Christmas comes early...

I was pottering around Hastings Old Town yesterday afternoon looking for a new lightshade for the bathroom. I went to visit my friend Sue in Nelson House Antiques and as we chattered, my eyes alit on this old oil painting...

Isn't it lovely? Needless to say, it came home.

And then something marvelous happened. I spotted a promising box of Edwardian glass Christmas baubles behind the door. Sue noticed my enthusiasm and LO, she only went gave me the whole box! I couldn't get back up the hill quick enough to unwrap the enticing crackly candy stripe bag...

What a lucky girl...

And my good fortune didn't stop there. The lovely Rose in Butler's Emporium had exactly the holophane lightshade and very kindly gave me a couple of outsized gold kirby grips to tame my hair. Then we bought another glass French number from Mick who threw in a pair of perfect bakelite switches. They are going straight into the trousseau of all things too wonderful to install into anything other than our forever house.