Moving Up The League Tables

 As it was another day of very heavy showers yesterday I spent a lot of the day sewing. I have been trying to use up all the retro fabric I have bought on one project or another. I have cut and pinned pieces ready to make pillow covers at the caravan but don't want to sew it until I check the sizes at the caravan tomorrow. Then I will see how much fabric I have left and decide what to make with it. You wouldn't believe the amount of time I have spent trying to make a Snoopy pennant for the small flag poles on the caravan roof. I made one with fabric but it turned out too floppy, unless it was a really windy day it would just of hung there so in the end I bought the cheapest old pennant I could find on ebay, which was a Swedish scout one for £1 and sewed my Snoopy badges over to it. I never miss a chance to share Snoopy with everyone!

I tried to spend regular five minute bursts all day on my language app learning Welsh. It is a really hard language! The further on I get the harder it gets and I don't think learning languages is my skill either. When I was at school I was hopeless at French and failed my O level miserably so have spent my whole adult life saying things like "My brains doesn't work that way" or "I'm better at practical things" when faced with learning a language. I have been reading a lot about helping your brain as you get older and I have decided there is no reason why I shouldn't be able to train my brain to learn how to do different things I have always found hard. Yesterday I was starting to question that! Apparently in studies done on people learning a language the size of your brain actually grows in size on MRI scans. This fact is going to keep me going and I have even ordered a children's Welsh picture dictionary to help me but it's the pronunciation! I find it hard to believe I'll ever get my tongue around it. Yesterday we were all trying to say milk for the whole afternoon! Oh well I have been promoted to the silver league on the app now and unless I want to be relegated back to the bronze league at the end of the week I'll have to keep trying. 

Talking of leagues a really exciting thing that happened locally yesterday. Sutton United have won the Vanarama National League and are being promoted to League 2 of the Football League (The old 4th Division for anyone else who still thinks that way). Tom said while he was in the bus garage yesterday he could hear the crowd cheering and cheering. We used to live so close to the ground in one of the houses we lived in at Sutton we could hear every word that was being shouted by the crowd, believe me I was starting to feel really sorry for referees! We ended up getting swept along with the excitement and since then have always followed Sutton United. They are such a good team, local people who really care about doing well and have pride in their club. Premiership here we come!

Although the sun is shining at the moment I think it's going to be more of the same today, weather wise and what I am doing. They say better weather is on the way and I do hope so. Last night it poured and poured for such a long time. I kept thinking of the little fox cub at the end of the garden, I'd buy them a kennel if I thought they would use it. Now there's something for me to think about. Well I'm off to make a "coffi a llaeth" I hope everyone has a lovely day even if it is pouring. xx

Adapting So Well And New Ideas

 The weather wasn't very nice all day yesterday so I spent most of it working on my photo website. There is always a lot of sorting out to do and adding of photos. I have a local area section and have so many local photos to add I have taken in the last year of "coronavirus related" subjects. People queuing, signs, mask wearing. All sorts of things that we couldn't have believed would become normal just 18 months ago. Sorting through the photos it made me realise how incredibly we have adapted.

I have got into a bit of a routine while trying out these £4 "Too Good To Go" bags this week. I walk down to the M&S local at the petrol station at 9pm, collect my bag and meet Tom off the bus as this is the time he has been finishing this week. Last night youngest daughter said she would walk down with me but she wanted to pop into the Co-op first. As only 8 people are allowed into the Co-op at a time at the moment and I didn't want to get mixed up with the people queuing I stood a little bit up the road waiting for her. It was so interesting watching people's behaviour. People were pulling up in their cars and effortlessly popping on their masks as they stood at the end of the queue, happily standing two metres apart (I would have struggled to estimate two metres at the beginning of this but now it is easy!) and entering the shop when one person left. How wonderful we all are I thought. We adapt so cheerfully really, I know there are exceptions which the news loves to report, but on the whole all I have seen is people politely going about their day and fitting in. Who would have thought a traffic light system would be operating at a local petrol station.

