Romeo Victorian Festival

Romeo is a quaint town about 23 miles north of where I live.   This past Saturday, May 19th, I attended their annual Victorian Festival with my girlfriend, Sandy.

It was a perfect day - 76 degrees, and ideal for walking Main Street and visiting antique and gift shops.

Civil War re-enactors were there, and ladies strolled the streets and shops in Victorian costumes. 

All the stores participated in the festivities.
  

A favorite antique store is located in Romeo - Kane's Town Hall Antiques.  This lady was strolling through the store when I asked to take her picture.  She said since it was for my blog I should be in the photo with her.  Isn't she pretty?

Below are my Saturday purchases.   The green and white teapot on the left matches an everyday set of dishes my mother used when I was growing up.   I think she got them at the A & P grocery store when they offered different pieces each week.   There are no markings on the teapot.  My Mom didnt have the teapot, only the creamer and sugar, and she got rid of the entire set years ago.  Since they're from the the late 50's/early 60's,  I could  probably find the sugar and creamer, and coordinating  dishes at resale shops if I was diligent in searching - not that I need another collection!   They're durable pottery/earthenware type dishes and not fine china.

A hand-pained ramekin is in the middle.  I first saw vintage ramekins at Magnolia & Ivy.  They used them for serving dainty portions of soup.   I thought they were beautiful and started collecting them, but that's a separate post entirely.

I couldn't resist the teapot on the left, because it's a tea shop.

Teapot Close-ups

A couple of years ago I found a tea shop cookie jar in Myrtle Beach, S.C. and after I got home I found the teapot to match.   You may remember me blogging about it previously.   Now I'm wondering if the teapot I just acquired has a cookie jar to match too?   Time will tell!

I spotted this beaded, crocheted milk jug [or water goblet] cover for $2.00, so it came home with me too!

And I've saved the best for last... when Sandy came for an outing in May she gave me  a Shelley teacup and saucer, which I blogged about.   When she came last Saturday, she brought me the dessert plate and berry bowl that matches.   Now I have a trio and an accessory piece.  Thanks, Sandy!  It's lovely!

The Cotswolds and Shelley China

I knew nothing about Shelley fine bone china before 2000.   My girlfriend enlightened me one day while we were antiquing after she had begun her collection of Shelley teacups and saucers. 

When my hubby and I were in England in 2001, I purchased my first Shelley "trio" set - a teacup and saucer and a dessert plate.   A printout dated 7/21/2001 in my file indicates I began researching the beautiful china after my purchase. The information [which hopefully is accurate] states Shelley was incorporated in 1925, although family members produced pottery much earlier than that. Shelley's popularity peaked in the 1930's and their potteries ceased production in 1966.    Shelley china is popular and very collectible today.  The plate of Queen Elizabeth II in the photo below is a Shelley, but it was purchased after my trip to England at a local antique store.

What fun re-reading my journal of our 2001 trip  to England for this post.  We toured some of the Cotswolds.  Cotswold is an Anglo Saxon word.   Cots = safe haven, and wold = gently rolling hills.   We spent an afternoon in Chipping Camden,  where I purchased my Shelley trio set.   "Chipping" is also a Saxon word for market, and in the photo below a friend and I [from Australia who I met on the tour] were headed off to the antique stores!

These quaint shops beat going to the mall any day!

We had a cream tea at a lovely outdoor Cotswold Tea Room called, "Corner's Tea Room and Garden."  The scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam were divine!  My journal reminded me  that I ate two and had to forgo dinner that night!

It was a beautiful day and we got to eat outside in the garden at umbrella tables.  The photo below is the owner of the tea room and me.

The Cotswold dwellings are beautiful.  Our guide told us they were 16th & 17th century limestone cottages.

My girlfriend gifted me this past Saturday with the Shelley cup and saucer in the photo below.  Previously, she gave me the trio set and ashtray/trinket dish in the Regency White and Gold dainty shape, which is one of Shelley's most popular patterns.  Don't I have a wonderful girlfriend?  [Actually she was wonderful even before she gave them to me!]  She and her husband had a Shelley booth at an antique mall for a time,  and they have a lovely collection of Shelley china in several patterns and shapes.  She can set a complete table using the Regency White and Gold Shelley dainty dishes, and it's beautiful.

The china in the photo below concludes my small Shelley collection.   I acquired the sugar and creamer at an estate sale, and the "Dainty Blue" dessert plate came from an antique store.  The cup and saucer that matches was a gift from a lady at church one Christmas. 

She came to dinner at my house one evening and saw a tray I have displayed in my dining area with the "Dainty Blue" teacup pictured on it, and decided the teacup belonged in my house instead.  I thought maybe she didn't realize what a treasure she had and tried to tell her.  She said she knew it was collectible, but she had enjoyed it for a while and wanted me to enjoy it too.