.

Fab Feb's Helpful Hints

2012-02-01T10:26:00.003Z

I recently received an email from a friend which was full of simple, but good, ideas.

However, some of them made me wonder just how helpful they would be.

I thought I'd share them with you today on this bright, frosty, February morning.

When travelling, put shoes in disposable shower caps (found in most hotel bathrooms).

Use a drinking straw to hull strawberries.

(Our strawberries are often so hard I think the straw would disintegrate if I did this)

Rubbing a walnut over scratches on furniture will disguise dings and scrapes.

WD40 will remove crayon marks from computer screens, tvs and even walls.

To keep the kids' lunchbox apple from going brown, put an elastic band around it.

(although, I can imagine little fumbling fingers sending the segments flying all over the place as the elastic band is removed)

To keep sets of bed linen together, fold sheets and put them in the matching pillow case so the sets are always together and easy to find.

(How long is it going to take me to fold the sheets to the correct size to be stuffed into a pillowcase? Longer than it would take to find the separate pieces in the linen cupboard I think)

Use empty Wet Wipes tubes to store plastic bags.

(would someone tell me just how to fold the plastic bags so they pop up like the one in the picture)

String wire across the ceiling of a cupboard to store wrapping paper off the floor.

('Darling, I need to wrap a present, could you get the stepladders out?')

(That's unfair. Actually, I think this a good idea as long as your ceilings are not too high)

Cut crosses in the lid of a cardboard box to keep cupcakes safe during transport.

How to fold a fitted sheet.

(Don't tell me you haven't always wondered)

Use bread tags to label computer wires.

Tension rods. Bless them.

Turn pastry moulds upside down to bake cookie dough in cup shape. Use the cases to fill with fruit etc.

Freeze Aloe Vera in ice cube trays for soothing cool cubes for sunburn.

Use egg cartons to store Christmas baubles.

(Where was this idea a month ago?)

And finally, if any of you need to know how to remove the hard drive from a computer you're disposing of, please visit this recent post by Susan at Between Naps on the Porch. Can't tell you how timely her post was for me.

Have a fab Feb.

Blessings,

Andi xx

HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY, ELSIE

2012-01-29T08:48:00.004Z

Oh dear, I'm a week late posting this.

It was Elsie's birthday last Sunday

but a little crisis in the family prevented me from posting on the day.

(All I will say is,

when our children are hurting, we hurt too.)

This is Elsie when she first joined the family last March:

Since then it's been a year of ups and downs

as we got used to fitting the needs of a puppy

into our living routine.

And even though she's still a bundle of trouble

she is well and truly part of the family.

Here she is on her birthday

wearing her Welsh flag bandanna

(inexpertly tied by mum)

'Hmmmm, I smell something tasty.'

I found this dog cake at the local garden centre before Christmas

and saved it for Elsie's birthday.

Oh Yum! Best birthday ever!

Blessings,

Andi xx

NEW YORK, NEW YORK!

2012-01-11T12:26:00.006Z

MAKING THE MAGIC HAPPEN

'New York?' I hear you say. 'Very exciting, but why all the talk about magic?'

Well you see, I've been married 24 years this year and in all that time I have never struck out on my own and arranged a holiday without M.

As much as M loves NY, he didn't want to go. It would be too cold, he needed a rest not a busy holiday, we'd never get the visas in time...

You name the excuse, he came up with it.

(and he didn't want to see the play, either)

So I was all for giving up my dream of going, until on Christmas Day my son said 'come on, Mum. Let's go anyway.'

So we did.

Just me, son, daughter and a monkey (more of that later).

(we think the tall black building might be the one used for outside shots of Chandler's office in FRIENDS)

We arranged tickets for the flight, theatre, Empire State Building, got our visas, made hotel reservations, all on the computer before we left England and I'm stunned to report everything went smoothly and worked out without a hitch.

(really liked this building as seen from Empire State Building)

Now for the monkey. Coco has been my daughter's special friend since she was four years old. He is a well-travelled monkey and much loved by me as well as daughter. He's like a member of the family.

Anyway, he tells us that although he was born in Stratford upon Avon (and is a descendant of Willy Waggledagger aka William Shakespeare), his father was actually King Kong.

So a trip up the Empire State Building to follow in his father's footsteps was in order

(although he agreed falling off the top wasn't such a good idea)

We did all the tourist things like a carriage ride around Central Park...

I was told Woody Allen lives in the tallest building in the photo above.

Daughter's only tourist request was to visit the M&M shop in Times Square

Where there are floor-to-ceiling tubes of M&Ms in every colour imaginable

Son announced the M&M shop was 'pure hell'!

So a photo was suitably manipulated...

Son in Hell

The Met

and the sunset over the harbour with Statue of Liberty in the distance.

Taken from the Staten Island Ferry.

So glad we took it upon ourselves to arrange this magic. Would love to go again and have more time, take things at a slower pace, and have M with me!

Blessings,

Andi xx

If You Want Something Done...

2012-01-02T12:54:00.005Z

I wrote to Santa...

I wished upon a star...

My Niece even gave me this fab sign for Christmas...

But in the end I had to create my own luck

and make it happen myself...

THE SHOW...

THE PLACE...

THE SONG...

(click the pic)

('Happy Birthday, Uncle Frank'. Imagine being able to call Frank Sinatra 'Uncle'?)

Tell you all about it when I get back.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Blessings,

Andi

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

2011-12-24T09:18:00.002Z

So I'm in Marks and Spencer's at 7am this morning

collecting my turkey.

I'd forgotten to bring the coin for my trolley.

I'm standing in the queue to pay

and realise I'm cradling the turkey in my arms

and swaying as though rocking a baby off to sleep.

Old habits die hard!

MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE

(I have to say, I'm quite pleased with my dining room mantle this year)

(Fireplace - £20 - car boot sale. Mirror - £15 - Cancer Research)

Christmas blessings,

Andi xx

Christmas in London

2011-12-18T11:01:00.007Z

On Thursday I had to take daughter up to London for the school carol concert which is held each year in London at St. Martin's in the Field:

There has been a place of worship on this site since pagan times. The present church being built in 1722.

It was named after St. Martin who is said to have taken pity on a near-naked beggar, cut his own cloak in two and given half to the beggar. Christ appeared to Martin in a dream that night as the beggar and thanked him for his kindness. Martin converted to Christianity the next day.

Today St. Martin's is known, amongst other things, for its Christmas Appeal, raising money (some £500,000) for the homeless.

The church stands on one of the corners of Trafalgar Square so, as parents were not allowed inside the church for the carol service, I took a walk around the Square:

The well-known 'empty plinth' at the moment has a giant ship-in-a-bottle standing on it:

I also popped into the National Portrait Gallery where I saw, in particular, fantastic portraits of Judi Dench and Fiona Shaw (best known for her portrayal of Aunt Petunia in the Harry Potter films).

An enjoyable day.

Christmas
Blessings,

Andi xx

Frankly My Dear...

2011-12-11T19:20:00.006Z

I DO give a damn that I can't remember which blog owns this photo:

I know I made a note at the time which blog I'd seen it on. Do you think I can find that note? I've spent the best part of this morning looking through all your blogs trying to trace the post, without luck.

If this is your pic, I make my apologies for using it without your permission and hope very much that you don't mind. And PLEASE let me know who you are so I can give a link back to your post.

Anyway, I was really taken with the sign but I believe the price was something like £130.

*YIKES!*

Ever since I've been on the lookout for Lexicon games in the charity shops so that I could try and make my own.

I had one game already. I found another at a car boot for 50p. That should do it, I thought.

Guess what?

Two vital letters were missing from the car boot purchase. I needed another.

After weeks of searching, one mysteriously turned up in my dresser drawer. I strongly suspect my mum snuck it there, but she denies it was her.

Anyway, at long last I was able to go ahead with the project and completed it this weekend:

Buying a frame that was six foot wide was going to cost some, so I bought a piece of MDF and asked the nice man in B&Q to cut it length ways for me. The frame is painted onto the MDF with acrylic paint and the background with leftover Farrow and Ball New White.

Cost: £8.55

I'm very pleased.

Blessings,

Andi xx

Farewell Sugar

2011-11-18T11:56:00.004Z

I've never been good at saying goodbye to cars.

Back in the 60's my dad had a black Austin 40

it was the second car he ever owned.

( Attribution: Redsimon at en.wikipedia)

One morning he drove me to school, which was unusual because we normally walked.

At the school gates he told me:

'Say goodbye to the car because you won't be seeing it again.'

I was so upset

and ever since have had trouble saying goodbye to cars.

Yesterday I had to say goodbye to Sugar, my PT Cruiser:

I love her for her retro look

and for a long time couldn't bring myself to play my Tom Waits cds while I drove her

we stuck to Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday

(until the cd player got a grain of dirt in it and scratched the cds).

So what if my son's friends told me she looked like a hearse

I loved her.

Sadly, she became an old lady and began behaving and sounding very sick.

Yesterday I took her for our last drive together

and left her at the dealers

all the while muttering to myself,

'It's just a car, a machine. It doesn't have feelings. It is NOT upset that you're abandoning her.'

Here is the little upstart that has taken her place

DOT

A Fiat 500.

She's nippy, more maneuverable and has a cd player that works.

It's going to take me a while to adapt

(who ever heard of an automatic that rolled backwards on inclines?)

but I'm sure we're going to become good friends.

(and I don't think she'll mind Tom Waits!)

Blessings,

Andi xx

11.11.11.11.11

2011-11-11T10:19:00.004Z

When you go home

Tell them of us and say

For your tomorrow

We gave our today.

blessings

Andi xx

Mushrooms/Toadstools whatever

2011-11-09T07:55:00.003Z

The lawn had its last cut of the year yesterday

(I hope)

and with it went the mushrooms

or toadstools

I don't know the difference.

I don't plan on eating them

so I'm not sure it matters.

I just wish I could have those

pretty fairytale mushrooms instead.

You know, the red ones with white spots?

Guess I'll just have to make them instead.

Blessings,

Andi xx

For Pooh Fans

2011-11-07T11:48:00.005Z

On the weekends I take Elsie for a walk in a park near to us which has a section called 'The Hundred Acre Woods'. This is a fantastic place where you can find Pooh's house:

and even post him a letter

The inside of the house has a table, chair and honey pot. Unfortunately the photos of this didn't come out because it was too dark.

Another unfortunate was that my memory card filled up, so there are no photos of Eeyore's Gloomy Place or the bridge where you can play Pooh Sticks. However, these are the pics I DID manage to take:

(and where Elsie nearly pulled me face first into that puddle)

(there is a tall, white pole in the ground just here)

Can you imagine the delight for any young Pooh fans visiting this place?

Blessings,

Andi xx

WE HAVE A GHOST

2011-10-29T16:24:00.004+01:00

Happy Halloween weekend everyone.

