Vintage Caravaning

I have a secret dream of one day doing up the old 70's caravan that's been left neglected on the Mister's Mums drive and hook it up to Tilly the Triumph and spend a few weeks travelling around the British countryside....

 

And after spending an afternoon a few weekends ago in a middle of a field with lots of fellow classic car lovers, I found myself some inspiration. Check this baby out. It is the blue version of what I imagine will be our brown set, so it matches with our brown Triumph 2500.

 

I'm hoping for a dry winter so we can get started on it this year, and then start exploring in the spring. I am in love.

 

 

I asked the owners if I could pop my head in and take some pictures, but I don't think they were prepared for quite the amount of squeaking and squealing which ensued. I got rather excitable! heh!

 

The interior was AMAZING. They've collected bits and bobs over the years for the caravan to kit it out, and all they had to do was give it a bloody good clean as the interior was still spotless! I know ours will need a lot more work than just a quick clean. I'd love to have ours like this one one day :)

 

And just look at this tea set!! I want it I want it now! It's just too cute, matching caravan tea set..whatever next?!

 

Does anyone else have a hidden love for caravans? Got one hidden away in your backyard? After staying at Vintage Vacations last summer, I think next summer will be the christening of our very own caravan :) Let the travelling begin!

 

 

Much Love from a field in Sussex,

 

 

L.J.

xxx

Vintage Nation - Brighton Racecourse

Rather delayed, but The Mister and I got papped while at the Vintage Nation event held up at the windy, and very cold racecourse. Having to keep the posts rather short for the moment due to crappy hands again, please excuse! The majority of the day was spent indoors due to the blistering cold weather we had, and sadly only 5 classic cars turned up with us in the end, but there was plenty to keep us warm and busy on the inside, including shopping shopping shopping, a bit of dancing and at least the one ginger beer at Crabbie's, yum yum!

The lovely Mat from Southern Retro took a few snaps of us shivering outside with Tilly Triumph, which then appeared here on VintageBrighton.com:

And appearing for the first time ever on here, let me introduce you to my Mister. That jacket was a labour of love and has taken many years of car shows and collecting of patches to put together. You will find him wearing this at most classic car shows, including the big grin on his face! Tilly is his pride and joy, and the other woman in our relationship ;)

I do hope they put this on again next year, but perhaps a little later in the season, and with the upstairs floor used for something so it's not so weather dependant. Would recommend it though for a rummage around the stalls!

Much love from Brighton,

L.J.

xxx

Art Deco Garage, East Preston

In the sleepy village of East Preston, just along from Worthing, lies a little hidden gem I'd heard of. My manager had told me about a little garage that had been let to rot for many many years, but had recently been rescued by a redevelopement plan.

I couldn't find any pictures of what it looked like when it was first finished back in the day, but stumbled across this one before we headed over to explore. What a sorry sorry sight this was:

Now I don't normally like what redevelopers do with Art Deco buildings along the south coast. Far too many have been left to rot away, then get knocked down and turned into more boring high rise blocks. But not this time. These designers were real geniuses. They have kept the front facade as it was, and have cleverly extended backwards, to provide multiple flats in this now restored garage.

I LOVE IT! Now all I need to do is win the lottery to live here.....

We couldn't resist a few poses with the car. The people who live opposite found it highly amusing while they did their gardening!

Let's see more of this on the coast please! I have my heart set on them restoring the old Art Deco Odeon on the Level in Brighton next. Now that's a place I'd pay good money to live in.

Much Love from Brighton,

L.J.

xxx

Vintage Vacation to the Isle of Wight

Last week, the Mister whisked me off on a surprise holiday to the Isle of Wight. I had never been before, and we had talked about it, but little did I know that the Mister would remember a website I had stumbled upon a few years back. Off we drove to Portsmouth to catch the Ferry to Fishbourne. I felt like a little kid again, and we were lucky enough to be blessed with a few hours of sunshine on the journey :)

After soaking up some rays on the beach at Sandown, the Mister informed me we had to be at our home for the weekend by 3.30pm, so we trundled along in Tilly, to a farm in the middle of nowhere....where were we???

At the Vintage Vacations Camp-site no less!!!!!

Helen and Frazer created Vintage Vacations in 2004 when they bought their very first Airstream trailer, and quickly got addicted and now they have filled an entire field full of them, restored them all, and brought them back to life.

