In Xanadu did Kubla Khan, A stately pleasure-dome decree ...

We revisited Sintra this summer, Northern Man, Big Girl, Youngest Child and myself.  Only Son stayed at home to cat-sit and plant-water.  Sintra is a left over from the days when Portugal had royalty who didn't like to get too hot in summer and headed for the nearest hills to cool off followed, only naturally, by anyone else with money or a title.  The result is a town filled with castles, palaces and villas some of which are open to gawpers and many of which are now very nice hotels or private homes.

My favourite is Qunita da Regaleira located just up the hill from the town centre where there are an abundance of follies and fantasy buildings set on a wooded hillside.  Trying to describe it would be impossible so here are the photos ......

Then there's the house itself ....

And inside ....

There is also a Moorish castle perched high on a hill above the town.  It is built around the huge boulders that litter the site ....

That's the royal palace seen from the castle.  The things that look like oast houses sticking out from the top are actually chimneys.
On the neighbouring hilltop is the Pena Palace. Again, words fail me ...

I wasn't allowed to take any photos inside Pena but it is beautifully furnished.

A short way away from Sintra is Monserrate where parts of the gardens have been maturing for several hundred years.  When we last visited the house was not open but it is now being restored and is a joy.  I cannot show you photos as I stupidly forgot the camera.

I hope your summer holidays were as filled with lovely memories as mine.

Started early, took the road north ....

Last week Northern Man and I went to the Yorkshire Dales for a short visit.  It's an area that he knows from his youth and he wanted to reaquaint himself with it.  On the way we stopped in the charming Knaresborough ...

which I'd recommend if you pass that way.

We had booked a hotel in Reeth, the Burgoyne, which overlooks the green ....

There was no need for a television, an ipad or a book as there was so much people-watching to be done.  We did lots of walking ...

including a trek up Fremington Edge which I foolishly allowed myself to be talked into ....

and went through dozens of these which are called squeeze gates. It is a beautiful part of the country and, as you can see, the weather was kind to us again.

On the way back we stopped at Jervaulx Abbey ....

I have never been to Ninfa in Italy although it is on my list of places to see before I settle for an armchair, slippers and cocoa.  Jervaulx is what could probably be described as Ninfa-esque - the ruins are planted with flowers and shrubs and grass covers what would have been the floors and pavements.  It is a beautiful and peaceful place.

Now to the buys for this week ...

... a huge embroidered picture with a touch of Arthur Rackham about it,  several pieces of lovely Victorian handmade lace and some oriental-style vintage boxes. 

A Handbag!!!

I have been neglecting you dear RRs and OVs.  The last few weeks of term were hectic and stressful and, when it was over, it took me a week to unwind. But now I'm back to show you my finds from the last week or so.

Last weekend I bought this splendid thing ....

Now, I thought it was a Gladstone bag but I was mistaken - it is a conversation piece!  Normally, my peregrinations around the car boot a fairly solitary affairs:  I have short conversations with sellers generally consisting of a comment on the weather, a quick haggle over price (always my favourite bit), good wishes for the day/their health/continued good weather and a good bye.  I might stop for the occasional encouraging word to a small child or to pat a passing dog on the head but I am rarely accosted by strangers wanting to discuss my purchases.  Not on this day though - suddenly I was public property and was stopped by all sorts of  people congratulating me on the splendour of my bag, asking where I bought it, what I intended to do with it and, several times, a rather blunt enquiry as to how much I paid for it.

I've also bought some lovely vintage embroidered table cloths ....

and this wonderful vintage knitted doll's dress...

So far, so good on the taste front.  Then I had one of those moments .....

and bought these totally OTT examples of the art of cartonnage.  They are about 12" square and are covered inside as well as outside.  Someone is going to love them ....




Unfortunately, the aged parent does not want to do the next Shepton Mallet Flea Market on 26th August, so my next fair will be The Vintage Bazaar at The Victoria and Appleton Centre in Hartley Witney on Saturday 22nd September.  Put the date in your diaries!