Along with having loads of fun with my photos over at this site:

Picnik

I thought I'd take the opportunity this mystical weekend to tell you about the ghost I believe is in our house, because you never truly know what lies behind closed doors.

Our house is over a hundred years old and I know at least one person has gasped their last breath here. Who knows how many others?

The house was originally owned by a Welshman who had a career in the stock exchange and was later knighted. It's his ghost I believe is in our house.

Come in and I'll tell you about it...

We first moved here when my daughter was one year old. In the first few months, at bedtime, I would carry her up the stairs and held her so that her face was looking over my shoulder.

She would point behind and say 'Man; man' as though someone was following us up the stairs.

Quite often, mostly where the kitchen would have been, I smell cigars. I love the smell of cigars but no one in our family smokes.

(okay I admit to becoming quite fond of herbal cigarettes during our production of Hay Fever but it only lasted for two weeks

and I ALWAYS smoked them outside and...yeah well.)

Then when she was three there was an evening when she came to the door of my study where I was writing and said 'I want a cuddle.'

'Okay then,' I said, opening my arms.

'I can't,' she replied. 'The man is in the way.'

'What man?'

'The man on the floor.'

At the time giving my daughter a cuddle was more important than any prostrate ghost, so I kicked the unseen heap out of the way and daughter came straight over to me.

I've often heard a voice say 'Hello?' when I've been alone in the house and I also think our ghost may be a bit of a randy old devil, because once when I was cleaning my teeth I felt a hand grab my bum. I screamed and turned, but I was alone.

OoohErrr, Missus.

Now that's the only evidence I have that we have a ghost and it may not sound much, but when you actually experience it, it's pretty hair-raising.

Also on this Halloween weekend we have a macabre incident:

Two of my Guatemalan worry dolls have been savaged, decapitated and mangled.

As yet we have no evidence as to who perpetrated this heinous crime, but we do have a suspect:

Looking into my crystal ball my dears, I can see you're all destined to have a wonderful weekend.

HAVE A SPOOKY, WOOKY WEEKEND EVERYONE!

Samhain blessings,

Andi xx

Penultimate Car Boot

2011-10-23T12:17:00.004+01:00

I am astounded to realise I've only been to two car boot sales this year. I can only think it's because of the arrival of a certain little puppy. Yesterday I went to our local car boot (with Elsie) and spent the grand total of £3.

(I used to complain privately about people who brought their dogs to car boot sales. Now I'm one of them!)

This card of mop buttons was 50p. I wasn't cheeky enough to ask for a discount because of the broken one.

The finger dressing and the tablets for aching legs were for my whimsical medicine cabinet in the downstairs loo. I just pick up these old bottles and things when I see them. They cost 50p for the two. The Elasto tablets for aching legs make me smile.

Four drawers from sewing machine tables cost £2.

The reason I bought these is because quite a while ago another blogger did a post about sewing machine table drawers and I CAN'T REMEMBER WHO IT WAS. All I remember is liking what she'd done, whether it was decorating them or putting them to some clever use.

Do any of you know who I'm talking about? Because if I don't find out, I've a feeling I'll be stuck with four redundant drawers.

Next week is the last car boot of the season, which I will try to go to. Perhaps I'll leave Elsie behind as she does hinder my search somewhat - although she does get lots of admirers.

Blessings,

Andi xx

Keys and a Haircut

2011-10-14T10:49:00.003+01:00

I saw a key box in a charity shop.

It wasn't the box that attracted me it was the old keys that decorated the front.

Someone had sewn the keys onto some fabric. The fabric was stained and not a pretty sight, so I took the keys off.

While I decide how best to display them, I thought you might like to see them:

Obviously one is to a clock, but the others are quite delicate. I imagine they were used for cabinets or boxes as they would snap if used for anything as tough as a door lock.

On a completely different subject, Elsie had her first bath and haircut on Tuesday.

I couldn't believe underneath that mop was a Welsh Terrier.

It's probably just my imagination but she seems better behaved now all the fur has gone (apart from chewing Dad's slipper, of course).

Blessings,

Andi xx

Back From Hols

2011-09-07T15:54:00.004+01:00

We've just returned from a two week break in Cornwall and Somerset (to a house of chaos - but that's another story). One of our day's out included a trip to Dunster Castle. On the way, I spotted a salvage yard, and miracle upon miracle, M agreed to stop.

As I know a lot of us here enjoy a good salvage yard, I thought I'd share some pics (with minimum commentary):

This fearsome beast greeted us at the entrance:

Old suitcases are popular at the moment:

A butcher's block:

complete with broken label:

Beautiful old stoves to keep you warm...

And a water pump for your bathing:

Milk churns are always fun (and a family joke)

A beautiful old lantern frame

My Nan had one of these in her porch:

but she didn't have a kangaroo

For some unknown reason I really wanted this signpost, but with all our luggage it wouldn't have got in the car:

giant clock hands

and just for fun...

Did I buy? Yes. I bought a large black cast iron saucepan to use in the garden. I forgot to take a pic. Maybe when I've planted it up.

A very enjoyable trip which doesn't happen often enough for me.

Blessings,

Andi xx

A Lesson Learned

2011-08-11T07:53:00.010+01:00

Oh dearie, dearie me.

Before I begin my tale I have to confess something:

My name is Andi and I sometimes do the school run in my pjs.

It's true. I have a tendency to be a Slummy Mummy.

I had been warned by my bestest friend,

'What if the car breaks down?'

On a ten minute run? How likely is that?

HAHAHAHAHAHA!

So I'm driving M to the train station, both wondering what the sudden strange noise was...

M deserts me - he has a train to catch.

RAC ETA - 2 hours.

I'm only about a mile from home so I decide to walk back...

up the steepest hill in the area....

Not only am I dressed in my pjs, I'm also desperate for the loo.

The effort of walking uphill is obviously putting pressure on my bladder and the desperation increases.

I'm walking like Max Wall...

To distract my thoughts, I text bestest friend to say I'll never scoff at her warnings again.

She replied 'Don't break into a run or they'll think you've escaped from the local hospital'.

We have lots of traffic on our road. Goodness knows what they thought.

Fortunately I only met one other person walking towards me

WHO STOPPED ME TO ASK DIRECTIONS!

Is there ANYTHING better than the blessed relief of reaching a toilet in such circumstances?

I've learned my lesson. From now on I'll dress before playing chauffeur.

Blessings,

Andi xx

Born To Be Wild

2011-08-07T11:32:00.004+01:00

Happy Sunday to you all!

I had put this sign in the wild patch in the garden but the colours ran in the rain, even though I used my sooper-dooper new laminator (I think the rain got in through the staple holes. Doh!).

The flowers are so beautiful. I think I prefer them to pedigree blooms.

I'm definitely a wild flower gal. I'm planning to expand the wild bed next year.

Moving away from the wild side...

I'm not especially fond of roses. I'm not into the colour pink either, but these roses are beautiful. It's a David Austin Old English scented rose and I believe it's called Ausbreeze:

are you ready for the heartbreak picture of this post?

Steal yourselves...

Elsie had her girlie tubes tied on Wednesday. She was very down in the tail for 24 hours, but soon perked up. The vet took her dressing off yesterday and she now has to wear the cone for a week to prevent her scratching, biting and licking the wound.

I feel so guilty.

Not only have I put her through all this horrible stuff, she'll never experience motherhood.

And I won't get to have grandpuppies.

*SIGH*

Blessings,

Andi xx

So easy it's almost cheating

2011-07-28T15:10:00.003+01:00

I've sewn something!

And as my title says, it was so easy I feel I'm cheating even telling you about it.

I needed a peg bag. My pegs until now have been kept in a plastic freezer bag - not a great sight. So when I found a blue spotty top in a charity shop, I thought making it into a peg bag would be a wheeze.

The woman who sold the top to me folded it up so carefully, I didn't have the heart to tell her I'd be cutting it up.

I've sewn three sides and done a bit of cutting. How simple was that? I feel it's hardly worth telling you about it. However, I did have to contend with some interruption...

Having never heard the sewing machine working before, Elsie was rather curious.

So perhaps this will explain why I'm feeling ever so slightly triumphant.

Blessings,

Andi xx

Flat Battery. Darn!

2011-07-25T11:02:00.006+01:00

First Harvest

Three blueberries from my garden.

So proud.

Thank you George the Lad and Rose H. The unidentified flower in my last post is indeed a Pheasant Berry (what a fantastic name). Sherri B. I thought it was some kind of fushia too. Looks very much like it, doesn't it?

School holidays are upon us so I took my daughter up to London for a girls' day out. I knew I should take my camera but the battery was flat. Darn! So here to help the tale along are some 'borrowed' photos.

First stop was Zara's at Oxford Circus where I bought a shirt and daughter tried on a white leather-look jacket. The jacket was lovely, but too old for my daughter, much to her disgust.

Then a stroll down Regent Street led us to All Saints.

Oh My!

Here is where I wished I'd had my camera. The shop was fitted out with hundreds of vintage sewing machines. Floor to ceiling.

Can you see in this pic?

There were also mangles and (I think) cider presses. I loved the shop just for the decor.

The clothes, alas, were out of my budget (£40 for a t-shirt? I don't think so) and of a style I'd imagine Helena Bonham Carter would wear on her more casual days. I loved it.

Then on to M&M World.

Again floor-to-ceiling decor only this time it was practical and edible. Tube after tube of M&Ms all the usual colours and more (black?). Clothes, toys - even dog chews. We had a great time.

Armed with a bag each of our favourite colours we made our way to the Novello Theatre in the Strand for the matinee of Betty Blue Eyes.

This is a musical version of Alan Bennett's 'A Private Function' and boasts an animated pig called Betty (voice supplied by Kylie Minogue, no less).

It was a jolly, patriotic kind of show that sent us home humming the tunes and wishing we had Union Jacks to wave.

A grand day out. Next time, I'll be sure to recharge the camera battery. Tch!

Blessings,

Andi xx

ps - thank you for all your congratulations re the play. Made me beam. xx

Elsie, Some News and a Question

2011-07-17T18:05:00.003+01:00

I meant to show you the pics of Elsie first, but it seems the following uploaded in this particular order, so here goes:

WE WON! The play wot I wrote won Best Production in the festival. Along with the brilliant performance by the cast we had them almost rolling in the aisles. I was so astonished. I was hoping for a couple of laughs and a few chuckles. The response was amazing.

Here I am collecting the trophy from the Festival Coordinator:

(Perhaps I'll remember to relax my shoulders next time.)

This has certainly encouraged me to write more for the stage.

NEXT - Elsie. Butter wouldn't melt, eh?

Here she is with a towel stolen from the downstairs loo:

Earlier on today she 'helped' me dig a hole for a paeony. Digging deep...

