Lidl's Centre Aisle And That Perfect Garage

 We had a really fun day with Scarlett yesterday. We went to Lidl to get some food to take to the caravan this weekend and she loved it. Isn't it strange she went around the shop in amazement and at one point I heard her say "Look at that isn't it wonderful!" It did make me smile, simple new experiences are such fun for little ones and I think there was something about the mix of food and that enticing centre aisle of goodies in Lidl which she just loved. It's not just Scarlett though, Tom would spend ages browsing that tempting centre aisle and he keeps saying "This is such a bargain!" I always say "It's only a bargain if we need it!" Tool boxes, drills, packs of nuts and screws he could spend an hour going through them all. I remember my Mum used to laugh when she got back from Lidl with my Dad, without fail he had bought some "bargain" he didn't need. He always had some sort of gadget to give to me or the children, we still have an enormous telescope under our bed that is still in the box. I would love to use it but we are surrounded by trees and are far too close to other houses to set up a telescope in our bedroom window! Only the other day my sister and I had to get something out of the shed in his garden and we were climbing over discarded electrical items, you can't get into the back of his garage for electrical extension leads. If Tom didn't have me keeping an eye on him our shed would be the same and I suppose it's just as well we don't have a garage. "If we move house we must have a garage." Tom always says. I'm sure it would soon be full of as much rubbish as our loft. When we are out walking the dogs sometimes we see garages with their doors open and with screws and tools in perfect order on the walls. "That's how I would have a garage" Tom says as we pass. Somehow I'm not too sure. It would be the case of me saying "Shut the garage door! I don't want all the neighbours seeing what a mess it is!" This is Tom's idea of a perfect garage. I doubt it would be the reality! Does anyone have a garage like this!

We're off to the caravan this morning for a few days but will be back in plenty of time to watch the match on Sunday. We can't risk not getting a reception on the TV for that one! Have a lovely day and weekend everyone. Back soon. xx

Photos, Letters And Pen Pals

 It was another day of rain yesterday but not a bad day at all, we definitely had a day of laughter and nostalgia. Tom's main mission in life at the moment is to try and get the loft clear. The trouble is he's up against youngest son and me, the hoarders of the family! We got down some boxes of old cards, letters and photos. The photos are the reject ones, the blurred, off centre, "I look fat in that" sort of photo that never made it into the photo album. Today they would be deleted without trace but back in the 1970s, 80s and 90s we obviously put them in the loft. We laughed so much, remembered rooms and houses long gone, people long gone and boyfriends who I am grateful are long gone! It was a mixture of sadness and laughter but even though they were rejects at the time, so many of them will be scanned today so they are safe. 

I sorted through old birthday cards, letters and wedding invitations. We found two letters I wrote to eldest daughter when she was on a school trip to The Isle Of Wight when she was 11. It's full of little bits of family information, youngest daughter had learned to say her name, youngest son had fallen at nursery and grazed his knees so I had bought him some Lego on the way home to cheer him up and there had been a big spider in my bedroom while Tom had been at work so I had slept in eldest daughter's empty room. (What a baby, I must have toughened up since then!) I couldn't remember any of these bits of information now. 

Another pile I found were letters from old pen pals. I was a real letter writer back in the 1970s I had several pen pals from different countries, most I met through the magazine Fab 208. Some of them I wrote to for a few years and have photos of these young teenage girls. I didn't have time to read all the letters but the couple I looked at where full of news about pop stars, places they had been and boys they liked. I wonder are my letters still out there anywhere, it's a rather worrying thought but I would love now to read what I wrote in those days.

One girl I wrote too for a long time from Lancashire has the same surname as a cousin's married name, I wonder if she was related to her husband! I had to share this wonderful photo of her. Look at her, a fifteen year old in a 1970s bedroom with her life all ahead of her. I really hope life has treated her well.

