So Much EB News!!!!

In the 3 weeks it has been since I last blogged so many new items have been added to the website! Its so exciting there are new tea towels and lots of them very colourful, St Georges Day half pint mugs, Polka chicks and bunnys baby mugs for Easter, New White Toast mugs in Pale blue and Pale green

AND.....

To celebrate 25 years they now have the "Silver Collection" which is beautiful! Do have a look if you get the chance its all very WOW WOW WOW!

I visited the EB Factory on tuesday to take a friend who had never been before on the factory tour, we arrived shortly after 1100 and had tea and cake, booked in to decorate some pottery and a quick snoop around the factory shop before going on a fab tour!

It is great to see how it is all made from start to finish, it really is an interesting tour if you ever get chance to go on it. My friend who only had one piece of Bridgewater already has now become quite a fan and has started her pink hearts collection which consists of 2 half pint mugs, a plate and a milk jug, im glad i am now not alone and her husband is just as happy as mine!

.....................................................................................................................................................................

Enough of the Bridgewater!!

Now I finally got my butt back in the saddle this weekend just gone and my gosh is it sore now! I often ride the ponies in and out of the field bareback but sitting back in the saddle after having a winter off really feels different! I took the dogs with me and we had such a lovely ride in the wonderful weather that we had.

Here is a picture of Jim relaxing afterwards

The Auction!

What a week! I have failed the Emma Bridgewater ban by buying not just one coddler but two! I have found myself the blue stars small hen coddler that I have been hunting for and a cat on basket coddler/trinket pot and they are both so beautiful, the pictures will not do them any justice at all!

Now being the crazed EB fan that I am I decided to go to a local auction just to see whether they had any treasures. 5pm friday evening I dragged the other half down to the auction preview (he was not happy, but hey ho he silently moans!)

Amongst all the furniture, paintings, books, antiques and chinaware I noticed a small cardboard box with a plate in it that straight away I knew was EB, I dashed over to it and had a good old rummage through and found it had four 10 1/2in dinner plates, five 8in plates and two cereal bowls, they were also back stamped with "celebrating 21 yrs of Emma Bridgewater" so I was very chuffed with my find.

The day of the auction I found a good spot and listened as all the lots went under the hammer and then it was lot 125 the assorted chinaware box with EB tucked inside, I had convinced myself that £45 was going to be my max bid, but items had been selling for pennies so far so I was feeling good!

The starting bid was £15 and then dropped to £10, I nodded at the auction bloke and then another bidder piped up for £15 and then it went crazy, this other bidder and I went at war and before I knew it I was bidding £90! ARGHHHHHH!!!! I suddenly realised I was double what I had set my target too and pulled out the bidding and the other bidder brought it for £95.

The excitment of the build up, the exhileration of the bidding followed by the disappointment of not winning all happened so fast, but I took the time after I left to remind myself that had I of won at £90 I had gone over my target and spending all that money would probably of annoyed me anyway so I have resided myself to the fact that everything happens for a reason, it was just not meant to be and better luck next time.

WHO AM I KIDDING?!

Spoilt, Very Spoilt!

I am part of the Secret Post Club which has been set up by fellow blogger Notes From Lapland, if you are not a follower of this blog then have a look as it is brilliant.

Each month Notes From Lapland emails you another bloggers details including their likes and dislikes and you choose some gifts and send them, its such a great idea and a fab way to meet new bloggers.

This month I have recieved a gift from Sara who is from http://www.canceraintgonnabeatme.blogspot.com/ and she has choosen me some wonderful gifts.

A big THANK YOU Sara!

She has painted me some stones with "Hope" and "Love" written on them, these are now placed on my coffee table they are very chic, some sunflower seeds which are my favourite, I do love that feeling when you have successfully grown a sunflower they are just so beautiful, I have also been spoilt with Gisella Graham gifts which are perfect for my easter tree and finally some fun gifts which are Paint your own Garden Gnome and the fun RushHour challenge!

Now spoilt is not the word! Thank you again Sara.

I too have carefully packed and sent my gift to a blogger today so hopefully it will arrive safe, it was ever so enjoyable choosing gifts, I do hope she likes them!!

Radford Is Behaving Honest!!!!

