A little piece of 1970

I seem to be on a bit of a 70's vibe at the moment - the string picture I posted recently was gone but today I got this embroidered picture - more embroidery.  But look at it!  The subject, the colours, the polyester or nylon wool, the hessian backing, the style all scream 70's and I couldn't leave it behind.  It didn't fit into the top box so was carted home fastened to the bike by two ties. 

I love the way whoever made it has run out of wool for some sections and carried on in a slightly different colour and yes, the dove does look a little strange but who cares? This is handmade and maybe 40 years old



Aer Lingus are bad for your style

I should have posted this at the beginning of July.  This is a lovely silver Warehouse dress that I meant to wear for the Bjork concert in Manchester. 

Thanks to a delay of 8 hours on the Aer Lingus flight from Shannon to Manchester, I only made the concert by the skin of my teeth and the driving skills of my good friend Del and this fine creation remained folded in my luggage.  This was my 4th delay in 4 flights with Aer Lingus and I am never flying with them again.  (Exactly a week later, the same flight skidded off the runway at Shannon airport).  Thanks Aer Lingus.

And so this dress remains unworn but I know it'll see plenty of action in winter with tights and boots. 

I was there Michael, where were you???

Michael Flatley, Lord of the Dance, lives in Fermoy.



Fermoy is a rather picturesque town 50 minutes drive away for me.

So given the choice between the delights of charity shopping and a portly fellow in granny shoes and leather trousers, you know what I was looking for.

And I found it. 

St. Vincent de Pauls ... back street off the main street to the right of the river.  A 'Russell Stuart model, London W1' modelled by Breda who usually wanders around the garden naked.

Breda before

Breda after

I know it's not ironed* but it's fabulous nonetheless.  The print on the fabric is wonderful and seems to make the dress shimmer almost.

I wouldn't wear the dress and jacket together, in fact as it's a size 42 I have some sewing to do before I wear it at all.

The dress also has a belt with bows which fastens at the back.

And the price for such vintage fabulosity?  €6.  I could have spent more because SVdP was an impressive shop but I wanted to save money to buy Michael tea in case I bumped into him.

Whilst waiting I took some photos of Fermoy and went for a walk along the Blackwater River.



These last two charming rural scenes are a mere 10 minutes walk from Fermoy town centre.

Michael didn't show - maybe he knew he couldn't compete with St. Vincent de Pauls.

*  (I've decided I'm not going to iron anything for this blog).

A buying frenzy in God's Own Country

Maybe it's the time of the month or the phase of the moon or maybe I've just been lucky but several delights have come my way recently. 

The ever reliable Limerick Animal Welfare shop provided me with my first pair of summer sandals - a gorgeous pair of Kickers which I got for less than 1/10th of the new purchase price and which will see me through winter methinks with a pair of tights.

And then for the household I also found this old glass dish of the kind which I think was used in the 50's or maybe even earlier by ladies for keeping pins and clips on their dressing tables which is where this one will live when it's not being photographed on mossy, ivy covered walls

I love old glass like this, far preferable to plastic for keeping my treasures in.

And lastly another old treasure and informative to boot.  Did you know Cork looked like this?

Me neither.  But it does according to my new tea towel, 'Ireland, God's Own Country' which also includes a map of Ireland and artist impressions of several other famous Irish places.  I have of course taken a close up of the section featuring Limerick and helpfully highlighted two other places where excellent charity shops are to be found:-

For those of you unfamiliar with Ireland or maybe planning a tour here is the whole map reproduced in full.  I'm now entertaining a small notion to use the remaining 6 weeks of my summer holiday to sniff out charity shops in every location on this tea towel using my trusty velocipede Corky*.  I know for a fact there are none in Castletownbere or Glengariff.  Shame as they're lovely parts of Ireland and would I suspect have top notch goodies due to the largesse of the local inhabitants.

* my trusty velocipde Corky



My very own Irish cottage

I always wanted one of those traditional cottages with the stone, whitewashed walls and thatched roof and chickens in the yard.  And now I have one ...

in the form of this lovely and unusual embroidered brooch, complete with birds and chickens and even possibly a pile of turf at the side.

It's a gorgeous little thing, the embroidery is fairly intricate and I think it may be quite old.  It's certainly a much better souvenir of Ireland than the plastic leprechauns, (made in China), that are sold in shops today.

Something I wish I'd bought

I photographed this lovely gold and red string butterfly intending to just put it on this blog as a memory of those nail and string pictures that were so popular in the 70's (along with all the Spanish bullfighting paraphernalia). 

When I got home and looked at my photos I realised with a pang I should have bought it.  The colours and ripe 70's style would match my landing decor perfectly - of which more in the next post.

Mark my words though, the day of the string picture is nigh and if it's still there when I go in next it's coming home this time.

Will you look at the label on that!

Brand  Spanky  New

Yours for €10

Limerick Animal Welfare shop