The coronavirus restrictions have relaxed more today so we can visit people in their houses which is such good news, I just hope everything goes according to plan. The weather doesn't look too good again today, I really hope I can get out in the garden for a short while though as sickly tomato plant has recovered so much it is taking over the kitchen window sill and I want to re pot it . Tom is off to the dump this morning and I managed to find an old printer and some computer keyboards that almost look like museum pieces for him to take with my Dad's old microwave so he is slightly happy. I have boxes of photos to scan now as well as curtains to finish off for the caravan, so whether it's sunny or rainy I'm sure I'm going to be busy. I hope everyone has a lovely day what ever you are planning to do. xx

Organising Photos And Forgotten Weddings

 It was not a very nice day weather wise yesterday but the promised storm didn't arrive until the early evening. I sorted through some of my collection of old photos, I have thousands! I'm trying to work out how best to store them so they are safe for the future. I have rescued all these photos from car boot sales, auctions, ebay and charity shops so I feel it is important to keep them safe but also make them available, as well as any information I have with them, for other people to view. What I don't want is someone contacting me and saying "How marvellous that is my Great Granny!" and then I have to say I can't find the photo! At the moment this would be a distinct possibility! It's how to organise them in the best way. Probably albums but that isn't cheap and then it is storing them. I have photos dating back to the 1860s and one of my favourite group of photos to collect are wedding photos. It is so sad they have become separated from the family. These are a few of my favourites. 

It isn't just the photos I have "rescued" it's family photos too. It's very hard to find the best way to organise and store the photos after they have been scanned. I'd love to hear people's ideas how they tackle this problem. When I was first married and when eldest son and daughter were little I carefully put  all our photos in albums but you can see over the years how I ran out of time and later photos when youngest son and daughter were little are all stored in boxes. Interestingly I found a box of reject photos that hadn't made it to albums, I can't remember the reason why, I didn't like the way I looked probably. I think I look fine now when I look back, in fact we really laughed at some how funny they were and I wish I could add them into the albums. I did hear once that in history there is no such thing as a bad photo so it seems a shame that today what we consider bad photos just get deleted.

I managed to get the first curtain cut and pinned for the awning. There is so much fabric in the old curtains I bought, I think they must have been for French doors, it was a difficult job. At least I feel as if I am getting under way now though. 

It was a terribly windy stormy night last night and the garden is looking the worse for wear today. My little crab apple tree in a pot is leaning in a worrying way. There is no point in sorting it all out yet as I think there is more wind on the way today. I'm going to my Dad's today to do his shopping with my sister. We've been told we have to help him get through all the cakes he has been given by neighbours over the weekend. It's a hard job but someone has to do it! 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

Too Good To Use

 Tom took the five boxes of cleared out items back down to the charity salesroom yesterday morning before he went to work so they are finally all gone. I resisted taking items out so everything went and I'm going to get a few more boxes from the loft this week and try and get some more ready for next week. Anything not useful enough to keep, good enough to take to the charity salesroom or to recycle into another use will  be taken to the dump. I'm hoping to keep the latter items down to the minimum. There is another category that I think everyone probably has which is "Too good to use!" You see them everyhere at car boot sales, charity shops and even jumble sales (remember them! sigh) . Those perfect little boxed items or pretty things that have quite clearly never been used. Pastry forks in little presentation boxes, cutlery sets, best linen table cloths and napkins or even sets of soaps and bath salts. Put away too good to use and in the end given away when the person dies to another person who thinks "too good to use". We talk about saving the worlds resources if everyone used everything they had put away for best we could probably avoid manufacturing another item for a year!

I have so many of these items and as I get older I keep thinking what on earth am I doing keeping these? I may as well use them. I have a beautiful little art deco sandwich plate wrapped in bubble wrap in a cupboard. I had thought to put it on a wall but have never really found a place for it. I decided I may as well give it to the charity salesroom next time but it seems silly to give it away becuase it is so perfect I don't want to chip it. I'm going to get it out and use it everyday for my lunch. It is so pretty I'm sure it will make me smile and isn't that what life is all about? If it gets chipped or broken too bad, at least it was used not kept in a cupboard. Several years ago I bought this pack of soaps at a jumble sale for 10p. I have no ides why I bought them just to put them away. Much as I would love one I haven't got a guest room with a guest en suite to put them in, so they just sit in a drawer with the box getting more and more damaged, the same as they have been for probably fifty years. I doubt Tom and youngest son would be grateful if suddenly dainty little lavender soaps appeared in the bathroom so I may as well just hang on to them for now, at least they make my dressing table drawer smell nice. William Morris, the well known 19th century British arts and crafts designer, famously said "Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful." Well why shouldn't it be both. I'm going to try and think like this more and more!

On the subject of using things, yesterday when I got to my Dad's, my lovely sister after reading yesterday's blog post bought this round for me.

