I do like a bit of brocante, and so a brocante sale is always a plus - even more so when it’s relatively close by and takes place in a lovely garden on a sunny Saturday. It’s been in my diary for a while now, and I was hoping we’d get to go along, and we did.
The sale was held at The Orchards in Somerby which is where I went for the Christmas wreath workshop last December - and this time it was much easier to find. Obviously that was helped by having been there before, and it being daylight! As ever with these kind of things, you’re never sure quite what to expect but I was hopeful that I’d find the something I was looking for.
And I did, but more on that later - let me show you a snippet of what was on offer.
The large and intricate ironwork panel drew me into this stall - and isn’t it gorgeous? - but it was the blue dragonfly above that I nearly left with, but didn’t. I think I’ll be back for something similar at some point, but I was being strong as this didn’t meet my brief for the ‘something’ I was after.
That was something for the lower shelf on our new console table in the lounge; I wanted something relatively solid looking to detract from the double plug socket. I knew it could be fairly tall and fairly chunky, it had to be solid and not transparent - but other than that I didn’t know what it would be until I saw it, which of course was no good to MOH to help locate the said item.
However I got an inkling of what I was after on the next stall.
Yes, I don’t know why I hadn’t considered a vintage enamel jug before! If you remember I’ve got the vintage enamel bread bin (for my pasta) in the pantry and the modern enamel first aid box in the utility room, so it wouldn’t be out of place anywhere in our home.
An idea was definitely forming, but first I needed to check out the rest of the stalls, but not before MOH pointed out this lobster plate, which has a certain appeal, doesn’t it?
Moving on I was struck by the prettiness of this display and quite taken by the fish on the pink background, however that wasn’t in the brief either so it was only just admiration today.
There were many more stalls to visit, but my photos appear to have stopped, or are at least a bit more sporadic I suspect because my mind was processing the enamel jug information, however I also admired items by @Thespottywren and left with some eucalyptus stems from @sage_and_satin_floral who led the Christmas wreath workshop before.
And I needed eucalyptus stems for the vintage enamel jug we bought, which as it turns out was neither of the two I photographed and included above. Instead we opted for a grey mottled version from the same stall, which will fit in better in our all white new build.
It was absolutely the right choice for our house, and already the sun’s warmth is bringing out the fragrance from the eucalyptus.
Oh, and the lobster plate also came home with us too and is already right at home on the dresser.
But that wasn’t all, by the refreshments area there was another stall selling the most amazing feathers from their black peacock (which moult over winter) - and they are amazing. It reminded us of when we stayed at the place outside Melton Mowbray with the peacock a few years ago now, but these were completely different.
The pinky bronze colour is completely natural, and you can imagine how much these glisten in the sun and it’s easy to see where the phrase ‘as proud as a peacock’ comes from! While these weren’t technically on the brief, as well as being too pretty to leave without, in my defence I’d been after some long stems for the tall glass vase for a while now. I’d assumed the stems I was after would be plant based though, but I’m more than happy for my assumptions to be challenged in this case!
