VILLAGE FETE HAUL
Yesterday afternoon my hubby and I returned to the village where we used to live, in order to join in their annual village fete. It’s always held in the same field and it’s always a lot of fun, with various stalls, and usually some kind of entertainment. This time the main entertainment was a dog show and as well as the usual “best dog in show” type of category, I was highly amused to hear the announcement that the next category would be “the dog most likely to bite the vet”!! There was also a little performance of singing by some very small children and they did so well – really singing up, and perfectly in tune and in harmony too. The little girls had flowers in their hair and they looked so pretty. Half way through, a small boy in a baseball cap (no flowers!) suddenly ran in and joined them – a late addition!
When we arrived, I said to my hubby, “I’m making a bee-line for Annie’s white elephant stall.” (Always plenty of bargains to be had, and loads of stuff to make art out of!) My hubby responded, “I’m making a bee-line for the books!” That says it all, about both of us! Later, when I asked how many books he’d bought, he said, “A few.” When I looked in the box later, there were certainly a lot more than “a few”! His excuse was that his lovely 95-year-old friend probably hadn’t read several of them… My hubby has a blitz on his books every once in a while and says he’s getting rid of a whole lot, but what usually happens is that within a few weeks he’s more than replaced them! My problem is that I don’t get rid of stuff, so every time I get a fete haul, or online shopping etc. etc., my studio just fills up with more and more stuff.
My haul of goodies
I got some really interesting stuff this year.
Surprisingly this year, there was very little in the way of jewellery. I usually spend ages rummaging through a great box of junk jewellery, salvaging things I can cannibalise for beads, bits of chain, fastenings, etc. This year there were a few pieces, so I said, “How much for the lot?” and it was 50p!
There are always beads, cords, fastenings etc. with the junk jewellery and I shall have fun taking that lot apart and finding homes for it all. In this haul there are also quite a lot of pins with rings at the top which might be useful.
Looking amongst the toys, I found this Meccano-type kit. Meccano is a very old toy (my dad had it as a boy, and if he was still alive, he’d be 100 now!). It is a construction system with lots of metal strips with holes, and corner pieces, etc., and bolts to assemble it, and other accessories like wheels etc. It always comes with a little tool kit. This particular one, which had been put into a shoe box, is a different brand but certainly something very similar, and looking at the bits, I thought how useful they might be for assembling boxes and other 3-D items. Everything can be painted, and it has a somewhat steampunk appearance.
The various parts had been put into separate bags.
A closer look.
The cardboard box containing the tools and small parts.
When I returned to the table later to see if anything else had arrived in my absence, Annie thrust another box into my hands – a similar but smaller kit. As I handled it, small bits started falling out of the box and we had to grovel on the grass to find them all! She tipped them into a bag for me to get them safely home.
I also found this cute little tin which I thought would be fun for altering. (The contents had been eaten. I do NOT need such aides memoires, I hasten to add!)
A miniature artist’s mannequin. Or should I say, a miniature mannequin for artists?
As soon as I got him/her home, he/she took on a life of his/her own – as a professional dancer.
Actually, I think by the relative size of waist and hips, it’s a she. I’ll have to think of a name for her. I’ve always wanted one of these!
This is a very sturdy book-shaped fabric-covered box with both a magnetic and ribbon closure, which was designed to contain a baby album. Ideal for altering, and for making my own album to go inside.
A large format spiral-bound photo album with a very sturdy cover. This also has a ribbon closure.
Inside, it has those peel-back pages under which you stick your photos.
Also on my return visit to the table, I fell in love with this adorable little African lady carrying her baby on her back. As I was examining her, a lady standing nearby said she and her husband had lived for many years in Africa and the women there used to make these dolls out of sisal to sell to the tourists and make a bit of money. This little lady’s wrists are coming undone a bit so a repair job is needed – I think I shall try and plait them up again and then secure the “wrists” with some DIY beaded bangles.
Here’s her back view with her bonnie baby on her back.
The poor lass doesn’t have any knickers. (Why is it that whenever we pick up a doll, we always lift up her skirt to see if she’s wearing any? Lol!) This is something else that I think I need to remedy. I shall find a nook in my studio for her to sit in. I love all things ethnic and hand-made and this little doll is totally cute and adorable, and I simply couldn’t resist her!
Talking of things ethnic, another thing I simply couldn’t resist was this exquisite heavy black box with a metal embellishment on the lid. It is from Thailand, and contains a set of beautiful chopsticks and accessories. She only wanted 50p for it but I gave her £1 as it seemed almost insulting to charge so little for something so utterly beautiful.
What a treasure.
What I love about this sort of event is that when you rootle through all the stuff that people want to get rid of in a good cause, you find some absolute gems. How true that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure!
Moving on to the second-hand book stall, I was glad to see that there were still plenty of books left after my hubby had been there. I picked up a couple of books that I thought would be useful for art.
This hard-back book of fairy tales is filled with beautiful illustrations. I have chosen a few at random.
This book is so exquisite that I may hesitate to take it apart and alter it, but I do have another classic fairy tale book illustrated by Arthur Rackham, so maybe I shan’t feel so bad about removing the pictures from this one to use elsewhere!
A pocket French dictionary – dictionary pages are always useful for collage.
What a great haul! Although I was disappointed in the small amount of junk jewellery, I think I more than made up for it with all the other treasures I found.
It was also a great afternoon out. The weather was hot and sunny, and it was fun to be in the midst of such a carefree happy atmosphere. I grew up in a village and we always had the summer fete, and also the annual flower show and gymkhana and these were always happy occasions, and the chance to meet up with friends old and new.
