Night and day....stoves

Thank you to Oooh Betty for noticing my enamel stove - bought nearly 30 years ago (wasn't everything Jenny!) from a junk shop in Dulwich (those were the days) - we had this 'plumbed' in our old house but still waiting to do this in this house.....we will get there!  I love the grill in particular and how it lights up like a standard firework!  In the past I have cooked pies in the oven (a bit tricky to regulate!) and made lots of coffee on the top.

This little room is a bit of mess really - the table is an old Edwardian one (bought from Mr Langfords) that was riddled with woodworm, Dom cut it down to a smaller size and we found a piece of sea worn wood on the beach for the top!  Make do and mend at its best

The photo above is from some years ago and was taken the day the children decided to do a 'Victorian wash day'. We washed clothes with a bar of soap and 'pegged out'.

Usual changing shelf arrangements....this photo above is also from a few years ago

I recently popped into Mr Langford's establishment - I wished to discuss his appearance on the 'Antiques Road Trip' that was on telly recently.  I could not believe that he had bought something from one of the roving autioneers - he gave me the inside story.  Basically his arm was forced...'It is for charity Mr Langford...'.  I also discovered that this was the fourth airing of this particular series. We got chatting about this lurverly enamel sign that I bought from his shop a few years ago - he remembered very well indeed and  regrets selling it.  He tells me that I can bring it back at any time and get a good return for my money.  Perhaps one day....

Mr Langford is an old fashioned trader - he lets me take things home (no deposit) to see if it looks right and then I can bring it back if it doesn't. I did buy something very nice indeed from Mr Langford - I have left it in his care (I have to make some space for it)...it was one of those things that you just cannot leave behind....oh dear...I will share it with you when I finally bring it home...

As well as a solid fuel stove we also have a few paraffin stoves - this one also dates from the 1920s I think (looks lopsided but that was me that was leaning!) and uses finest greenhouse paraffin!  Gives off a nice heat on chilly evenings and also has a coloured piece of mica so it always glows red. It is called the 'South Pole' according to the metal panel.

I posted these videos on Flickr a couple of years ago - worth seeing again I hope.  I like chatting with Mr Langford very much - we discuss a range of  issues such as his pigeon problem and the demise of good shops to rummage in! I was a little alarmed the other day as Mr Langford had clearly been tidying up (as you enter his shop you are given a statutory warning concerning taking your life in your hands) - I could see the back wall in one section. I have never seen the wall before - I told Mr Langford that it was a little disappointing as I had always thought that the back of his shop was as the wardrobe in Narnia and that if I tried a little I would enter yet another world....

I believe that the saying goes that if it is not in The British Museum or Mr Langfords then it probably doesn't exist....

Time to turn the lights off!
Tatty bye