Whispers from Vintage Postcards.

I am pretty sure that this is my new addiction, vintage postcards that have been written on. The other week when I was foraging around an antiques market I found this little cardboard box full of postcards, most were blank but I managed to find a few that had been written on! I think these are so special, especially these days when 'proper' mail is dwindling because of email and the such. These precious little memories are just wonderful, I'm so glad I saved them from that grotty cardboard box.

I have a few more of these that I will share with you over the next few weeks, I just want to find more now! I think Ed is pleased about this new addiction because it is much easier to store than china and picnic hampers.

Don't they just make you feel deliciously nosey?

xkx

Antique Shop Treasures.

I absolutely love meandering around antique shops in the little sleepy town near to where my mum and dad live, it is so relaxing. They also have some good charity shops there too! These are my gorgeous treasures that I found in the antique market today. The first thing I saw was this rather peculiar fruit bowl. I think my mum thought it was a bit odd looking but I adored it! I thought the colours were muted and this reminded me of the Sawley 'ugly pots' that I have a slight addiction to. The whole fruit pile does lift off to so that means that I can use the bowl to hide special things in. 

I could not resist these celebratory cups, I blame my dad for this because last year he gave me a cardboard box of old jubilee cups that he had collected many years ago. They had been sitting in the garage for ages and were covered in cobwebs, but they scrubbed up wonderfully. So now I have a whole little shelf dedicated to these treasures and I just can't help but add to them. My favourite was the cup from 'The Great World War' from 1918, to just think that this cup has been in this world for nearly 100 years is incredible and it really stimulates my imagination to what it would have witnessed over the years. I think it has been broken a couple of times and glued back together, but it was £2 and I was in love so I really wasn't bothered. 

What are your favourite antique treasures?

xkx

My 2 New Chilli Plants and Lovely Market Food.

I am really lucky to live in a place where twice a month (on a Saturday) we have an abundant farmer's market. Today I was excited to see some new stalls, one was even selling unusual chilli plants. And here they are (well two of them), unfortunately I was too excited to actually write down the names of these two chilli plants so I can't introduce them to you properly.

I was drawn to the first one because I thought the colour of the flowers and the leaves are breathtakingly purple. 

I also admired it because this plant is not afraid to make it obvious that it is part of the Solanaceae family. So this beautiful thing is closely relation to the deadly nightshade plant and I think the flowers are nearly identical.

The second plant I bought because of my greedy side, I saw this plant groaning under the weight of all its baby chilli-peppers and I thought *yum*. I really love hot food and I can't wait for these little beauties to turn a blazing red so I can add them to my cooking and maybe even make some chilli oil and Harissa paste.

The stall holder said that this purple will fade to yellow and then ripen to a fiery red. 

I also picked up a few other bits and bobs from the market. I picked up some raw milk that is produced from local 'happy' cows. I like to try and support the local farms, one way for dairy farmers to make a decent living is to sell milk like this straight to the customer. Its been all in the news lately about how the money that farmers spend producing milk is actually higher than the price that is being paid for it, which in turn is slowly killing the industry. I was raised on raw milk so I know that it works for me fine (Ed can also drink this milk whereas he can't drink pasteurised). But you may want to do your research before trying it.

We bought garlic from the market too, this one is called Bella Italiano and apparently the flavour is really strong, it smells lovely and I have promised Ed that I will make some garlic bread with it, so we will probably be stinky after eating that.

You have got to love Wobbly Bottom Farm cheese. The name is just fabulous and always makes me smile and the cheese from here tastes so good that you could easily eat enough to make the name ring true. This is pesto cheese, I have never seen this before but the taste is amazing, it is really basilly and tastes like green (my friends always laugh at me for saying things taste like colours). I can't wait to try and cook with this lovely cheese, I bet it will taste amazing in summery salads too. Food always tastes a million times better from the market.

Hope you are all having a good weekend.