Wednesday 23 January 2013

Little Things To Brighten Up A Cold Day....

Brrr although I love snow I have to admit that during the last few days i've found it really hard going to endure the freezing temperature in my office. You may or may not know that I work for a firm of solicitors, in a huge old Victorian building - very beautiful but also extremely cold at this time of year - the central heating packed up yonks ago and has never been fixed. Hence I am writing this with chilblained fingers and toes and very tired eyes from the electric heaters we keep on full blast all day long - which hardly take out the chil and any heat they produce is quickly dispersed through the old sash windows.

Despite this, I took some lovely photographs from my office window today, I braved the cold - and to be honest, I couldn't get much colder anyway! - and stepped out on to the balcony to take these pictures;







It's on days like today especially that it's always nice when something happens to brighten things up a little, no matter how small. Today two things happened which really cheered me up; the first being that I had to pop in to our local computer shop to purchase something for work, and while I was there I got chatting to the owner, a man who actually used to live in our house between the early 90's and 2004 and who sold it to the man we purchased it from. He was really pleased to hear that we bought it, and spent over 10 minutes telling me all about what he and his wife and done to the house and the condition it was in when they bought it, etc, including some really interesting facts which we hadn't known about. They did extensive renovation work and he has a lot of photographs which show it at various stages, including before and after and was more than happy for us borrow them sometime as I said that i'd be so interested to see them - he even asked if he and his wife might pop round with them as they would love to see the place again.

I really enjoyed the conversation, i'm so interested in the history of my house and i'm currently in the process of writing a blog post all about it - including some photographs i've unearthed of the occupants from 100 years ago! I just find stuff like that so interesting.

The second thing was at lunchtime when I popped in to my favourite vintage store and the owner said that she was glad i'd popped in as she'd been saving some old books for me as she knows I collect them and I always buy them from her whenever I find some in her shop. She sold me the Robinson Crusoe book for £1.00 and gave me the others for free! (These aren't the first "freebies" i've had in that shop either!)



The Last of the Mohicans has a hand-written inscription and date; 1890 - I do love it when the old books have something written inside! Another has the Award sticker inside dating it back to Christmas 1905;


The other two freebies have lovely illustrations; though they have been a bit difficult to photograph;



And finally I bought a sweet little wooden box of dominos circa 1900 - still in lovely condition and a bargain for £2, I love to put things like this in our playroom;


All of these things have made me smile today; it just shows that very often it can be the "little things" that really matter. I wonder what has made you smile today???

Marina xx





7 comments:

  1. Just catching up after my bloggy break.
    Those things would make ME smile too!
    I've often wondered about visiting the house I was brought up in,that will be a fun vist when the previous owners come to see their old house.
    Hope it warms up soon!
    Love Bellaboo XX

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  2. Love the dominoes and a good bargain for £2!! When we go back to the area we used to live, I always drive past the houses we used to own and show the kids where they were born/grew up and tell them what has changed....love it! :)

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  3. Oh your books are gorgeous. I love collecting them too and if they're inscribed in the front or have a bookplate it gives the book so much more meaning. Well done on your finds. It's made me want to go off for a wander round our second hand shops.
    Patricia x

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  4. You've had a great day! It must be amazing to find some-one who has also lived in your house. Do you think you could do a complete history - maybe for your children? Jx

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  5. Reading your post today has just made me smile. What a lovely story about the man that used to live in your house such a sweet trip down memory lane for him and his wife that will be. Those books are lovely to i love buying old books and wondering who owned them before. Have a lovely weekend, dee xx

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  6. The kindness of others can really cheer our day.
    How lovely to be able to find out so much about your new home, look forward to seeing that post.
    Lisa x

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Thank you for your lovely messages! They really do brighten up my day xx