Toot.

Ok, here it is, and there's quite a lot of it I'm pleased to say.

A baskety-bag.

A nice bit of sturdy embroidered cloth - the pattern is regular but there are patches of oddness - like the black patch at top left.

A funny, pewter, corner shaped pot. Pewter is good.

An enormous bracelet type thing that I have to find out a little more about. It had a pot stuffed in the centre and was sold to me as a tealight holder but I think it might be something more interesting.

Two dolly heads. Doll on the left has obviously been in a box a while - bored.

It's very hard to do anything with dolly heads that doesn't end up looking like an angsty art project - even just labelling them.

Wicker bag.

A slightly nuts bit of weaving.

A handsome skipping rope.

A couple of bits of Indian mirror work

Very sweet.

A bag . . . from the 90s. (I'm sorry)

A casting mould in very fine colours. It comes in two parts and each side would be pressed into sand (and jiggled slightly to allow for the shrinkage on the metal) and parts get cast from the sandy indent.

Or it could make a nice industrial alternative to an African mask on your wall.

This little ones for something Rolls-Roycey. Swish.

A view of the inside.

Look at this barmy bit o' cloth. Fifties, and in a weird ethnic style. What's your favourite bit?

That's my favourite bit too!

This is Maude. Last week she was admitted to hospital with stomach pains. In a protracted and life-threatening operation the surgeon managed to pull over a metre of woollen rope from her insides. And now she's feeling much better.

A wonky basket.

And finally a very fine hoopla board.

This evening I have to try and catch up on lost episodes of The Killing, and tomorrow I'm off to market! See you there?

I'm a mug (<- and that is a pun)

Pottery has finished for Christmas and suddenly I've realised how many mugs I've made . . . a lot of mugs, eleven in total. Also, a lot of really rubbish mugs.

My French tablecloth (Putting all the textiles out, to make the place feel warmer)

My mug - the handle is very comfortable

Slightly blurred bubble mug.

Suave teacup shape. Fancy.

Possibly the worst mug ever.

Schweiker's mug.

Jack's mug.

When it comes to learning a new skill I find there are a few stages: I find I'm quite good at first (beginners luck, Jack's was the first I made), then it turns out I'm actually a bit rubbish and I can't get the hang of it, then I get all peevish and do really rubbish things on purpose (Ha!). Only after these stages can I knuckle down and actually get on with trying to learn things without feeling all self-conscious or resentful.

Dorothy Hartley. Made in England.

I really love to read about old English craft - I guess I'm a sucker for that nostalgie de la boue. I also love to find the traces of that handmade past as I saunter around car boots - to find a bag of handcut dolly pegs or a fine old tool amongst the drifts of crap.
Just recently my Mum lent me one of her favourite books - Made in England by Dorothy Hartley. It's a beautifully illustrated and written book about old English crafts. Proper crafts: I think the word 'craft' might have been slightly altered by the legions of old folk knitting covers for things that really don't need covers.
Dorothy Hartley is a social historian of epic proportions (she has the same drive as that Gladys Thompson, who I seem to be linking all the time recently). At one point in the book she is in some woods working with people making ladders and she describes the workers going home and night falling and, later on, a fox crossing their work place . . . it seems she just stayed there all night.
I've chosen my favourite illustrations from the book and I will also share my favourite quote -
"By specialising work you can increase output and give the worker more free time, but is he able to do anything new and vital in that free time if you have stunted his initiative, his creative faculty"
When I read that bit I felt much happier, and thought about maybe booking myself another evening class, to hell with specialisation - let's all just do what we want! Made in England isn't in print anymore, a real shame, but her best known book Food in England is readily available - it's next on my list to read. If you ever come across a secondhand copy of Made in England keep it and cherish it.

M-M-M-My-Marina.

Rosalie has been away for a little while now, and she won't come back until January. Luckily she managed to replace herself before she scarpered into the sunset. I have a new flatmate: Marina. The other day we did a lot of photoing; including putting things on our heads, which is always a good game. Some more photos on Marina's beautiful blog.
Marina is an exotic beast, not only because she comes from far off lands but because she loves pink. Imagine that. When she came to Peckham we had one pink thing in the house: a small plate. But now we have lots of pink things and I might be a convert.

Marina and the pink plate.

Pink things on head (and blurry arms).

Pink socks and slip-slips.

Marina hails from Germany - it is nice to live with someone from a different country because they can tell you things about your own country that you might not notice because you're so used to it- for example, had you noticed how nice and descriptive English weather forecasts are? They're all full of lovely words like 'brisk' and 'breezy'.
Do you live with someone from somewhere else?

It takes Toot to tango.

A nice lot of toot this week - though I attended one car boot where I didn't buy a single thing, imagine that. Here's what I got elsewhere.The sweetest little jumper for a kid - I like that it's good colours, none of that pastel crap: no pink or blue, just characterful stripes.Some more characterful stripes - switswoo.Is it a hanging basket? Or is it a drawing? . . . it's both.And here's another with it's arms still attached, I love them. Something about hanging baskets (were you around when this one turned up? That was a long time ago)A sick-up swan for the Pileas.A 70s dressing gown in nice patterns. And what's that next to it? . . . Oh it's only the best damn Christmas decoration ever. I feel this Chritmas I might finally decorate the house, after many years of feeling a touch too nomadic to make a real effort with any abode.A slightly chilling Goofy mask.And a painted basket - I love it when folks give wicker a thick coat of garish gloss, it makes such a wholesome and rustic looking material seem so Pop. And I've not seen one example of it done tidily to date - which is part of the charm. (Like Craigie's pink cabinet)Talking of charm: here is my Dad modelling the new Gansey I got him.