Welsh Roots and Curtain Planning

 When Tom got in from work yesterday we went straight to The British Heart Foundation shop and sadly they didn't have a single washing machine in stock. We were really surprised as we used to be spoilt for choice but one of the men who works there says they sell as soon as they come in now. I suppose it must be a sign of the times at the moment, everyone is looking for a bargain. There was a really lovely selection of fridges and freezers though, maybe as appliances they last longer. We went on to Emmaus and there was not a single one there either! Luckily though, a man who worked there showed us a Bosch machine in excellent condition at the back that had just arrived. It has to be checked by an electrician on Monday and then we can buy it. Our name has been put on it so at least if all goes well we will have a washing machine then. I don't know about other areas but we don't have a single Launderette left in this area. It's hand washing for me today!

After we left Emmaus we went to the garden centre to buy a hanging basket. I normally make up my own but this year my little plants I have grown from seed are very behind and there I don't think there is going to be much of a display, so with the money left over from the lights I bought with my Christmas gift voucher, I bought a really beautiful one. It is the largest hanging basket we have had for years and I'm really looking forward to it at it's best. "I may even paint the front door!" I told Tom. 

Another really exciting thing for Tom that happened yesterday was his Dad's birth certificate arrived. It meant I could fill in the first part of his family tree on Ancestry and all sorts of surprises have turned up already. His Dad was born in a place that despite my ongoing Welsh lessons I wouldn't even try to pronounce, called Mynyddislwyn  in Monmouthshire. His Grandmother was a widow, who's first husband was a soldier in The Monmouthshire Regiment killed on the Somme in the First World War. She had four children when she was widowed, three girls and one boy. Tom remembers visiting an Auntie when he was a child who was much older than his Dad but had no idea she was his half sister. He also knew his Dad had more sisters but had never met them. The surprise that  Tom had no idea at all about was his Dad had a half brother, 14 years older than his Dad. A sailor in the Second World War he was sadly killed in 1941 when HMS Bonaventure was sunk in enemy action. Tom has his same full names, so must have been named after him. His Grandmother was widowed again when Tom's Dad was a young child and she moved to Yorkshire to live near her eldest daughter, the one Tom remembers. It is so easy to see how family's can drift apart, particularly in times of war. We're looking forward to finding out more. 

Despite all Tom's enthusiastic support, Wales lost 4-0 last night and are sadly out of the Euros, so onward to look forward to the England match. A new curtain rail I ordered has arrived for the bedroom and today I'm really looking forward to sorting out some new curtains for in there. I have some old curtains that I may alter or I may just buy some material and make some. Decisions! I do love planning.

Little pigeon Todd is continuing to do quite well. I weighed him last night and he was 170g! He has put on 8g but also he is definitely more active and a bit brighter. He is practicing flapping his wings ready for what would be his fledging time. I think some safe flying lessons will have to be planned soon. Have a lovely Sunday everyone what ever you are doing. xx

Middle Class Fly Tipping

 I managed to get quite a lot of tidying up in the garden finished yesterday. At this time of the year if I have a spare half hour I will go out and do one task in the garden as there is so much to do. I'm good at shutting my mind to the bigger picture and just doing one task as otherwise it's so overwhelming. I choose one bush that needs cutting back and don't look at anything else. Our garden is so packed, if I see one gap in the soil I think what can I plant there, it's the only way I can stay on top of it. The Cosmos and new Hollyhock seeds I planted are starting to come up in the greenhouse and sickly tomato plant is growing a few new tiny leaves. I  put it out in the sun in the afternoon and then bring it back in to the kitchen windowsill when it starts to get cold. When I was queueing outside the Co-Op yesterday I bought another tomato plant and a trailing petunia. At £1 each I can see standing next to the display outside the shop is going to be very tempting!

While I was out walking Tess yesterday evening, I came across a box of children's books at someone's front gate with a "Help Yourself" sign on it. All old books, I couldn't resist taking a few, I wish I could have carried more! 

At least the people in this house put a sign there but I still felt a bit embarrassed taking them and did a little grateful wave to the house as I walked away in case they were looking out! Eldest son doesn't care at all when I used to sell on ebay he would regularly phone me up with questions like "How much can you get for a game of Operation, is it worth me taking it for you?" It did remind me of an incident that happened a few years ago. 

