Friday, November 21, 2008

Pimp that Trug...


















My glamorous assistant has been busy in his shed making these trugs. They are made of English Oak, have bent beech handles, copper rivets and copper rose-head nails. I want to keep all of them; one for the garden, one for kindling, one for odds and ends, one for my embroidery....etc, etc, but they are destined for the Craft Fair to be held in Marton tomorrow. All made in the small mountain kingdom of Trelystan - there's a usp.

I wonder if they will sell - not sure if Marton is a 'truggish' sort of place or whether its inhabitants can be persuaded to buy at what might be described as rather un-Marton prices. Perhaps I will have one for every occasion after all.

Not wishing to put all his energies into one basket, so to speak, there is also a small sideline in decorative bird houses:
We have Chalet-style, New England Ecclesiastical and the Neo-Classical. A bargain at a tenner apiece.

I have fruit jellies; crab apple, quince, red, black and white currant and blackberry. £2.00 a pop. Does that sound about right?

Anyway, if you're passing - the village hall doors open at 10.00am. Do call in.

23 comments:

rachel said...

Well, I hope Marton is a truggish sort of place, because these are simply beautiful, as indeed are the bird boxes. Well done, the glamorous assistant.

I have never seen white currant jelly; how would you describe its colour?

Zoƫ said...

I wish I was passing! I would buy the church birdy house and a trug or two!

I'd even pay whatever the P and P was!

How clever he is, and how lucky you are!

Z xx

snailbeachshepherdess said...

OOOOOOOOOOO I wish - but I shall be ensconsed in a Court room with 200 wanabee barristers all fighting it out in the annual Mock trial comp.
Lurve those trugs - you have a very clever glamorous assistant!

Nikki - Notes of Life said...

Ooohhh, now I wasn't planning to be passing through Marton, but those bird houses look sweet, so do the trugs and the jellies sound delicious! (Disappears to rifle through purse...).

Cait O'Connor said...

I wish I lived nearer, I would come and buy your stuff for sure. You have a very talented assistant by the way.

Pam said...

I hope you save a trug for yourself - they're lovely!
Good luck at the sale.

Frances said...

How I wish that I were not an ocean away.

The craftsmanship is so well done, and also has reminded me of my late father, who loved to make things from old wood, using only hand tools.

I am lucky to have a trug that he made me, and think that it would fit well in your photo.

As to the bird houses, I see another parallel that is on the verge of bringing tears to my eyes. My dad also loved to made bird houses with architectural inspirations. How I wish that I could post a photo of his (Christopher) Wren House.

Thank you for reminding me of some sweet memories. Best wishes at that fair. I would buy all of the jams and think that your price is too low.

xo

toady said...

They are fantastic, if I was nearer I'd be there like a flash.
Have you thought of posting them on Folksy?
Ooh the word verification is panties.

Lindsay said...

I love trugs and I am sure you will sell out!

LITTLE BROWN DOG said...

Wish I was, Mountainear, wish I was! Those trugs are quite gorgeous and I would want to snap up at least three. What a clever assistant you do have.

Mopsa said...

Fabulous - hope your fab assistant makes more and gives us a link to the website to purchase!

Pondside said...

I suppose the sale is all over by now and you and your assistant are tallying up the profits. Those trugs are very good looking and if I'd been in the neighbourhood I'd have bought one or two.
I've just had the nicest time going through your last several posts - I love that portable coop! I read about the thrifty women and post-war fashion and felt a little guilty about the sock I tossed last night (it had a hole!) but not guilty enough to get out the darning ball.
Your drive along the spine of the hill sent chills up MY spine - I have a similar favorite short cut through our hills and once in a while find myself in a twilight zone - suspended in the fog,unsure of whether I'm on a road or hanging in nothingness, listening for the sound of long ago Tsartlip hunters running through the woods.

Elizabeth Musgrave said...

Hi F. If you don't sell right out of trugs save one for me! They are just beautiful.
I think the £2 is about right in terms of what people might pay at a fair like that if your area is like ours, but not enough for the gorgeous jellies you do out in the cold hard world!

Norma Murray said...

I love, love , love them all. I don't even know where Marton is, miles from here in any case.

Elizabethd said...

I so wish I could fly over and buy one, two.....! They are beautiful. Fill one or two with things for the fair, so people can see them in use.

snailbeachshepherdess said...

just popped back to see how it went...did the folk of Marton get trugged up and jelied????

Quilting Cat said...

Beautiful work, reminds me of similar items my husband used to make. Your prices are VERY reasonable for all the fiddly work on the bird boxes. Be prepared for punters to ask you which bird would prefer which box and if they move around in the wind! Good luck.

Molly said...

Love the trugs. Got a feeling your glamourous assistant could have a good internet mail-order business there. Hope you had a good day at Marton Craft Show. From the other side of the hill xx

bodran... said...

Darn i missed it !! i hope you had a busy day x

Exmoorjane said...

Lucky old Marton is all I can say. I would SO love those - and the birdhouses AND the jellies....think we need a recipe for jellies in the Food and Drink Forum please...
Seriously talented and soooooo pleasing.

Anonymous said...

Funny word 'trug',I had to look it up, driven by idle curiousity naturally as I am a well known nerdish boor, and, guess what, it's an Anglo Saxon word meaning wooden vessel or boat shaped article.Trugs were used originally as measures of grain or liquid.I really like trugs now they're in my favourite historical context.Is your glam. assistant, the local trugger continuing the trugging production?

Calico Kate said...

HAve been reading on through your blog (not that I don't have anything else to do - lke get dressed, walk dogs etcetcetc. However I am enjoying your writing so that is what I am doing just now.
I do hope that trug sales were many as they are fabulous. Your GA is very clever. The birdboxes are delightful and I am sure your jams and jellys delish.
CKx

Anonymous said...

I came over for a visit from Zoe's blog. We love Zoe and so glad to see she has the bird house of her birdie dreams. It is beautiful.