Victoria Cake Bliss

By now, hopefully most people will know who Mary Berry is.

That is, if they come from England.

Let's just say she is my 'baking hero.'

I love just about everything about her.

Even more so, her recipes!

My favourite recipe of her's currently is 

'Mary Berry's Perfect Victoria Sandwich'

It is so simple, in fact the most simple and delicious cake I have come across.

It is so simple I have in fact memorized the recipe after only making it a few times!

So now that I have got the 'real jist' of it I am adding things as I go along.

Most recently was 'Green & Blacks' Organic Milk chocolate.

Scrummy, Scrumptious!

The most helpful thing is, the BBC have an on-line recipe for it for completely free and a video to go along with it.

Here is the video and recipe I am talking of:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/mary_berrys_perfect_34317

I usually use this recipe for the topping to make it ever more lovely:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/basicbuttericing_73263


My favourite tool to help me do the job! 

I always like to add a pretty Bone China plate underneath when serving to guests.
It then makes the whole thing absolutely gorgeous!

My Asiatic Pheasant dish that I use for displaying any of my baked goodies.

And whola! You have got yourself a perfectly British and yummy cake to enjoy.


To change the subject completely, look what I've found!
Aren't they pretty?
I absolutely adore them to pieces.
Hopefully I will find some more like these
because these two are coming up for grabs today on my etsy shop.
I'd really quite like some similar ones for my cottage, though.
Whilst I have been finding time to list them I have been using them on my living room walls.
I have received so many compliments from family and friends on them.
My favourite one is the one on the left but they make such a lovely pair I bought them both!

Lots of Love,

Chloe xx

Permanent Reductions!

Hello Everyone!

I am happy to announce that most of our vintage pieces have been reduced quite significantly.

We hope that you might hop over and have a look. 

We have also listed a 1960's tea set and a floral Staffordshire plant pot holder.

Both are equally as pretty and would look great in any lovely house or cottage! 

Here are the photos;

We hope you find some of our treasure's that you like! 

Chris & Chloe

xx

British Finds

Despite finding boundless amounts of treasures yesterday,

I decided to only listed two of the things I found.

I wanted to show them off individually.

I want them to stand out,

as they are my personal favourites.

Here they are...

A beautifully detailed jug. The vintage and quintessentially English feel is so pretty!

A trinket box from our Queen's Silver Jubilee which is ever so lovely and elegant too!

There is so much more to come so stay in tune!

Have a good rest of the afternoon. 

Chloe xx

A Day of Exploring.

Today has been quite an eventful day!

We started off by waking up to our still cottage way before sun rise.

Then started layering up our clothes in anticipation for the ice cold weather.

And headed out to our cobbled street. 

All of our neighbours were still sleeping and still silent.

My Mama hopped into the back of our little red car and we started off.

Whilst serving coffee from flasks and handing out bacon and garlic 'sarnies' that I made the night before we headed to the old local train station.

This is where my older sister met us.

Still before the crack of dawn we landed in a field opposite the Farm Shop.

Everything was icy cold and still, except the few people gathered together setting up their little wooden stool tables.

My older sister ran down to get there first.

The sight just draws you in. 

The beautiful field all scattered with Vintage jewels and a huge Water Tower in the background.

It is truly a sight to admire!

We rummaged and rummaged and eventually came back with quite a handful we thought that you might like to see for yourselves.

So tomorrow I will start to put them up on our little shop/stool for you all to admire.

Have a good rummage! 

The Anne of Green Gables Quiz

Today I found a quiz that I took interest in having a go at. I stumbled across it whilst at: http://thecountryhandmaiden.blogspot.co.uk/  which is a website I dearly love. Before I took the quiz I thought I would end up being suited to Marilla Cuthbert, Anne's adoptive  Mother. It turns out I was completely wrong and I am very happy with the results, he, he! 

Who are you in Anne's Circle of Friends?

Our First Sale

We are thrilled to let you all know

we have our very first order!

I am so happy.

Our beautiful bone china floral coffee pot was the first to go. 

I hope you are enjoying all of our new stock that we listed recently.

We hope you have a good and relaxing afternoon!