...and then deeper...

The other morning I found I'd left a cushion to my swing seat out all night. It had rained and the cushion was very wet. I left it in the kitchen to dry by the Aga while I went out for coffee....came back to find the kitchen filled with foam and a very amused puppy. Hmmmm.

Lastly, can anyone help me identify this plant?

I bought it at a car boot sale last year. The seller didn't know what it was either but told me it grew well and was easy to care for. I've searched google images but can't find it.

I'll try and blog more often from now on.

Blessings,

Andi xx

It Runs In the Family

2011-06-10T14:49:00.002+01:00

This is a photo of Granny Owens. She is my g-g-grandmother born Elizabeth Edwards in Wales in the 1850s.

She lived into her 80s and according to my Nan she would do any job that needed doing - which included digging graves. On Christmas Day she would walk from her cottage to my Nan's with her apron full of fruit.

Now the photo above seems an ordinary photo of my g-g-grandmother, but if we take a closer look under chair...

I believe I can see terrier fur, a box face and black nose and ear.

I like to think the camera-shy pooch is a Welsh Terrier and that I have something in common with my ancestor in owning one.

My Elsie is growing bigger and peskier all the time. Yesterday, while I was hanging out washing she ran around the garden with a pair of my knickers in her mouth. Thanks, Els.

Blessings,
Andi
xx

I'm Still Here

2011-05-26T08:29:00.005+01:00

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to let you all know that I'm still around but have so much going on at the moment I don't seem to have much time for blogging.

A play wot I wrote has been shortlisted for a competition and I've had to get a cast and backstage staff together as well as direct the play. The learning curve is so steep it's almost vertical. I have to be honest and say I'll be glad when it's over.

Then there's Elsie...

Oh boy. Just when I think the house training is a success, she pops a surprise. She's gorgeous and lots of fun, but it's like having a toddler in the house - she needs to be watched all the time.

I will try to visit your blogs when I can and hope to write a bit more soon.

Hope you are all well and happy. I'll leave you with a link to this video. It gets funnier every time I look at it.

how to upset your dog

Blessings,

Andi xx

At Home

2011-04-25T10:11:00.015+01:00

Happy Easter everyone. Hope you all had a wonderful time. We didn't go away for the holiday as Elsie has only just had her second lot of vaccinations. However, we did go out for her first official walk:

She was interested in everything and of course got lots of attention from people we met. She's very nervous of other dogs though, so we have to ease her in gently with a few smaller, calmer dogs.

She is gradually losing the black on her face and the brown fur is coming through.

We took her to a local park which has country walks, a walled garden and an outdoor theatre. I liked these seats:

Elsie is chewing everything. She bites the blooms off flowers - attracted by the nodding action. Today she ate a wasp. I believe she is Imelda Marcos reincarnated as she LOVES shoes.

This weekend saw the demise of Sasha and Elaine:

(Yes, I have named my clothes pegs. Why not?)

And my garden trolls have been terrorised outside their own front door.

Elsie drags them off by the hair.

What a monster!

This is a bloom she has not been able to reach. A paeony we inherited from the previous owner of our house:

This week I am linking to Met Monday over at Between Naps on the Porch. These stepladders I bought at a car boot last year for £4.

They've been in the shed ever since while I waited for time and opportunity to paint them:

I got the idea for white stepladders to display plants from Sal over at Sal's Snippets

Sal has a greenhouse and surrounding area I covet.

I've been having fun in the garden during the glorious weather we've been having. I'll show you some more next time.

Blessings,
Andi xx

Absolute Chaos

2011-03-27T15:28:00.005+01:00

Introducing

ELSIE

Our little Welsh Terrier came to live with us last Sunday and since then has given us a week of chaos and love.

It's like caring for a new baby again. I can only get chores done when she's sleeping. Oh but she's soooooo sweet.

I'm sorry I haven't got too many nice pics of her yet. She seems very curious about the camera...

But I hope to post some nicer ones later on.

This morning was the first morning there wasn't any crying or howling. I hope she's finally settled in. She certainly looks it during the day

Blessings,

Andi (and Elsie) xx

Sunday News

2011-03-20T06:25:00.005Z

A word of advice

However gently and responsibly you swing a sledgehammer

you will still ache down one side in the morning.

OUCH!

Today is a very exciting day in the Attic household.

We are expecting a new addition to the family.

Here's a clue

I promise to post a pic ASAP.

Blessings,

Andi xx

KIWIS DON'T FLY

2011-03-03T09:57:00.006Z

Picture taken from http://www.juicer-detective.com/vegetable-juicing.html

I read this post at One Shabby Old House a little while ago and it inspired me to dust down my juicer and begin using it. I've been feeling completely devoid of energy since Christmas and I thought juicing might help.

So I've been juicing every morning for a week now. My favourite so far is carrot, apple, kiwi and parsley. It's delicious and seems to be helping my energy levels. However...

This morning a piece of kiwi flew out of the juicer before I could push it down the funnel:

It ended up on my ceiling!

(quite difficult photographing something stuck to the ceiling)

A few weeks ago I was given this lovely award by Amy over at Blighty Boutique

I am to tell you seven things about myself. Seven. I'm running out of things to tell you - I'm a very boring person really. Hey, perhaps that could count as the first one?

1. I got 'unclassified' for my CSE maths exam (for those who don't know, this was the lowest level of exam you could be entered for back in the 70's). My talent in this subject really is abysmal.

2. I once tried for a job as dolphin trainer (no maths needed here!).

3. Although I admire their beauty and grace from a far, I am not fond of cats. This may stem from the time at infant school when our headmistress (an old battleaxe if ever there was one) shouted 'mind where you're walking'. In a crowd of about 100 children how was I supposed to know she was shouting at me? I stepped on the school cat's tail. I was made to apologise to the cat in front of the whole school.

4. I am a quarter Welsh and I'm inexplicably thrilled about it.

5. I love the old fashioned penny slot machines and would like to own one one day.

6. When I was small I was convinced the wind was whispering my name.

7. I believe in ghosts and that we have one in our present house. My daughter used to see 'him' when she was very little. Now she's older she no longer sees him but I occassionally get a whiff of ghostly cigar.

Thanks Amy for passing on this award. Now, as with other awards, I'm supposed to pass this on to a number of others. I am reluctant to do this as I can't pick out any in particular. Let's put it this way, I wouldn't follow your blog if I didn't enjoy reading it and in my opinion you are all deserving of the:

Blessings,

Andi xx

Memory Lane Mondays

2011-02-28T12:40:00.008Z

Thank you for all the birthday wishes you sent to me. I had a lovely day with no housework, and because my birthday fell during half term and I was running the kids here, there and everywhere, I didn't do much cleaning for the rest of the week either. My house now looks as though one of those terrifying Facebook parties has taken place in it. I've made a start, but as Joan Rivers once observed:

'The trouble with housework is, you do it and then six months later you have to do it all again'.

Here we are at another Memory Lane Monday hosted by Donna at Brynwood Needleworks and keeping on the topic of housework I present here a photo of me, taken probably somewhere around 1963:

I am standing on a chair to clean the sink in my nan and granddad's flat. Funny how kids love to clean the sink, isn't it? Equally funny how quickly they grow out of it!

Nan and Granddad were moved into the flat when the row of terraced houses where they lived was demolished. This was the 60's and the beginning of the 'stack 'em high' way of living.

I think the wallpaper was plastic or vinyl, and look at those tall taps:

No problems getting a large saucepan under those.

We cleaned the sink with Vim. I believe it's still sold but not as I remember it. It was harsh powder sold in a tube with holes in the top to shake out the powder. We used this for years until some bright spark at a marketing agency somewhere came up with the idea of 'cream cleaner' which didn't scratch ('Flash cleans baths without scratching' - who was that Scottish actress?).

I couldn't find an advert for Vim, but here's a link for a 60's one about Flash that's quite fun:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTQ6zTVr3qA

Thanks for taking a stroll with me down Memory Lane.

Blessings,
Andi xx

I Can't Give You Anything But Love

2011-02-21T11:35:00.005Z

I am feeling very UP today.

Which is fantastic because today is my birthday!

How lucky that the 'glad to be alive, in love with everyone' feeling happened to come along today. I've been waiting long enough!

Amongst the goodies I've received for my birthday I heard I was one of the luckiest girls in blogland. I'd won the giveaway from Carolyn over at Love Stitching Red. Carolyn has a wonderful talent of creativity and for quite a while I've been in awe of the things she has shown us on her blog. To find out I'd won was just...WOW!

All wrapped beautifully...

With such a sweet label...

Was a red heart. And I love it. This is something special that will go on display somewhere very prominent so that any visitor will see and admire it...

Thank you Carolyn for such a special giveaway (and for picking my name out).

My birthday treat this year was a theatre trip to see this show...

If any of you are Garland fans and you're near enough, I urge you NOT to miss this show.

Tracie Bennett is phenomenal! She is the nearest you will ever get to seeing Judy performing live. Her performance is so powerful I can't imagine how she summons up the energy every evening and she well deserved the standing ovation we gave her.

She is supported by Hilton McRae who gives an almost heartbreaking performance as her gay pianist.

This is a show that will stay with me for a long time.

Thank you for reading, and in the spirit of my 'come on world, show me what you've got' state of mind today...

I love you all!

Blessings,

Andi

Teddy With a Tale

2011-02-04T09:49:00.003Z

Today I am contributing to Melody's Teddy Bears' Picnic. I'm a day late but I think you know me well enough by now to realise that's par for the course.

This teddy has a tale to tell which hopefully will warm your heart.

He doesn't have a name. He's about eighteen years old and for the first few years of his life he sat in my baby son's bedroom along with lots of other stuffed toys, neither loved nor played with.

He was just a gift-shop bear that someone had given my son when he was born and basically was used just to help decorate the baby's room.

Then, in 1995, my Nan died. Remembering she'd once told us that, growing up, she'd always wanted a teddy bear but never had one, I looked around the house for a bear to sleep with her in eternal rest. The unloved, unnamed bear was taken down from the shelf and his destiny was sealed...or so I thought.

My mum suddenly announced that she'd had the exact same thought as me and had bought an anonymous bear from a card shop.

Our bear was reprieved!

Now this unnamed, unloved bear had a special meaning for me and for years sat on my bedside table until, one day, my then five year old daughter came home from school very excited and announced there was to be a Teddy Bears' Picnic the very next day and they were all to take in a Teddy to join in the fun.

Guess which bear she picked out of all the bears in the house?

So this unloved, unnamed bear was suddenly elevated to 'very special, very lucky' bear and spent a day in the sun at a Teddy Bears' Picnic.

Whenever I look at him now and think of where he could have been, I can't help but give him a hug.

The end.