I was walking Bud in a very well to do area with enormous houses. By the front gate was a lovely little wooden and wicker child's chair. Scarlett was just a baby at the time but I thought how nice it would be for her when she got a bit older. I dithered and dithered about whether I should take it and in the end went and knocked on the front door and very pleasantly asked if the chair was free to take. "Of course it is" answered the woman "It's what we call middle class fly tipping!" She managed to make me feel as if I should doff my cap and say "Thank you M'lady" as I took it away! I can never walk past things by front gates without thinking of it as middle class fly tipping but it is quite a good idea. I've noticed during lockdown, with charity shops closed, it has really increased and I have to be strong to stop myself sometimes as I have a house full as it is, but the books were different, I can always find a gap for a book. Scarlett loves her little chair and has used it for over two years carrying it from here to there all day so it was well worth it.

It's another bright morning and I'm off to my Dad's house to do his shopping and all the other little jobs that need sorting out. I hope everyone has a lovely day and gets to enjoy some sunshine. xx

A Special Children's Book And Changing Shopping

 Yesterday made me realise you don't need to spend much money for young children to have an enjoyable time. A few years ago when Scarlett was a baby I bought a book at a jumble sale for 20p. It was at a jumble sale where every toy, teddy or children's hardback book were all 20p. I bought some lovely items and sold many on ebay but this book was so nice I put it away as I thought Scarlett may like it in the future. I wasn't sure as it was a Thomas The Tank Engine Book and I know that is more a little boy thing, but I decided that was rather sexist and remembered how much I loved trains when I was little. On holidays we would always visit steam railways and I thought there was nothing more exciting than those trips around Welsh mountains in an old train. I collected little metal badges of trains from places we visited and I still have them all. When I was sorting out items in my clear out I came across it again. The book is called All Aboard With Thomas and is a pop up book. She was over the moon! From when she arrived until when she left, with the exception of when we went for our walk during which she talked about it, she played with it. It is a pop up book with a little wind up train and cardboard people and animals which she loved, especially as there was a policeman figure. We had lots of imaginary games "Help call the police there's a cow on the line!" Wound up the train and let it run round the track to little train noises and read the story. It was a longer story than I would normally read to her but because she pushed the train around and looked at all the little cardboard village buildings as I read she was mesmerised. 20p very well spent! 

Yesterday evening at about 9pm I realised I had run out of cat food for the morning so went down to the Co-op to buy some. It was freezing cold and so quiet it was almost eerie! I didn't meet another person except for one young man going in the fish and chip shop with his hood up and a mask on, which is a bit startling when you meet them in the dark. All the takeaways were empty and I was the only customer in the Co-op except for a couple of deliveroo drivers waiting for their orders. I wonder if that is why. Who would have thought ordering food from local shops through Deliveroo or Uber would become such a thing. I wonder is it country wide or just in London? You can't go to any food shop now without having to wait behind a line of delivery drivers in their crash helmets. I'm ever so glad all these young people are getting work during such difficult times but if it carries on I can't help but think it will make people very lazy. Such a new thing yet part of everyday life round here now. 

When Tom got in from work at 11pm he said everywhere is so quiet, there's no one out and about. Maybe after just a couple of evenings in pub gardens, the novelty has worn off and the cold weather has driven everyone back inside. Apparently tonight is the last really cold night and then it's going to start warming up a bit. It's a lovely sunny start this morning and I am going to try not to waste a bit of it. My sister took my Dad for his second vaccination yesterday, so it really seems like we are getting through them and by the time the warmer weather returns we will be enjoying a bit more freedom than now. Something to really look forward to. I hope everyone has a lovely day and gets to enjoy some sunshine. xx

Fondues And Family Bonding

 It only snowed for about an hour yesterday morning and then graually cleared away. Tom came back from his hair cut very cheerfully and we packed our five boxes of items I have managed to clear out in the last three months into the back of the car. When we arrived at the charity salesroom we were told they had too much stock and could we come back tomrrow morning! Tom was all set to drive off but there was no way I was leaving without a quick look round! I managed to find a few items and Tom was very quick to point out that after all my clearing we were coming home with more items than we left with.

I found the most wonderful 1970s bathroom set. I have thought a lot that our little shower room, toilet at the caravan is very dark and drab and needs brightening up. I couldn't believe my luck when I found this set for £2. It certainly won't be drab now! They were still sealed in their original packaging from somewhere called Rodmill of Liverpool. All these years waiting for a daring person who loves colour!

