A Vase a Plate and a Clock

4.4C bright with very little breeze.

Apothecary7 decided she would like to go on an antique browsing trip today so we headed off towards Perth this morning. On the way we stopped off at a Craft shop and bought a few bits and bobs including two small plywood sheets for making Provincetown white line prints. We can cut both sides of each, so will get a few designs on each sheet.

The main focus of our browsing was to see if we might find a mantel clock. We had both liked the idea of a nice wooden clock rather than the carriage clock that has been our living room timepiece for years. On a recent television 'Bargain Hunt' I had seen a small lancet shaped clock and had particularly liked the shape. I thought the chance of finding one would be very small but I kept it in mind.

First stop was Abernyte and the Scottish Antique and Arts Centre which has a huge range of things with many dealers having their own stands. It is a fun place to browse but I do find that the prices are very top end retail. We saw a few clocks and noted that only a few dealers had clocks. A specialised thing perhaps. We saw one in a case with a huge array of watches and asked for a price since it didn't seem to have a price ticket. The dealer was contacted by telephone, but his price was too high for our liking.

Next stop was Rait where there are a few shops round a courtyard in old farm buildings. In one shop Apothecar7 found a small vase by 'Gouda' which she liked. Something new to us, Dutch pottery. A little research once home has shown that there are or were a few potteries in the Gouda region which used the name and there are nice designs and shapes. Something to look out for in future. The next find was a small Poole pottery piece with a Dolphin design. A small flat rectangular plate in a subtle green which should sit nicely with some Japanese sushi plates we have in the same sort of shape.

Then in the last place we wandered round I was looking at a small vase when I turned to my right and my eye alighted on a small table where I saw a clock. A wooden clock. An Edwardian clock with a functional movement in working order and labelled as keeping good time. With a small inlaid design below the clock face and an inlaid slim line to point up the shape. A Lancet shape !

I had a conversation with the gentleman looking after the shop and we agreed a price. Apothecary7 and I celebrated with lunch in the Tufted Duck cafe in one of the other buildings.

On the way back home we took the road along the riverside in Dundee so we could stop and have a walk with Maeve the Deerhound who had been very patient waiting for us in the car as we visited the shops and during lunch. I hasten to add that she had a short walk at Abernyte as a 'comfort break'. As we walked along past the railway bridge we noticed 'Ultimate Predator', a boat we often see in Arbroath harbour, sailing slowly along the piers of the bridge and nosing into each gap. Some sort of inspection perhaps. There were quite a few yellow jacketed people on board looking at the bridge piers as it went along. I had a few shots of the boat and the bridge but I quite liked this one with a train heading into Dundee. A different sort of train than in the last bridge shot I got.

You'd never guess that we stopped at M&S at City Quay on the way past to get something for dinner. You would ?

Some days it just all comes together :-)