✴ weekend crumbling

{tea lights in vintage brioche tins and lace doily}

You know when someone is a little bit poorly by looking into their eyes, glazed over, perhaps a little pink and with a droopy lidded tiredness that sums up the overall feeling of being run down. I saw this on the little lady over the past few days {a lot better now but for a bit of a cough} and I saw this in my own eyes in the bathroom mirror last night.....Eughhh...lurgy has at last got me. It was inevitable but nonetheless annoying and totally unwelcome.

{brioche tins, wire basket, 1920's ash butter bats and rolling pin and embroidered tablecloth}

Not helped that I was solo parenting all of yesterday and last night and had planned to prepare a lavish dinner for a dear friend who had a special valentine birthday. When cooking for friends I usually plan the menu for days, pouring over the cookbooks and cookery magazines  but yesterday, struggling with a general feeling of Hhhmmppffff  I ended up completely and utterly making it up as I went along, and actually it worked a treat... to the point that I wish I'd paid a bit more attention to what I was throwing into the cookpot {or tagine..} so I can recreate the tasty dish which magically appeared on the table last night! Chicken and squash tagine followed by rhubarb and strawberry crumble. Yum. I think I just about got away with it! Or maybe I was feeling so poorly that anything would have tasted sublime and warmed the cockles?!

 {vintage lace and trims currently being used for headdresses and accessories}

{a bundle of french linen pieces and assortment of cross-stitch monograms}

Although I' haven't been blogging as much as I'd like to recently I have been shopping, oh yes. Thrifty vintage shopping, my absolute fave! With recent visits to Kempton, Kingston and Farnham I have gathered quite a few lovely things. I'll show you just a small selection now and hope to get round to photographing everything else soon.

{glass dome with blue and white china dish and 6 small cocktail glasses}

Anyway I think it's time for more honey and lemon to soothe my croaky throat. Or perhaps a hot toddy?!
Tonight I'm making a completely-made-up-as-you-go-along* sausage stew and blackberry and pear crumble. A gloomy dark and damp day such as this {where are you spring???} deserves a warm and cosy evening of stodgy comfort food and something good to watch on the tellybox {where are you Lark Rise???}.

* although completely-made-up-as-you-go-along several times before so practically a bona fide recipe.

Taking part with Flea Market Finds