Bits & Pieces Enamel Tin

One of those lovely retro enamel tins. I came across this at the Imperial War museum shop and was really tempted to buy it, but I managed to restrain myself. It’s a buttery cream coloured tin with a green lid and bold text on the side of the tin proclaiming “Bits & Pieces” also in green. A nice nod to yesteryear as well as being a bit tongue in cheek. Available to purchase from dirtydollie.co.uk

Photo from dirtydollie.co.uk

Snowman Milk Jug

I loved this little milk jug the moment I saw it in the Design Museum shop. An alluring liquid white and intriguing design.

I bought a matching sugar bowl, but the lid broke so now the milk jug stands alone. I quite enjoy when people aren’t sure which bit to pour the milk out of, the small hole or the big one. (Both work, but the small hole works better.)

Cuckoo Clock

This curious thing hangs on our kitchen wall. I’ve always wanted a cuckoo clock. My granny had one in her farmhouse and I have a very early memory of spending whole afternoons waiting for the cuckoo to come out. I remember that feeling of time passing so slowly and what was probably only a few minutes feeling like an eternity. Childhood seems to be all about anticipation.

Unfortunately my granny’s clock was lost after she died, but this one comes from my husband’s side of the family. It belonged to an eccentric aunt, who never married but kept a menagerie in her house. She bought it in Switzerland, many years ago. After she died it stayed packed away in a cardboard box under a bed for over 10 years before it made its way to me.

I had it put back together and serviced at the London Antique Clock Centre. It runs very well, but needs winding at least twice a day. I found information about setting and maintaining the clock here.

I love the atmosphere it creates, with the constant tick-tock-tick-tock in the kitchen, and occasionally the cuckoo calling. (It seems loud at first but it quickly fades into the background.) You can find clocks like these for sale all over, new ones and old ones …and especially in Swiss souvenir shops of course.

Here are some funny modern ones that might suit a kids' room, but probably too noisy for a nursery.

Coffee Grinder

We had a coffee grinder just like this (only with a different picture) when I was growing up. Coffee was a big thing in our house and it still is. I was visiting an old friend in Haarlem, the Netherlands when I saw he had one on his kitchen wall. I couldn't contain my nostalgia, I simply had to have one. He explained that they could be bought second-hand on the markets and promised to pick one up for me at the next Koninginnedag.

It's made out of porcelain with a wooden lid and glass jar to catch the grinds. The handle has a wooden knob too. I know its possible to get replacement glass (and perspex) jars as I had to get hold of one for my dad a couple of years ago. I couldn''t find any useful links then or now, but I remember calling the Douwe Egberts head office in the Netherlands and they were very helpful.

Nothing beats a coffee made with freshly ground beans. Plus the grinder has a gauge at the back so you can control how fine the coffee is ground, depending on how you plan to filter it. (We either use a cafetière, a stovetop espresso maker, or most frequently, a one-cup filter — the kind that sits on top of the cup — that you can buy at Whittard.)

Bell Ring

Just before Christmas, I came across this little ring covered with shimmery jingly bells in the treasure trove that is the V&A gift shop. It’s a dangerous shop at the best of times, but much more so just before Christmas when they fill up with little things for stocking fillers and the most inventive and unusual tree decorations.

This little trinket saved a long bus ride home by keeping Issey amused. It’s not suitable for her to play with and quite fragile, so I had to keep it out of her reach.