"Lady Heyes"

We went off on a spin yesterday afternoon....

....the we here being Christine McC. and myself.

Across the Manchester ship canal and off up into the Cheshire hills behind the little town of Frodsham....

First stop, after depositing the car in the car park.......Christine's car....thankyou!!

..is usually a cup of coffee and some cream cake.

Then we are fit and ready to do the serious business of  looking, necessary for ...

The Lady Heyes  Antique and Collectable Centre...

If you are in any way interested in "stuff".... this is the place for you!

Did I mention that I very grandly offered to buy the coffee and cake?...

...well I'd left my purse at home in the kitchen !....tut tut...

...baubles bangles and beads...

...buttons in a button box...

 ...lovingly crocheted rugs for ancient knees...

 ...never be without a good butter knife...

 ...lace and furbelows...( don't really know what furbelows are ...anyone out there help?)

 ...no place can call itself furnished without Donald Duck...

 ...books books books...and look at those super titles ...and didn't they do a good job with the book covers in those days...I love them...I buy just for the front illustration...

 ...tins and things...

 ...tartan rugs and silk throws...

 ...I get lost in the maze of rooms...

 ...we had one of these in the garage when I was a kid and I loved rummaging in it to find old paintings and documents...obviously not important or they wouldn't have been in the garage!

....but the piece de resistance for me, was this wonderful old photo of a huntsman...

...I asked for permission to take a pic of it...the absolute essence of a portrait...I think.

...home again with Christine at the wheel....what fun!

...don't you just love good friends!

the Huttites!

huts...huts...huts....

Well now we only have four huts on the back field, we used to have five, but the son took his to his place...though that is no more...
sad story best left buried!
The summer house....largest hut... was renovated in the early spring, and the wood shed...smallest hut...was repaired last winter.
So now it's the turn of the rubbish hut...I mean tool shed!

The first thing that had to be done was the removal of most of the laurel tree growing at the side of it.
I was sad to see that so much had to be chopped away,,,but it was either that or the shed...
.....and the shed won!

The roof came off.
Actually a few windy winters had all but decimated it anyway and the tools and "stuff" got wet and smelly.
So a brand new wooden roof was put on and covered with tarred felt.

Well now that no more nasty rain can get inside..all inside had to come out to be reassessed as to it's usefulness in the future.

Oh dear..that could mean many rows!

Here's what was inside.

First out the old sign for the shop.
 I liked this one with the pot looking a bit like a fish.
But things move on.
I know.

Old parts of church pews left over from the time when we were also dealing in antiques.

Early 20thc. glass light shades from the same time...threatened with the bin...but rescued by me!

I'd completely forgotten about this bunting and now the mice have chewed through the string and the snails have stuck the plastic ones together. Can I salvage them?....Maybe!

Chimney brushes, very useful the potter tells me ...no threat there then!

We don't own this "chimney- sweep's cat" she just seems to want to own us!

I remember that my dad called these...chimbley brushes...is that just an Armagh thing or does any other culture say that?

I don't know.

Goodness kmows what these chemicals are. Most came from Sydney...the potter's dad.
He always believed in a goodly supply of stuff for the garden...just to get rid of any pesky critters.

I don't use anything like that, so dear knows why we kept it all these ten years.
I suppose we thought that it might come in handy one day....
....well it didn't!

Ten years is nothing to the next box! 1986 my father died and we took his tools for the son who went on to Cabinet-making College in Thame.
Then they were put for safe-keeping into the shed....
...and forgotten!

Garden chairs in various states of repair or collapse...more the later than the former.

Oh and my tools from the time that I searched the auctions for furniture to tart up and resell to the young and hopefuls in the area.


And then it was time to put it all back.
Well not quite all.
A lot has been binned and old metal saved for the metal banks...worth a lot these day.

A space is now free to put the fruit boxes of apples and pears in for storage.
That is a bonus as previously they were all the way down the field in the summer house "hut" and I often couldn't be bothered to make the trip in the cold weather.

So we are left with a lovely laurel log to do something with.
I'm sure I can think of something, but in the meantime....
I'll just pop it in to the hut and wait for inspiration!