Blessings,

Andi xx

VE Day becomes VA Day

2011-01-31T08:25:00.007Z

This week I am joining in with Donna over at Brynwood Needlework for her first ever Memory Lane Monday. I am also hoping to link with Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for her Tablescape Thursday this week.

I hope Donna will forgive me for stretching the rules a little bit as this post is not about one of my memories but a celebration of my dad's.

My dad was 80 yesterday and we had a family lunch in celebration.

This is a photo of the real VE Day celebrations in his street. My dad can be found at the end of the arrow!

Dad has often said the war years were the happiest of his life. He went from living in a flat in Tottenham to being evacuated to Norfolk, living with an elderly couple who taught him the ways of the countryside and fed him with home-caught, home-grown food. He learned to catch rabbits, make music with a blade of grass and to hang around the nearby American airbase in the hope of some gum!

Keeping this in mind, I decided (at the last minute unfortunately) to have a VE Day type celebration for his 80th birthday. As his initials are V.A. I decided to change it from VE Day to VA Day:

The idea only came to me on Saturday afternoon, so it turned out to be a real wartime 'make do and mend' decorated theme. Red and blue napkins were found and arranged on top of white table mats and tablecloth.

Would you believe I had red and blue fabric left over from making my son a quilt about ten years ago? I used it (and an old white bedsheet) to make bunting:

The Union Jacks were printed from the internet and stuck onto chopsticks. Here are a couple stuck in an old milk bottle we found in the attic:

I brought my Nan's old radio down from the attic as well. I think this is a 50's radio rather than a war-time one, but you can't have everything!

The food I kept to traditional English. Pea Soup, called 'London Particular', Roast Beef with all the trimmings followed by jam roly-poly and custard (Gary Rhodes has wonderful recipes for the pea soup and the roly-poly). Just the kind of nostalgic food my dad loves.

Here he is blowing the candles out on the roly-poly!

So Donna I hope you will forgive me for changing the rules slightly. I wanted to acknowledge my dad reaching the grand age of 80 and letting you all see the wonderful photo of the real VE Day.

H A P P Y B I R T H D A Y, D A D!

Blessings,

Andi xx

Make of the Month

2011-01-26T11:13:00.007Z

I have joined Annie at The Felt Fairy and pledged to make one item a month. This is a big thing for me as I tend to procrastinate, as you will see as you read on.

This month I have completed a dressing gown:

The fabric is called 'From the Hip' from Alexander Henry's 2000 collection. I bought it a number of years ago (too long to remember exactly) and had to order it from the US as it wasn't sold in the UK.

Fortunately, my BiL works a few months a year in the US, so I had the supplier ship it to him in Albuquerque and he brought it home for me (what a lovely BiL I have).

At the time, the only pattern I could find for a robe was a Vogue pattern. I'd have preferred Simplicity as, although I've made clothing before, I'm not the most proficient seamstress and I need clear cut instructions.

Eagerly I cut the pattern and the fabric, made all the notches and marks... and here is where I question my sanity:

Girls, I tried to sew this thing together on CHRISTMAS EVE! Can you believe it? What was I thinking? Nowadays, my fingers rake through my hair in disbelief.

CHRISTMAS EVE!

The Vogue instructions were not easy to understand. The Vogue diagrams could not be deciphered. I became frustrated and put the whole project away where it has sat for years, forgotten, in the bottom of the wardrobe until this past weekend when I rescued it.

My pledge to make one thing a month was the thing that spurred (Ha!) me on. I couldn't let this wonderful fabric go to waste...

So here it is:

I have fulfilled my pledge for the month of January. Thank you, Annie, for encouraging me. The sense of achievement is very high considering how long I've ignored it.

And I pledge never to buy a Vogue pattern again!

Blessings,

Andi xx

A little tip

2011-01-17T15:16:00.003Z

Just a little tip:

never leave your knitting bag

where your son's big clodhoppers can find it!

A useful tip I thought I'd pass along.

Blessings,

Andi xx

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2011-01-07T21:27:00.003Z

Happy New Year everyone! We had a houseful at Christmas with thirteen on Christmas Day and Fifteen on Boxing Day. It was loud, it was busy, it was fun!

I was busy before Christmas making this doll for my mum:

Mum fell in love with a 'Time Out' doll that was in the cottage we rented during the summer holidays. If anyone sells them here in the UK, I couldn't find them, so I sent off to the US for a pattern and had fun making 'Lottie'. It was even more fun searching for clothes in all the charity shops. Everything but the stuffing was recycled - I even found (unused, still packaged) hair pieces in the charity shops, which pleased me so much.

Here are a few of my favourite presents I received this Christmas. Mum really came up trumps with this button tin from Oxfam which she'd filled with cs buttons:

Fantastic!

My eighteen year old son was brilliant. He had braved the haberdashery department at John Lewis (I presume) to buy me two balls of wool:

I'll have to look for something to knit with just this wool. If any of you can point me towards suitable patterns, I'd be very grateful.

Are any of you familiar with this picture?

It's the 'knitted tree' by Carol Hummel. I loved this idea so much I have spent time knitting for my own tree in the garden. It's long work as I don't knit very fast, but it's coming along. Anyhow, my SiL and niece (aged 10) knitted me these contributions:

I've been so thrilled and touched by every one of these gifts which were sooooo appropriate. I love, love, love them.

Now, I'm not sure how much time you'll have if you're interested in this next item, but I had added to my 'watched' list on eBay (UK) this collection of buttons:

They are being sold by digital1971. I started watching when the price was about £1.99, thinking 'oh they're nice - I'll keep my eye on those.' The last time I looked the price was up to £122.00!

I don't think I'll be bidding.

The seller also has this collection of jewellery for sale:

Just enlarge the pic if you can and drool.

Blessings,

Andi xx

Merry Christmas One and All

2010-12-23T12:06:00.003Z

Well, it's almost upon us. Good luck everyone. Hope the celebrations go fantastically well for you all.

Slight mishap yesterday whilst changing the sheets on the beds. You see, because I'm lazy that way, I usually throw the dirty linen down the stairwell. This keeps my hands free to carry the zillion and one cups and plates down from the kids' rooms. Two jobs for the price of one, see.

Unfortunately, this time I totally forgot that there was a beautifully decorated Christmas tree standing directly underneath the stairwell. I remembered just as the last thread of bed sheet left my fingers and began its decent.

Nothing smashed fortunately, but the carpet was strewn with baubles, pine needles and beads. The south-face of the tree has now been redecorated!

Yeah, right!

HAVE A WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS EVERYONE

AND AN EXTREMELY HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Blessings,

Andi xx

Dressing Room and Giveaway

2010-12-15T18:27:00.014Z

So quite innocently this morning, rushing out of the house on the school run, I grabbed the first hat available. On arrival home, I realised the hat was red and I was wearing a purple dress...

'When I'm an old woman I shall wear purple with a red hat that doesn't go...'

It's happened!

I also realised it might be time to show you the progress on my dressing room. The picture above was taken there - the full-length mirror will be hung on the door once the door has been painted (next year).

Here's the picture that appeared on my very first post over a year ago. The room was just a (junk) storage room:

This is what it looked like at the beginning of the renovations:

And here it is now:

It's such an advantage not having to get dressed in the dark in the mornings (I am first up - M still sleeping).

The boot storage could do with a curtain across perhaps:

I'm re-purposing charity shop candlesticks as hat stands:

This is my dressing table which is just the right size for the alcove:

The dressing table set I found in a charity shop for £10:

The brooch cushion I embroidered many years ago from a pattern in Una Stubbs' In Stitches, but I'd really like a tailor's dummy:

I had to get quite a small, high hanging chandelier because the loft-hatch is in the dressing room and head space was needed:

I still need a carpet and a few more finishing touches, but I'm very pleased to have my own dressing room. I wonder how long it will be before it's invaded and taken over by my daughter?

GIVEAWAY

I'm sorry I didn't publish the result yesterday as promised. The winning name was pulled from the hat yesterday morning, but before I could post, I had some bad news from a friend and I really didn't have the heart to blog.

However, I'm now able to tell you that the winner of my giveaway is:

BELLABOO

http://bellascountry.blogspot.com/

Congratulations Bellaboo. Your parcel is winging it's way to you as I write. I hope you receive it before Christmas and that the snow doesn't delay it.

Thanks everyone who entered. I really appreciate the visits you pay me and my little blog.

Blessings,

Andi

Pictures at last

2010-12-12T19:33:00.003Z

Blogger has decided to let my pictures through at last. These are the three pics I wanted to show you in my last post.

Two little dolls (brother and sister I think), I found in a charity shop for £2.50 the pair. They're dressed in homemade clothes and I think they're sweet:

In the same charity shop (and not so cheap) was this embroidered picture. It measures about 22"x18" and the work that has gone into it is amazing:

And finally, here is a picture of a few things that will be included in my giveaway:

I went to an antique fair this morning and found a few other bits to be added. All of you who left comments on my last post or leave comments on this post will have their name put in the hat (that might mean two comments = two entries, I haven't decided yet. What do you think?)

So glad to have the picture uploader working again.

Hope you all had a great weekend.

Blessings,

Andi

Mystery Giveaway

2010-12-10T17:10:00.005Z

Thank you to everyone who took time to leave a message on my last post. I'm relieved to see I'm not the only one suffering from these Senior Moments. To all of you, I raise my glass and give you the toast 'may all your senior moments be few but funny'.

This is a very quick post to apologise for the delay in organising the promised giveaway in my last post. Delay has been caused by:

1. Christmas preparations

2. My camera playing up (or being borrowed)

And just when I find enough time to post, Blogger is not uploading any of my photos.

So how do you fancy a mystery giveaway?

It's a modest affair, but includes Christmas soap, gift tags, rubber stamp (snowflake), the felt terrier tree ornament from Wilkinsons. There's more but I don't want to spoil the surprise.

Just leave me a comment below and your name might just be the one to be pulled out the hat by my daughter next Tuesday morning. Short notice I know, but I want to get the parcel in the post asap.

Good luck, and spread the word.

Blessings,

Andi

Senior Moments

2010-11-25T13:46:00.007Z

I had a senior moment the other day. Not forgetting why I'd gone into a room, or where I'd put my car keys or anything as trivial as that, oh no. This one has caused a gunshot of laughter whenever I've told the tale. Hoping it will also bring a smile to your face (and may I also hope, a little sympathy?), I relate it here:

Sitting down to write out a birthday card for my ex sister-in-law, I realised I would need my glasses. I got up, found glasses, put them on and then continued writing the card, addressing the envelope and sealing it. Not until it was all done did I realise...I'd put my hat on instead of my glasses.

