Small treasures

I love browsing flea markets and second hand stores. Most of the time I am not interested in anything special. I just really enjoy looking at all those things that once were cherished  by someone. But sometimes I come across something I like so much I just have to get it. Or because my husband fells in love with it, as in the case of this little candle holder.

I think he secretly dreams of a situation where we lose power and he will lead the way around the
house carrying this with a burning candle stick - just like in the good, old 18th century. 

I have been looking for an ice bucket. I want one that at least looks like it is mid-century, made of crystal and with a square pattern. I haven't found the ice bucket yet, but at the market in Covent Garden I found the perfect ice tongs.

Look at the chicken feet! 

I  have no clue what kind of style it is, or when they were made. There's no stamp on them to help me identify them. I'm just happy I found them and that they now are cherished by me the way they (hopefully) were cherished by their previous owner.

Now all I have to do is to find the ice bucket to go with them. Any tip on where I should look?  

Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans

Most days I eat my veggies and try to avoid sugar and the worst kinds of fat. A bar of chocolate can actually survive several days in my cupboard. But some candies are just too tempting. Getting to buy a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans was such an occasion.

The sad, empty box that once contained the Every Flavour Beans

Chocolate frogs and everlasting jaw breakers I can (almost) get in the normal store, but the excitement of maybe getting a vomit flavoured jelly bean you only get from Bertie Bott.

Vomit, earthworm and something else disgusting

Alas, I only got one box. Now they are all gone.

The making of Harry Potter

I'm a huge fan of Harry Potter. I love the books. I love the movies. I read them over and over again, and I watch them over and over again. And I am lucky enough to share this love with my husband.

Yes, this will be me. Together with my husband.
We're good together that way. 

As I have mentioned before, we spent a weekend in London this summer, and my husband is the best travel planner partner ever. He researches everything, I plan all the logistics. This time he surprised me with researching his way into the Harry Potter universe and the Warner Bros. Studio Tour in London (it's outside London so I had to figure out how to get there - which I did brilliantly).

Unfortunately I was not brilliant enough to organize our arrival in a flying car. 

When you buy your tickets, you buy a tour for a certain time in the day. When we got our tickets, there were only late tickets left, so our tour started at 5 pm. Which actually turned out to be perfect. Even though the tour started at a certain time, we were free to walk around the studios in our own tempo. Being there late in the day meant that it was less crowded and we didn't have to stand in very long lines.

We only had to wait a couple of minutes in line to get a glass of butterbeer.
It would have been worth waiting for several more minutes - it was delicious! 

There was so much to see, so much of the original sets that was still there! Like Dumbledores pensieve, the Hogwarts Bridge that was so important in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, all of Diagon Alley and a complete model of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and the school grounds.

I love exploring the settings on my camera! 

The studio was open until 10 pm that evening, which was good since we spent a good 3 hours looking at everything.

For some reason the Knight Bus didn't show up when we wanted to go home,
so we had to settle with a normal bus and train. 

The tour was incredible - I feel like I've visited Hogwarts! It makes my bitterness of never receiving an acceptance letter from Hogwarts as a kid a little bit easier to live with. 

Tower of London

I guess you can go to London without visiting the Tower of London, but for me it was one of the highlights during our short, but intense weekend there.

Tower Bridge in the morning sun

I am always filled with such awe when I visit historical places. It is something about knowing that the world I live in, was shaped here.

The White Tower seen from outside Traitors' Gate

With our limited amount of time, we prioritized the Crown Jewels and a guided tour with a Yeoman Warder. If I get a chance to go there again, I'll visit the White Tower.

A Yeoman Warder

Since we had such a limited amount of time, and there were so many things we wanted to see, we decided on buying a London Pass. It was especially worth the money when it came to Tower of London since it made it possible for us to avoid the long ticket lines.

What is your London highlight?

Make-do and Mend

I spent a few, intense days in London this summer. 3 days filled with sightseeing and a little bit of shopping. Among others, I visited Churchill War Rooms. The place is like frozen in time - the rooms look the same as they did when the war ended in 1945.

I bought this poster in their excellent museum shop. Clothing rationing was introduced in June 1941 in Britain, and this was part of a campaign to offer innovative ways of making the best of people's clothes. 

I do my fair share of shopping (with a special weakness for shoes), but there is something very appealing with the re-use and mending of old items. Which made me totally fall in love with this little doily I found at the market in Covent Garden. 

You never see this any more! Someone carefully mended this little doily instead of throwing it away. I wonder who this person was, but I imagine that after making the beautiful laces around the doily, the owner did not want to throw away the doily. 

I have no idea yet as to what to do with the little doily, so if anyone has a suggestion, I am open minded!