It's February, so it must be red...

I have been doing a little search for red beauties around the house this morning... ... to accompany the beautiful February photo on Niki's Nostalgia at the Stone House calendar.

Even though I can't beat Niki's selection of vintage Valentines and other charming rosy items, I think I found some lovely bits and bobs to brighten up the rather grubby space under our stairs.

I made the heart bottle cover for Ben's Valentine's present years ago, and it usually stays around the house somewhere, looking decorative. This bottle is pretty too, with a design of grapes around it - we saved it from an apéritif this summer.

Another red vintage tin? This one was full of quince paste once upon a time.It's Spanish - I found a recipe for Membrillo here.Unlike the tea tin and the paste one, I think this sugar tin is quite modern. It has a very vintage design but they are still made with that very retro look - roses and a little metal coffee pot.

Here is a jumble of red loveliness! Maybe Manka can tell me if that pretty red and black embroidery is Hungarian? I think it is from Eastern Europe somewhere. I have a lot of this width and two wider pieces which were clearly cuffs.The vintage scarf is sadly damaged, having 'bled' in the wash some decades ago, but it was 1€ for three, so I didn't complain! The red ribbon is also vintage and came in the sewing basket which is proving popular over on Flickr (a habit developed during this recent illness).All in all, I'm awfully grateful for Niki's calendar, and the way it's giving me a chance to do a monthly display of some of my vintage delights!

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Thanks for all your well wishes and concern. I'm feeling better day by day, and am now really just waiting for my hormones to go back to normal so that my strength comes back. Tedious, but perhaps a chance to have a look at a few more wonderful items from my collection!