I've had just one other momentous moment in my life, but I my kids were small then and I blame early motherhood rather than age:

A light bulb had blown on the landing upstairs. I went all the way downstairs, collected a new light bulb and the stepladders and went all the way back up. I was standing under the light preparing to go up and it was that moment I realised I'd collected the ironing board instead of the ladder.

Please, please comfort me ladies by telling me I'm not alone in these 'brain on holiday' moments. If you've experienced anything similar, I would love to hear them.

Oh, by the way, I'm hoping to have a little giveaway on 1st December, so please come back then for a visit.

And HAPPY THANKSGIVING to you all in the USA!

blessings,

Andi

Lovely Things

2010-11-19T19:42:00.009Z

Right, let's get this blog dusted and up and running again.

I've been enjoying visiting all your blogs but don't seem to have been able to get on with my own, but a surprise happening this week has encouraged me to write...

The lovely Amy over at Blighty Boutique (http://blightyboutique.blogspot.com/) (my link gadget doesn't seem to be working) had a giveaway. There were two prizes but Amy found she had such a response that she decided to have an, unplanned, third prize. I was the lucky third prize winner. This is what arrived at my door last Tuesday...

Lots of goodies. Embroidery patterns for gnomes and fairies:

A beautiful retro Christmas card...

and inside....

A postcard advertising something I wouldn't pick off the shelf in the supermarket. I would suggest a new marketing name...

Thank you so much, Amy. It was a sweet package to brighten up my day. Please pay a visit to Amy's lovely, fun blog http://blightyboutique.blogspot.com/ and start her on her way to 200 followers.

What else has happened? Oh, a trip to Dublin with best friend Tammy. We stayed at The Gresham Hotel where I had the best fillet steak EVER. Dublin is a lovely city and we must have walked miles, visiting all the charity shops we could find.

They have green post boxes in Dublin...

And Guiness toucans...

(I love toucans)

And some wonderful places to eat. This is where we had breakfast...

Yes, Butler's Chocolate Cafe. Wonderful.

The trip wasn't just on a whim. Some of you might remember I'm (just a tiny bit) a fan of Alan Rickman. He is in a play at the moment (John Gabriel Borkman by Ibsen) at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin with Lindsey Duncan and Fiona Shaw, and the opportunity to see him on stage was too much for me to resist (even though it involved a flight to Dublin).

The production was wonderful. I was very happy.

Oh, and then there was our own production of Hay Fever which was so much fun. Noel Coward's plays are such wonderful things to be involved in and I enjoyed every minute (even when my bracelet got caught on the sofa and I had to improvise until I'd got it free!)

Here is one of my costumes. The infamous fur I spoke about a few months ago (the rabbit would have been about 90 had it lived). All the costumes I wore were authentic 1920's and were gorgeous:

Lots of other things have been happening, but I think that's enough for one post.

Have a lovely weekend, everyone.

blessings,

Andi

2010-11-11T21:33:00.003Z

Thomas Hooper

c. 1898-1916

Frederick Andrews

c.1897-1918

'For your tomorrows we gave our todays'

Both my grandfathers fought in and survived WW1 but both lost their younger only brothers - named above.

My son celebrated his eighteenth birthday on Tuesday. I can't and don't want to think how it would feel to wave him off to war.

This morning at 11.00 I remembered not only those who fought and fell (on both sides of the trenches - most of the 'enemy' didn't want to be there either), but also the mothers, wives, sisters and daughters who watched their loved ones go.

blessings,

Andi

RIP TONY CURTIS

2010-10-01T09:26:00.006+01:00

Goodbye Tony. Thanks for playing such a huge part in my adolescence. xx

The Best Laid Plans...

2010-08-12T11:09:00.003+01:00

I had this post all planned out for yesterday and then for some reason Blogger wouldn't upload my pics. Anyone else have the same problem?

Three different subjects in today's post as I haven't posted for a while. The first is for White Wednesday (yes, yes, I know it's Thursday - see above excuse) over at Kathleen's Faded Charm.

I am proud to announce that after five or six years and a season later than expected, my magnolia has finally flowered:

Just the one flower and I think the rain has battered it a little, but it's here and I'm not complaining. There's also one more bud about to burst open. Let's hope it's a sign of things to come next year.

Secondly, I'm contributing two pics for Barb's (Bella Vista) 'Show Us Your Roosters' party.

This chap was found in a charity shop. His head is on a long spring and I had to supply new legs using chopsticks...

The next guy was bought in a restaurant. The owners were selling them for charity and they're made from recycled plastic bags:

I think he looks a bit suspicious, but I assure you he's been well treated.

And finally, going way back to last year and my very first post ever:

http://andisenglishattic.blogspot.com/2009/10/making-mess-to-clear-mess.html

Pal Eddie has returned and my walk-in wardrobe is being created as I type. Here's a pic from the first day's work:

OK, so we're not talking a Sarah Jessica Parker-sized wardrobe here, but it's going to be fun and will release some wardrobe space in our bedroom (M can have some clothes space now, bless).

More photos as the work progresses.

Have a happy week.

Blessings,
Andi xx

Murder at Andi's

2010-07-28T22:45:00.008+01:00

I try not to kill anything.

Spiders are caught with a mini vacuum cleaner and put safely outside, bees and butterflies are caught with a child's fishing net and again, put outside...

But WASPS?

I don't like killing even them, but I do. So when I discovered we had a wasps' nest way up on the apex of the roof, I called in the experts and had them...

EXTERMINATED!

Within a few hours our roof was free of the horrid things. Cost me £50 but in the case of wasps I consider this money well spent.

Imagine my dismay when, the very next day, I discovered ANOTHER nest this time in the roof of the kitchen (a single-storey part of the house). We seem to be the vacation of choice in the wasp world. As this nest was in a more accessible part of the house (for humans as well as wasps), I was charged a discount rate of £40. That's £90 just to get rid of the Devil's invention. Grrrrrr!

And continuing the subject of killing:

This is my latest find:

I have been after this picture for a couple of years now and have never seen it for sale (well, the original Warhol has been on sale but my bank balance didn't stretch that far), so was delighted to find one for sale on Ebay.

I'm a big fan of Judy Garland (the Capitol years rather than the Mickey Rooney stuff) and this picture I think is just wonderful.

However, it wasn't until after I'd bought it that I found out this particular picture was part of a campaign to promote the wearing of fur. I am very much against wearing fur and it worried me for a while that I was displaying a picture that went against my beliefs. Then I decided that I'd bought the picture not for it's statement but because I think it's a great picture. So it's staying.

Another fur problem came along this week. I'm very lucky to have been cast as Myra Arundel in Noel Coward's Hay Fever. Myra is a gift of a character and is great fun to play, but because she's a rich socialite of the 1920's I'm going to be wearing a fur stole. Wearing fur was considered perfectly correct back then, as was smoking (which I'm also having to do). I was asked if I minded the fur and the cigarettes, but I believe my own prejudices shouldn't interfere with the character Coward created. If I want to play her I have to be prepared to take on all that she is. So for ten nights and a couple of dress rehearsals, I shall be draped in fur.

Goodness, it's a blood-bath here!

Blessings,
Andi
xx

HATFIELD HOUSE

2010-07-24T15:37:00.005+01:00

My two began their summer holiday a week ago and on Wednesday we took a trip to Hatfield House. We're not too far from Hatfield but apart from a visit when I was younger, have never been.

Hatfield House is Jacobean built between 1607-1611 and has heavy associations with Queen Elizabeth I. It has been in the Cecil family for around 400 years and the family still lives there, so only part of the house is open to the public.

Painting of the house on the wall of the dining area.

Photography was not permitted inside the house, but I managed to sneak this pic through the window. The long driveway is not open to the general public, but can you imagine a cloaked rider galloping full pelt towards the house?

Inside the house we saw a pair of gloves and silk stockings owned by Elizabeth, the library which holds around 10.000 books, and the famous 'rainbow' portrait of Elizabeth:

Elizabeth spent much of her childhood in the 'house' (palace) that stood on the grounds previously. I have been told she was sent here by her father, Henry VIII, whenever he thought she was too outspoken. It was here that Elizabeth was told her sister, Mary, was dead and that she was now Queen.

Some of the gardens are laid out just as they were four hundred years ago:

The gardens were full of flowers but they were obviously suffering from the dry weather and didn't look their glorious best. This one looked quite spectacular:

And some of the trees so old and gnarled, they had to be propped up with sticks. I'm not sure what this tree is, but I managed to find some windfall seed pods which I'll plant to see what happens:

(view of the house without car park in foreground!)

(cool and shady, eh?)

Even the drains had a certain charm:

Of course there was a gift shop, but also a wonderful shop that sold, not only gifts but antiques too. Much time was spent browsing in this one, I can assure you!

Blessings,

Andi

AWARDS

2010-07-14T10:45:00.008+01:00

I am delighted to have received two awards and although they have the same title, they both have different designs and a slight variation on their requirements.

Firstly, and I'm embarrassed to say quite a while ago, I received this award from Alina over at The Purple Caravan :

and then a short while ago I received this one from Barbara over at Moore Whimsies :

Alina's version of this award stated that I had to share nine things about myself whilst Barbara's required seven, so I'm cheating a little and giving you the nine and hope Barbara won't mind sharing as I think going on with sixteen things about myself is a tad self-indulgent. Here goes:

I say a mental 'thank you' to my supermarket trolley when I take it back to the 'pound'. Don't ask why, I'm just a very polite (eccentric) person I guess.

I love time travel stories.

Quentin Crisp and Atticus Finch are two people who have most shaped my philosophy on life.

I don't like walking through long grass.

I went up the aisle to 'The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba' because when I was small and stayed with my grandparents I would dress up in their old net curtains and my granddad would laugh and say 'Oh look, here comes the Queen of Sheba'. Draped in net and lace, I couldn't have walked up the aisle to anything else.

I still have my Barbie doll from 1967 and think she was the best Christmas present I ever received.

I would choose a good bonfire-cooked jacket potato with lashings of butter as my last meal.

I know someone who knows someone who's won an Oscar.

And lastly, I think my epitaph is likely to read 'She meant well'.

Thank you ladies for bestowing these awards on me.

Now, the other rule is that I'm supposed to pass this award on to 15/9 other blogs, and I have to admit I have difficulty in fulfilling this part of the agreement. Every single blog I follow is deserving, in my opinion, of these awards and I cannot choose. Also, I know that many of you no longer accept awards. With these things in mind, I am going to say that anyone who reads my blog and that knows I am a follower of theirs is invited to accept this award, because you all deserve it.

Thanks for dropping by.

Blessings,

Andi xx

Weekly Treasures

2010-07-05T13:01:00.006+01:00

What a fantastic response I had to the Sonority Sisterhood post last week. It was so lovely to meet so many new sisters and pay a visit to all your blogs. Thank you all for leaving such lovely comments and I'm looking forward to our next get-together.