Another item I couldn't resist was a 1970s Swiss (home of the fondue!) fondue set. It was all in it's original box and I wondered if it had come from the same home as the bathroom set. I was over the moon, Tom less so, this is how the conversation went. "Look at this wonderful 1970s fondue set!" "Very nice." I think we should get it" "What would we do with it?" We could have fondue evenings when we are sitting out in our caravan awning." Long silence. I kept trying "Didn't you have fondue evenings in the 1970s?" "In Brixton!" "I'll set it all up when we are away, I'm sure you will love them!" Another long silence. As you can see from the photo, I managed to get my own way and it was only £6 but I know I still have a lot of work to do to win Tom round. 

I remember so clearly the fondue craze in the 1970s. My Mum would set it all up, with methylated spirits in the little burner and we would sit around it at the dining room table with our fondue forks and little pieces of food to dip in and cook. It was a lot of fun for a while but like all crazes very quickly it passed and fondue sets all over the country were put away in boxes. I should imagine my Mum's one is away in a box somewhere. I can't wait to give it another go, just for the fun and the nostalgia. Tom I fear will need a lot of convincing!

By the afternoon the sun had come out and it made dog walking much better than I had imagined in the morning. The only other excitement of the day was enlisting youngest son's help for the family bonding session of us getting out the caravan awning in the dining room to measure the dimensions and the windows so I can order the poles and start making the curtains. It was the hardest of jobs and no matter how hard we tried we couldn't get it back in the bag the same way as it was before. We left it in the end, it's still in their hanging out of the bag, too much family bonding for one day is probably not a good thing! We're going to have to have another go today.

I'm going to see my Dad today and to do his shopping so I hope this bright start lasts all day. I hope everyone has a lovely day what ever you plan to do. I'm off to have a quick look on ebay before I go out to see if I can find a fondue cookery book! xx

Enjoying Some Freedom

 I worked hard all morning rewiring the 1970s lamp. I had never rewired one with a brass fitting which has to be carefull earthed and I spent a long time studying YouTube videos and eventually found one from an Australian man who talked quite a lot about his alcohol consumption too but he explained nice and clearly how to rewire a lamp fitting just like mine. I'm very grateful to these people who take the time to make these videos as I always say to my family you can learn to do anything on YouTube. I don't know how I managed before it! I'm trying to find a retro 1970s lampshade now, I hope car boot sales open up soon!

I cut the 1970s bedspread in half yesterday and soon realised it is going to take more than just hemming it. If I want to make it neat and for it not to fray at the edges now it has a cut edge I am going to have to over sew the edges. I started it last night while I was watching TV and soon realised it's going to be a job that keeps me occupied for a few weeks. Of well there is no real rush. We have asked my Dad if we can take the caravan out of storage and put it on his drive for a couple of weeks in May to do some work we need to do. Yesterday when I spoke to him I could tell he has been thinking about it a lot as he was asking can he do this to it and can he do that to it. I think he is really looking forward to it. 

England has lifted some of it's restrictions today. It feels so exciting as we can now meet up with one other household outside in the "rule of six". Eldest daughter and I are already planning places Tom and I can go with her and her partner and Scarlett. We will also be able to go and see eldest son and sit in his garden. Although because Tom is working and then eldest son we probably won't be able to go until after Easter. The weather forecast is really good here for the next few days so I'm looking forward to being outside. I hope everyone has a lovely day and you get some of this nice weather. xx

Totally Free Items

 We had some really heavy showers yesterday. I had intended to plant some seeds but decided instead as the garden waste was being collected today to fill the bin as much as possible with the last remnants of winter waste around the garden. I spent the afternoon dashing in and out to avoid these heavy showers but when I spoke to my Dad on the phone in the evening, even though he is only seven miles away he hadn't had a single shower.

While I was inside I got on with a task I  thought was going to be really difficult but wasn't.  When we moved into this house Tom brought home a really lovely brass and onyx standard lamp that someone had put out for the dustmen. I really liked it but it was very wobbly and every time a dog walked by it leaned precariously. The nut which held the stem in place had rusted on so solidly under the base we couldn't tighten it. I couldn't bear to throw it out so we put it in the loft.

I noticed it when I was up in the loft the other week. Strangely Tom had noticed it but not mentioned it either and when he was walking home from work at 1am the other night he noticed a large lampshade on top of the bins to be collected by the dustmen and thought it may do for the lamp. We got it out of the loft and yesterday I set too with rust remover which I bought on Amazon and pliers. It was fiddly work but in the end I managed to fix it and it is completely solid now. It has only taken me 16 years!

