Boot and Bargains

Yesterday was an almost 100% perfect day for me.

First of all the sun was shining for a bank holiday.

There was a boot fair.

I saw quite a few family members including my new nephew Fletcher, a brother for Frazer.

Here is Fletcher with his mum, Julia.

A very late lunch roasting in the garden room.

A walk in the bluebell woods with the perfume just rising.

Then a tantalizing hour or so in the garden at home.

But back to the boot fair, held at Icklesham and always popular on bank holidays.

It can sometimes take 20 minutes to leave the field in your car.

There is nothing I like more than a good boot fair on a sunny day, with views across the Brede Valley.

You never know what you are going to find. It is a crafters` paradise.

For people who don`t know about boot fairs.....it involves filling the boot of your car or van with anything you don`t want, setting it up on the grass avoiding the sheep pooh and selling as much as you can....great on a sunny day but a bit miserable when it`s cold.

After fruitlessly traipsing up and down several rows unable to decide which way to turn, I came across a very long set of tables set up with the most incredible treasure trove of haberdashery, most of it rather old. I made my way from one end to the other searching through boxes of buttons, cards of lace, braid, string, rope, wooden reels of tape, washing tubs of buttons in every colour of the rainbow, chests full of ribbon, sparkling angel beads and zips of every length.

Well it is my idea of a treasure trove.

This was my stash.

I found a lady selling square pots and holders.

Three trays for £1. She laughed when I asked for nine, having explained to her that my husband and I were fighting for them at home.

Funnily enough when I saw Jamie later, he had bought me another three.

My other purchase was six reels of garden string for £2.

All in all a great haul.

Here are my latest crafts....

.....sausage dogs....

......more sausage dogs.....

.......and a fabric basket which didn`t turn out quite as expected.

Incidently, for campers at Freshwinds, boot fairs are held every Sunday during the summer months ..... one of them is at the other end of the lane at the Robin Hood pub field.