I often think when I see reports of World War 2 and the blitz spirit how wonderful people were in those days. My Dad who grew up in Liverpool during the war, which was terribly badly affected by bombing, loves to tell us stories of how they all adapted. From his Mum planting a beautiful garden on top of their air raid shelter so it blended into the garden to the other terrible times of calling out "He's dead Miss" to the teacher when she was calling the school register after a bad night of bombing.  Although of course we can't compare this situation to how bad it was during a war in another way we can. Between 40,000 and 43,000 civilians were killed in the Blitz during WW2, approximately a third of the people who have died from coronavirus in this country, yet still we carry on with our days, cheerfully (well mostly!) Maybe one day people will be talking about the "coronavirus spirit" to a certain extent they already are, celebrating all the people who have volunteered and helped, but just living a "normal" life is important to me. I don't mind following the rules but I want my family to be happy and still enjoy their days as much as possible. Eldest son phoned last night, he is working so hard on this government contract driving people to and from quarantine hotels but of course he has no idea when it might just suddenly end. It is impossible to plan but as he said he is simply going to take one day at a time, which is all we can do really. 

It's raining here this morning and it looks like it will be on and off for the whole weekend which is a shame but I have lots to get on with. I have given up trying to fix my 1970s Robert's radio. I have tried everything, trawling through YouTube videos and online radio fixing forums (yes there really is such a thing!) but not a sound. I have another plan for it now which I hope will work out soon. I also had another idea how I would make a unique board at the caravan to display our old caravan club badges we collected in the 1960s. I have given up trying to find a retro looking pin board as they are either too expensive or too big and will be working on my new idea today. Hopefully I will be sharing my success's not failures with these ideas later next week! Have a lovely day everyone and I hope it doesn't rain on you all day. xx

Making Bunting And A New Job

 It rained for much of the day yesterday. It has made the garden look even greener but it wasn't much good for Scarlett and I trying to get out in it. We stayed in and made some bunting for our caravan from old 1960s and 70s flags. I bought a couple of very old flags for our little flag pole on the caravan roof from Etsy and they came on an old bunting cord, with the original rings still in place on the ends. I thought it would be a nice way of displaying them and if in the end we ever get round to showing our caravan keep the unspoilt original look. I had to remove the ring from one end and as they were so old it was quite tricky and attach it to a knitting needle to thread them through. Scarlett as usual entered into the whole thing with such enthusiasm. I thought I had enough flags to go end to end but was four short which was a bit annoying but I will search them out and add them before we go away. When I have finished the large Caravan Club one will be in the centre. When eldest daughter's partner picked her up Scarlett was so excited talking about flags he said "That's it she'll be talking about this for days!" She loved the solar bee too and was thrilled when I told her she could name it. Mr Bee was what she came up with so that is what he is called. I suppose it could have been worse!

The evening was quite exciting as youngest son started a new job yesterday. It is working for the same company as he and youngest daughter work for now but he has been promoted to a much more responsible role. He will still have a part in looking after the disabled children he cares for at the moment but it is more community based now too, training them as they travel around and hopefully becoming more independent in society. He is really looking forward to it as he loves being out and about. It was really nice to sit in the evening chatting about his day and hear all the new things he will be doing.

We haven't even reached Monday the 17th yet when restrictions are lifted a bit more and there is already talk on the news about new local lockdowns because of the rise of the Indian variant of coronavirus in this country. Sigh. I'm just going to keep on with my little life and try not to worry too much about  B1712 variant or whatever. There's lots I need to get on with today, inside and outside. so I'm just going to enjoy and carry on with that. I hope everyone has a lovely day what ever you are doing. xx

Clearing Out And Snoopy Pennants

 It was a cold, rather miserable day yesterday. We had rain but the only really substantial rain we had was when I went out into the garden to feed the birds and change the ducks water! I had a few jobs planned but the main job was clearing out all the drawers in the living room. It took much longer than I had imagined it would and I threw out a bag full of items. The trouble is with clearing out drawers after all that work there isn't much to show for it. I did find a few interesting things though. These old Caravan Club badges from the 1960s I had put a way a while ago after my Dad found them and gave them to me. We used to collect them and they were all displayed in our caravan on a board. He is still looking for more we had. I want to put them up again in our caravan now but I'm struggling to find the best way to do this. I'm trying to find a retro looking board, something a bit 70s but not too large. I remember when I lived in the nurses home in the late 1970s we all had cork boards with photos pinned on them, I'm really looking forward to Car Boot Sales starting up and maybe I will be able to find something suitable. 

