Interiors gems in Burnham Market

Burnham Market is one of those pretty, traditional Norfolk villages, with a green and plenty of shops ideal for browsing but few parking spaces and plenty of visitors. Even this weekend it took a little while to get a space on the green, which is somewhere I rarely get to park, especially in the summer months. As we arrived the blue skies turned dark, the rain that was threatening arrived and luckily a space materialised almost right outside the hat shop, which was the purpose of our visit.

This pretty village has one of the best hat shops I know, and the plan was to take a look to see what they had to get inspiration for my niece’s wedding in May. As it turned out, as you’ll have seen yesterday, I ended up buying one because it seems even wedding guests have a moment when they know it’s the one. We made quite an entrance into the shop as when the rain paused for a moment, that was so it could turn to hailstones instead. You’d never know it from the photo below though, taken not that much after.

With the unexpected hat purchase safely stowed in the dry of the car, we had a wander around the village to see what’s changed since our last visit, and to see what’s hot in Norfolk interiors. So off we went up an alley and into a small courtyard just off the main street where we found Boudicca Designs, with plenty of cushions and mugs which caught my eye.

THE MUGS TOP LEFT SAY: NORMAL FOR NORFOLK & BOOTIFUL… EXACTLY

While you might think those mugs are out of place, there was plenty of stylish and matching homewares. These orange background matching mugs and lampshade were a favourite, initially I thought they were foxes but looking again I think they’re more dog-like.

It was the settle though behind these that really drew my attention - which thanks to my new Salvage Hunters’ obsession, I know it’s a settle - isn’t it great? The colours, the material and while not authentic, it’s something that would work well in many country and even city properties.

In one of the newer shops, which I don’t seem to be able to find the name of now, there were plenty of muted colours with white prints and some light hearted quotes, bringing a smile to my face as surely life is better in flip flops? I’ve always said Norfolk has big skies and those cards would look great in a frame, I think.

I’m not sure about the wetsuit card though.

I’m sure though that there’s definitely Norfolk time. There’s most certainly Norfolk speed on the roads, it’s about 22mph and is quite alien coming from London where everything moves much faster than the speed limit, it’s hard to readjust and so you find yourself waiting where you could have pulled out.

I’ve found another Norfolk shop with some fabulous candles, who’d have thought Norfolk would be so candle rich?

Another shop that’s always worth a visit is Uttings of Burnham, it’s deceptively large and has a mix of functional and frivolous. From the outside it looks a traditional hardware shop, fronted with a fruit and vegetable shop. It’s full of wonders though, on this visit while we were looking at these gorgeous plates there was another lady in the shop was in there looking for loo rolls.

I fell for the Octopus plate, and it would look fabulous on my dresser. I didn’t even get as far as looking at the price before MOH chipped in with, where wouldI put it, I wouldn’t mind - but he liked it too!

Petrol at Creake Abbey

We’ve popped up to Norfolk this weekend, but sadly not for the weather. We’ve had all sorts, along with the what seems like obligatory wind in this part of the world, including hailstones, rain and sun. The good thing about the rain is that the wind stops, small blessings hey?

This photo of the fabulously vintage petrol pump is one from our visit here earlier in the year, and is just around the corner of the building which is home to all of those galvanised pots at Creake Abbey. I’m a fan of its patina and the layers of paint which have no doubt built up over the years.

It’s true, they just don’t make them like this any more - and that’s probably just as well, but it’s good to see that some of these have survived. There’s a couple of petrol pumps in St Mawes down in Cornwall, which from memory where red (the photo in the post is black and white). Looking at these again they seem slightly newer than this one!

Making pastel pom pom sheep

Today is University Mental Health Day, an important day for all university communities and the biggest day of the year for student mental health which as we know from reading the media is an increasing problem for not only students, but all in this age group. At our university we’re using the day to bring our university community together and make mental health a university-wide priority, showcasing ‘self-care’ and the support available in our community.

This post is one of the rare posts where my work-life meets my blog-life, and I’m happy with that because it’s such an important topic. I’m hosting a craft session where people can come along and try crafts such as knitting, crochet and making pom pom sheep or just bring along their own project and craft in company. Those of us that craft regularly know why crafting is good for our mental health, and this session aims to demonstrate that first-hand.

So I thought I really should practice making some pom pom sheep…

If you want to try these too, you’ll need:

• Two toilet roll inners

• Wool to make a pom pom for the sheep’s body (I used a pistachio green)

• Wool to make a smaller pom pom for the sheep’s head, this works best as a dark plain colour (I used black)

• Scissors

1 Take the two rolls and catch the wool for the sheep’s body between the two rolls.

Wind the wool around the two tubes until it’s about a centimetre thick.

The more wool you wind around the tubes, the more rotund your sheep will be.

2 Next you’ll need to tie the pom pom together using the darker, plain wool for the sheep’s head.

Tie the black wool loosely between the two tubes, and ease the tubes out carefully.

3 Now tie this tightly, this will form your sheep’s body.

Leave the long ends of the dark wool, you’ll need this to attach the sheep’s head.

4 Carefully cut the loops, forming your pom pom and sheep’s body.

If you want, trim the shape to form a sphere.

5 Now make a smaller pom pom for the sheep’s head using the dark wool.

Wrap the wool around three of your fingers (not too tightly!)

Slip this off your hand and tie tightly as before, cutting the loops to form a pom pom. This time cut the ends the same length to match the pom pom.

6 Using the long lengths you use to tie the body pom pom, tie the head to the body, then cut the wool so it no longer shows.

7 Add a loop, for hanging up your sheep, and legs.

Cut two lengths of dark wool, one about 30cm and one about 20cm.

Tie a loop in the longer length and tie the length around the body pom pom about a third of the way along the body, closed to the head. Tie the shorter length about two thirds of the way along the body.

Trim the lengths which are hanging below the sheep’s body so they are the same length, adding a knot (for feet) if you wish.

8 Now step back and admire your work!

I made five sheep - two pistachio, two pink and a black sheep.

Well, there had to be one didn’t there? The black one though was by far the hardest, most probably as it was hard to see where to tie the pom poms together.

I think they work better two-toned, and love the bright colours.

You can of course use more traditional natural colours, but I’m rather keen on the pastel versions which have been adorning my bookcase for the past week or so, and will be joining me at the craft session today.

What do you think? Are you giving them a go - send me your pictures if you are, tag me on social media - @lifeat139a - I can’t wait to see your flock!