Now, once again I'm joining in with Rhoda at Southern Hospitality for her weekly Thrifty Treasures party.

I bought a few things at Sunday's car boot sale. One was a set of six heavy-duty wheels (another buyer told me they were wheels for shop cabinets). I have ambitions of building a pull-truck out of some old sheets of wood I have, to help transport bags of compost etc. around the garden. (I say 'ambitions' because...well, don't hold your breath.)

But you don't want to see those, do you? Oh, OK:

The star buy was this Singer sewing machine table, already painted and with a wonderful piece of wood on top:

It's not in working order of course and I got it for £20 which I was very pleased about:

I originally had plans of using it in the garden for plant display, but I can't possibly leave that wood to the elements so it's come indoors and into the 'breakfast room'.

The other treasure I picked up, and for a mere £2, was this pretty firescreen:

Beautiful embroidery but as you may be able to see, lots of water stains:

So I want to ask your advice on 1) getting the embroidery out of the screen (it looks like it's sealed in) and 2) how do I get the stains out? Or is that the reason such a treasure was so cheap? Any advice would be very much appreciated.

Have a great week,

Blessings,

Andi xx

BLOGGERETTE SORORITY

2010-06-26T12:34:00.002+01:00

Won't you join us?

It was yesterday I know. I was supposed to post this yesterday and join in the Sisters in the Bloggerette Sorority over at Karen's Some Days Are Diamonds, but I have to admit to a state of inertia in the latter half of this week.

You see, I got up the ladder in order to begin painting the walls of my kitchen (Craig and Rose's 1897 Adam Cream) when I had a huge shock. HOW FILTHY WAS MY CEILING? As you can imagine, I rarely get up there to inspect it closely but I never imagined...

I blame it on the Aga. It does tend to attract dust.

Anyhoo, I hot-footed it to the shops to load up with Flash and two car wash sponges. By Wednesday I was a limp rag, fit for nothing and that's how I've remained until today when I finally have the energy to get off my **** and DO something.

Karen gave us an image of the five sisters in the pic above and asked us to use it in some way, then photograph what we'd done and include one of ourselves. Here is my humble offering. The sisters went through a few incarnations before I finally stopped being embarrassed by my efforts!

I bought this little cabinet in a cs before Christmas. I haven't done anything to it except put the five sisters in the window. I arranged some CK lavender products and lace in the drawer for added interest:

The lilacs and window box were painted with some watercolours I had lying around in the cupboard. The lace trim was left over from when I made my daughter's christening gown:

Lastly, in the words of Mike Yarwood 'And this is me':

Very pleased to have joined the Sisters and I look forward to meeting you all soon when I visit your blogs this weekend.

Blessings,

Andi

This Week's Treasures

2010-06-14T10:45:00.004+01:00

This week I'm joining in Rhoda's Thrifty Treasures party over at Southern Hospitality.

I managed to get to two car boot sales this weekend and the first gave me this treasure for £4:

Something I've been looking for since seeing some of your pics of white step-ladders in the garden decorated with pot plants (and I've also given you a preview of my hand shadow show).

At the same boot I bought a wooden fire surround for the breakfast room (oh, that sounds grand doesn't it? It isn't. We eat all our meals there. We just call it the breakfast room because that's what was on the estate agent's details when we bought the place - it has a more 'Edwardian' feel to it).

There's no photo of the fire surround because it was squirrelled away into the shed awaiting a lick of white paint. You see, M has no idea about my plans for that room. He works by the 'if it aint broke, don't fix it' rule and is happy for rooms to stay as they are unless there's something wrong. So presenting him with a fait accompli is preferable to waiting for an authentic period fire surround to come along.

A Portmeirion cake stand for a friend who collects it. I have some too but have to admit that I've got a bit bored with it:

I love this tea set. It has a cup missing but I just love the polka dots:

Just don't use it for tea with anyone who has chicken pox.

A stair basket. I've been after one of these for a few years but they're either difficult to find or too expensive. This was £3. Now we won't trip over all the junk that's on the stairs. We can trip over a basket instead.

Apparently these cards were a fresh batch that day and I had first pick:

Inspired by Lululiz in Lalaland, I hope to 'do something' with these. I'm also hoping Lululiz might cast her expert eye over the pic (sorry it's not more detailed) and let me know if she thought I got a good deal at 50p each.

Btw - in case you were wondering - the kitchen doors have now all been painted and waxed and the doors are now back on the cupboards (after weeks with open cupboards isn't it a pain having to open doors to get cups out?!!!), the garden is being worked on and one raised bed has been made out of the pallet. Progress photos to follow at later dates. I've also been remiss in posting about my erosion bundle and an award I was given by the ever sweet Alina over at The Purple Caravan. These will also follow soon.

Blessings,

Andi xx

Knock on wood

2010-06-11T21:48:00.004+01:00

I've inherited a few things from my dad; a need to keep a stick for stirring paint (see earlier post), a bunion and an inability to throw away wood.

So when I was left with a pallet after a delivery of plasterboard, did it get thrown away? Absolutely not - I am my father's daughter. It was left hanging around in the garden until I had the time to dismantle it and use it for raised beds for my blueberry bushes:

The problem was, these things are sturdily built. I guess they have to be, considering the weight they have to support. There is a very useful demonstration on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtPmUZ-k3aI) on how to break up a pallet in a way that doesn't destroy the wood, but it would appear you need to be a big strong chap to do it this way. When I tried, nothing moved at all!

So, just in case any of you girls have plans to reuse a pallet, I thought I might show you how I, a weak and feeble woman, took mine apart.

Firstly, here are the tools:

A crowbar (otherwise known as a jemmy to your local burglar) and a rubber hammer (don't use a metal hammer as this will jar your hand and arm).

Get the bar into the corner of the first join and hammer in at an angle.

After prising and jiggling you should be able to lift the first section from the beam:

Do the same with the next three joins and you should be able to remove the first plank. Carry on doing this to all the places where the planks meet the beams. I warn you it's hard work and it took me about forty/fifty minutes to complete, but now I have some great bits of wood to make my raised beds:

My dad will be so proud!

Blessings,

Andi

Giveaway draw

2010-05-29T17:35:00.005+01:00

Just thought I'd start this post with a photo of my Nan (far right) with her sister and a friend. The photo was taken around 1920 and I just wish I had a bathing cap like one of those!

GIVEAWAY DRAW

The giveaway draw date has arrived and I have to say, with just fourteen names to go in the hat, you were all in with a jolly good chance of being drawn.

We used a genuine vintage top hat (modelled here by dear daughter) which I purchased from an antiques fair at Alexandra Palace about thirty years ago. This hat has been on stage as the hat of the Artful Dodger and I think I'm right in saying has also been part of a vampire costume.

I don't know how old the hat is, but it came from Jermyn Street which runs behind Fortnum and Mason in Piccadilly, London and is small enough to have belonged to a child of about ten.

Anyway, dear daughter had the honour of picking out a name from the hat (she did confess to feeling a bit nervous at the responsibility).

And the winner is..........

Congratulations Ted and Bunny! The V&A souvenirs will be winging their way to you asap if you would be so kind as to email your address.

Blessings,

Andi xx

QUILTS 1700-2010 and GIVEAWAY

2010-05-21T13:19:00.008+01:00

Daughter is coming home today after a week away with the school. This has been her very first trip away without the family and I'm curious to know how she got on. Certainly, I didn't even get a goodbye. She saw her friends and was off, got on the coach and that was it, apart from a wave as the coach set off.

The house has felt very strange without her presence. She has a very sunny personality and I'm looking forward to having her home. That being said, I have had a very free week. As son is on study leave I have had no school run. HALLELUJAH! That has NOT been missed, I can tell you.

So on Wednesday I took myself up to London for the day. First stop was the V&A museum for the quilt exhibition. What a fabulous selection of quilts dating from 1700s. What little history was known about each quilt (if anything) was fascinating. From times gone by when women were not allowed to express themselves through art, music, writing (whilst acknowledging the handful of female writers who did make it through), it was quite moving to see the thought, design and dedication that had gone into each and every quilt.

Detail of a coverlet commemorating Wellington.

Worked by Elisabeth Chapman and dated 1829

There was a quilt named 'The Rajah' which had been worked by British female convicts during their transportation to Australia in 1841 on HMS Rajah. The quilt was worked by the women to voice their appreciation for all the support given by Elizabeth Fry and The British Ladies' Society for Promoting the Reformation of Female Prisoners, who donated sewing supplies to women in prison and later, convict ships.

Another story told how destitute women who found themselves 'with child' and unmarried, would sew a little motif on a small square of fabric, cut it in half and pin one half to their baby's clothing or shawl before leaving the baby with a foundlings hospital. The mother would keep the other half of the fabric in the hope that in happier/easier times they might meet up with their child again and would be able to recognise each other through the matching fabric. Unfortunately, the nurses, believing the women would not want their 'disgraced' past to catch up with them, disposed of the squares attached to the babies. Heartbreaking.

Patchwork with Garden of Eden

Worked by Ann West and dated 1820

The exhibition is on until 4th July 2010 and well worth a visit for anyone interested in quilting.

Wednesday was such a lovely day that I sat and had lunch by the paddling pond in the centre of the V&A grounds. The museum was founded with some of the proceeds from the Great Exhibition in 1851. It is a magnificent piece of Victorian architecture, just absolutely beautiful. Can you imagine any architect today incorporating even one example of this decoration? What a shame we seem to have lost romance and artistic flair to our buildings' designs today.

After lunch I took a short walk to Harrods to buy some (authentic) Japanese green tea which I grew to like during my time working for a Japanese company back in the 70s. The green tea sold on the supermarket shelves tastes nothing like the authentic stuff. While I was at the tea counter I noticed a canister marked 'Monkey Picked Oolong'. The assistant told me she didn't think monkeys picked it anymore, but it begs the question, 'Why Monkey Picked?' Does monkey essence add to the flavour?

A LONG stroll to the King's Road and I encountered these chaps:

These elephants are scattered across London in order to raise awareness of the plight of the Asian elephant which is on the edge of extinction. The elephants can be 'adopted' by sponsoring them. (I wonder if at the end of this particular campaign the sponsors will be allowed to keep their elephant? Just the thing for my garden!) You can see a few more elephants photographed by Wend over at Ticking Stripes

Then, because there was no school run to rush home for (have I mentioned 'Hallelujah'?) I met M for an early dinner and then on to see The Real Thing by Tom Stoppard at The Old Vic (another beautiful piece of architecture):

This was M's theatre choice and unfortunately, I don't seem to get on with Stoppard's work. Oh sure, I go with an open mind, and there were some funny lines/moments, but Tom and I are obviously travelling on different escalators and I just don't 'get it'.