The other items I have put aside for the caravan is something I bought on ebay for just a few pounds. I am trying to make another flag for the flag holders and wanted something to reflect what I would have had in the 1970s. Everyone who knows me knows how much I have always loved Snoopy! My old school friends laugh at me as they say I used to have Snoopy all over my books at school and now I'm still sharing Snoopy post on facebook  50 years later. It has been pointed out to me I've never grown up! I looked at old Snoopy pennants but the cheapest I could find was for £35 and I'm not going to pay that! Instead I bought these old 1970s Snoopy patches, do you remember when we had patches on our clothes like this! I'm going to make a flag using the old Caravan Club pennant as a template and sew one on each side. My sewing pile is growing!

It looks like a nice bright day today and Scarlett will be here soon so I better start getting her breakfast ready. I hope everyone has a lovely day what ever you are doing. xx

1970s Curtain Sewing

 I went for a long walk with Tess yesterday morning. I didn't take her to the park as it get's so crowded now at the weekends. I thought I would take her round and about local roads and as it was a lovely morning it was nice to walk all around and see gardens coming to life in spring. I love to look at other people's gardens, it can give me so many ideas for things to try in ours. There is a house on my local walk that has a light box in their window. Every day they put a message in their window. Yesterday it said "Spring Has Sprung" Sometimes they put such nice messages it really cheers you as you walk by.

I was so inspired with ideas for our 1970s caravan after booking two weeks away in June I spent the afternoon sewing. I finished off the curtain for the door in the shower room and tried to finish the curtain in for the toilet I am making with the Snoopy fabric I bought. Sadly the fabric is so slippy and difficult to work with I may unpick what I have done and make cushion covers with it. I have been looking on ebay for some more fabric for this little toilet window and found the exact same fabric that I have used on all the other windows. A real stroke of luck as it is old 1970s Marks and Spencer one. It's an auction though so there is no guarantee I will get it but I hope so.

Jobs for today are to cut in half  and tack an old 1970s bedspread I bought, another old St Michael brand one, to make two throws for the seats. It's a heavy brown material which we can cover both seats with during the day and then we don't have to worry about the dogs sitting on the original upholstery after we have been out for walks. Also I am going to try and wire this original 1970s light I bought in the local charity saleroom last year. 

I hope everyone is not too tired today after losing an hours sleep. Our dogs are all up waiting to be let out bright and early despite the clocks going forward so I think I will be tired later on this evening! I hope you have a lovely Sunday what ever your plans. xx

Collecting And Recycling Vintage Fabrics

There are other items in my clearing out I will not part with and that's my large pile of vintage fabrics. I  love old bright retro fabrics or just fabrics that are evocative of an era. I have saved bits I buy cheaply at jumble sales for projects I will get round to in the future. I have my old toy chest that my toys were stored in when I was a child. It has been in the loft for years after my children have grown up, but a while ago we got it out to keep it in our bedroom for extra storage. I am going to make a large cushion for the top covered in some 1960s fabric in keeping with the era of the chest.

I had been searching to find just the right piece of fabric and have found the perfect piece on ebay.  When I was very little, about three or four, I used to share a bedroom with my sister. We had curtains that I loved, of animals and insects dressed up in clothes. I would study every one of them as I looked out of my little bed by the window. I couldn't believe it when I found it, apparently it was made by Sanderson and called Hippity Hoppity. All these years later and it is still firmly implanted in my memory. I'm looking forward so much to making it. 

Sanderson Hippity Hoppity Fabric

The Ladybird

Another retro fabric item which seems to have disappeared but was such a good idea were calendar tea towels. We would buy my Mum one every Christmas and it would hang on the kitchen wall until next Christmas when it would be taken down and replaced then used as a tea towel. What perfect recycling. Why on earth did they disappear!

