a few days away....

 

having spent the week packing up the ground floor of my flat in anticipation of building work next week...i decided to take a few days to visit my folks in Hampshire.  on the way to the station i spotted 2 bed bases (no mattress) and a sofa on Leghorn Road, NW10...to send me on my way.  i spent most of my time relaxing chez famile...and my dad delighted in showing me his new (vintage) Velocette bike (a 1955 model) with beautiful chrome wheel guards and the fab "naked lady" motif on the tool box.

 

this makes SEVEN that he has bought, taken apart and put back together...he needs to open a museum!  he loves to potter in the garage and while i was there he kindly stripped and re-painted this lovely american-style matchbox holder i bought on etsy a few weeks ago..it will look lovely in my bathroom - which my parents couldn't understand, until i explained about the old trick learnt in Thailand for getting rid of nasty niffs in the toilet...just light a match and hey presto!

 before

after

also got to spend a lovely day in Bournemouth with my Aunty Jennie, cousin Sarah and her two children Renee & Freddy - who i really don't get to see enough, but always enjoy their company as we share a love of beach-combing and doodling in the sand.

 

my aunt and cousin also share my love of charity shop trawling and we were in heaven with the NINE shops we managed to visit in Parkstone, a suburb of Bournemouth - where my dad and aunt used to go to the cinema as kids, and my dad got banned from the local church of St John's (his namesake!) for trying to "blow the place up"...as he and his tearaway mates used to set off bangers of a sunday morning...he was always a naughty (tho angel-voiced) choirboy!  anyway i managed to pick up some real beauties..including a fab 1960s Poole Pottery  soup pot with mushrooms on the lid, a few plates & glasses and also went mad on three fab Arthur Wood vases.

i also got to visit the fab Le Creuset factory shop in Andover (one of the only good things about the place) to salivate over the beautiful kitchenware, and managed to nab myself a gorgeous red iron handled pot - a sample from the US, not for sale in the UK, which had made it onto the sale shelf!

 

my mum said i could have removed my dad's socks from the Aga 

before i took the photo but i think it all adds to the ambience!

i came home to my empty flat and was greeted by a message from a friend in West London with a photo of mattresses outside her door on Acklam Road...nice!

wardrobe wannabe

cool caramel (image via apartment 34)

street sofas

proof that life is posher in the south? Luke sent in this photo from SE19 of an abandoned SOFA! it may not have the wistful beauty of a mattress, but it just shows that furniture abandonment is taking a worrying turn, its becoming a bloody epidemic!

roving mattress-spotters

a late night special!

Greyhound Road, NW10

a big thank you to Paula from fab boutique love kr and her other half Tim who snapped and sent in these two local beauties.  i've been house-bound for days with the packing and kitchen destruction so contributions from roving mattress-spotters are much appreciated. cheers guys...keep'em coming!

sadly this base seems to have lost its mattress!

Napier Road NW10

stencil stairs

beautiful stencilled staircase  (stencils from  royal designstudio, spotted via style files)

mattresses down under!

i've been a bit slack with the mattress-spotting these days as i'm stuck indoors mostly attempting to pack up the entire contents of the ground floor of my flat (in readiness for some building work being carried out in my kitchen next week).  it is taking an eternity because (a) i'm doing it alone (i'm too embarassed of all the mess and junk to ask for help from anyone) and (b) as my mum keeps saying - i have the contents of a 3-bedroomed house crammed into a 1-bedroomed flat! i'm a terrible hoarder...but i digress....
i was delighted to have 5 minutes to log onto my laptop tonight and find an email from Sydney based blogger the likkle girl who wurves pwetty things with some mattresses from Down Under!

 

she very kindly sent me photos she'd snapped at her neighbourhood charity shops (they're called "op shops" in Australia and look like fine hunting ground for pre-loved mattresses).  how wonderful that once used they are not left alone, sad and abandoned in the streets - but given a new lease of life (presumably as long as they are in tip-top condition - lets face it, most of the mattressland ones wouldn't cut the mustard!).  ha ha...brilliant - the mattress-love is spreading and aren't they lovely looking mattresses...such great shots too! THANK YOU SO MUCH! 