GIVEAWAY

Now we come to my very first giveaway. It's only a token, just to let you know that I was thinking of you all as I walked around the quilt exhibition, knowing some of you would love to attend but live too far away.

I have brought home two fat quarters of Limited Edition printed cotton which has been exclusively created for the V&A museum, and a V&A thimble. Humble offerings I know, but something I believe any one of you will be able to use with beautiful results.

All you have to do is leave a comment on this post and your name will be put into the hat (it would be nice if you could spread the word, too). One name will be drawn out of the hat by dear daughter on Saturday 29th May 2010.

And for all those who quilt, you may be interested in joining Maria's quilting bee over at Me and Ma's.

Blessings,

Andi xx

Catching Up

2010-05-01T18:02:00.009+01:00

Happy May Day everyone. Did anyone wash their hair in the May morning dew today? No, neither did I but I can tell you - it works.

Twenty-seven years ago I walked around the grounds of Pendley Manor in Tring, Hertfordshire in the early hours of the morning of May 1st (I remember because I walked with M, who was my new boyfriend at the time). We got soaked because it was raining - you know, that fine misty rain that fools you into thinking you're not really getting wet. In the weeks that followed I had so many compliments about my hair. Never had it looked so good. I put it down to the May day dew. Or perhaps it was love, who knows?

Anyway....

A few weeks ago I won my very first giveaway prize:

Donna at Brynwood Needleworks drew my name out of the hat. My prize was waiting for me when I returned from my extended holiday. An Alice in Wonderland bookmark.

Thank you so much, Donna. I'm thrilled.

You may remember that I also received this award from Funkymonkey and Vintage at the Corner House:

I was to list five things I enjoy doing. So, rather belatedly, here they are:

CAR BOOTING

I love it. I feel so happy when I'm walking around talking to the stall holders, picking up a bargain. As a child I was always searching for treasure. I guess this is the adult version. I'm thrilled the season has started again, but it looks like being a washout this weekend. Sigh.

DAYDREAMING

Oh the hours I've spent doing this. It's one of my favourite occupations and it's a must for writing fiction. Many of my stories have evolved because of my musings of 'What if...?'. And of course, it's a world only you control - anything can happen.

GARDENING

Even a year ago this would not have appeared on my list. For some reason, an interest in gardening has just exploded within me. Right now I'm so excited to find the garden changing daily with things growing, opening, appearing. We are fortunate to have quite a large garden but it's a bit boring. Just a lawn and a narrow bed running in a straight line either side. A few apple trees, a few shrubs and that's it. Well, things are about to change! I have such plans and a lot of enthusiasm. Just hope my back holds out!

THEATRE

Going to it and taking part in it. When I walk into my community theatre I feel so at home. I love being involved in a play, watching it develop along with all the characters. The absolute fear before curtain up and the elation after. Wonderful. Going to the theatre is one of the few things M and I share an interest in. In fact we met because of the theatre. Would you like to hear the story?

Once upon a time my theatre group was putting on a review called 'Rags to Riches'. I was singing Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend. Now, I thought I knew where the audience might laugh and was prepared for it. Unfortunately, when a lone, loud laugh (M's) exploded from the audience at a place in the song I hadn't expected a laugh, I'm afraid it threw me (had my wig slipped? Had my robe come undone?) and I forgot the next line of the song. After the show M went backstage wanting to know 'Who was that fantastic blond?' and I went backstage saying 'Who was that *%@!** @*$#!! who put me off my song?'

We've been in love ever since!

FAMILY TREE

I began my research many years ago when it involved taking time off work to go to St. Catherine's House in London and spend the day heaving huge ledgers off the shelves and fighting for a space on the tables on which to put them. It is SOOOO much easier now that many records are on the Internet and I have found out so much more than I ever could because of it. I am interested in everyone, but mostly my female line. There's something about the womb-to-womb trail that intrigues me. I have a set of Russian dolls, one for each woman starting with the smallest which is my daughter. It helps her to memorise the women we came from. There are nine dolls. I need to go back just one more generation to complete the set.

Blessings,

Andi xx

2010-04-23T17:58:00.002+01:00

PS - there's no spell check on handwriting of course. The word is 'response' not 'responce'.

Dog Daisy Chains

God Only Knows

2010-04-20T15:22:00.006+01:00

Well, my little trip has turned into a mammoth problem because of the volcanic dust over Europe.

Being trapped in Barbados may sound like heaven on Earth - and it is - however, when you are told you CAN'T go home it's surprising how quickly homesickness takes hold.

Luckily, my son, who joined us out here a little later, brought the laptop with him, so I am now able to post and hopefully visit all your blogs (it helps the homesickness).

The UK government seems to have forgotten all the residents who are stranded places other than Europe. I fear the ships they've sent out to Spain to bring people back is merely a publicity stunt with the forth-coming election in mind. Well, 'Hello, Gordon - how about us?'

We have no idea when we'll be home. Never has the saying 'God only knows' been more true.

Blessings,
Andi (aka Robinson Crusoe)

Taking a Break

2010-04-06T22:26:00.003+01:00

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter. Ours was quiet as my MIL was taken ill last week and is still in hospital, so any plans were put on hold. She seems well in herself, but has very suddenly and permanently lost the sight in one eye - something that must be very difficult to come to terms with.

This also means the kitchen cupboards have not been finished. I mean, they're ALMOST finished - just the two largest ones to be painted and a few others to be waxed. They will have to wait now because....

I'm off on a trip tomorrow, so I won't be around for a week or two. I'll tell you all about it when I get back. In the meantime, stay well, happy and crafty.

Blessings,

Andi xx

Kitchen update and award

2010-03-19T14:15:00.006Z

Before I do anything else I would like to acknowledge an award I have been given by two people: Funkymonkey and Annie over at Vintage at the Corner House . Thank you so much for passing this award on to me (my first) and I plan to devote a post very soon to five things I enjoy doing.

I am supposed to pass this award on to five other bloggers but I know many of you have received it already, so I'm going to invite any of my readers who would like to receive this award and tell us about five things they enjoy doing, to please help themselves to the button.

Now for a quick update on the kitchen. My very, very dear friend (as Pioneer Woman would say 'my womb-to-tomb friend') has been giving me advice on how to paint the kitchen cupboards. Now this friend and her husband have built their own house, and when I say 'built their own house' I mean exactly that. They've done the whole thing themselves: walls, floor, roof, windows - everything. No professionals involved except for the electric which they were not allowed to install themselves even though they're quite capable. So I trust her advice, which was:

After two coats of emulsion - yes, EMULSION - apply some of this:

Apply it with wire wool and wait for it to dry. Then apply a second coat of wax, this time with a lint-free cloth. It buffs up really good and feels so smooth. Can you see how the wax has deepened the colour?

It's slow progress as I still have to do all those things we mums have to do every day, but the lower cupboards are now finished and I'm hoping to start on the top ones this weekend.

Just thought I'd pop in and let you know how I'm doing.

Blessings,

Andi xx

You know you've turned into your dad when...

2010-03-10T14:24:00.003Z

You know you've turned into your dad when you keep a stick in the shed to stir paint with.

Can't remember which comedian said this but I know it made me laugh. Unfortunately, I don't have a special stick for this purpose so I had to use a chopstick!

The kitchen cupboards have been started and I'm progressing slowly. I'd already started painting when I realised I hadn't taken any 'before' pics (still getting into the swing of this 'before and after' lark). Here's what most of the kitchen still looks like:

I like the cream and I'm still a bit worried that the blue is going to overpower the room:

My husband liked the colour. Daughter likes the colour 'but in a bathroom, not a kitchen' and son says 'it looks like a country kitchen - but not in a good way'!

However, as I was painting the first coat, the original cream colour was peeping through the blue and I decided I liked the effect. It lost that anonymous blue paint look and became interesting. So, armed with a fine sandpaper, I might start experimenting tomorrow. I'll let you know what happens.

Blessings,

Andi xx

Happy Day

2010-03-06T12:00:00.003Z

Yesterday I had a very happy day. My son was feeling better and back at school after a dose of the 'flu (human, not swine). I took a deep breath and began the job I hadn't been looking forward to - painting my kitchen cupboards. They're going from cream to duck egg blue and for a couple of weeks now I've been standing at the kitchen door looking at them and thinking 'do I HAVE too?'.

But you know, once I got started I really quite enjoyed it. I've only done one cupboard and drawer so far as I wanted to see what the blue looked like, but the transformation from dingy, unmovable grease-marked cream to clean, springtime blue is such an encouragement. Hoping to get much more done this weekend.

I also had a very enjoyable time cooking. I made fish pie from a recipe in this very helpful book:

(Oh dear, how can you tell I lifted the picture from Amazon?). Full of great ideas for cost-cutting cooking, my family have liked most of the recipes I've tried from here, and getting them to eat fish pie is a triumph in itself. However, as I tipped the last of the frozen peas into the dish, I glanced at the wrapper before I threw it away...

Those tiny little words to the right of 'Garden Peas' say 'serving suggestion':

Now I don't know about you, but I don't believe putting a few peas in a bowl and tipping the rest out of the sieve and onto the table top an ideal way of serving them. I think my family would complain just a tad. How about yours? I wonder who at the 'Tesco wrapper design department' got paid to think that one up?

Yesterday I felt very content and happy with my lot. Then this morning I came downstairs to find this guy just outside my back door:

After my usual visitors of blue tits, robins and blackbirds, he was quite a spectacular sight.

Have a good weekend everyone!

Blessings,
Andi xx

Dydd Gwyl Dewi Dedwydd!

2010-03-01T11:24:00.004Z

HAPPY ST. DAVID'S DAY!

Being only a quarter Welsh I have no idea whether that translation in the title is correct. I can only hope I've got it right and that it isn't really something rude.

Did you all remember to say 'White Rabbits' this morning when you woke? My daughter and I keep up this tradition. It's supposed to be the first thing you say upon awakening on 1st March, but we try to remember to do it the first morning of every month. I put our white rabbits on the breakfast table the night before, to remind us.

I thought I'd show you a few treasures I bought recently in the charity shops, both at home and at Lyme Regis (can't wait for the car boot season to begin, can you?):

I liked the picture on this little tray. I think it's from a Pears soap advert as the bar of soap in the bottom left of the picture looks very much like a Pears bar. Hands up all those who think the puppy is going to get a dunk!

And still on the bath theme, this little cutie came home with me and now resides on my bathroom window ledge.

Can anyone tell me what this little pot is for? I bought it to add to my violet china collection, but can't think what it might be for. It's too tall for toothpicks or matches. The plates at the back I bought in Lyme. They are Royal Doulton 'Viola' and were £4 for a set of six:

This cute juice set was purchased locally. The woman was just pricing it up when I spotted it. I'm guessing early 70's Woolworth but I could be wrong. I just love the birds:

We've been trying to feed the birds in our garden. Fat balls, seeds, fat-filled coconut halves. I thought the squirrels were bad enough for stealing the food, but now we have a crow Mafia that swoop down and just fly off with everything!