As a family we can't resist bringing home free items and reusing them. Eldest son knows how much I love original art and he has often bought round a painting he has found in a skip. One day I may be on Antiques Road Show telling them my £50.000 painting came out of a skip!

The weather forecast is not very good today and I am going to my Dad's to do his shopping. He has been busy this week planting roses he bought from his David Austin catalogue so I hope the weather is nice enough to be out in the garden admiring them. I hope everyone has a lovely day and you manage to see a little bit of spring weather. xx

All Behind Us

 Well what a difference a day made in the weather. It was horrible yesterday. Raining, cold and blowing a gale. Tom was on a late duty so he took Layla to the park before he left. It was so windy when he threw her new toy it was caught by a gust of wind and ended up caught in a tree. Sadly too high to be retrieved poor Layla had to walk home without her precious new toy to carry and I will have to order her a new one from Pets At Home.  

At lunchtime I went to my Dad's to do his shopping on the train as usual and it was so horrible sitting at the station I was glad of my mask to keep my face warm! When I arrived at the station the usually lovely view was very grey 

Even though the shops were quiet, probably made worse by the bad weather, it was really nice to see school children round and about again. It's only about four more weeks until more shops will be opening up and it will give a nicer feel to the whole village. Just to see people sitting outside the cafes again, even if they are not allowed to be inside for a while will be so nice. I did have to smile there were two old men sitting on old fashioned shooting sticks in the main street drinking cups of coffee. They looked so pleased with themselves sitting socially distanced having a chat. How resourceful people have become! One of the really good things to come out of this pandemic has been the ingenuity of so many people and businesses to keep going in some way. 

To have a clear out and raise a bit of money, our lovely little florist has put a table of very sickly looking pot plants outside asking people to help themselves but they would be ever so grateful for a donation. I took a Christmas Cactus and left some money in one of the little envelopes. It had lots of brown leaves and looked very sad. I have cut off the dead leaves and re-potted it and it is looking better already. I'm hoping by the time it flowers in the winter I will be saying "Remember when I bought this plant during lockdown, well thank goodness that is all behind us now." Fingers crossed, I'm sure it will be.

The wind blowed a gale all night and I could hear was things blowing around and banging round the whole neighbourhood. All I could imagine was my little greenhouse blowing away and ending up on the main road with all my little seedlings scattered around the garden but when I woke up to my relief everything looked fine, if a bit wind swept. Scarlett is coming this morning and another little parcel for the dolls house has arrived for her to open which I know she will be thrilled with. I hope we will be able to get out for a walk today, we'll just have to see how the weather goes. I really hope everyone has managed without too much damage from the gales and has a lovely day today hat ever you are doing. xx

Chaos, Curtains And Crochet On A Snowy Day

 Well the promised snow arrived and it all looked very pretty. Once Tom had changed the ducks frozen water and we added an extra heat lamp into the inside quarters of the aviary we decided that we would stay inside in the warm. Luckily neither Tom or my youngest son or daughter were working today. However in no time at all the usual snow chaos ensued. We only live at the top of a small hill but that is enough to cause car accidents in this sort of weather. One car had skidded into a parked car and another skidded backwards off the road into someone's fence. It happens every time we have snow. Luckily this time a pair of very enthusiastic young NHS Track and Trace workers arrived and pushed the cars up the hill and once grit from the big yellow container, that is always full in the winter, was scattered about calm was restored. I suppose with hindsight the grit should have been scattered before the snow!

In the afternoon I decided I would start making the remaining curtains I needed to make for our 1970s caravan in the hope that it won't be too long before we will be able to go and check on it, when this lockdown finally ends!  The little toilet cubicle in our caravan is ever so dark with just a tiny frosted window so I wanted to make some really bright cheerful curtains and what could  be more cheerful than Snoopy. I absolutely adore Snoopy! All my old school friends laugh at me and say I have never grown up as I used to have Snoopy all over my books at school and they are right I haven't!  Who couldn't be cheered by this lovely material.

Snoopy Fabric

The shower cubicle in the caravan is very cleverly designed. The shower tray folds up when not in use, the door folds backwards and the area becomes extra space in the caravan with a second door going outside. So I want the curtains on the window in there to match those in the rest of the caravan. Luckily I have just enough of that material left. 