Radford has behaved herself this week, I must admit I hate it when the other half thinks he has got one over on me, the true fact is that I have just not found anything new that I would like to add to my ever growing collection! So I think in a way I have double bluffed him!

I have noticed a couple of new items available on the EB Website, firstly there are some new Mothers Day Mugs and secondly are some T-Towels, all of which are really tempting! The T-Towels are really groovy and are quite different, the designer of them is Pat Albeck, if you get chance have a look because they are great! I am still patiently awaiting the 2010 jug! I am sure it will be amazing but I not the best when it comes to waiting!!

A friend of mine wants to go on the EB factory tour so I have also booked that this week, if you have not done the factory tour then I would recommend it, they do tours every tuesday and it is lovely to see how it is all made and decorated.

We are currently in the process of buying a new house, we are renting a much smaller place then we are use to (to help save money) and so the majority of our furniture and EMMA BRIDGEWATER is safely packed and stored away, I cant wait to unpack it all again! I do wonder though if I might have a few surprises tucked in there because I struggle to remember sometimes what I have and what I have not got!

I would love to hear from fellow Emma Bridgewater lovers what their favourite and cherished piece is, mine has to be my Polka Dot Sugar Shaker, I am so paranoid that it will get broken that I do not use mine, it is just sooooooo pretty! I really think the old designs and shapes are the best, I would love it if they remade these sugar shakers, I would have to have two of each design so that I could use one every day and so that I have a spare incase one breaks!! When I dig mine out I shall get a picture on here!

I would however LOVE one of these in my kitchen!!

The Emma Bridgewater Ban........

No more Emma Bridgewater buying this week, I have been ordered by the better half to spend my pennies wisely (WISELY, EB IS WISELY!!!!) he disagrees with me when I tell him that buying EB is an investment as well as an absolute wonderful pleasure and yes a little bit of an addiction, when I am over the hill he can flog it all (If he really feels he has too) and be a very wealthy man!

I am still on the hunt for my small hen on nest with blue stars, I did watch a small blue hen on nest sell for over £80 on ebay at the weekend, I did have to restrain myself!

The EB ban is only short term, I am silently excitedly awaiting the 2010 year jug, to all EB fans out there you have to buy this, not only is it the yearly jug but it is their 25th year and I have a feeling that it will be an expensive item in time to come so make sure you get your order in! It is currently still being designed but I am sure it will look fantastic amongst the jungle of bits on the dresser!

Not long now til the car boot season arrives! I love car boot sales! I love nothing more then arriving there as they open and having a look through all the tables hoping to find a treasure!

Last year I tried my hand at a bit of selling but because I ended up going on my own I was unable to have a rummage on the other stalls. Now I think that smelly other half did this on purpose so that I was unable to spend the money earned from selling my bits and bobs!

Everytime I was selling he would make an excuse as to why he could not come "Sorry babe I have to fix my sisters, husbands, brothers car!..." REALLY??, "Honey I am helping mum dig out her tree root!...." YES RIGHT!! If this was his plan he soon realised it back fired because I would befriend my fellow seller beside me and we would take it in turns to watch each others tables while we went for a rummage!

I did get some bargains last year, I got a beech wood filing cabinet, brand new for £3! and a foot stool for 50p which I recovered in my own fabric! So tell me peeps where is the best car boot sale in the UK? I am going to make it my mission this year to find the most amazing bargain!

Radford's In Luck!

Radford has been very lucky this week!

As you all know I collect Emma Bridgewater, not that its obvious! Well within my collection I try my hardest to collect limited edition pieces.

Country Living Magazine are celebrating their 25th birthday along side EB and in their Feb issue they are offering a limited edition Country Living EB 1/2 Pint Mug only £15.95 each plus £4 p&p

I had to have one!

They are still available so if you like the look then get your order in, I have the Feb issue if you need the contact number to order!

Another limited edition EB this week is the Marmalade Festival 1/2 pint mug. 250 were made, 200 of which were available at the festival on sunday 14th Feb the other 50 were made available through the EB website, I was VERY VERY lucky to manage to get hold of one for me and one for my mother. Mind you I did have to be attached to the computer for almost the whole day! But it was worth it!