One swallow does not a summer make ....

Any one flicking through the pages of the July edition of Country Living while waiting in the queue at Waitrose, cannot have failed to notice the number of swallows (or swifts, or house martins) it contains.  So I decided to knit one.  Here it is ... looks rather like it wearing jodpurs but it was the best I could do ....

Some weeks ago I bought this box.  It's marquetry floral decoration was missing from the top so I painted on some flowers to replace it. 

 The real reason I bought it is inside ....

Isn't that lovely?

At the same car boot sale I bought another item.  I happen to love it but Northern Man and Youngest Child were appalled.....

It's all done in the best possible taste ....

Boxes, birds and bubbling mud ....

Pity me, dear RR, I am a broken woman whose fragile but fondly held illusions about not looking her age have been thrown to the floor, smashed and casually stamped upon.  'Why?'  you ask.  Well, this morning's jaunt to the car boot sale was going quite well: I had bought enough goodies to put me in a contented, complacement frame of mind and was quite unprepared for the ego-denting one-liner that was about to come my way.  I came across a stall which had some nice silk and velvet fabric pieces on it and I was admiring the same wondering what I could do with them when the (male) booter said 'you could take those silk pieces home and make a waistcoat for your grandson'.  Now, I know I wasn't wearing any make up and the morning sun, when it's in my face, really shows my age, but 'grandson'?  Surely not!

I did, however, score a small victory over the male sex at another stall.  I picked up two jugs, asked the price and was told '£2 each'.  As one of the jugs was quite badly chipped I offered £3 for the two instead but the owner counter-offered with 'no, but I'll take £2.50'.  I paid and left ....

Now for the latest buys....

Lots of boxes, chocolate (empty), fabric covered and carved  ...

And birds ...

The shawl is hand-embroidered wool.  These bird pictures are painted and then feathers are added - there's a fine line between artistic and awful and I think these pictures may just have slipped over it.   Here's a close-up so you can make up your own minds ...

And more birds, this time embroidered onto silk and framed ...

and ...

Finally, some lovely vintage wooden salt and pepper sets.

That takes care of the eponymous boxes and birds, but what of the bubbling mud?  Half term was two weeks ago and Northern Man and I were off again, to Iceland this time.  When  told that we were going there most people said 'why?' or even 'what for?'  and I have to admit it wasn't my first choice but I was quickly smitten.  Landing at the airport was not unlike arriving at Inverness after leaving London - such clean air and so much sky.   Having spent so much time in the north of Scotland, the absence of trees and the harshness of the rock-scape didn't worry me but I can imagine it is a shock to many visitors.

We stayed in Reykjavik, very near the city centre.  It is far more like a large town than a city, compact, clean, very safe and almost cosy.  The older buildings are covered in what Northern Man referred to as 'crinkly tin' painted in lovely colours ...

We swam in hot pools, gasped at geysers and hot springs, walked through open air saunas made by steam fumaroles and  picked our way over lava fields.  Unfortunately there was no bubbling mud and I didn't get to see a glacier but we did visit the City Museum in Reykjavik where I found myself wondering if I'd been transported back to Colonial Williamsburg ..

The early population of Iceland must have been very hardy and inventive.  The earlier houses had turf roofs and great stone buttresses on either side to keep out the weather and stop the wind blowing away the building ....

And some ingenious beds ...

which extend and contract depending on how much room is available and, presumably, how tall the occupant was.  There were also some that could be widened to make room for two people to sleep together.

My favourite Icelandic idea was these ...

... knitted woollen shoe liners - brilliant!

What is the collective name for a group of gargoyles?

A pandemonium?  A Notre Dame? A threatenting?

This is the latest addition to the collection bought yesterday at the car boot. 

He bears an uncanny resemblance to Northern Man working on his new ipad.  Obviously, Northern Man generally keeps his wings folded unless he needs to shield the screen from the sunlight to stop any reflection .....