1970s Curtain Fabric

I managed to cut the curtains and lining ready for sewing but unfortunately didn't have enough header tape for either pair. We are lucky enough to have a wonderful little local knitting and sewing shop but of course it is closed at the moment and sadly won't be open for the foreseeable future so I have been held up waiting for some to be delivered. 

The rest of the day was spent quite productively sewing back together squares that had come adrift on this double sized crochet blanket. I bought it for just £2 at a jumble sale (pre covid! How I miss jumble sales) and think it will look really nice in the caravan.

Crochet Blanket

Bad weather days can be quite nice sometimes. I can always find things to do around the house and feel yesterday definitely wasn't a wasted day. 

Much of the snow has melted this morning and it is lovely and sunny, but feezing. Tom is off again but our youngest son and daughter are working. The pavements look very icy so I think I will wait a bit to walk the dogs. A day of work and hopefully I will find time to get a few more bits sorted for the caravan. I hope everyone has a lovely safe day what ever you are doing. xx

A Mystery To Solve

I have been sorting through a number of old pictures to mend and either use or sell. I often buy old framed or unframed paintings or prints when I am out bargain hunting and I have decided enough is enough I must work my way through large box fulls I have in boxes in the loft. The first one I got out was a print of a young 1920s woman which I love and as it simply needed taking apart cleaning and re doing all the masking tape it was quite easy to repapir. It is called "Reverie" or Daydreaming and this is definitely one to put up on our wall. I love it.

  The second was a watercolour of a cottage and river I bought it a while ago for £2 at out local charity saleroom. I had noticed that just visiblle above the mount was the top of a signature and had meant to investigate so I cut the old tape of the back to take the picture out. Inside the back of the frame were four pages from an old newspaper called Reynolds News dated 1948. When I removed the newspaper on the back of the painting were a few sketches of buildings and the title "A Corner Of The Upper Thames In Picturesque Buckinghamshire KMB 1916" Well there was one question answered I knew where the painting was of. I moved the painting up in the mount and now the signature could be clearly seen Kathleen M Blake 1916. 

 What of the newspaper I wonder, an article in it may have a connection with the artist or place in the painting, it may have been put in when being framed just for interest to someone all these years later who discovered it or it may just have been put there to fill a gap in between the frame and the painting. I can't see any obvious connection reading through it although it is very interesting, who would have thought probelms with a nudist colony next to a school in those days!

I have searched on Ancestry.co.uk and found a 1911 census record for a Kathleen Muriel Blake born in 1890 and living in 7 South Place, Mill Lane, Marlow, Buckinghamshire. The occupation given on the census is artist. I think this is probably the Kathleen who painted my picture. I'm certainly going to have a try to find out something about the her and this one is definitely being put up on our wall to keep. A little bit of mystery makes it all the more interesting to us.

  It's a wet miserable day here this morning. I wish I could stay in and investigate more but my Dad has a hospital appointment this morning so I have to brave the elements and meet my sister to take him there. Have a great day everyone what ever you are doing. xx

Songs with A Thousand Memories

The sun continued to shine yesterday morning so Tom and I decided to have a stroll down to the local car boot sale as it was the last one there for this year. Only about twenty sellers had braved the earlier pouring rain so it was a bit disappointing. However the £2.50 I spent was on items I am very pleased with. I bought two LPs. One Nat King Cole and one 1950s KTel compilation. Who could forget those KTel adverts from years ago! I played the 1950s one as I was preparing lunch and it did make me feel quite sad. I remember all the songs so clearly from when I was a small child. My Mum was always listening to songs and singing along and these were her favourites. I think I know the words to every one of Doris Day's songs. I look back with such happy memories of all those songs and feel sad as the days are gone.

   I always remember when I was a student nurse on a geriatric ward in the 1970s. The ward sister would have regular sing-a-longs, she played the piano in the day room and we had to sing all the old songs, the words typed out on sheets of paper, with the patients. I quite enjoyed it but half the patients would end up in tears and I never really understood why but I totally do as I have got older.
   My youngest daughter was telling me she was going along a road we used to walk down on the way to school when she and my youngest son were little. She said she could picture us walking along singing. I laughed and said I used to get them to sing with me to keep their spirits up as it was such a long road. "It was such fun" she said "I felt so happy when I remembered it." It is so strange, it's the tiny little mundane memories that matter so much. I used to feel so bad for them on cold days with the long walk but they only remember the fun. I wish I had appreciated it all more at the time
   Another item I was so pleased with was a 1970s cookery book. I'm afraid cookery books nowadays just aren't the same. Fancy recipes with 20 ingredients. This one is fantastic with pages of basic recipes and the most wonderful nostalgic retro looking photos. I can't wait to try some out. It was only 50p, and even though the cover is grubby, I can cover it in some lovely retro paper or fabric, so I'm not ashamed of it on the kitchen shelf, and it will last me years,

