ATHLONE CHARITY SHOP

I know I always say it, but we have the best charity shops in the Midlands - a great variety of stuff, genuinely old and vintage and pretty objects, along with handcrafted things. And they are cheap.

If you haven't already gathered, blue, yellow and red are my favourite colours. Here are two recent blue and yellow Athlone finds:

Hand knitted tea-cosy - €2

Iceland mug - 50c

LISTOWEL FINDS

We were at Writers' Week in Listowel again and I had a good trawl around the vintage and craft and charity shops. Always fun. My buys:

Bunting from Craftshop na Méar, Listowel - €28

Claret box - Cheryl's Vintage Shop, Listowel  - €7

The wine box's interior

HANDPAINTED GLASS VASE

The vase-athon continues apace. I can't help myself but I should try harder, perhaps...This one is from the VdeP shop in Athlone, yesterday. Gold rimmed, hand painted, probably 1950s and in perfect nick. €5.

The painting behind is by Cork artist Frank O'Sullivan, bought at last year's Shorelines Festival art exhibition, in the old workhouse in Portumna.

SPANISH JAR

Today's Ballinasloe charity shop find: a lidded Spanish jar for thyme (I think). Most likely nicked from a restaurant in Valencia and carefully transported to Galway only to be given to the the NCBI shop. (It says El Mussol - The Owl - on the back and the bottom sticker is for a ceramics manufacturer in Valencia.) €4.

The €4 jar, sans lid but avec des fleurs, sitting on a Portugese plate

On the sideboard, under a Pat Jourdan painting

In context :)

EDINBURGH FINDS

Edinburgh last week for a gig and, of course, a trawl through the fab charity shops of Nicolson Street and Stockbridge.

Not vintage but I am gathering up cute frames for a display
 - love this blue spotty shabby one. £2. Books were further bargains.

Probs my fave Edinburgh buy - ancient delft plate - £2.50

Close-up

Markings on the plate

Not old but blue! £1.

Blue Caithness. Very pleased with this. The shop was £££
but they didn't realise this was Caithness, I reckon. £3.99

Blue group, 2 charity shop vases, 1 Habitat

The Caithness with a Ballinasloe purchase - €1, last week. It's old, I love it.

Blue group

Daffs in blue glass

2016 & still buying

I try hard not to buy stuff, I really do, but it's difficult when the local charity shops are so good/ affordable and stocked with stuff I like. I walked away from two blue glass vases today. But then I came home and was reading Period Ideas and thought, Argh, why did I leave them there?! So, I hopped into the car and in jig time had them bought and home. Blue. Glass. €10 for the pair. No brainer.

We've put an extra room (sunroom/dining room) on our house so have been busily re-jigging how rooms are used. Much as I love the oasis of my bedroom as a writing room, I wanted it back as a bedroom alone. We've gained a study because of the sunroom but, with both of us working from home mostly, and me needing quiet to write, I now need to have two desks. One in the study for when Mr is away and one in the sitting room for the rest of the time.

So I went to Lynn Antiques in Athlone hoping to find a nice bureau but got this oak desk instead for €150. Great price, great desk. I love the lions! You put your hand in the lower one's mouth to pull open the drawer.

And finally not vintage but whimsical, a €5 brontosaurus planter from Tiger:

XMAS TABLE 2015

We have a new dining space - a sunroom extension built onto our kitchen. It's light and bright and we loved eating our dinner there today, it gave a new dimension to the festivities. I couldn't resist blue, white and silver again this year, but with a touch of yellow and brass.

My blue is a chinoiserie tablecloth I bought in Boston in April as well as some Carrigaline striped plates and saucers bought in the local charity shops here in Ballinasloe. The brass napkin rings were six for €3 in the VdeP this week, the napkins are from Aldi (or Lidl?) and the cocktail peacocks are from Penneys. The glass candle holders on the saucers were €1 each in Angie's Attic.

Placeholders were a Christmas pressie today from my big sis, Maeve - perfect!