & White Table

2015 Blue & White Table

I'm linking up to these parties:

Wow Us Wednesdays

Project Inspired

Share It One More Time

Celebrate Your Story

Flea Market Finds -- Vintage Pond Yacht and Antique Ironstone Jars

For the second time in a month, my antique scores were few but excellent!  I went to the first Arlington Flea of the season (wooohoooo -- flea market season is back!) yesterday morning.  I got there early and found this gem almost right away:

It's a vintage English pond yacht -- sort of a kid's toy that really sails in ponds.  I've seen them in a million movies and shows that take place in England and France in pre-WWII days.  

It's such a charming toy and makes a fun decorative piece as well.  I haven't seen one in person before so I'm really excited to have found it.  It will find a place in my Etsy store eventually.

Later that day, I was puttering around on ebay and found these amazing antique ironstone crocks.  I just love old black and white transferware pots like these.  I love that they were once everyday household items.  They are in perfect condition and on their way to me, all the way from England.  They will also appear in the Etsy shop.

**I thought that this post was published a week ago, but just discovered that it was sitting in "draft" status!  So, this week, you get two posts :)**