 So I finally got to stay in a vintage trailer! And it was the 1951 Spartanette!!! I was squealing for about an hour, investigating and playing with all the buttons and switches, and was amazed by all the finishing touches the owners had added! Frazer and Helen are true geniuses. They have thought of everything, even down to the hand sewn guest book and original cup dispencers, and there was even a mini bottle of Babycham with original Babycham glasses waiting for us upon arrival!

The Mister really did good. Just what I needed after a rather crappy week (my hands don't seem to want to get any better and the NHS was being a bit rubbish). I have never had such a relaxing holiday or felt more at home. If I could live here forever I really would.

So on to the Tour of the Trailer:

Tilly looked truly in place with the Trailer. I could see her pulling her along the road (if that was even possible...I don't think even Tilly has that sort of pulling power). Also provided were BBQ equipment, log burners, deck chairs, little bench, and even parasols so the field could be turned into your front room :)

Trailer Sweet Trailer!

Welcome to our living room for the duration of our stay:

I spent the majority of the first evening sitting and reading all the vintage books and magazines, while the Mister serenaded me on his guitar, heh.

This ticked every single box for a holiday from heaven. I have never had such a relaxing holiday, out in the middle of nowhere but still only 10mins drive from civilisation, although I could have quite easily stayed indoors all weekend (the weather made the thought of that much more appealing, stupid British weather!). We spent the days wandering around the seaside towns, dipping our feet into the freezing sea, and playing no less than 6 games of crazy golf (pics etc to follow!). I cannot wait to go back again, and next time I think I'll book us in to the Shack on its own bit of beach :)

Keep your eyes peeled for a more in depth discussion with Vintage Vacations! I couldn't wait any longer to show you our lovely trailer, but hopefully I will be able to show you some of the others on the suite very soon :) In the mean time, if you now have the itch to hop on a ferry and make your way over to the Isle of Wight, go give Helen and Frazer a visit on their site, I'm glad the Mister booked us in as a surprise, because I don't think I would have been able to pick out my favourite to stay in!!

Much Love From The Isle of Wight,

Night Night!

L.J.

xxx

Thrifting on a sunny afternoon

Nice Bike!

We've got the beagles again this weekend, so I thought it'd be a good idea to walk them through the Laines, via Upper Gardener Street Market of course! Managed to pick up a few treats for the pricely sum of £3 each :) happy days!

Also spotted a few gems around town that I am praying will be there next week as my wallet doesnt quite stretch that far until AFTER payday...don't you hate it when that happens! Am not letting the cat out of the bag as those pretty things will be mine, hopefully.

So here's what I ended up with. The stall holder told me they were bought in bulk from Italy, so it was a big old mish mash of stuff, ranging from a load of deadstock topshop men's bits, to some quite striking (nicest way I could think of!) 70s shirts with huuuuuge collars. But I'm in desperate need of new cardis and casual tops for dog walking and just mooching about in.

I love the little cherries on this one:

Unfortunaetly I think I will need to loosen the sleeves on this one...don't you hate it when it all fits, but the arms are just a tad too tight? I fear my arms may turn blue from loss of blood otherwise.

My favourite was a little purple cardi with the cutest little buttons. I need a replacement to my white one as it needs a bit of tlc.

As the weather was so nice, and the seagulls had been kind enough to grace Tilly with their excrement, we pootled down to Black Rock on the seafront to give her a bit of a clean. The Mister couldn't resist adding some more stickers at the same time, so the beagles and I had a little snooze and a read, followed by some impromptu photos of me 'driving' the car. One day I will get my licence...Thank you to the Mister for taking such nice shots tonight :)

Oh and the hat was also a find at the market today. Love it. Probably because its German too :) now I just need to find a dirndl! hehe.

Off to investigate some hauntings around Brighton on Monday, wish me luck!

Much love from sunny Brighton,

I am so cruel to those two dogs, but how could I not? Poor things!

L.J.

xxx

Posing with Tilly

Promised I'd go out and take some proper pictures of the Triumph, I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

I am in love. And so is the Mister!

It truly is like driving round in your living room...cannot wait from some good summer cruising :)

Much love from Sunny Brighton,

L.J.

xxx