The Pub Sign Guy

Poor Rick barely had time to take a shower after flying all night from NYC; we caught a cab to Waterloo Station, met Ann and Mark for the early South West train to Salisbury, then took a cab to a small farm village on the out-skirts of town where we met up with the "Pub Sign Guy". Some of the ladies had met this guy at one of the antique fairs earlier and we could not wait to see his collection of acquired original pub signs.




Ann and Mark chose this sign and a few oils they uncovered in the warehouse. The sign we ended up with is behind the "sign guy" to the right, it also has an anchor on it and the original iron hanging bar and frame. Eventually we will hang it in the "River Cottage" in Boston.


You might get a kick out of some of the other signs we had to choose from! After we made our purchases we took the advise of the "sign guy" and followed him to the neighboring village for the local Cuckoo Festival. It was a great day to be outside and out of the city.....I'll post on that another day!

Author sighting

Jodi Picoult has just released her new book, Handle With Care. It explores how far a parent will go to take care of a child with an unusual disability - brittlebone disease - in the name of love. She is the author of sixteen novels including another "must read", My Sister's Keeper, which will be released as a movie soon. She lives in New Hampshire but was in London last night for a book signing tour.....and we were there!





Someone in our group "cut in line"! It wasn't me! Remember,I was a teacher...see that "teacher stance"?.... and straight lines are embedded in my soul, but that is an issue for another post!
Jodi Picoult was very personable. We had a nice conversation about carpal tunnel syndrome (she is wearing a tennis elbow wrap) and Weymouth, MA. (where her husband grew up).



We ended the evening with a cocktail at The Ritz...yes, they let us in! A little pricey, but worth it!

Window boxes of SPRING......

May flowers always live in your "window boxes" and sunshine light your day. May songbirds serenade you every step along the way. May a rainbow run behind you in a sky that's always blue. And may happiness fill your heart each day your whole life through. (An Irish blessing)

The new cards are here!

If you are not a Mah Jongg player you won't understand our excitement when "the new cards" come in....but this was the week when Debbie, (our 'master' player) brought back the 2009 cards from the States. To use an American term...It's a whole new ball game, Ladies! The tile patterns that we have memorized over the past year are no longer the same. Those of us who are addicted to the game gather on Fridays at the AWC, set up the tables and tiles, and get out our special Mah Jongg purses full of 20 pence coins. We barely win or lose enough for a Starbuck's Skinny Latte. In the official rule book it states that it is a game of skill, strategy, and calculation but to be honest there is a certain degree of luck involved....you've got to have a few jokers to win....just like LIFE!

Antiques again?

We arrived at the Ardingly Antique Market by coach around 9:30 am and we followed our calculated plan to start at the back first and work our way to the front - with 1400 stalls and a departure time of 4:30 pm, we knew it was going to be a long day. It really can be so overwhelming that not many purchases were made until after our delightful lunch (on the run!) of a ham, cheese, and pineapple toasty and a warm diet coke....not on anyone's diet but very tasty. Then the real haggling and quibbling began and I started to see a few ladies making trips back to the bus to drop off a load and regroup. Some of the things we looked at, but did not bring home, were these beautiful poster beds, a child's chair, a plate stacker and footstool, and some great birdhouses.










This is a picture of the things I brought home...
Don't you just love this petite French woven cane chair with new cushion and pillow ? It fits perfectly in "the queen's room" (which is Aunt Sandi's room unless the Queen comes to visit!) I won't tell you what I paid but I will tell you the dealer came off his original price by £70!!! Rick is not allowed to sit in it. At his request I found a cricket bat, which was not as easy as it may seem since I was obviously following a dealer who was buying them all, probably to resell at London prices. And my final purchase was this heavy silver bowl - just the right size for icing a few bottles of Prosecco. My friend and antique specialist, Carlton, promised me that I would not polish it because it's been polished so much that the copper lining is showing through and that is what gives it it's character.....SOLD! The dealer only came down £5 but it was the nicest one I saw all day.

















The animals were out in force today. In addition to crates of assorted antlers, I spotted a few interesting "accent" pieces.




Can you spot which one is still breathing?

A bike ride through SW 10

The wisteria is in bloom and everyone is outside on this beautiful spring day so Rick and I decided to explore ....by bicycle. I recovered from a close call with a cab vs a traffic cone and a sm.ass pro bike rider who told me to "Stay to the left mam!" which would have put me in the middle of one of those bottomless water puddles. I just said, "Good luck with that!" and didn't turn to see if he just took out the couple with the pram or the dog walker with four leashes attached to dogs going every direction. I'm really much calmer after a stop at the pub...my new spring refresher is a Bulger's Pear Cider with ice. We stopped to take pictures along the way..........








Hope you enjoyed the ride as much as I did!

****Note to self****
When I win the lottery, purchase property in "The Boltons" off Old Brompton Road, SW 10!