Campden Country Market

A quick update on the blog today,  -  Friday morning, and a very rainy day which is such a shame as the past couple of days have been almost 'spring like'! ...

A trip down into Chipping Campden this morning found me at the Country Market which is in the Town Hall every Friday morning from 9 - 11am.  Mainly to catch up with my dear friend Judith from  http://shakespearessisterssoap.com  who creates the most amazing soaps, and balms.

I arrived towards the end of the morning, but still got a feel for the lovely "countryside" atmosphere in the Town Hall, particularly as it had been classed as "Marmalade Morning"! Judith explained - and luckily for late arrivals there were still a few jars to be had, alongside home baked goodies, spring bulbs and lots of other lovely stuff ....

   

Judith's soaps and balms

 

Spring bulbs

Jams & Marmalades

A spokesperson for Campden Country Market told me "there is an obvious quality to these products"  (you know who you are :-) !!)  ... and looking around the room I had to agree!

all that was left of the homebaked goodies!

handmade cards

The reservation enquiries for Crafty Cottage are now coming in most days, and we have taken some great bookings particularly during summer - a big thank you to everyone if you're reading!  I would like to think you would enjoy mooching around the Campden Country Market during your visit to Chipping Campden, and your stay at Crafty Cottage :-)

After visiting the Market I headed around to the cottage to drop a few things off & generally check up on things.  I've recently added a new feature to our kitchen window ...... do you like him :-) ?

 

The cottage always feels so cosy when I pop in, - and I usually have the overwhelming temptation to light the log burner -  put the telly on, pour myself a nice glass of wine & .... move in !

One of my little jobs this morning was to update the visitor information, - there's a selection of leaflets & business cards on the dresser ready for guests to look through.

this morning I added info on Chipping Campden Literature Festival 2014 which is 6th - 11th May 

Crafty Cottage local information

  

.... and if you're wondering,  - (hard to believe I know !!) Crafty Cottage still is available during the Literature Festival !

You might even enjoy yourselves so much you'd want to write a book about it :-)

-S-

  Crafty Cottage is on Facebook

and Twitter ... although i'm a total beginner!

and Pinterest .... total newby!

"... the angle of the mangle!"

It seems ages ago now,  but at some point last year - can't remember when exactly - I was mooching my way around ebay and found an old mangle for sale not too far away, - in Gloucester....

     

I had a cunning plan!  .... and as we have been led to believe the crafty cottage garden was once where families of the guildsmen did their washing on a daily basis (beside the 6 privies in the corner), I thought it might be quite nice to remember them by adding a mangle in the corner, .... and if I get it right, it may even look as tho they left it behind perhaps :-) !

I am ashamed to say I had my Iphone on the table beside me in "Michaels" the night it was declared I had the winning bid, - so apologies for anyone watching at the time!

The good news is that the mangle was a great buy! still fully operational although I have no ambition to try it out on my B&B sheets thank you very much!!  The bad news, -  ....  it's red and blue, which I am afraid just doesn't go with my colour scheme!  Hence the mangle was dragged from the garage where it had been hibernating for most of the winter, - and into my lovely kitchen, where an old curtain seeped up the drips of hammerite as I covered the apposing colours with a lovely shiny black paint whilst watching "Bargain Hunt" at the same time, and most importantly being in the warm!

Not knowing much about mangles,  I was keen to do some Google research, and after making out the words "Taywil Hero" on the side of the base beneath the drive wheel/handle found enough information to satisfy my curiosity:

TAYLOR AND WILSON

of Taywil Works, Accrington, Lancashire. Telephone: 2519 Accrington. Telegraphic Address: "Taywil, Accrington". (1937)

1866 Company founded.

1894 Private company.

1928 Patent - Improvements relating to the mounting of tables, especially in mangles. ^[1]

1931 Patent - Improvements relating to wringing and mangling machines. ^[2]

1937 Listed Exhibitor - British Industries Fair. Washing, Wringing and Mangling Machines. Also Household Step Ladders. Our Washers are fitted with Copper Pan and Lid. Also supplied Gas Heated. Mangles fitted with Wood or Rubber Rollers. (Stand No. A.717). ^[3]

1961 Manufacturers of washing, wringing and mangling machines, gas heated boilers, garden seats and step ladders.

All about mangles

As Charles Ashbee and his guildsmen arrived in Chipping Campden in 1902, I thought the dates were near enough for me to be authentic!  Arts and Crafts in Chipping Campden

Well,  my mangle became more or less a permanent feature for a couple of weeks in the kitchen,  - too heavy for me to move, and I was usually too busy doing something else to finish painting it!  ... eventually it was moved into the utility where it spent a couple of days being something of a clothes horse to resident Rob's biking gear !