  Yesterday afternoon we popped into Wilkinsons and I bought some crocus and hyacinth bulbs to put into pots. I think I will plant them with Scarlett later today aswell as the rose seeds and some conkers. It's never to early to get her realising how things grow. It should all be great fun. I may just sing along with some old songs while we are doing it!
  There is a beautiful red sky this morning but I think there may be some truth in the proverb "Red sky in the morning, shepherds take warning." as I think rain may be coming later. I hope everyone has a wonderful day today and you manage to enjoy a bit of sunshine. xx

Making Something Old New Again

  Tom was working yesterday morning so I had a bit of a sort out of a few cupboards and when he got in we had an early lunch and took the boxes of old ornaments to our local charity salesroom. Hopefully someone else will want our discarded items and we set about looking for items we need. I have a painting and an old print I have been looking for frames for and I bought two nice large frames whilst I was there to reframe them. The large one was £2 and the smaller one £1.50 so much cheaper than if I bought them new. I find it is often worth buying old pictures instead of frames as they are nearly always very cheap.

   The smaller one has a message on the back so it was obviously given as wedding present for a couple from The Guiders Of North West Division. I wonder who the couple were. I hope they had a long and happy marriage. I'm going to put my print over this one but keep the original in the frame too and keep the message on the back. I would hate to take away the history of an old item.

  Two other items I found were these two casserole dishes for £3. I have an idea for making some extra Christmas presents from these with either bulbs or pansies. I'll have a little search around Wilkinsons later on today to see if I can get some ideas. They are very big and heavy so could have lots of other uses when the plants have died.

  Tom managed to get a few UB40 CDs so he was very happy and I found this Wind In The Willows DVD. My children had the video of this when they were little and loved it so I thought Scarlett may enjoy it now. I must admit I'm quite looking forward to settling down on a cold day to watch it too.!

   I finished the last of the conker liquid yesterday and noticed it had thickened up as it been left standing. All nice and clean except Tom's white sports socks but maybe that was asking a bit much! Eldest daughter has sent me a message saying Scarlett was very busy yesterday and has collected a lot more for me. I feel this may be child labour!
   We are trying to decide whether to walk down to a local car boot sale as the weather has been so bad over night.It's starting to brighten up slightly so may be worth a little mooch about. Hope everyone has a great Sunday what ever you are doing. xx

A Feeling Of Organisation

  A few years ago I broke our slow cooker. It was only small and I had bought it for a couple of pounds at a car boot sale but it was really useful and I used it all the time. I have been on the look out for the right one ever since. It  must be larger than our last one and have a retro look to it to fit in our kitchen. Finally a couple of weeks ago we found this one for £10.

    I am really pleased with it. It has a removable casserole dish to serve at the table and is big enough to fit a large meal in. I buy reduced meat in the evening in the Co-op and then put it on low in the morning with some vegetables. When I come in after a day or afternoon out, there is nothing nicer to open the front door to, than the smell of a nice meal already cooking. It has given me a real feeling of organisation even if it is not always the case!

  Today Tom was off and we were looking after Scarlett so I got up early and put chicken and vegetables in the slow cooker for everyone's evening meal. We had a lovely day and as it was beautifully sunny we spent hours in the local park showing Scarlett the ducks, geese and even the two local herons. 

   We had walked such a long way and when she was finally taken home by my eldest daughter we just flopped down with a cup of tea. All I could think was the meal was already being cooked and I was so tired. Yes I definitely love my new slow cooker.

Walking In The Rain

   We seem to have spent a lot of the time doing just that over the weekend. Not that I'm really complaining as I am enjoying these lighter evenings and we have been able to take the dogs to the park every evening in the last week. It's a lovely feeling to know we have months of evening walks in the light ahead of us. On Sunday we took the dogs to Epsom Downs and the rain held off while we walked for miles around the the edge of the racecourse.