 

photos by likkle girl

#1 to #4 from the Salvation Army op shop at Crown Street, Surry Hills, Sydney

#5 from the Salvation Army op shop at Oxford Street, Darlinghurst,  Sydney

Boing Boing!

kung hei fat choy! happy chinese new year! bring on the year of the rabbit....goodness, happiness and forgiveness...and lots of bouncy bouncy boing boing!

south stackers

i've not spotted recently - but Noreen sent me this from SE12 today with a note saying "they throw out mattresses neatly here" - which is precisely why i live in north London - this OCD stacking is just plain WRONG!

stone love

 

beautiful stones from yoran-morvant

 

slinky

i am loving this animal inspired fashion from camille cortet (spotted via yatzer) tho to my heathen eyes - these collars resemble giant slinkys.  stunning uh.

flux

F L U X from candas sisman on Vimeo.
amazing digital animation by Candas Sisman spotted via yatzer

vintage

cutest vintage Margaret Smith fabric bags from here and here via pretty. little. world. - want one....tho i'm not entirely sure on what occasion i would use one!

sweetest tattoo

now that is a sweet tattoo...spotted via pretty. little. world.

nap time

never has a mattress been more needed than here - still, i would sooooooooo nap here (via pinterest) and have heavenly dreams...

first hint...

a first hint of summer...a lush blouse from anthropologie paired with this cute stripey skirt...mmmmm...now hand me my G&T!

swimmers

 

i know, there's still a nip in the air and summer seems far, far away - but seeing this gorgeous anthropologie swimsuit makes me think....summer's COMING!

wardrobe wannabe

comfy wrappy slouchy jacket (via pinterest), leggings and cute boots - lovely!

sticky

love these beautiful painted sticks from illustrator ginette lapalme spotted via sfgirlbybay.  this cute kittys playing hide'n'seek print is also hers...

lush leash

i love these dog leashes spotted via doggie blog phetched - they look like old school ties, but groovier.  they come with a detachable pouch for money/keys/poo bags and there are matching collars.  i'm tempted to get one even tho i don't have a dog....yet!

clutch

(image via oh joy )

ooh another delish little bag - check out this nifty little clutch from les composantes (spotted via oh joy). i love the way you can personalise it by removing the bow and accesorising with a scarf....gorgeous. i would normally go for the black...but i would be tempted by the taupe or miel actually....mmmmm.

great fortune

 

love these cute little fortune cookie purses (spotted via i am a greed girl) made from recycled leather remnants.  i also spotted someone the other day with one of the gorgeous tan leather Grosvenor Satchel's from Radley - i think this purse would go perfectly with this bag but i must resist the urge as i'm currently on a budget!

law abiding citizen

 

i was watching Law Abiding Citizen  the 2009 thriller with Gerard Butler and Jamie Foxx on the telly last night - about a man who takes justice into his own hands after his wife and daughter are murdered during a home invasion.  i nearly fell off my chair with laughter when roughly 37 mins into the movie Gerard Butler's character, who was being held in a maximum security prison after a couple of pretty gruesome revenge murders,  tries to negotiate deals with District Attorney Jamie Foxx and proceeds to offer a full confession in return for a BRAND NEW MATTRESS for his cell!  Gerard recounts in loving detail the perfect soft and cosy mattress he is looking for and after much pouting and refusals from Jamie - the DA's boss eventually tells him "a mattress for a confession, that's a good deal"...and to much hootin' and hollerin' from other inmates, the beautiful clean white bouncy mattress is delivered as requested - best bit of the film...ha ha ha.  i really should start compiling a Top 5 cinematic mattress moments...this would definitely get a top spot!

"gimme my goddam mattress fool!"

gi's'a'job

High Street Harlesden, NW10

i was on my way to a job interview this morning and upon discovering my usual bus stop was close i had to huff and puff and rush to the next one - and right opposite i saw this mattress - how auspicious.  i will find out later if i was successful...this could be forever known as the "lucky mattress"!