At a car boot sale a few years ago I found this one, the year I was born. Perfect, as coincidentally the days of the week fell exactly the same in 2016, the year I bought it, as in 1960. I kept it up all year and thought I would put it away for the next time the calendar repeated itself. I checked online to see when that will be and as it was a leap year it is not going to happen again until 2044 then after that 2072. Oh well I suppose it gives me something to aim for!

Tom and I watched the film "The Dig" on Netflix last night. It was quite good but rather sad and left me feeling down in the dumps when I was going to bed. Back to Minder tonight I think! I'm off to do my Dad's shopping today so it will be quite nice to be out and about. I hope everyone has a lovely day whether you are able to get out or not. xx

Keeping It Simple

It's a funny old world now when you are out and about.  I went to do my Dad's shopping yesterday and travelled on the train as always as I don't drive. The train journey feels so different now. It's not just wearing a mask, the train is virtually empty. On the return journey at rush hour time I used to struggle to find a seat, now they're are less than half a dozen people in the carriage. I find it hard to imagine the trains crowded again. In many ways the world is just as beautiful, it just feels so much harder to see it.

A Wintry Scene On Epsom Downs

I'm looking after Scarlett tomorrow and as the weather forecast is terrible so it's going to be an inside day. The dolls house kitchen furniture has arrived  which will keep her amused for a long time. I try and do things here she doesn't do anywhere else. With this in mind I got out this wonderful book from my childhood. It's a young Puffin book called Something To Do which was printed in 1968. My sister and I loved it.

Young Puffin Book Something To Do

It's broken down into months of the year and has a poem, a flower of the month and a bird of the month. Each month has little activities to do to fit in with the type of weather it will be. Just simple little activities from a time before children had ipads, computers or even TVs. I remember making so many of them and even in this modern age I'm sure Scarlett will enjoy it. 

About The Month Of May

Making A Paper Fortune Teller

Today is going to be a work day today. The weather forecast is for rain so a good day to settle down and catch up. It's hard not to to feel really down watching the news but I hope everyone has a lovely day, the best we can in these times. xx

Sew Much Fabric, Sew Little Time

 That phrase just about sums me up. I'm always keeping little bits of fabric. I can't resist scouring jumble sale tables for pretty or retro fabrics. I have lots of fabrics and lots of ideas but never get started. It's not just lack of time though, I keep putting off the getting going. The other day when I went down to the Co-op I looked across at the little wool and sewing shop we are lucky enough to have in our local parade of shops and went in. All I needed was a new needle for my old sewing machine to get me going and that was it, it was bought. Yesterday afternoon I propped up my tablet and found a wonderful woman on youtube called Lizzie Lennard who has vintage sewing videos. She has a lovely voice that reminds me of a 1950s radio broadcaster. I easily followed her instructions on how to wind a Singer long bobbin and load the shuttle. See how easily the words come to me now! Thank you Lizzie.
  Once it was set up the mechanics of sewing came flooding back and I had a fun afternoon trying out my Victorian sewing machine. I cannot believe how well it works. All these years unused and every part of it still works. I tried it out on an off cut of 1950s style kitchen material and once the edges were hemmed, there it was a new tea towel. With just a bit more practise with the tension on the machine and I will get going on the new curtains for our caravan. Then matching cushion covers, more tea towels and a tablecloth. There are no boundaries to my imagination!

   I wonder what the woman who owned this in the 1890s when it was new would make of the things I am making now. I am sure she would be delighted it is being used all these years later. I have polished the wooden case until it shines. Now I have got it working I feel it is very important that while I am it's owner, I take the best care of it I can, as we are only really temporary custodians of possessions in life that have come our way.
 Tom was another late shift, so I had a chat with my eldest daughter on the phone as she had been over to see my Dad today and then settled down to listen to some music while I sorted through my piles of fabrics. Tom and I nearly always listen to music on a saturday night but he's not really a David Cassidy fan so I thought I may as well make the most of an evening on my own and work my way through some of my old LPs.
  So for all you David Cassidy fans out there here's a little reminder from the early 1970s. Have a great Sunday what ever you are doing. xx