Sunday 23 August 2009

Blue skies, Buddha, bunting and beautiful beachhuts!

Hello!

My gorgeous girl, the



finally came back from performing at the Edinburgh Fringe having had an amazing time, on sensory overload as expected and also completely exhausted! It didn't matter as we had a few days camping lined up in Suffolk with its big blue skies and wide open countryside. We camped in Southwold which we love for its quiet stepping back in time aura,



a place where time seems to have stood still and people enjoy the simple pleasures, kite flying, crabbing, walking, taking time to watch the sea and looking for holey stones and seaglass (well those last two were what I did anyway). I did really well in the holey stone category but failed miserably at sea glass finding only one tiny piece. Does anyone know where this lovely stuff normally washes up?



Loving its delightful famous painted beach huts - no chippy paint in Southwold just lots of men in white overalls with lots of tins of white paint seriously at work.



However many times I go I always end up taking lots of photos of these 3 metre square huts priced at £50000 or more - and yes that is fifty thousand!








Even the fishermens huts down at the harbour have beautifully painted doors (but only the doors -it's far too girly to paint the whole hut in colour! - this is man's territory)



For those who don't know Southwold nothing clashes and jars - like all those things vintage its as if everything has just evolved into a shabby elegance. Even the plants seem to match their envirnoment - I loved this bracken - the railing seems to be emulating the colour of the plant - or is it the other way round! Rusting weeds - I love it!



The best bit? Blue skies and I mean BLUE skies, not just for an hour or a day but all day, everyday, all week in sharp contrast to last year when I spent most of my time wringing out the tent. Lots of folk had their bunting out on their houses and on their tents ...









What did intrigue me were the signs advertising a Buddha Market. I'd never heard of such a thing and wondered what to expect - most things in Southwold are the same from year to year (which I'm sure is why a lot of people go, and I'd never seen this before



I had to investigate and expected - well what did I expect? (Lots of old Indian artefacts I think ) - certainly not what I found!



An old church hall packed with stalls for 3 weeks, full of vintage clothing, handmade goods, retro bits and pieces and amazingly all the things we vintage lovers look out for when we're thrifting and booting! Outside were enough lures to draw me in piled up on the pavement - old quilts, suitcases, books and yes I was hooked - several times!



I had to keep going back for a look round - somuch eye cnady but I was actually very restrained for me. These are the things that came back home with me.



A piece of sheet music - nonsense songs by Edward Lear - aren't the colours great? And its in perfect condition...



Two lovely Wagon Trail trios -cups, saucers and side plates from the 50s/60s. (Funny this blogging world - this find immediately made me think of "Cowboys and Custard" of the Handmade and Vintage fair fame and I've never met her!)



And more reasons to be cheerful - this great shoe box minus shoes I'm afraid - I just loved the box, some floral barkcloth which I have a passion for, and a lovely little Tablet Box from Windsor no less!

Its lovely to be away for a while but its good to come back and I've been thrilled at all your comments in my absence. Thank you all so much and welcome to my new "followers".

I've won a giveaway and been given my first award while Ive been away but will post about those separately before my ironing pile avalanches all over me!

Hope you all have a good week!

Love Wend

16 comments:

  1. Amazing post! That Buddha Market looks wonderful as do the bunting, blue skies and beach huts. But, Oh, what a joy that photo of the pink house with the lanterns outside is!!! Just a JOY. x

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh my God!!! That is one amazing Buddha market!!! I absolutely adore Edward Lear, and have illustrated some of his poems, in collage, for friends. I'd also been admiring the Brighton beach huts this weekend, during a run along the front, and had decided to paint my shed/studio in the Brighton beach hut base colours (a rather sea-air red and green), but there was a really lovely chippy paint one and I thought of you! Really lovely post. Thanks
    x Philippa

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm really pleased that you had such a lovely time in Southwold. I just love that wagon trail trio, in fact, I don't often say this but I am quite jealous. I drove to Southwold with my daughters and there just wasn't anywhere to stop and believe me we tried everywhere. Mind you I did discover a couple of little side roads down to beaches I didn't know about. You're photos are lovely and yes that sky was quite an incredible colour wasn't it.
    Adele

    ReplyDelete
  4. It sounds like you had a wonderful time I am quite jealous. The beach huts look great and I love the wagon trail trios, they remind me of the CK oilcloth design.
    Ann x

    ReplyDelete
  5. Welcome home, Sounds as if you had a great time...and blue skies, who could ask for more! I would have loved a rummage around that market! Rebecca x

    ReplyDelete
  6. Just found your lovely blog and I adore your images...the beach huts are amazing...one thing we don't see much of here on the Westcoast of Canada....I am off to become a follower and read more of your past posts...happy week to you and your amazing blog!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Lovely to meet you Wend! Couldn't reply to you email as you have it set at no-reply, so just popped in to say hello. Glad you found my blog. I just had a quick look back through yours and have to agree we do love many things the same. i am always so jealous of you girls in England with all those lovely places to shop and look around!! Maybe one day I will make it there. You're in my favourites now, so will keep up with your happenings.

    ReplyDelete
  8. You timed your days away well to happily coincide with the lovely Buddha market! Great photos of the beach huts. Hope you and your daughter are well and truly relaxed and rested.
    Lisa x

    ReplyDelete
  9. Southwold is so lovely!
    I remember having a date there with Olly who I later married, happy days!x

    ReplyDelete
  10. Beautiful post. I adore Southwold.

    ReplyDelete
  11. It looks really wonderful - maybe I could wangle a holiday there next year!

    Pomona x

    ReplyDelete
  12. lovely post and great finds but WHAT! no crochet blankets?

    ReplyDelete
  13. Welcome back!! We went to SOuthwold for a day - did you camp on the site just behind the beach? You'll have to let me know. I love a great campsite!! I'll be posting your parcel to you on Wednesday - hope it make it in 1 piece!! You tend to find sea glass on beaches that are not so nice - where folk have a drink on the beach, then leave the bottle!! I have an immense collection of sea glass collected over many years (along with the heart shaped pebbles!. Its like finding treasure! The Buddah fair looks brillianr!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hi! Southwold looks amazing, I have never been there, thanks for the look around those lovely beach huts, reminds me of Brighton beach in Melbourne.
    How fantastic to stumble across the Budha market too!
    :D Sarah

    ReplyDelete
  15. The beach huts are gorgeous and so "British" can see why you love them so much. If you come to St. Ives, we have a beach just behind The Lifeboat House in the harbour where the sea glass washes up. You can also find bits of pottery from The Leach Potteries which is interesting!

    See you soon, Carolyn

    ReplyDelete
  16. Oh what an absolutely joyful post. Sounthwold has to be one of my favourite places ever! We go regularly as we're in East Anglia and I think it's stuck in the 1950s. Such a treat to visit. I do love that image of the fluttering bunting and the shot through the beach hut verandah windows. Fabulous.

    ReplyDelete