Royal arcopal

As requested by my friend Lou, here is the low down on my new favourite mug! Being used too!

It's the only nice-ish item of royal paraphernalia I was able to get my hands on during this trip. That's mostly because I could only find mugs with the Queen on, and the Queen is always frowning on her mugshots (sorry, couldn't resist!) and I do like to look at a smiley face when I drink my tea. I found it on our last day in Bexhill for £1. Lucky or what? But then when we got home and I washed it I turned it upside down (to give it a really good clean, because who knows where it's spent the last 30 years?). Guess what? It was made in France...by Arcopal...a little disappointing! But on the plus side, this means it's sturdier than anything else in our cupboard, along with my pretty collection of vintage dotty mugs and cups from a Paris fleamarket which I've already told you about, but here they are again just in case you missed them:

(The second green one isn't missing, it was being used at the time!)

Now on to the hairstyle. What can we call it? The wet dog combover? There's probably a more flattering name for it. Anyway, it seems like all women (or maybe only Lou's Mum, my mum and Lady Di, maybe our mums were highly fashionable style icons!) had that hairstyle in the eighties, and to prove it to you, here is a lovely picture of me and my mum which I got from my auntie Linda when we visited her at her house near London. I'm really pleased because there are hardly any photos of us two when I was a baby (my dad was always very busy mowing the lawn and taking pictures of trees). I love love love it. 

This is a photo of the photo, sorry for the bad quality. I didn't have time to break the scanner out of its hiding place in the cupboard. So that's the light reflecting off my mum's head, not a bad case of dandruff...I've got lots more family photos to scan so watch this space, they'll be getting their very own post sometime soon. I promise it will be festival of big glasses and bellbottoms and flowery dresses.

As for drinking out of a mug with Charlie's face on it...well, I kind of have a soft spot for him now that I've read The Queen and I and Queen Camilla. I have to hand it to Sue Townsend, she knows how to paint a pretty picture of awkward people, even if it is just a story. Am I boring you with my books again? GO AND BUY THEM AND YOU'LL UNDERSTAND. 

In the same charity shop in Bexhill-on-sea I also found this little set of four cups (tea cups? coffee cups?) and two tiny little cups that could only be used for an espresso, or for flowers. Since we don't have an espresso machine, I'm guessing flowers. They're so tiny! We didn't really need them but at £2 for all six it was a good deal. And they're so cute, so vintage, so charming!

Off they go to join the collection!

What next? My new rabbit friend? The mysterious plate off rocks and leaves? My life-time supply of cheddar? Well, that one is pretty self-explanatory really. Tonight we eat the last pork pie! Then I'm going to go on a diet forever and ever. At least until my next trip to the UK.