Colours of the Weekend

I'm not an ardent monarchist (I'm not sure how fussed I am either way to be honest) but I have really enjoyed the effort local shop owners in our town have put into celebrating the jubilee and decorating their shops, so I couldn't resist sharing a few images with you (we were certainly getting Union Jack overload by the end of the weekend, so I have limited myself to just a few pictures as I suspect most people are!)

This busy Union Jack themed window display is in the local haberdashery shop- Fabric8.  I love this shop, they always have interesting window displays, and we often shop here for our repair supplies to vintage pieces in the shop that need a little love before we can list them.

The charity shop windows were some of my best displays, because they made use of whatever they had to create a display of red, white and blue or in some cases collections of items to show a flavour of 1950s life.

On Monday evening we went to Castle Park to watch the beacon being lit, and while the crowd waited they were entertained by a brass band in the Victorian bandstand.  All very atmospheric and helped along by the pop-up bar.  Castle Park is iconic in Colchester and any event there is worth visiting (as long as you're prepared with a blanket, some drink and a chair!)

As far as the eye could see there was bunting in town (and given the forthcoming Olympics, I can't imagine it going anywhere soon) it never really made me stop and look (despite Isobel shouting "JUBILEE!" every time she saw even one flag) except were where it crossed the historic courtyard below the medieval Red Lion hotel, and below the jetties of the Tudor pubs- it looked so simple and classic, it was a sight you could almost imagine would have looked the same in 1953.

All round it was a fabulous weekend- the jubilee celebrations were just a backdrop to a great opportunity to get some real family time, and now we're feeling refreshed and ready to get working on new stock in the shop... and Susannah has a brilliant post coming up later this week on vintage maternity wear (we will also reveal why that has been a topic of conversation between us....)

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