A horse, a cat, 2 chickens and us, living in the hand-me-down heaven I call home, here in the beautiful Dorset Countryside.
A passion for pictures, shabbychic peeling paint, French textiles, overstated Victorian, elegant Art Deco and the angular 1960s is my ecclectic mix of favourite treasures, gathered through years of tedandbunny antiquing trips, auction and jumble sales, house clearances and rescue projects from the tip!
I found the gently dog-eared 1910 postcard at Alexandra Palace antique fair many years ago, instantly enchanted with such an adorable old Steiff Bear gently pushing his bunny friend in the ancient wheelbarrow.
Ted looks so handsome in his knitted suit!
When I registered for eBay back in 2002 the card was on my desk and I could think of no nicer name than tedandbunny.
After their sedentary beginnings with a handwritten message and halfpenny stamp, this dear old bear and his companion have been beamed all around the world via the internet.
and when I launched my website nothing seemed to sound better than tedandbunny.co.uk
Ted and Bunny are now firmly "part of the family"!
tedandbunny.co.uk
ted and bunny website
Goodwood Revival award
.
twenty blessings
May the best hour of the day be yours.
May luck go with you from hill to sea.
May you stand against the prevailing wind.
May no forest intimidate you.
May you look out from your own eyes.
May near and far attend you.
May you bathe your face in the sun’s rays.
May you have milk, cream, substance.
May your actions be effective.
May your thoughts be affective.
May you will both the wild and the mild.
May you sing the lark from the sky.
May you place yourself in circumstance.
May you be surrounded by goldfinches.
May you pause among alders.
May your desire be infinite.
May what you touch be touched.
May the company be less for your leaving.
May you walk alone beneath the stars.
May your embers still glow in the morning.
You have to be a little choosy, but this site is great with some
truly fab bargains, service is good and the reviews seem quite honest-
take a peek at everything5pounds.com and enjoy! . . .
I'm wearing the leggings ;)
We recently did a large House Clearance, and in
the hottest weather of the "summer" I was upto my eyeballs
in dusty boxes in someone else's attic (as someone remarked "like a pig in s..t")
and amongst the vanloads of vintage goodies we brought home
were a 1957 HMV record player/valve radio with original guarantee,
5 record players circa 1970s, 8 cases of vinyl LPs
and a stack of old 78 records.
The clearance took a full week with many runs to the tip
(and yes, I did bring a few irresistible things home!)
but with the property eventually emptied, swept through and
looking somewhat lighter and brighter than we had found it,
the next task was sorting through the treasures we'd taken home.
An advert in our local paper for Old Record Players Wanted
was duly answered and Bill came over on Sunday,
bought all the players, some of the LPs and 78s and asked
if we had any more LPs we wanted to sell?
Ted and I looked at each other. . .
our own vinyl collections had been relegated to the store room
many years ago after we'd replaced favourites with CDs.
At one time we'd bought a record player and had an orgy of
70s music blasting through the house but the sound quality
wasn't brilliant and our tastes had changed. . .
So Bill bought our LPs too, and I was pleased to have
a bit more room and a bit more money.
I think it was about an hour after he'd left that it hit home;
for the first time in some 40 years I didn't have my LPs.
So carefully chosen. So avidly played.
So cherished and loved and treasured.
And sold.
Each of those albums entwined with SO many memories,
where I was. . .who I was with . . .who I was. . .
all that teenage angst, moving out of home, first broken heart
all the other broken hearts, first marriage, divorce-
a whole other life really.
And yet I still have the songs, I still have the memories,
so why do I feel soooooo bereft because I no longer have
a circle of plastic surrounded by a cardboard sleeve???
Van Morrison Roy Harper Jackson Browne Nils Lofgren Supertramp
Millie Jackson David Bowie Dire Straits Allman Brothers Neil Young
Phoebe Snow Natalie Cole Frank Zappa Grateful Dead Rico Rodriguez
King Crimson Roxy Music Gerry Rafferty Steeleye Span James Taylor
Crosby Stills & Nash Malcolm Mclaren Grace Jones Madness T Rex
Bob Marley Leon Russell Eno The Kinks Black Sabbath
and all the rest. . .I know you'll be loved in new homes but. . .
chattering away some years back while we were both mucking out our horses, I said to Colleen that if the Olympic Games ever came to London, we oughta go
and so go we did
it was a looooooooooooooooooong day with much travelling; it was an expense that I really couldn't afford, and I have to confess I wasn't really as excited at the prospect as I should've been
and we got soaking wet
It was the 1st day of the team dressage, Thursday 2nd August and it was such an amazing, awesome day that its taken til now to be able to tell you about it!
We were directed to our seats, 16 rows from the front and directly opposite the beautiful building that is Greenwich House. There were flag-bedecked masts of sailing ships behind it, and behind that was the tall grey office block skyline of London silhouetted against a sometimes blue/sometimes grey, cloud bedecked sky.
In front of our eyes were horse and rider; two separate beings fused as one and each working within the others mindset.
The horses, trying with all the sinews of their beautiful bodies to do as they were bidden, and the riders, trying with all their skill and ability to make that bidding as clear as could be.
Thank heaven for sunglasses because I'm not ashamed to admit I shed a little tear.
the horses? oh my, the horses
the riders? well what can you say?
the talent. . .if only. . .
the venue? "inspired" doesn't do it justice
the commentary? informative without being daft
our seats? couldn't have been better if we'd paid top whack
the spectators? spellbound (even those who had "just applied for any ticket they could get")
the weather? English
the food? same old London prices but not a rip-off
the toilets? mostly not working
the organisation? couldn't find a fault
the soldier who frisked me going in? gorgeous!
the volunteers lining the way? smiling
volunteers at all the stations? helpful to the nth degree
the staff in Costa? smiling along with the rest of them!
the police horse? really wanted to do dressage but needed a day job
the staff at Victoria coach station who let us change our tickets and didn't charge both of us? lovely!
the coach driver who drove a detour past Harrods cos the Americans hadn't seen it? even lovelier!
I've copied a video off youtube because I didn't take my camera.
Carl Hester deserves a medal simply because he lets his horses "be".
I'm sure the papers will sensationalise Charlotte's deserved win because they can make much of her story and play-up the rivalry twixt her and Laura. But in my mind, Carl Hester's Utopia has the essence of what dressage should be- he might not get those points for lifting feet so high but boy, does he move!
You don't have to understand dressage, just watch the video and enjoy xx
PS If me 'n' Bruce could do just one step of one of those movements I'd be over the moon with happiness!
and I will enter your nominations with
our Show Secretary
and doyenne of everything official "Sylvia Evans"
(Below)"
I know we can't enter flowers and suchlike, but here's some of the classes
that might interest us (the full schedule is on the website)
SECTION 6 ARTS AND CRAFTS
61. A PAINTING (any medium) 62. A HANDMADE GREETING CARD 63. AN EMBROIDERED ARTICLE/TAPESTRY FROM A KIT 64. AN EMBROIDERED ARTICLE/ TAPESTRY FREE DESIGN 65. ANY ARTICLE IN WOOD OR METAL 66. A CROCHET ARTICLE 67. A HAND KNITTED ARTICLE
I'm going to enter a card (and I'm hopeless at that sort of thing)-
anyone else want to contact John via his blog, or the phone number on the website