Monday, June 13, 2011

Shopping.........of course


You didn't think four gals could spend a week anywhere without a shopping spree......or two, did you?
Although we were limited for space when it came to buying bulky items - the downside to travel - it didn't mean we couldn't look, wish, sigh.......and, now and again, buy something small to tuck in the spare corner of a suitcase.

Here are some of things I found interesting..............and you'll never believe which item Kim and Rob actually somehow stuffed into their rolling duffel!!


At a fun visit to a huge garden center I loved this Day at the Allotment box.  For those of you who aren't familiar with allotments - and you didn't watch EastEnders on TV - they are small plots of land rented to gardeners to grow veggies/flowers, usually if they don't have large enough gardens on their own properties, or they live in flats or 'digs'........I'll explain that term another time!  Also 'tuck' which means a snack such as a candy bar...............and you really thought we spoke the same language!!!!!!!
Of course to take this cute box home would have required ditching either my basic black carry on or, heaven forbid, my fashionable French blue laser cut leather bag purchased for my vacation. So it was left here for someone with a real allotment to enjoy.


How fabulous, also at the garden center.................a display of the entire line of Farrow & Ball paints and wallpapers.  As you may know these paints are costly in the UK..........and totally beyond my paint budget here in the US!  Their colors are perfection and I'm sure the paint itself is gorgeous to slap on. 



My dirty little secret - buy a sample pot, take it to my local paint store and have them match it in a much more affordable paint.  So no, I didn't burden my DH with a load of heavy paint cans, and as much as I loved their exquisite wallpapers, I'm not going back to hiring paper hangers - who once ate everything in my 'frig, and freezer, and left me with a half done job........that's another story!


At an outdoor market, dodging showers and shoppers, I really fell for these neat replicas of old fish crates - remember how much I love words and calligraphy.  They actually looked authentic, but didn't smell fishy, and several stacked up somewhere in my house would have made a great storage display


We found a 'shabby chic' style shop selling reproduction furniture..............


........and some Union Jack items - the long draught excluder above for an old cottage door on chilly Winter evenings...... 


........and these really nice storage trunks. Now If I had been returning by sea perhaps, just perhaps, I could have gone the way of a vintage ocean voyage passenger and chucked all my wrinkled clothing and muddy boots in one of them before sailing back across the pond!


The one thing I would have really loved to bring back was this tapestry cushion depicting Beatrix Potter's Jemima Puddle-Duck and the "foxy-whiskered gentleman". This would have been a lovely memento from the Lake District......and yes, I'm still kicking myself for not buying it when I saw it in the window of an antiques shop.


What did friends Kim & Rob actually manage to stuff in their bag? Actually, two of the neat fish crates..........guess I need to take packing lessons from them for future trips!

11 comments:

  1. I think I would have managed to find room for one or two of the fish crates, very cool! I agree, the hardest part of shopping while you are away is getting it back home. I have shipped things in the past but I suppose that would be very expensive on your part to do so from England. Fun post!

    XO,
    Jane

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  2. Oh, I, too, wish you had headed home with Jemima. I hope you are returning with paint swatches to replicate? Lovely post!

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  3. You know why my husband is so happy since we had our trips by bike? Not that much space for shopping in our bike's sidebags.....

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  4. I suppose once you had bought those fish crates you could have filled them with other bits and pieces. Nice stuff - all of it very enticing.

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  5. Oh, Mary, I do wish that Jemima and Foxy Gentleman had traveled back with you. You could have carried it on board as your pillow for the flight. Got to get creative! Support for your back, you know. I've been known to buy an extra bag for the goodies purchased. But I admire your restraint. I need to take a lesson or two from you. LOL
    Love seeing all these photos of your trip. ~ Sarah

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  6. Don't you sometimes just want to get one of those sea containers and fill it up? Now that would be a fun shopping trip!

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  7. Love, love shopping when I travel. Wow, I am amazed they got two packing crates in their bags. I would be sad for passing up that pillow, it is lovely. Happy shopping wherever you travel.

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  8. Interesting items to be had if one has room in the luggage. I remember carrying a shopping bag full of Lilliput Lane houses, all in boxes, on my lap on our return home. And, I do know what 'tuck' means. When I was a young girl at summer camp we had 'tuck' every afternoon. We could go to the 'tuck shop' and purchase a chocolate bar, chips or gum. My favorite part of camp! Thank you for you lovely visit and comment the other day! Pamela

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  9. Mary, what fabulous things you saw on your shopping trip!! I love the Jemima Puddle-Duck pillow! Maybe you could write the shop owner and she could send it to you!

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  10. Wow! Dear, so many beautiful finds! I had a wonderful time with you this Monday.. wish we could spend time together everyday... Thank you! Love, Vanessa

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  11. Mary, you always seem to find the neatest things on your shopping trips! I would have loved to stuff many things in to my suitcase!
    Take Care,
    Ulrike

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