   Little Cassie runs and runs to keep up with Bud our Border Collie. The ground was really wet after all the rain and because she is so close to the ground and needs a trim very badly by the end of the walk she frankly looked like a tatty little drowned rat! I felt embarrassed walking back through the car park with her. So yesterday was bath and trim day. She hates going to the dog groomers and I have to drag her in. They are all very nice there but I only have to walk towards the door and I can feel her little heart pounding in her chest. So this time I borrowed my youngest sons beard trimmer and tidied her up myself. It may not be quite as good as them but at least she wasn't stressed and it saved us £25.

  We also managed to fit in our first car boot sale of the year at Dorking which was very successful for building up my Ebay and Etsy stock and I came home with carrier bags full of bargains. This was my favourite find.

    It's a battery operated "Cheerful Dachshund" that walks and barks. It is perfect and looks as it it has never been played with. I think it is from the 1960s. Another find I made is this Wedgwood Jasper Ware pin tray with a panda eating bamboo. Jasper Ware is pretty common when you are out and about but I have never seen this subject on one before.

  And finally something I am going to keep for myself is this hip flask I bought for 40p. I have cleaned it out well with boiling water and I'm going to take it with me on days out as a water bottle in my quest to cut down on plastic. 

   My youngest son laughed when he saw it "You can't drink out of that when you are out Mum, people will think you have taken to day time drinking." he said. Well I'm not bothered what people think and maybe on one of those rainy walks with the dogs a little tot of something isn't a bad idea!

Have A Very Happy Easter

 We went to visit my Dad today and took him to the garden centre as he wanted to buy some new plants for his garden. I had intended to buy Scarlett an Easter bunny as she is too young for an egg. There were Easter bunnies everywhere, it was totally overwhelming, and they were ever so expensive. So considering she may not even be that bothered about one I bought her a board book instead. Look at all these Easter bunnies,

and more.

   It did make me think that Easter has now become just as commercialised as Christmas. As a child I loved Easter, spring was just beginning , the concept of new life symbolised by eggs seemed so exciting and as an animal lover I couldn't wait for the tiny little toy yellow chick I got each year. I remember one year getting a little plastic lamb for my toy farm and spent the whole Easter holiday making it gambol around the field. I'm not sure if today's children would be so easily pleased!

   When I got back home I popped down to the shops and the charity shop was just about to close. The lady who works in there was clearing out the Easter display in the window and the bunnies were being taken out. I popped my head in and asked "How much is this bunny?" "£1" she replied. Just look at her, she is so cute! I have checked her carefully and she is safe for little ones so will be perfect for Scarlett. A nice frugal end to the day.

   I hope everyone has a lovely restful Easter and remember, even though it never seems to stop pouring with rain, spring really is is just around the corner.

Found In The Loft

Before I went into hospital Tom and I started sorting out our loft. There is so much stuff in there we were starting to fear for our safety at night! I had visions of the ceiling giving way under the weight and us all being crushed to death in our beds. Years of "put it in the loft" when we don't know what to do with something was starting to catch up with us. After a few weeks it was starting to look much better and while we are not getting rid of very much it is all neatly stacked in easily accessable boxes. At the back of the loft we found a box that was not ours the contents covered in old paper. Tom was all for just chucking it out but I brought it down and carefully looked through it. To my delight it was full of off cuts of fabric from Liberty of London. In with the fabrics were two really retro looking handmade shirts. "It looks like something Sam Tyler would wear in Life On Mars!" said our youngest son looking at the long sleeved one. I was so pleased, the tops fit me (just) and all this fabric I can make pretty scarves from has come just at a time when my poor neck needs hiding for a while. They were heaven sent!

  Now I'm feeling much better I thought I would start to think about making the scarves and hemming the edges. In the late 1980s when we first started to go to car boot sales I bought a lovely old Singer sewing machine for £1. I had intended to fix it up but without the internet in those days I couldn't find the replacement parts for it and no one knew how to thread the old fashioned bobbin so I gave up and put it in the loft. We have dragged it around with us through two house moves and it has gone in the loft each time with much complaining from Tom as he struggles with it up the ladder.

  So today down it came (more complaining) and I have studied it for the first time in 30 years. It has a serial number on and you can date singer sewing machines from this number. Incredibly this machine dates to 1897. My grandmother was a seamstress as a young woman in the 1890s, I wonder if she used a sewing machine just like this.

     There are videos on youtube with instructions of how to thread these old bobbins and parts seem to be available on ebay. So now in a world with the internet, this machine seems no longer unusable. I owe it to the Victorian lady who sat and sewed with it to try and get it working again. Then when it is fixed I can hem my new scarves. Today seems to have been a very successful day.

