Pop Up Vintage Shop

I love pop-up shops. These are shops which appear for a few days in some empty shop or dismal shopping centre or echoing hotel, like magic. Then they are gone again. Which should be sad but makes it more exciting!

One such is the Candybelle Vintiques Fair held in the moribund Academy Shopping Centre, Aberdeen.

I scored this lovely (1970s?) dress by German label Emmeline Wessel (£30) and gold lurex 60s evening bag (£8). There were also amazing 60s homewares and a VW campervan selling old luggage and decorative items. Use facebook, council websites or flyers to track down your nearest pop up fairs, it's well worth it!

Fabulous Fifties Cookware

I realise this lovely icing set has just the same colour scheme as my blog! Kitschtastic! I also think I remember one of these in the kitchen when I was a kid (which wasn't in the 50s, actually.)

I bought this from ebay, where it cost the same as a rubbish plastic new one. This one is all metal with a billion fancy nozzles. The project goes on...

Avengers Assembling

And Hawkeye and Black Widow, the remaining Avengers. I think they are kind of a couple so it makes sense for them to be together, plus they are both in black leather.

Clock Turret...

This clock tower is homed in a baronial turret on the sensational Hospitalfield House in Arbroath.

Appropriately enough, the house is used as an arts centre and used to be an artist's home. The interiors are a time capsule of Victorian life and full of fascinating things.

The owner also built an enormous, creepy mortuary chapel for his family which is housed in a nearby cemetery and is well worth a visit.

I discovered the house while lost on a badly signed road detour, which proves there is always a silver lining...

Avengers Assemble in my Kitchen.

As Alistair would point out, this is only one permutation of the Avengers line-up, which has homed many heroes over the years.

And sorry, no Black Widow or Hawkeye as I only had four gingerbread men. The gingerbread heroes project may be a goer though....

Icing Ingenious

Who knew icing was So Difficult! In a feminist moment, I'd claim it's another of the many things that people assume 'Women Do It So It Must be Easy'. It's not.

Following on from the marathon Star Wars biscuits...er...marathon, I acquired cutters, reference manual Biscuiteers Book of Iced Biscuits, and many food colours of the type that make small children hyper.

So far I've wrestled with consistency (from cement to water) nozzles (from supersoaker to hypo) and layering techniques. Attempt 2 was Avengers Gingerbread men (ready bought.) And so the project begins.

For no prize at all, name the cutter shapes on the left.

Braver dislikes...

OK then, following a request from No1 blog Follower, my Mum, a list (in no particular order) of things I don't like, but others do. Feel free to disagree with me on the many contentious points....

TV Soaps. Reality TV. Taking part in Team Sports. Anything involving wellingtons. Really posh restaurants. Designer shops. New houses in a historical style. Chick flicks. Religious ceremonies. Wearing trousers. Platform shoes. Mascara. White. Football. Tuna. Beach holidays. Leather sofas. Bus travel. Chinese food. Waxing. R n'B. Celebrity magazines. The Daily Mail. G-strings. Range Rovers. Casinos. Clowns. Swimming pools. Fast food. Mobile phones. Chat shows. Fake tan.

I can see, in fact, this could be the longest list of all time. Maybe I'm just Cheesed Off With Modern Life.