Medieval Weekend at Herstmonceux Castle (part 3)

Of course Herstmonceux festival wouldnt be the same without just a tiny amount of shopping. I know many of the traders there and sometimes you just cant find this stuff anywhere else... I was doing really well on the Saturday I believe... until... until... I saw the magic stall, the button stall! Not extremely medieval but with lots of crafty items, and in the corner a box with tubes and tubes of buttons. Sadly I dont have a picture of the stall itself but it was very cute, trust me. So naturally I all but attack the stall. I walk up to this really sweet lady and ask her for a bowl or something to gather my treasured buttons in. She didnt believe me when I said I would really really need a bowl! Trust me, my hands are way too small to hold much button loot... But once she realised I was in for some serious button buying, she quickly emptied a random bowl and handed it to me. And then the fun began :) She had the coolest polka dot buttons in all shapes and sizes (well ok not in red) and I even found some cat buttons that I had been looking for for ages! Sadly, only two of them were left but I managed to get her to give me the one on top of the tube as well so now I have three of them :) I also got some cute butterflies and some cars, and the cutest pewter teapot and cup. Not sure what I will use them all for yet, but I have been wanting to glam up the hair yoyos with the cool buttons and have not been able to find any of them! Of course some much needed Halloween colours were added to this loot as well :) In the end I spent about £15 on this lot (including a lovely discount given for sheer volume) but at least I had my purchase for the weekend and I was happy. I also bought some embroidery floss for some small projects I have waiting. So without further ado, check these out, arent they the coolest?



I also bought this Knitting Nancy (in Dutch: punnik popje) from her (after having to come back for it the next day as the bf needs something made and it requires this thingamabob). I havent done this in about 20+ years and find it is extremely addictive. I also cant imagine how slow this used to go... My mother used to change the wool every time the colour came out on the bottom to prevent getting bored with it but I find it is really fast actually. Not sure what I will do with this yet but I'm sure I'll think of something. Dont tell the bf I started his tassel yet though ;)



The people from Spellbound are really nice and one of the owners was walking around the festival 'Monthy Python'-style. Yes, with these:



Coconuts!!! People actually moved aside when they heard him coming. It was so funny! Especially since it is a running joke amongst us as the bf is French so they always do the Monthy Python thing: 'Your father is a hamster and your mother smells of elderberries!' and then they do this had thing while blowing raspberries. So these were just perfect. I wanted them! So in the end he gave to the bf (which means they are now permanently on loan by me LOL) and I spent the rest of the weekend galloping across the grounds :)

They also had this lovely Green Man plaque in their stall which we bought for the apartment. I just love how the eyes look all smug. Or is it cheeky? Depends on my mood I guess LOL.



I didnt spend too much money, not even on food as the tikka lady wasnt even there :( Yes, can you believe it? THE English national dish is Tikka Massala which is an Indian dish apparently brought to India by and Englishman... very bizarre... So we lived on sausage and mash and funnel cakes. Also not bad ;)

All in all it was a GREAT weekend :) When I have more time (and when it's not so close to midnight) I will post more about the dress. But first I need some sleep. Good night everyone!