A day in Hay

My daughter went to her friends house for a sleep over birthday party in Hay on Wye and we were to collect her at 10 am which was great.

This meant that we could have a good nosey around the antique and charity shops. Something I have missed so much as what with the snow and waiting for our car to be delivered, I was so looking forward to it.

Hay on Wye is our nearest town, but we only ever really go there to show it off to our visitors or to visit the Co Op, but the Co Op is another story. We parked up in the street after collecting our daughter, who was very tired, put my blue badge in the window and we were off.

I knew exactly what shops I wanted to visit and tried as hard as I could what with my back and leg being in total agony (again, another story).

As relaxed as Hay on Wye is (nothing much really opens until 10 – 10:30 am there is nothing more frustrating when you are stood outside the Old Curiosity Shop in the castle grounds staring at the opening times sign on the door that states ‘Sat, open 10:30 am when you are stood out side at 10:45 am and there is no sign of anyone there. When I have money to spend, I like to spend and was so looking forward to rummaging through their goods, never mind though.

I next visited ‘Vintage Mercantile’, and I am so glad I did too!

I have always loved this shop and their website too. As I said before, I struggle to get about, but visiting ‘Vintage Mercantile’ made the struggle and pain so much worth it.  I have chatted to Louise, the owner a few times via email and so on, but had never really spoke to her.

She has one of those shops that as soon as you walk in through the door, you make sure that you warn your children not to touch anything.

Before we even walked through the door I had decided on my first purchase of the day. Outside with a huge stunning sheet draped over it was a off yellow, wooden step ladder. Well used with other paint colours dabbed on it from the previous owners carelessness, which I am so happy about. My wife and I walked into the shop and there was not an item there I would not have loved to have bought, from a large wood chest of draws to a hessian coffee sack from Cuba. Every single item we WANTED and NEEDED.

I bought the step ladder (which is still in the boot of the car at the moment)  but is soon to be my Number 1 project, well after the bloody pine table and chairs. Getting pretty sick of it to be honest. I thought we were going to have an expensive looking dinning room table and chairs, but it is just ending up being expensive!  I bought the perfect design material for the seat covers, but too too thin, so my wife has decided that we are going to use ‘Oil  Cloth’. The horse hair and wool stuffing arrived today, so we might finally get it in the house and free up some space in the work shed.

I love Hay on Wye for bargains, but sometimes, some shops are just unbelievable with their prices. The antique shop called the Hay Antique Market had a few chairs outside the door which I might have been interested in, until I looked at the price tags. Then my eyes looked upon a chair that had been painted in white emulsion, not a particularly fancy chair with a price tag of £110. I expect they will have that there for quite some time. I visited there a month or two ago and they had step ladders there and they were asking £36 for them, I came back with a price of £30, my answer was, ‘I am sorry, but no thank you’.

Funny how one shop can have reasonable prices and another with prices that are beyond a joke!

While walking about Hay we bumped in to Monty Don with his dog, would have liked to have said hi, but he did not look in the best of moods and was in a hurry too.

 

Oh I returned to the shop to pick up the step ladder ( Antique Merchanile http://www.louiseloves.co.uk/about-us-1-w.asp ) and bought one of the hessian sacks but as the one I really wanted had a bit of a hole in it, I chose another and Louise (the owner) said that I could have the other very nice lady indeed with a MUST VISIT SHOP too.

Well with everything that has happened today in my shabby chic hunt and at home, I just wish I had charged the battery on my camera before. Not taken a photo all day, that is a first for me too!