Eventually,  I had caught up with my odd jobs and was able to focus on finishing off the mangle, with only the wooden tray left to paint beneath the rollers.  I can only assume this was there originally to catch the squeezed items before they fell into a tin bath beneath ready to hang on the washing line ....  if one good thing has come out of this recent exercise it is that I have learnt to love my tumble drier even more :-)!

And to dispel the worries of any future Crafty Cottage guests,  - yes the washing machine also has a dryer!

There were two reasons why I chose F&B Lichen to paint the wooden tray,  - 1.  it "goes" with the black! and for those of us who may be a tad OCD this matches perfectly with the exterior look of the cottage. and   2. there was a tin already open in the garage!

and   ....   "Hey Presto"

The angle of the mangle !

Taking up residence in the corner of the garden!

 ..... the plan is to wind Ivy around the mangle, and overgrow it with instant history!

it's wooden tray will be the ideal spot for spring bedding plants ...

so watch this space   - you'll be "hard pressed" for anything more exciting!

-S-

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The January Garden

With the end of January already in sight, things in Chipping Campden are getting back into some kind of Cotswold normality after Christmas and the start of the New Year.

Calling into Crafty Cottage this morning things were calm on Sheep Street,  it was cold but sunny - a lovely morning and the river Cam was babbling away beside the garden emerging from underneath the Old Silk Mill towards and under the little bridge.

With things almost complete with the cottage, it's now time to start thinking about the garden.  Despite the winter months, the very young Crafty Cottage garden has been displaying flowers throughout,  -  it's baskets and borders are planted with Box Hedge, Ivy & tiny white violas which have thankfully all survived the December winds, torrential rain during early January and the current colder air and frosts.

4 wicker baskets decorate the iron railings above the River Cam

The Garden at Crafty Cottage sits behind the parking area for guests.  It is a very young garden, in fact so young, not yet a toddler,  - more of a babe in arms! Created in front of the Old Silk Mill which is an imposing building, straddling the river which borders the left side of the garden,  with the path and Crafty Cottage itself to the right side.

Garden Gate / Crafty Cottage front door

Snowflake clematis to trail over archway

The Garden Gate was hand made by 'Nick the Carpenter!' it's design is our take on the Arts and Crafts, and was inspired by a neighbouring gate of a much earlier origin, to another cottage beside the Silk Mill.  Already the winter hardy clemantis is sprouting buds and leaning in the right direction to climb the wooden archway over the gate.

   

Today,  I planted the first snowdrops in the garden in keeping with the 'white flowers only' theme and of a particular relevance for me.  Such a beautiful delicate winter flower - Galanthus nivalis

......  will keep you planted, I mean posted!

- S -

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Looking ahead to the New Year .......

Can't believe how the days have whizzed by since the last blog, and before we knew it, - as happens most years, - Christmas Day has come and gone!  such a pity there were no guests in the cottage for Christmas, it would have been so cosy for them, - but I think most people had their Christmas's planned before we were able to advertise things....  hopefully next year there will be more of a reason for me to deck the halls with boughs of holly! :-)

The lack of guests however didn't stop us from walking down into town and calling in on Crafty Cottage every once in a while during the festive season!  ... even  my door wreath managed to stay "put" thankfully despite the heavy gusts of wind which have been whirling around the Cotswolds during the past few weeks, and we also placed a small Christmas Tree inside, on our new bookcase - (shabby chic style again thanks to Rob of course!).

My handmade wreath

Before - in garden

After ! - in situ

    Our new Private Parking signs have gone up, and looking good!  Specially made by Sue & Robin of Camgraphic in the Arts & Crafts font.  Very little left to get now for the inside of the cottage, - and looking forward to the spring when we can work more in the garden.

 

One of the highlights of our Christmas has been that my sister in law and her husband, - Rosanna and Maurice from Adelaide Australia have visited us.  Of course we had to introduce them to Crafty Cottage in person as they have been following its build  (& blog!) from the beginning:

 

And so we leave Christmas behind, and look forward to the New Year.

Guests due to arrive at the Cottage today ... and fingers crossed 2014 will be a good year for us all....

"Happy New Year from Crafty Cottage, Chipping Campden " !

-S-

   

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

At last ....  something to Blog about!   ... yes December's here and most people in Chipping Campden are starting to talk about Christmas.  It's great to see the wreaths appearing on the High Street, - whether for sale in the florists and greengrocers, - or decorating the doors of the beautiful cotswold houses and cottages in town.

There was an obvious "nip" in the air as I parked up at the cottage recently and walked up the High Street.  I couldn't help but get my trusty camera out,  it was reasonably quiet and I felt as though I was the only tourist in town !!

