Ribbons of brilliance, cloth of excellence, superb stuff you make espadrilles out of, some fab retro clothing. All plus fab.

Norman Road. Leading into the Next Decade of Shopping fun. For You!
Yay!

Working up the food chain of delightful pressies we can start with the bestest friends’ pressies, the family mutt. Dawg’s Biscuits, Norman Road’s especial Dog Treat Emporium has Christmas treats du jour, that jour being Christmas, and are open right up to Christmas, except 22nd when they are in Tunbridge Wells.

Just up the evolutionary ladder, Kids, Love have just a fab selection of gifts for all ages including Dads. Christmas from all over the world, eco-xmas, funny-xmas, beautiful-xmas.

Xanadu have a terrific selection of Retro clothes, (I quite fancied the Leopardskin print, calf length All Star sneakers for my mum, but they’ve gone…), Skylon have 1960s, as do Why?

Some Nearly Normans/Friends of Norman are Artists and are selling fantastically desirable work: these are pressies that will last for years, give pleasure for years…worth more than just a thought in our throw away age. Check out Alex Leadbeater and Anna Keiller

For Pressy pressies there is McCarrons of Mercatoria, a veritable universe of prettiness.

And then there are the antique shops, the galleries, the places to refresh, the far-from-the-madding-crowd ambience, and last, but not least for fabulous felted goods, brooches, necklaces and scarves there is the wonder of Nunovalenki.

The first Christmas ‘do’ of the season is this Friday.

Plenty
and
Who’s Wearing What
The boutique party experience

Invite you to a
‘Christmas Shopping Evening’

Seasonal Foods – Hampers – Christmas Gifts – Party Frocks
Glitzy Jewellery – Vintage Inspired Separates

@ Plenty Provisions
Friday 27th November 2009
7pm to 10pm
16 Grand Parade, St Leonards on Sea TN37 6DN

RSVP Helen
t: 01424 439736 / e: Plenty

It seems that a certain Boris Johnson, a weighty panjandrum of further north, a mayor of some urban blight or other, received from his brother, 20 years ago, a Home Brew Beer kit.
Not knowing of the delights therein, he gave it back to his brother for his brother’s birthday. And got it back for his. And this kit has passed to and fro, from brother to brother for 20 years.

Obviously , and natch, this kit could not have been from BUNG HO, as it would have been put to it’s intended ambrosiacal use in the very first year, given the quality of the BUNG HO merchandise.

The prices are not going up.

(And there were lashings of Lemonade…)

A uniquely talented FON

The first in a long list of exemplary FONs is a ceramic sculpter, Anna Keiller.

Things could be bad, but aren’t like Zimbabwe:

Here we have Xanadu with great things in a great new window, and Spike cooking up a warm storm, with those cups of coffee to warm the cockles with. Andy & Christine in New Era have got a cavern full of antiques recently landed from la belle France, Love is aglow with top tots stuff, Bookers is doing it up, large, whilst Shaws are smartening the menfolk up.
Gasp. Have you noticed we are heading up the hill?
Skylon are packing new stuff in to replace the Xmas sales, Wayward has a whole new look of paintings and some seriously rerto magic cloth and beadwork. Dawgs is quietly barking at his treats as usual, happy little canine that he is, and The Hastings Antique Centre is a vortex of antiquery.

No-one is quite sure about the church, but if they are aliens inside they seem very nice aliens, so live and let live, eh?

Why is up the street in a January Sale, whilst Gensing Antiques is squirrelling away those fantastico artworks as Saatchi and Jerwood are threatening a bidding war. Playfords is winning the fight to make Sussex the sine qua non for beauty, Bung Ho is celebrating, again, and Patrick Robbins is yet again establishing new standards in oriental rugs.

St Clements has special January food, no, special January prices as the food is always special, and The Horse & Groom continues a genial and bibulous mine hostery.

So. See you soon.

Norman Road is just about to set off on the voyage to Christmas. Come and join us. (Please).

Away from the frenetic crowds with interesting and unusual things to look at, refreshments easily available, the bracing seaside air, gratis, where better to do the Crimbo thing?

Skylon are now at 64 Norman Road, open on Thurs/Fri/Saturday 10:00 to 5:00.