I am so thrilled with it. I spent most of yesterday evening reading it. I have been reminded by a lot of people in the comments about some of the problems with fondues I had forgotten about, such as taking an age for the oil to warm up and being quite unsafe really, espcially in a caravan!  After reading this, I think chocolate fondue may be the way forward. If that doesn't win Tom over nothing will! There are lots of other 1970s recipes that I can't wait to try like Flaming Cherries marinated in rum. When the cherries come out on our tree later this year, I know what I'll be making!

It looks like a nice bright day today. I still have some seeds I want to get planted in the greenhouse so I think I will try and get out to do that. I'm going to give the aviary a bit of a sweep round too in preparation for the doves going in later in the week and see if I can set up a platform for them as doves seem to like that not perches. I hope everyone has a lovely day how ever you plan to spend it. xx

No Housework Day And Sorting Books

 Youngest daughter and I chatted for a long time yesterday morning about her afternoon and evening out in St James's Park. She said they were the only daft people sitting in the cold with candles on a birthday cake but they really enjoyed themselves. They have been planning all kinds of things now resrictions are relaxing. She is the most cheefrul I have seen her in months! 

As it was so cold yesterday I decided I would stay inside and do a bit of sorting out in readiness for the charity shops opening again next week. I still have boxes packed ready for them opening. I have been ever so strong and not looked through them to rescue any bits that I have put in there. I decided to go through my books and see if there were any I could get rid of. Last week when we were eating our breakfast at the dining room table Scarlett was looking around the room. She said to me "Nanny you have so many books! It looks like ..." there was a long pause and she proudly added "a library!" So thrilled with her new word she said to me "A library is a place where you go to borrow books!" I do have such a lot of books and I can't resist them. I love history books, craft books and old childrens books. I could read history books all evening, I love those little incidental local history stories that you never learn about in history lessons. I'm not very good at borrowing from libraries as 9 times out of ten if I have borrowed a book I like I search ebay and buy it in case I feel like reading it again! I convince myself that as I always buy secondhand I am saving the world's resources.

My real weakness though is old children's books. I love them. I collect old annuals, ladybird books, Enid Blyton, Beatrix Potter, books about ponies (I used to love them as a child!) and hardback children's classics that are in really good condition that just catch my eye. All the time I was sorting I kept thinking I must get rid of something or I won't have any room for new books for my collection when car boot sales start up. In the end I managed to get rid of an enormous biography of David Lloyd George, I'm not sure why I ever bought that and an even more obscure biography about a naval captain who fought at Gallipoli! I thought and thought about my 1950s Train Annuals but decided I couldn't bear to get rid of them. That will do for now, at least there are a couple of gaps ready to fill and I had such fun sorting them all out neatly. I sat and looked through books I had forgotten about. Just as well it was National No Housework Day yesterday as what with chatting and sorting I didn't seem to get any done. Maybe tidying books counts as something. Here are some of my favourites. I know I should be stronger after all my clearing, but I am really looking forward to searching out new books for my collection.

Scarlett is coming today and youngest son and daughter are looking forward to spending a bit of time with her as they are both on holiday from work. It's not as cold today, a balmy 3C this morning, so I'm sure we will be able to get out for our walk. I hope everyone has a lovely day what ever your plans. xx

Missing Out

 I managed to find book shelf space for all the books I have decided to keep and have boxed up some I know I won't read again. I even fixed some damaged spines on old books, only with glue, I'm sure a professional bookbinder would be horrified, but they all certainly look nicer when they are on the shelves. I like to think it is all sorted but I do have a vague recollection of putting a few boxes in the loft and I may go up and have a search so I can feel I have completely got on top of it. Now what to do with the ones I'm getting rid of. Everything is shut at the moment and I just hope there is no problem to hold me up. We have a large Emmaus charity saleroom near us which we usually take unwanted items to but a year ago before the first lockdown I noticed they were getting a bit less likely to take everything as they used to. A  couple of times we were told they weren't taking books or toys at the moment. However none of this would be a problem if things were back to normal. There is a yearly sale that used to happen close by to us that I miss so much this year. 

