I'm really enjoying the Jacquie Lawson online Advent Calendar this year and every single day when I flash it up I see this image on my screen, and it reminds me of the little street that my shop was on. This is a Christmas card that was brought out one year and sold in town, and that I kept as a reminder of my pride and joy.
And yes it was a street, rather than a lane, even though it was barely wide enough for the delivery van that brought the potatoes to the Chippy Bank on the corner every other day. I worked in the shop and we lived at the top of the street, just off The Gill car park.
My shop, which was just past the black bin on the righthand side of the photograph on the Christmas card, with my lights on ready for a days trading, and with a festoon of the town lights that lit up our little street during the festive season. It all used to be so pretty around town throughout December, worthy of being on an Advent calendar of it's own in fact.
Today's offerings from my Advent calendars are the Bonne Maman Christmas bauble from my calendar two years ago, this years jam and a packet of basil seeds. Shown with the last two little mince pies from this box, these are gorgeous and I'm glad I bought another box to save for Christmas ... in fact I might even buy one more box to ensure that I don't run out!!
Sue xx
The Jacquie Lawson images are always lovely, I remember when she first started up and was so different to anything else I'd seen.
ReplyDeleteYour own little street was not too shabby either :-)
How are you finding the cold? No snow here but getting more and more iced up each day.
We are just completely iced up, barely any snow fell, but the thaw when it snowed briefly and then melted made it even more treacherous when it all turned back to ice. My poor little Fiat 500 just looks like an igloo sat in front of the lodge :-)
DeleteYour shop looks beautiful and the pretty street on which it was on is so much like the virtual advent calendar.
ReplyDeleteSuet-free mince pies used to such a rarity that it was decades before I ever ate one. I haven't had any in years and quite fancy one now you've mentioned them! xxx
I believe these weren't brilliant tasting last year ... I didn't even see them then ... but this year they have an 'improved recipe' and you can't tell that they are gluten free, unlike some others which have dreadful pastry.
DeleteYour little shop looked delightful it's the sort of shop that would draw me in and not just the once. We are very icy too, I don't like it at all, we have my son with us whilst the weather is like this as we wouldn't be able to get to him in time at night if he was to have seizures and the proposed ambulance strike is worrying me terribly as it must be with other people, we will cheer ourselves up today by putting up our little tree and decorations, I iced the cake last night , it looks lovely and today I am making decorations from oven dried orange slices, star anise and cinnamon sticks, the house will smell lovely :)
ReplyDeleteI had a lot of very regular visitors, both locals and tourists alike. It helped that I was so close to the Chippy Bank where people could get takeaways or sit in and have lunch. A lot of my regular lavender loving ladies bribed their husbands with a fish and chip lunch if they brought them into town. And of course back in the day, the Laurel and Hardy Museum was next door to me and the hubbys could go in there and watch the continually running films while their wives shopped around town.
DeleteThe snowy scene looks lovely, as does your shop, Sue. We woke up this morning to no hot water after -7C during the night. Thankfully we have heating at the moment (fingers crossed) but we can't get a repair engineer to come until Monday so no hot showers ( shiver....) until it's sorted. And we have to boil a kettle for a wash. The ground here is treacherous, lots of black ice where it's thawed and re-frozen too. Roll on the spring!
ReplyDeleteOh gosh, that's not what you need in this weather. I've been in that situation before and it's not a joke but back then I did have the Aga and the log burner, so that meant that I could stand pots and pans all over them to get myself some hot water on the go. I hope you manage over the weekend.
DeleteYour shop looks so inviting! I am imagining that it was a busy, happy place.
ReplyDeleteI have never had a mince pie and can't imagine what it tastes like!?!
Being so tiny the shop always felt busy even if there were only a few people in, and lots of folk came regularly for a chat and to see what was new in stock.
DeleteA mince pie tastes like a lovely deep flavoured fruity and curranty treat, all sticky and rich. They go brilliantly well with custard or cream and can be eaten hot or cold.
The shop is so pretty, as is the name. I’d have been one of your regulars if I’d lived nearby. June
ReplyDeleteIt was definintely a very pretty and girly shop and about 90% of my customers were female.
Delete