I have also found a fab group on Flickr it is an Emma Bridgewater group and there are some fantastic photos that have been taken!

Click on the EB picture to the right on my tool bar and it will lead you to the group, have a nosey and if you like it then join up!

The Nightmare Unfolds!

We had a bit of a nightmare unfold upon us this weekend!!

I recieved a phone call to say the ponies had escaped on to the main road and were running riot amongst the traffic, not the best start to the day.........




Off up the farm I travelled in a very hurried manner with thoughts of squashed ponies with limbs missing on my mind. The field in question holds 3 brood mares, 2 yearlings and a 3 yr old. I instictively knew that the old Irish Connemara brood and her yearling would have been the two that would have made the great escape in the first place and it would be them that had led the others to venture outside of the field!



And yes I was right it was the terrible two! Luckily there were no blood and guts on display and both were quite happy with themselves now placed in the opposite farmers field.




After all the panic and rush was over with and the ponies were safely moved to another field until my better half gets tasked with mending the fence I was finally able to relax and enjoy my weekend!!



********************************

I have also got my heart set on another piece of EB which I am now going to be hunting for this year, again it is another egg coddler but this one I would like in the blue star design! It is beautiful and would go perfect with my collection and so the search is now on!!!

A little bit of Bridgewater........

I thought I would share some of my pieces of Emma Bridgewater

This really is a taster!

I dont just collect one pattern or shape because I constantly see new pieces and fall in love with them!

The Rise and Shine collection came about in 2004, this is one of my favourites, and I was chuffed when I saw some for sale at the christmas sale this year so I could not help but get a few more dinner plates!!

These two plates above were made by EB for Pineapple around 1991 (from what I can tell by the back stamp), very simple designs and I find them beautiful, I believe there are other designs to this collection that were made, I am keeping my eyes peeled!

Above is a Robin mini mug and a 1 pint Robin mug, I keep chocolates in the big one!

This would make a lovely christmas present for a little boy!

The dinner plate above is from the Organic and Green collection and the large vase is from Hampton Court Flower Show last year.

For any EB lover this is a must have! If you already have this book you may want to skip this next paragragh!

The EB books talks about the life of Emma Bridgewater, her growing up and how she came about creating Bridgewater, it tells you what year designs were produced, there is a shape guide, a page showing the yearly backstamps so you can work out how old a piece is and lots lots more......

How this came about......

Welcome to my blog,

Firstly before anybody wonders "Is Radford really smelly?" I can confirm that I don't! It's a nick name that has stuck with me since I was a young girl from the days when I almost lived in my ponies stable with straw in my hair and muck on my breeches! I have lived and breathed ponies from day dot and have wonderful memories from the fearless child days when I would gallop my pony Tom across the fields bareback in just a headcollar!

I also have another passion which the other half calls an "uncontrollable addiction" and that is collecting Emma Bridgewater pottery! I have expensive tastes you may think, but by working hard in my "normal" job I have to treat myself.

I have many pieces of Bridgewater including Rise & Shine, Pink hearts, Blue Stars, Organic, Birds, Love & Kisses, Polka Dot, etc etc....

These are all on different items such as 1/2 pint mugs, 10 1/2' plates, cereal bowls, 1 pint mugs, 8' plates, cups and saucers, comport stand, clocks, small & large vases, jugs and my beloved candle sticks & sugar shaker!

I don't know why the other half thinks I am an uncontrollable addict!!!!

What I have been missing from my collection is a small hen egg coddler sometimes called a trinket pot, but today my luck was in, I found some for sale on Ebay, while at work I kept an eye on the time and when it was near the end of the auction I got out my iPhone (wonderful invention) and hid in the store cupboard, I waited until there was just a minute to go and placed my bid, for some reason I always feel my heart racing and get nervous when bidding it must be the excitments, anyway I won!!!! These items always go for such high prices hence why I have never won one before but my winning bid was £25.

Radford is very pleased with herself, I just hope the other half does not go onto Ebay and notice!! I shall just place it on the dresser and if asked I shall say "Darling that piece has always been there, you obviously just have not noticed it before!" I am sure he will realise it's a new addition but I like to amuse him!

To be continued.... x x x