That & the Other

My oldest friend Ali came to stay this week so it has been a very good one; lengthy chats, much giggling, plenty of walking, charity shopping and antique fondling in abundance. All with the necessary stops for tea and cake, of course. We watched Jane Eyre and Amélie back to back, met Sara for afternoon tea (I had so much fun introducing two of my favourite people), spent far too long in Paperchase, discovered the creepiest childrens book (see last pic: Play With Us? Or what!?) and yet somehow we didn't get around to opening the bubbly. I'll save it for the next visit. 

I love appreciating this little town through new eyes, I'll be very sad to leave it!

Home

Beautiful Clutter has been oh so quiet this past week - I disappeared back home to Lincolnshire and spent time with my family for a few days. The rainy train journey home on Friday was a taster of the weather in store but being a rain-loving sort of girl I didn't mind too much. I'm always grateful my parents are fellow magpies; so much time was spent either in antique/vintage/charity shops or having good, long chats over a cuppa - that or being mauled by one of three four-legged furries about the place. The split second 'Where am I?' feeling of waking up in a different bed was pretty swift to evaporate once I'd felt the two feline alarm clocks purring away on top of me. 

Being in the kitchen at home is the best feeling, I could do an entire post on that alone - I won't, but I could. The picture of the copper kettle on the slate windowsill with a view of the woods around the house sums up fairly well; so much tea is made in that kitchen! Home is such an interesting concept to me because I feel as though I have two; wherever I live with T and the place I'm from where my roots go deep - where my family are. When I think about that I feel very lucky, where do you call 'home'? 

A maiden voyage into the world of blogging . . . .

Welcome to my corner of the web!  I'm Jem, and you could say I'm an enthusiastic hoarder of all things beautiful and curious, which sounds like a confession of sorts and I suppose it is for believe me I have sinned.  As the name of my blog suggests the objects that really take my fancy are those that have been loved - or loathed - before.  That isn't to say I shun the high street, only that I love nothing more than seeking out bits and pieces with a history entirely their own.  For this I place the credit squarely upon the shoulders of the maternal side of my family - from wandering around antique centres and car boot sales with my Grandparents to watching endless series of Antiques Roadshow with my Mum of a Sunday afternoon - they each had their influence.

So this, like many others in the vast ocean of blogs, will be a place to ramble a little about one of my passions over a cup of tea and perhaps meet some like-minded readers and bloggers along the way

Take care,

Jem xXx