Louise's West Oxon World : Auctions, our 1st caravan trip & disco balls ...

Hi y'all, phewee this week has been a very busy but very enjoyable one. So where to start ...

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Here ... NEW MUSIC ALERT! This fabbo song from a new band has been going around and around in my head this week ~ OMG I love it. Enjoy xx

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that, as they are still relatively new on the music scene, they may come to Oxford to gig. My daughter and I have managed to see the likes of Tinie Tempah and Professor Green in intimate gigs for £10.00 each in Oxford while they were climbing the ladder to fame. Recently we saw Temples as a support act who I have a feeling will make it to fame and fortune. I hope so, they are a fab neo psych band who are unique, write great songs and captivating to watch. Cor, it all happens here in Oxford ... we should be called the home of new music!! ;)

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Shiny Disco Balls ...

After 'wanting' for such a very long time my search is finally over (thank you to Si the man). I am now the proud owner of a rather large shiny disco ball that shines and does it's sparkly thing in our kitchen.

All I can say is "eeeeeek" :D

This ball of sparkly joy brightens any bleary morning and I'm very pleased it lives in our kitchen ~ yay

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My fav photo of this week is a bit of a corker, even if I do say so myself.
I had the micky taken out of me by my family including my father-in-law in the process of taking this, then when the waitress tried to take the used cutlery away and I asked if she could leave the spoon as I was taking a photo of it you should have heard the howls of laughter from around the table. Still, just look at this cracker ...

An au-natural formed English breakfast tea love heart

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Auction fever ...

The last auction my friend and I attended was the beginning of February so we were both champing at the bit for the next date which was this weekend. With over 500 lots we hankered down for the day with a continuous supply of coffee, eccles cakes (delish and homemade by a very talented baking lady who supplies the auction house with the most tasty delights ~ nom)and a couple of magazines for the few dull lots (Beswick figures ~ yawn and stamps ~ bigger yawn). We were both content spending the day in familiar surroundings and lovely antiques and collectibles. Here is a snippet of what was on offer ...

The most gorgeous sofa in the whole wide world. I fell head over heals in love with this beaut but sadly I have no need or space for such a thing
:(

I had my eye on this lil lot but sadly but it went for more than I wanted to pay.

Boxes upon boxes for loveliness

(inc a rose glass chandelier ~ oh yes please)

Half way through the day and the back of our bidding card is starting to fill up with purchases. We were out bid on some things when they no longer became a bargain but were winning others ~ yay ...

Sooooooooo ... this is what I bought:

All of the above came as one lot (21 paintings in all) and I paid the grand sum of £5.00.

After some quick research I found this with individual paintings selling for £10 - £15 each and I have also found out that they can not command a higher price as the artist wishes to remain anonymous meaning a lack of provenance.

Regardless of the price T Castle's watercolours are currently realising I am over the moon with mine and have bought them out of love and not profit (no wonder I'm always skint).

Then I made a rash, impulsive and darn right bonkers purchase that I even surprised myself at!!!

I bought the one and only ...

Sofa!

But ... in my defence, I only paid £11.80 for it and have looted the cushions then passed it on to a loving home. So £11.80 for 4 large cushions with feather pads (all 4 are floral backed with striped fabric for a contrast) it wasn't such a bonkers buy and there was method to my madness, despite the fact I had no way of getting it home and my lovely friend and her partner came to my rescue(cheers J&M)

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This week has seen a momentous occasion ...

Finally, after 6 months of waiting patiently for warmer weather we ran out of patience and took our Hermie caravan away to the seaside on his very first holiday with us, his brand spanking new family.

Poor Hermie was bursting with family members, all of us squeezed in to him. He was a home from home on two wheels to two adults (slightly larger after Easter than before), a teenager, a lanky lad, a tiny lil puppy dog and a great big mahousive Greyhound. All of us along with every type soft furnishing you could ever need in an assortment of different colours meant poor Hermie nearly burst at the seams. Thank goodness we filled the tyres up to the max with air before we embarked on our way! However, Hermie did us proud and kept us all warm, dry, cosy and happy in our lil home for the duration of our stay in lovely Dorset.

The main reason for our trip was to finally experience ‘ hands on’ what a stay away in a caravan/our Hermie is really like and to see what we need/how to set things up/gain experience in towing/etc. We had a pretty major mishap within the first hour of arriving, during the journey the water pipe had come loose under the sink and broken away from the tap. When we turned the tap on water gushed out under the cupboard soaking the electrics, flooding the cupboard, its contents and the floor ~ ahhhhh. That’s a lesson learnt the hard way! However, despite that ‘blip’ below are the reasons why we have fallen head over heels in love with caravanning:

1. It’s like having a sleep over party every evening. We would cosy down on the double bed in our jamas and toasty bed socks among cushions, our pillows and duvets and chat or read, play games, write music. As my son said “it’s like having one long fun sleepover at Hermie’s house”.

2. When it’s raining outside there really is no better feeling that snuggled down in your duvet with a warm cuppa listening to rain drops pitter patter on the roof.

3. As sad as it sounds, nothing beats coming back from a day out and filling your own kettle up then pouring a cuppa into our usual fav mugs ~ ah a proper cuppa.

4. Freedom of choice: having the freedom to stay put or hook up and move on to the next destination of choice.

5. The community feel. We have noticed that there is a real community feel between fellow caravaners, if you’ve gotta caravan then we’re all friends together. Most morning’s milk, bread, eggs and other delights are shared among fellow neighbours. Pleasant “good mornings” and chit chat over the football results and weather reports go on with a cuppa in hand.

6. The just got up look is all the rage. It is the norm to crawl out if bed, tiny pincey eyed and hair like an unkept nest and trundle down to the shower block clutching toiletries and a towel. Inside a welcomed 15 mins is spent showering, teeth cleaning and hair drying, along with chatting about hair products and how your neighbour has such a glossy mane only to emerge invigorated and looking like a completely different person to the one who staggered from your caravan 15 minutes earlier.

7. It’s an excuse to cook a fried breakfast every morning ;)

The only draw backs are:

1. Adapting to a small area in which to live, sleep and cook.

2. Packing beds and bedding away each morning then setting them back up again in the evening (that’s just us being lazy though).

3. Sleeping with a dog in between you as your bed is much more appealing than theirs!!

4. Setting up an awning is a pain (but so worth it when it’s up as it gives you so much more space) then packing it away again, especially when it’s wet.

5. Banging your head on the door frame like all the time ~ dooh.

Retro V Brand spanking?

There are good and bad points to owning an older (almost retro) caravan, our Hermie is 22 years old. The good is with it all being completely authentic inside its sweet and like stepping back in time and you know you have something with age, character and becoming rarer and rarer. The bad is having your father-in-law parked up next to you in his almost brand spanking new and improved, posher than posh caravan with space, all mod cons and total luxury. My husband kept saying “I’m just popping next door” and came back some time later saying “Phwar, it’s boiling around there with the central heating on, I had to take my jumper off” and “I’ve just been watching the built in TV around there”. Hum, we have no mod cons, other than a fridge! Still, retro v modern? I suppose the two are so opposite they are just too impossible to compare. Although I wouldn’t say no to central heating, this portable plug in jobbie has been a God send during our stay …