Tea Parties

Here at Lobley Cottage we threw a get together for family members. The guests were served Flammkuchen on Blue and White Transfer Ware prettily displayed on a 1950's embroidered table cloth. There were roast potatoes, roasted carrots, and then for afterwards there was Coffee Cake and cream. All lovingly home made. My husband and I love to show hospitality especially when we can use all of our favourite pieces of home ware. My kitchen shelves are all full of the bits and pieces I have collected over the years. Now that we have all that we could possibly want or keep we want to start selling the things that seem to catch our eyes from all over the place! If you enjoy hosting tea parties or just enjoy going to them and want to have a go at hosting one yourself. Let us help you. We have lots of ideas, photos, things to buy and (soon to come) recipes for you to share with us. Take a look around our other pages under our blog title and you shall find lots more from us. I hope you all have a beautiful day!

Being able to display your home made goodies and beautiful china is one of the many joys of hosting a tea party. A wonderful setting helps guests have an amazing and relaxing time. Beautiful things always pluck up conversations.

 Vintage serving dishes always makes home made dishes look incredible. They give a very rustic feel to an occasion.

 You don't always necessarily have to have extravagant table cloths, glasses or cutlery to make something look lovely. Quite often plain is best it gives a relaxed feeling to an event in a simple yet elegant way.

Hopeful Wishes

 This new little shop of mine is growing up fast. It is like watching my baby brother growing into a fully grown nine year old. It all happens in an instant and you are not quite sure what to do about it. In some ways I hope it continues to grow but there are so many possibilities out there, some times I just want it all to slow down. I only have a few things in my shop but I have been dreaming about this for so long and now I finally get the opportunity to just go for it. 'Tis all coming to a bit of a shock to me!
 I have been stocking up this morning and have enjoyed every moment of it. I have also been trying to get lots of inspiration from family members and a good few photos I have found. Here's a few.

I love sets like these that all match the same in such a lovely way.

I definitely will be on the search for tea pots for the shop, I love each one

in this photo to pieces!

Afternoon tea sets in blue are always very pretty and a very British way to socialise in class.

Kate Mountbatten-Windsor sipping from a lovely little tea cup, very much like the royal navy blue tea cup

I just listed on etsy. Take a look in your spare time!

Oh, and just to finish this post off. Tomorrow I shall be listing even more goodies for you to browse. My husband just wanted to drop in that we have just bought an 'Asiatic Pheasant' serving tray much like our green plates on our Lobley Cottage shop that is 130 years old! When I saw it I instantly fell in love with it's design and very tasteful shape but my husband mentioned how faded it was getting. To be quite honest, that was one of the things that attracted me to it the most. My Ma mentioned how pretty it was. I think only a woman that is into Shabby Chic and Rustic pieces would understand. I bought it and am going to put it up for a very reasonable price tomorrow, hopefully so keep a watch out! 

Love,

 Chloe 

xx

A Few New Listings

Hello Again!

 I have been finding quite a few treasures around here lately. I was delighted to find so many beautiful things just down the road from the cottage. I shall be putting them up for grabs this evening so make sure you pop over: http://www.etsy.com/shop/LobleyCottage?ref=pr_shop_more

Lots of Love,

Chloe xx

Have A Step Into Lobley Cottage

Hello there,
 I hope you find our cottage home cosy and welcoming. To fill you in on what has been happening around here lately, our new shop has opened! I can hardly believe it. I have been waiting to be able to announce it for months. We have just a few items of loveliness up for grabs but on Sunday I will be hunting for lots more to give you all the opportunity to take them to your home. 

Lobley Cottage, our shop: 

http://www.etsy.com/shop/LobleyCottage?ref=pr_shop_more

Let me tell you a little bit about Lobley Cottage, the real Lobley Cottage. 
 This cottage is my home. A home that has been around for over 300 years! It used to belong to the miners which is why people call it a 'miner's cottage.' We have original Yorkshire stone walls, inside and out. You may see them on the backdrop of some of the product photos in our new shop. Our fire place is also Yorkshire stone and is something I am very much in love with. The reason why we named this shop after my home is because it was only recently I moved out for the first time and was given the freedom to fill this cottage up with the things I love, which is what I plan to do with our little shop. Making things beautiful and making things warm and homely is what I like to do best. So any way, enough with my ramblings. I hope you enjoy this new blog and our new shop!

Lots of Love,

  Chloe-jane