Buying And Selling On Ebay And Etsy

I have decided in the last couple of weeks to start selling on ebay again. I have mixed feelings about ebay but it does give me a really nice extra income. The problem is the fees are very high now and also the percentage of items that sell has really dropped over the years. When I started selling in 1999 about 90% of the items I put on sold now over a month only about 25% of items sell. The other problem is the "ebay community". The sections I sell in for vintage and toys are not too bad just the occasional very strange encounter but when I sold some designer sunglasses for my eldest daughter I strayed into a whole different world! Some of the rudest and frankly most stupid people you could imagine emailed me constantly. It was a soul destroying experience.
   So as well as re opening my ebay shop I have started an Etsy one to try this out and stock it with a few extra vintage items. So far the few people I have sold to have been very nice and the fees are not so high. I shall give them both a go and have opened them up with stock I had left over from selling before. I wonder if anyone else has had experience selling with Etsy?
  As Tom was working today I thought I would go on a walk around the local area checking out all the charity shops. There is a brilliant one opened near us which is an overspill of small items from our local charity saleroom which I thought I would visit first and I wasn't disappointed. The first thing I found was a tatty little book filled with poems, paintings and pressed wildflowers compiled by a young girl called Marjorie who received the book as a birthday present in 1913.

   There are messages from First World War soldiers and lines from songs at the time. Her full name and address is recorded on the first page and I can't wait to find out more about her. I know by the time I have researched her I won't be able to sell this as I will feel like she is an old friend!  For £5 it was my find of the day even though it is quite tatty I am thrilled.

    I found other little items which I will put straight up for sale like this silver plated children's rabbit mug.

   A box of four charming 1930s or 40s table mats. I love the roses on these and I'm going to have to be very firm with myself part with them. 

    I also found a selection of soft toys around the other charity shops which always sell over time. I spend ages photographing them to try and make them look as cute as possible. Like this ...

Or this .....

to try and get the best chance of them being bought. With an estimated 40% of toys ending up in landfill within three months of purchase I hope I'm playing a small part in encouraging reusing and recycling. These toys have been barely played with. It seems such a shame.

Recycling Ideas For Pretty And Useful Storage

      It started off  as a horrible rainy day today so I decided I would sort through some new storage ideas. I am an avid collector. Whether it's books, vintage toys, old tins, or vintage costume jewellery I collect it. I only have to buy two items and that's it in my mind it is the start of a collection! As I am not selling on ebay at the moment I have promised myself when I buy items at car boot sales or jumble sales it will only be if I can display it, store it easily or an item I can find use for and adapt into everyday life.
     When I am out searching for bargains I always look out for some retro storage ideas to keep my collections in. I love the look of them around the house and it just seems to me sensible to recycle old items into useful storage. Two items I have found recently have given me lots of storage with a 60s and 70s look and at a price that can't be beaten really.

     One is this 1960s or 70s LP record storage case I bought at a car boot sale for £1. It still has the original key and I keep lots of my 1970s LPs in it next to my lovely record player my family bought me  a few years ago. You can't beat the sound of a 70s vinyl record! I'm always on the look out for more but at about £25 each on ebay I think I'll keep scouring the car boot sales.

      The other great storage find was an Air India 1960s vanity case I noticed under a table at a jumble sale and also cost me £1.

     It is in lovely condition and has the original Air India logo of The Maharajah which was the mascot from 1946 until 2015.

      The inside is still lined with some beautiful 1950s or 60s Christmas wrapping paper. So neatly done I wonder if many people today would take so much trouble and look after an item for so long. I have put it on top of my wardrobe with a collection of some of my vintage toys inside and I love the look of it. New storage would be ten times the price and not nearly so much fun!

    I was out feeding the aviary birds and hens this afternoon and the clouds gradually started to clear. I decided to try and fit in an hour tidying up in the garden. 

     There is so much to be done after a few months of neglect but I'll keep pushing on so the garden looks half way decent by the spring. It was lovely being out there I enjoyed it ever so much. There is a lot of  pruning to be done and I feel as if I have made a slight start. I was thrilled to see there was the beginnings of blossom on the plum tree. I know we still have a long wait until Spring but the signs are there! By the time I had finished my hours work the clouds had almost disappeared. 

After such a gloomy start the day has certainly brightened up.