Sunday 28 June 2009

The travelling salesman ;-)


Yesterday, we were meant to be going to Honiton, on the train, just for a change.
I was going to hunt down the shop where Kirstie A. bought her very 'inexpensive' goodies (!)
However, we didn't get up in time to catch the train (well one of us didn't) and so we ended up in a place which I have not visited for such a long time..... Totnes...LOL.
Dear Mr S had suggested that we go and look for some vintage suitcases to sit on our very small landing.
Fine by me...Totnes would surely have some...!
***
Amazingly, it was just our luck to find that there was a 'Vintage Suitcase Fair' in Totnes...can you believe that? How unexpected!
Only kidding! But it seemed like it, as everywhere we turned, we seemed to be bumping into them...all very cheap and all shouting 'Buy me'!!
Picture the scene ... dear Mr S, (who seems to have also adopted the nickname 'Stig' amongst certain bloggers, because of his recent trip to the dump! ) walking around Totnes, carrying firstly two, then three, then four suitcases.
He looked like one of those travelling salesmen/ Betterware/Kleeneze men/etc , from days gone by...about to open his cases to show you his wares (!)
How we laughed about it, firstly in 'This 'N That' with Lesley, where we relieved her of two of the suitcases...and then I giggled again as I walked ten paces behind Dear Mr S, (because he looked a bit of a plonker)... but he didn't care at all!
And anyway, it WAS Totnes, so, in all honesty, I suppose that he didn't really look out of place !

And there I was trotting down the hill behind him, happily carrying my old wicker basket, which I'd also bought from Lesley.
I've been looking for a basket for ages but I am quite particular..not too big, not too small, not too deep, not too shallow...I was thrilled to find this one ; it was 'just right'..I sound a bit like Goldilocks, don't I?


In the basket, as you can spy, was the book 'Moonfleet' which I've also been meaning to read again. It's years since I read it and so in the basket it stayed. There's also..a gorgeous vintage 50s tablecloth... from Amanda...as obviously I paid her a visit too.
If I don't come home with something from Amanda's stall I feel cheated, I get sad, unbearable to live with and I suffer withdrawal symptoms ;-) ;-)

There, hanging up and crying out to be bought, was a lovely vintage 50s tablecloth. Lovely bright colours. Just up my street.

I also came home with two vintage guide books ... a 'snip' and I am a lover of these sort of books....I do like to journey into the past, frequently.


A Crown Devon cup and saucer, bought with 'Miguel ' in mind (our pet pheasant who gave us so much pleasure during the last 18 months but appears to have disappeared to pastures new) also flew from one of Lesley's shelves into the basket.


And when I got to the bottom of the town, to The Plains, I saw this lovely pack of garden ephemera replicas in a little shop.






And so, all in all, I was pretty pleased that we missed the train to Honiton. But of course we will be going there very soon.
Plus... I do have the added advantage of knowing that when I take a holiday, I'll have plenty of suitcases to hand!
;-)

17 comments:

  1. Oh sweet Sally, you make me laugh..i have been giggling to myself while reading your blog tonight...oh what a lovely day you had in Totnes, and with those wonderful suitcases...what a find...you must go back to the dump, as today I went and found many new and gorgeous bits for my garden!! Much love, and pure delight xxxx

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  2. Thanks for dropping by at my blog. I love yours and all your finds from Totnes, especially the 50's table cloth. I remember my grandmother having some curtains a bit like that design and I'd give anything to be able to find them now. I must go to my mother's for a rummage around soon!

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  3. Totnes is a wonderous place!
    The basket brings back memories. All us girls at school had a basket to carry our books. All of a sudden between 1967 and 1972 every girl at our school had a basket. It carried books, PE kit, and the ingredients for the Domestic Science lesson, sometimes all on the same day!
    I have read "Moonfleet" so many times I think I know it off by heart!
    I love the tablecloth, I am always looking out for ones like that.
    Julie xxxxxxxx

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  4. I should say that we are both basket cases ;o)

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  5. Hi, It was a lovely surprise to see you two in the shop on Saturday. I was really pleased to see the cases, basket, 'Miguel' etc. go to such a good home.
    No doubt you'll be planning a 'landing extension' next to accomodate all of the luggage. i know only too well that one of something is fine but two is ... some ... and that means that a collection has begun:)
    Lesley X

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  6. Fantastic blog post!! What a haul! Wish I was there!

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  7. Fantastic blog post!! What a haul! Wish I was there!

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  8. The shop Kirsty went to is just down the road from me! My husband has banned me from going in there because I always come out with something to find a home for!

    21st July is Hot Pennies Day - that would be a good day to come and visit dear old Honiton!

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  9. Fantastic finds, the suitcases will look lovely on the landing. The cup & saucer is beautiful. I've been looking for a basket too but I can't find the right one...yours looks prefect, you lucky thing. See you soon :)

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  10. You have conveniently answered all my questions Sal... except for the ice-cream one!
    I love those little brown cases and inherited my late Uncle's case... complete with his initials HJP... Herbet John Peck. I use it to cart my greeting cards around in when I do my travelling salesman bit.. but I always feel a bit like an evacuee carrying it around town.. I should have a big label round my neck too..
    One can never have too many small brown suitcases..
    Glad you missed the train.
    Michele x

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  11. If those suitcases could talk! I bet they could tell some tales. x

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  12. You never fail to make me smile, Sal - sounds like a great shopping trip - lol at the travelling salesman image - super purchases and the suitcases look wonderful:)

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  13. I love vintage suitcases. A friend has a pile that she uses as a bedside table.

    Victoria xx

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  14. Fabby finds, Sal, I am pining for a trip to Totnes at the moment. Honiton is good for mooching though, I've bought quite a bit of stuff from the shop where Kirtsy bought her goodies (all much more sensibly priced): pink eiderdown, embroidered tablecloth, lace, buttons, an aqua glass hen (of course!) and a grandfather clock!
    Love the vintage gardening ephemera, I think those little packs are really good so I'll be looking out for the gardening one.
    Hope you had a good weekend.
    Hen x

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  15. What neat items you bought. Your flowers are pretty Sal. A train ride sounds good. I need to see were in Southern California where I can take a train ride for a nice day trip.

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  16. You find such lovely things sal. I am sure, if I came to Totnes, I would not be able to find half the lovely stuff you seem to unearth.

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  17. I'm moving to your neck of the woods! Can never find any treasures like that here! Maybe I just don't know where to look yet. It is only recently that I have discovered quite how much I want to have wonderful 'old' things around me having grown up in a house where that sort of thing was disposed of, I dread to think how much beautiful stuff has been relocated by my family!
    Must not dwell on that and onwards with the re-stocking for myself!
    Take care
    Sarah x

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Thank you for taking the time to comment! ;-)