Every year in the February half term there is the Epsom Charity Book Fair. An incredible 65,000 books all in boxes sorted in categories by volunteers to browse through over four days. Rooms and rooms of them. It's not only books but vinyl records, my idea of  a good day out! There is a fixed price for hard backs £1.75 and paperbacks £1.25. I have bought so many lovely books there and any we have finished with can be donated in the week before the sale. Looking at this photo last year when there was only just the murmurings of the problems to come, makes me feel so sad.

It's not just what I am missing out on though, maybe it's for the best when I am having such a sort out I can't add to my collections but whether its Emmaus or a charity book sale that attracts crowds from all around, they are all missing out on donations and money. I'm sure it is difficult times for many charities who are waiting and hoping this will be a bit more normal very soon. One thing I am sure about though is when things are more normal I will not take things for granted as I think I probably did before.

One bit of good news yesterday was I received a call from my doctors surgery to say I could have my coronavirus vaccination on Saturday. I was ever so pleased as it feels as if it is a step back to normality. I really want to go to Hastings to visit our eldest son as soon as we can. A walk along the seafront in the sunshine! That's just what we need. 

Sunshine and showers are forecast today. I have quite a lot of work to do with a pile of new documents to sort through and add to my social history website. I always find it quite exciting, you never know what you are going to come across but I hope I will have time to spend some time outside too. I hope everyone has a lovely day what ever your plans. xx

Pre-Preparing Vegetables For Quick Warm Veggie Meals

I stopped eating meat 12 years ago. We decided, after years of keeping quail, we wanted to start keeping chickens. We read up about all they needed, set up our chicken coop and run and drove to get our ex battery rescue chickens. It was so exciting we couldn't wait. We drove to a big barn on a farm miles away, where the charity had put hundreds of chickens to be chosen from, with our boxes and donation money. We walked into the barn and I looked around at these poor creatures and the state they were in and I said "I am never eating meat again" and I haven't, not a mouthful. I never criticise anyone for eating meat it is entirely their choice but I knew at that moment it was not for me. 

I used to eat fish a lot but a few years ago had to go on an iodine free diet in preparation for treatment for thyroid cancer. I wasn't allowed fish, dairy, eggs, any type of prepared processed meal, take aways or even chocolate. I could have two pieces of dark 70% cocoa chocolate a day, it was hardly worth the effort! I moaned and moaned and practically went into withdrawal, but then strangely after two weeks I suddenly realised I had got used to it and on this diet of vegetables, beans, pulses and rice I was feeling incredibly well. I haven't kept it up strictly, and I admire committed vegans who are able to, but I have drastically altered the main staples in my diet since then and feel all the better for it.

As my diet has such a high fresh vegetable content, the best bit of advice I read was to prepare the food in advance. If I have some spare time at the beginning of the week I wash and prepare all the vegetables for several days and I store them in plastic containers in the fridge ready for use. How many times did I used to plan to have butternut squash or the like and then at the end of a busy day at 6 o'clock faced with a pile of vegetables to work through think I can't be bothered I'll have something else, always less healthy. Once they are prepared in the fridge it is no bother at all just to put them on. On these cold days, it's so much nicer to eat something hot for my lunch and nice for them to be already prepared. I usually have omelette and roast veg or often just roast veg with some bread. There's nothing nicer than mopping up the warm olive oil and garlic at the end with a chunk of bread.

At the same time I add more prepared vegetables in the slow cooker so they are ready to make another veggie meal in the evening.  I have a large slow cooker for the rest of the family to have their meat meals in and this little one for my vegetables. I have so many quick vegetarian meals I make once the vegetables are all cooked. Sometimes if I tell people I am a vegetarian they say, that sounds like too much hard work! I always think to myself it's the meat meals I make for the rest of the family that are hard work!

If ever there was a day I needed hot meals it was yesterday. It was freezing! I spent so much time walking around with buckets of warm water. I will be glad when the hose pipe defrosts and I'm already planning setting up some sort of new system, running the hose along the edge of the garden and lagging it to try and stop this happening in the future. It was so cold last night apparently the coldest night for 15 years. I'm just grateful for my warm house and feel so much for the people who haven't got one. Have a lovely day everyone and I hope you can keep warm. xx

