Pretty Vintage Handkerchiefs

Hello Friends!

It is a heart wrenching task sorting through the possessions of my dearly loved and much missed mother.  These are the days when you see everything in a new and different light, and all things become special treasures as you lovingly, carefully, and slowly sift through a lifetime of love and happy memories and come across some exceptionally pretty, lovely things.  Who would have guessed that the ordinary, quite unremarkable box, long forgotten in the back of the wardrobe would contain over a hundred beautiful vintage handkerchiefs?

I have carefully washed, and lovingly pressed them all. and taken photographs of some of them. I have yet to decide what to do with so many! I use real handkerchiefs every day. I only use paper ones if I am suffering with a particularly contagious cold virus.

There are all sorts here, from beautifully hand embroidered vintage and antique ones; some with fine, drawn thread work; lace embellished ones; some of the sort we would receive at Christmas in the 1960's from an elderly aunt, three in a box. Some are plain; others printed. Why, there is even a commemorative royal handkerchief with the young princesses Elizabeth and Margaret on.  They are all lovely. They are all old. They are all treasured. Some are already put to use for their intended purpose, while the more delicate ones will be carefully preserved, maybe used in shadow boxes with some of my vintage and antique buttons, ribbons and lace.  All the while, I shall wonder, I shall ponder upon to whom they may have belonged and how such a collection came to my mother.

Here are a few of my favourites.

I have always enjoyed using a proper handkerchief, and I still choose real linen or cotton over paper ones daily. I keep a handkerchief in every pocket, for I love pulling out a special, prettily patterned or embroidered piece of fabric to daintily wipe away a tear or a sniffle, or even to remove that smidgeon of chocolate that escapes being eaten. There's something quite special, a nod to a more genteel, refined and less throwaway age. Oh, but I have some heartily man size handkerchiefs too, for colds and serious sniffles and hay fever season!  Some of these vintage lovelies have already found their way into my personal selection for use.  Do you still use real handkerchiefs?

Until next time
Deborah xo

An Accidental Adventure ~ in which books arrive

Hello Friends!

In the loosest possible definition of the word, technically I am on a self imposed embargo on book buying, so it will come as no surprise to anyone who knows me that this past week saw the arrival of two books into my not inconsiderable collection.

Here come the excuses:

1. Both are out of print.
2. One in particular is highly sought after in my locality, and I already have people asking me if I can keep an eye out for a copy for them too.
3. Putting myself on a book buying embargo is a bit silly to begin with.
4. They will be put to very good use, see below.

So, here is the first, and possibly most highly prized book purchase I have made in a very long time.  This is, locally, known as the Twr Y Felin Guide. It was originally written for genteel visitors to the peninsula to give them a general guide to the area but, in its day, quickly became the definitive guide. I do not know when it went out of print, but it did, and is now highly sought after by serious and amateur historians alike. When I found this copy, which is in quite good condition considering it is nigh on one hundred years old, it took me something less than a gazillionth of a nano second to quickly part company with just under £15.00 to secure it as my own. Originally, back in its day, it cost the princely sum of 5/-, that's five shilling, pre decimalisation and works out to 25 pence in today's money.

Here is the second, which I stumbled across on eBay during a random search for something else. Not so much a book, more of a pamphlet, it is a 1935 copy of a pilgrim's guide to St Davids. I don't know very much else about it, other than it cost me £1.75 including postage, and is, again, in quite good condition considering its age.

I had to share this image with the postage stamps. Aren't they lovely?  As a former Girl Guide, what transpires next will come as no surprise.

As I perused my two new treasures, an idea popped into my mind. Why not use these guides for their intended purpose?  So, my friends, that is exactly what I plan to do this summer. It will be my Summer Adventure of Exploration!  As and when the weather permits, I shall take a section of each in turn and follow in the footsteps as much as possible {for much may have altered in the last nine decades} I will endeavour to record the same photographic images as closely as possible to those in print and compare.

I think this is going to be fun, and who knows what I will discover along the way?

Until next time ~~~
Deborah