The Bay Tree Florist

My task for the day is to gain inspiration and to choose what kind of wreath to decorate the door of Crafty Cottage.  -  I love the heart wreath at the Bay Tree, although not particularly "Christmassy" as it is adorned with dried geraniums -  it's heart shape would fit in perfectly at the cottage.  Infact there are so many hearts decorating Crafty Cottage - it could be described as "Hearts and Crafts"  !

Drinkwaters on the High Street,

a great place for fresh fruit and veg, (note the lovely sprouts!)

pickles & jams 

Fresh flowers from Drinkwaters

their wreaths look great too !!

(Drinkwaters is literally a 2 minute walk away from Crafty Cottage)

One of the door decorations on the High Street today.

   

The Cotswold House Hotel

Whilst walking through town it was nice to see the Market Hall being used for what it was made for!,....  

a guy seems to appear regularly these days filling the Hall with wicker baskets, mats and rugs etc...  

Behind the Market Hall, I noticed that our favourite restaurant Michaels (Mediterranean Cuisine) have changed their window display from a recent Halloween theme, to this year's Christmas White and very "glittery" Festive display which looks lovely, - but I can't help but think it would look a lot nicer from the inside, with a nice portion of  Meze for company!

Eat @ Michaels !

.... and so the hunt continues for wreath inspiration!

Snapdragon Florist

The Christmas Wreath situation seems to have suddenly arrived in Chipping Campden BIG TIME! and I am surrounded!  -  all look lovely it is so difficult to decide on a style for the cottage,  ... infact I am beginning to wonder whether a "sprout wreath" might look quite good ?!

In the end I decided to opt for a quick visit back to Drinkwaters for a jar of Lemon Curd which is always very popular with my B&B guests!  .... and hot foot it back to the car.  Once at home, I started to design my own wreath for Crafty Cottage.  After all,  I am promoting the local Arts and Crafts of the town - what's stopping me having a go!

.......with the Crafty Cottage wreath imminent,

and the "Chipping Campden Enchanted Christmas" event due next weekend,

it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

I will of course ....

be keeping you posted in time for Christmas!

-S-

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Shutter up and drink coffee !

After a long wait, the shutters were finally delivered this week and the "make do" Venetian blinds were unceremoniously taken down to make way for perhaps one of the last things on our list to do before we can look back at Crafty Cottage - sigh and whisper - "OK - finished now!"

 

Loving the end result!

 

Once the table and chairs were back in place, the room looked complete again, 

.....

That was Tuesday, - and today was Campden Market day in the Town Hall,

Judith (soap woman extraordinaire) met me for coffee afterwards - it was pouring with rain - a very miserable day infact - but this didn't deter us in our mission for sourcing good strong coffee & cake :-) ... well, what else can you do on a day like today ?!

 Campden Coffee Company in the Old Silk Mill hit the spot! 

With two huge buckets of lovely (award winning!) coffee 

a slice of "chocolate fridge cake" and an extra large portion of carrot cake!  ....  yum yum :-)

 

The view from the coffee shop window was actually the back of Crafty Cottage !

With guests staying there at the moment,  - Judith had to be content with the promise of an inside tour of the cottage next week (bookings permitting of course!)  in the meantime we discussed soap again and as we said goodbye to one another beside her lavender smelling car on the High Street, - I had acquired lovely Almond, orange and Calendula soaps, and Rose soap medallions  -  it just has to be done :-)

With life returning to normal (relatively!) and Crafty Cottage settling into a routine of enquiries & general interest - autumn/winter definitely appears to have arrived in Chipping Campden over the past few days.

Hoping to add a little more to the garden despite the time of year ......

......  will of course be keeping you posted

-S-

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Daisy's chairs ....

The last few days spent at Crafty Cottage pre-guests I was confidently hammering tacks into fabric, foam and chair seat panels thinking, - is there anything I can't do :-)..!

....It didn't take me very long to realize I am absolutely rubbish at upholstery !  Our 4 beautiful oak dining chairs for the cottage, which were inherited earlier this year from Paul's lovely mum, deserved much better than my feeble attempt, and last week I plucked up the courage to visit Robin to show him what I had tried to do! (thought he might like a laugh !!)  - I passed over some Strawberry Thief for him to do a proper job !

Robin's Rest

and "Hey Presto ...."

Yesterday afternoon I got the call I was waiting for, and hot footed it over to Blackminster Business Park this morning, to collect the finished item.

We will be taking them over to the cottage later, - (weather permitting as it's pouring with rain at the moment) and looking forward to getting my kitchen chairs back which have been on holiday at Crafty Cottage for the past 3 weeks as a temporary measure!

Absolutely thrilled with the chairs,  - we had them stripped, sealed, and now the seats finish them off to what are perfect additions to Crafty Cottage.

I'm sure Daisy would have loved them

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