W GERM where are you?

Got pots?

I'm currently on the look out for some West German Pottery.  Nick hopes to fill the new divider with some and is relying on me to come up with the goods.  It shouldn't be a difficult task seeing as I spent the Spring and Summer months regularly passing it up at car boot sales.  The irony behind this trail of thought is now that I am actively looking the darn pots seem to have disappeared. These little vases above are the closest i've found but they aren't really the fat lava kind that i'm looking for.  I'm hoping to find some Dumler and Breiden, Jopeko, Roth, and Scheurich in particular.  There are some beautiful pieces up for auction on our UK ebay which are mostly located in... wait for it... Germany.  They are selling for very reasonable prices but the shipping is often a pretty penny.  If I bought anymore than one or two I might be financially better off finding a cheap flight out to Germany to pick them up by hand. 

In other news, I picked up a couple of large, vintage, paint by number landscapes.  They are in original frames and in pretty good shape.  I'm debating whether I have enough wall space to hang them at home at the moment.  For 50p a piece it was worth a try! 

Lastly, something Essex...

Wait...no... 

Something dusty...I found this old map of Essex by John Cary at the bottom of an old box at one of our local charity shops.  I've learnt a little about various antiques from my father and now share an interest in some of the things he likes to collect.  Maps happen to be one of these things.   

A work in progress.

Paint by numbers.

I may become a paint by number artist next break... It's been years since I picked up a paint brush but I used to wile away many hours that way.  I can't say I have been into paint by numbers for at least two decades now but out of nowhere Nick has decided he would like some art for the house, and in the spirit of mid century design it's now all about the retro painting for dummies technique.  Whilst shopping today I came across something that caught my eye and I ended up picking it up with the intention of making it a joint Easter project.

I think it looks neat, and in all honesty it was probably the right choice when one considers I was also faced with the tough decision as to whether to bring this home:

  

... I didn't.

Arriving home with the ships I got browsing to see what other paint by numbers there are out there.  It turns out there are some neat ones:

Houses of Parliment

Swiss Alps

Though I would enjoy gazing at European landscapes it isn't necessarily what Nick would want up in the house.  I then typed "Mid Century Paint by Number" into google images and was pleased to find some ships that resembled the painting I had just purchased. Finally satisfied i'd made the right decision to leave the cats behind I moved on...

The next thing that caught my eye happened to be a paint by number Jesus.  Amazing yes?  Amazing, but not as amazing as what happened next... Upon clicking on Jesus I ended up at Nick's blog SURPRISE!... It's a small world huh! 

Jesus says check out MidCenturyMidwest : )

Watch this space... We may end up with a wall o' dogs.