Fixing And Repairing Vintage Toys

I managed to pin and tack one pair of curtains for the caravan yesterday but the day just whizzed by and I  ran out of time. On the bright side my decluttering is going brilliantly. I wish I had tried this 15 minute rule years ago! As I know I am up against the clock I dash around like the Duracell Bunny. If I'm not going to use it or it doesn't have sentimental value it goes in the box. My only concern is if lockdown goes on too long I  may weaken and start taking things out of the boxes. Much as I love car boot sales and jumble sales I wonder if a year off from them has actually helped in me reducing. I have bought so many really useful things but frankly, as my eldest son loves to tell me when he comes round, a lot of tat too! I've bought piles of broken vintage toys as I love fixing things but often don't get round to it, watercolours and oil paintings in broken frames to reframe, piles of retro fabrics to make things with (I'll get round to eventually), the list goes on. There's a part of me that thinks when all this is over, and I am living in a clutter free house, should I really go back to all that temptation of clutter. I'm definitely going to use this time to fix up the things I have been meaning to for months, or is it years! Scarlett is so thrilled with the painted and repaired dolls house it has given me enthusiasm to keep fixing. I have the most wonderful toy farm I bought a few years ago when Scarlett was only a baby. I put it away as I knew she was too young for it, but time has sped by and I know she would love to play with it now. This is just a tiny part of all the farm buildings I bought.

    When I was seven years old I had a toy farm my Dad made me. I remember it very clearly as I loved it so much. It had a base with farm buildings and I collected lots of farm animals with my pocket money. Most of these farm animals were made by the company Britains and it says a lot for the quality of them as not only did they survive me playing with them but my four children as well. Sadly the base of the farm was thrown out years ago but we still have a lot of the farm animals. Just waiting for a farm! This is my next project.

  I hope everyone is managing to find things to keep themselves occupied during lockdown. It was much easier the first time in the lovely weather we had. I find there is always something to do but youngest daughter is so fed up she has taken to tweeting about our neighbours "They're burning another bonfire". Oh dear. God help us if they ever find her twitter account! I hope everyone has a lovely day what ever you are doing. xx

The 15 Minute Rule And I Have A System

 My life is a constant yearning to be more organised. I don't think I am too terribly disorganised but there is plenty of room for improvement. I spend so long organising drawers and cupboards perfectly but no one else seems to understand my system. I have always collected vintage tins and like to put them to good use so my drawers and cupboards are full of them. They cheer me every time I open the cupboards! I can't understand why no one else seems to be able to remember where things are. This was a recent conversation I had with my younger son who was looking for batteries for his TV remote control. I said "They are in the Queen's Jubilee tin in the second drawer down." In the Golden Jubilee tin not the Silver Jubilee tin" I called after him. Silence for a while then he called back "They're not in here." "They definitely are" I shouted back "No they're not" Off I went to the kitchen. "Well of course they're not in there" I said "You're looking in the Queen's Coronation tin!" "How would I know that?" youngest son exclaimed. I felt like saying "How could you not!" I'm beginning to think maybe my system is too complicated for everyone else. 

After a a visit to my eldest son's flat in Hastings last year (in that short little window of time we had some freedom!) I was amazed at his organisation skills. It was beautifully organised, everything in it's place and totally minimalist. I'm not kidding myself I could ever be minimalist  but I am well aware I should have a clear out. It's ever so hard at the moment as charity shops are all closed but I have got together three large boxes and I'm going to fill them with things that I will take to a charity shop when restrictions lift. This is where the 15 minute rule comes in.

If there is a job you keep putting off as you feel you don't have time or it's too tedious, in my case sorting out things to get rid of, just put aside 15 minutes a day. No matter how busy you are you can nearly always find 15 minutes in the day. The trick is to be quite firm and stop after 15 minutes. If I spend 15 minutes each day all the way through lockdown adding to the boxes I will have cleared out so much. In fact the way things are going with this lockdown I may be well on my way to becoming minimalist! Apparently you can write a novel in the 15 minute rule within a year. So anyone out there who always says "I would write a book if I had the time" give it a go. 

Another box I have put aside to add to is items to take to the caravan. This is much more fun as I am so looking forward to going to the caravan with all the new items. I have bought a new stick on battery operated light for the toilet as the light in there is so dim. I say new but it is a genuine 1970s one which will look the part perfectly. 

My Dad had is first coronavirus vaccination yesterday which seems so thrilling. A step nearer to some sort of normality. I'm off to do his shopping today, so at least I'm getting out and about. Have a lovely day everyone what ever you are doing. xx