This little book was 49p and is SO sweet. We girls in the family have a fondness for frogs and toads so this book leaped (geddit?) out at me.

Around here there are no daffodils to be had for St. David's Day. I think the snow has kept them hibernating longer than usual. Even so, with the coming of March, I do believe I feel spring in the air, so...

Have a wonderful St. David's Day, Welsh or no.

Blessings,

Andi xx

LYME REGIS

2010-02-25T13:08:00.008Z

Thank you SO much for all the birthday wishes. It made me really happy to read them along with the wise words about turning fifty. I liked the Scattered Gardener's advice to 'embrace your inner crone'. Love it! Be assured I'm planning to do just that.

I spent the day very happily with family and friends. We had Sunday lunch which lasted well into the evening and ended with us crying with laughter. Great day.

Did all of you who partake in half term have a lovely time? We took a little break in a village just outside Lyme Regis in Dorset. Son was in Spain with the school, so it was just the three of us.

Here is the harbour at Lyme:

And here are the very colourful beach huts:

The cottage we stayed in had a thatched roof and a lovely feel about it. The kitchen full of china in blues and white, stripes and spots. There were lovely patchwork quilts on the beds and a very welcome pile of Country Living magazines on the bedside table:

The cottage was directly opposite the church. I mean, this is how close we were:

(That's my daughter twirling around).

This was the view from our bedroom window. Sorry about the quality of the pic. Don't know how that happened. Let's call it 'atmospheric':

My brother (who's a bit squeamish) said he would have turned around and gone back home, but being opposite a churchyard didn't bother me. The neighbours were quiet and the only time we were disturbed was during the bell-ringers' practice evening. It was LOUD!

As my daughter and I are monkey fans, we took a trip to nearby Monkey World:

The monkeys are all rescue animals. They have fantastic playgrounds to amuse themselves on:

This image is a hands-on exhibit to help the visually impaired get an idea how the monkeys look. I think it's a great idea and have only seen this once before, in Edinburgh castle where there was a hands-on replica of the Scottish crown (much nicer than the English one):

The resemblance to Roddy McDowall is amazing, don't you think?

Lyme Regis is world famous for being a Jurassic coastline and therefore very popular with fossil hunters. We spent a happy couple of hours searching for fossils:

The gray section of cliffs that runs across this next picture was actually in the middle of a landslide as I took the photo. It's a regular occurrence and many new discoveries are exposed after this happens:

The fossils here are so common, some which are on larger rocks have been left on the beach for all to see:

We had a really lovely time. Just what we needed. There were also some lovely shops in the High Street. Of course we did the charity shops, found a shop which sold hand-made hats (purchases were made!) and also a shop which, although wasn't a branch of Cath Kidston, sold so much of her stuff, it might as well have been. I managed to find that CK blue and white polka dot dressing gown that is sold out on the Internet. Did I buy? Of course I did!

Happy days, everyone!

Blessings,

Andi xx

OH NO - FIVE O!

2010-02-20T14:02:00.002Z

21st February

It's happened. How did it happen? One minute I'm celebrating my fortieth birthday and then, what seems like a couple of months later, I'm hitting fifty.

Forties suited me. I enjoyed being forty-something. I can honestly say that some of my happiest years have been in the last decade. My baby-making days were over, I could just enjoy my children.

I experienced the classic mid-life crisis of re-inventing myself. When the kids began school I threw off my leggings and sweats and went shopping for some REAL CLOTHES. I dyed my hair blond. I enjoyed having some time to look after ME again as well as my children. Gone were those all-consuming baby days. I picked up my writing ambitions again, started community theatre again, began to feel much more confident.

Fifty doesn't feel like that. I'm telling myself to be excited by it and embrace it, but I have a feeling I might be just fooling myself.

Ah well, there's nothing I can DO about it, so I'm just going to enjoy celebrating tomorrow with family and friends and smile as I indulge myself by telling you about three people in the public eye that share my birthday. I'm ridiculously chuffed that they celebrate the same birthday as me as they have all influenced me in some way, and I very much admire all three.

Kelsey Grammer who, as Frasier Crane, has kept me laughing for nearly half my life. When Cheers finished it was hard to imagine another sit-com being as enjoyable and enduring, but Frasier came along and I was bowled over by the wonderful scripts and impeccable performances. To have just a drop of that talent ... It fired my enthusiasm and encouraged me to try my hand at script-writing. I may not have an ounce of the talent that obviously filled the Frasier script-writing room, but I've had such fun trying.

Jilly Cooper - I read my first Jilly Cooper back in 1988. It was Riders and the overwhelming feeling I got as I devoured the book was 'what fun Jilly must have had writing this'. I wanted to experience that fun, too. So Jilly is entirely responsible for setting me on the writing path, and although I now realise what incredibly hard work goes into writing a novel, I'm still convinced that Jilly's sense of fun exudes from the pages of her books and in turn has given me enormous fun writing my own stories. I met Jilly at a book signing years ago. After shaking her hand, I went straight home and wrote with my 'Jilly-vibed' hand!

What can I say? Just, 'thank you, Mr. Rickman, for being born'! Alan Rickman has my complete admiration as an actor. I am constantly fascinated how he can take an ordinary sentence, put emphasis on a word no one else would dream of emphasising, and make the line sound not only totally convincing but bloody fantastic at the same time. His delivery has caused me to look at my own performances to see what I can bring to them. I'm in total awe of his talent. Ruby Wax once said '(Alan) has this sex thing he switches on when he walks on stage' and I have to agree. I once met him at a charity function. He is a very polite, unassuming gentleman, but on stage... WHOA! I'm watching - and I'm liquid!

And they're all older than me!

As I celebrate the very last day of my forties, I send you blessings,

Andi xx

(Jilly photo by Yui Mok. Frasier and Alan Rickman - credits not found)

HAPPY ST. VALENTINE'S DAY

2010-02-14T14:20:00.005Z

HAPPY ST. VALENTINE'S DAY!

Not to squash anyone's bubble today, but apparently St. Valentine had nothing to do with sweethearts and romantic love. It's not even sure how many people St. Valentine is actually made up of.

According to Wikipedia, there was no celebration of St. Valentine until Geoffrey Chaucer, who mentioned in Parliament of Foules a fictional old tradition of celebrating this day.

The feast of St. Valentine was allegedly (has anyone noticed this word becoming the most used word in English newspapers today?) devised to take the place of the very ancient pagan festival of Lupercalia, which was observed in order to 'avert evil spirits and purify the city, releasing health and fertility.'

Sounds like a jolly event. What are folk supposed to do during a festival that leaves them healthy and fertile? Why, invent St. Valentine's Day! And I'm very glad they did.

Here is the little tin of chocolates M presented me with this morning. I have to say, I'm more excited about the tin than the actual chocolates. Isn't it sweet?

Here are some romantic things I have around the house:

This ornament was bought from a charity shop last week. I think they had a number of them because my friend bought one at the same time. (Floss, have you noticed how I've mixed red and blue? The nearest I can get at the moment to red and turquoise!)

A collection of random hearts I usually keep in a bowl. Here set out on an old piece of lace curtain I have in my stash:

A friend gave me this picture when I was busy writing romantic (and stronger!) stories:

A few years ago my son made this picture for me. It's his version of a piece of art we saw in a gallery. I loved it, but couldn't afford it and he very kindly put this together for me (as it's not an exact copy - rather a fifteen year old's interpretation, I hope we don't get into copyright trouble)

Sorry about the reflection of my lights.

This last picture I won on ebay recently. I fell in love with it instantly and had to have it. There was a frenzied last-minute bidding for it and I won. Just hope none of you was amongst the other bidders:

Once again, sorry about the reflections. It's hard to photograph glass-fronted pictures without getting the reflection.

Have a wonderful St. Valentine's day.

Blessings,

Andi xx

BEWARE - PLEASE READ

2010-02-12T12:30:00.003Z

Hi Everyone,

Haven't been posting recently as I had a minor op last week followed by a horrible cold, both of which have brought me down. Hopefully I'll be on top of things very soon. Have enjoyed reading all your blogs in the meantime.

I have a message for all those who were affected by the SNOWFALL WIDGET. I'm not sure if it is the thing responsible, but I've just had my credit card bill in and some of the transactions were not mine. All the transactions were from abroad and about £200 has been taken over several payments. There is one other possibility of where my details could have been stolen, but in case that problem with being redirected is responsible, please, please check your credit card statements.

Blessings,
Andi xx

My First Album

2010-01-27T13:32:00.004Z

Hi everyone,

First I want to say thank you SO much for all the lovely comments on my last post. I think the tureen got the most votes for best find. It really will be used only for very special occasions as the stamp on the bottom reads 'permanent detergent proof decoration', which I take as a warning not to put it in the dishwasher. Anything that doesn't go in the dishwasher is used very reluctantly! I received 22 comments on that post and that's a record.

Speaking of records, there is a fab giveaway over at Dreaming of the Simple Life and to enter we have to post about the first album we ever bought.

Well, I ploughed my memories and remembered that the first album I ever owned was this one:

I was absolutely besotted with this film - my mum took me to see it twice. I came home and announced I was either going to be a nun or an actress when I grew up. Years later I tried for the later, but no way on earth was the first ever going to be realised!

My parents indulged me and bought the soundtrack for me. I think it was about 30 shillings. However, as this was a gift, I don't think it counts as the first album I ever bought, so going forward a few years I believe the first album I ever used my own money for was this:

Anyone remember this series? The albums cost something like 70p and the artists were sound-a-likes. I would have bought it from Alan Freeman's record shop at the Angel, Edmonton probably using record tokens I'd got for my birthday.

Ah, those innocent days *sigh*.

Blessings,

Andi xx

I'M FREE!

2010-01-19T11:03:00.003Z

No, I don't mean in the Mr. Humphries way (goodness, I'm showing my age now) but rather in the arms outstretched, embracing the world type of free. After being almost stranded in the house because of the weather, I finally got to the charity shops at the end of last week for the first trip of the year, and it felt WONDERFUL!

The kids were at school, M was at work, the dinner prepared and slow-cooking in the oven so I went SHOPPING.

Three of our local charity shops are what true charity shops ought to be - a place where you can pick up a real bargain. Others, who shall remain nameless, charge so much I am convinced that top, or that skirt was cheaper the first time around in Primark. Anyway, this gilet in Oxfam was my first buy and is in the washing machine as I write. I think the best colour to go with this would be a soft dove gray. What do you think? (Remember - I don't do pink):

Every other Christmas when my family are here, we say 'next time, we'll put all the vegetables in tureens and let people help themselves' (we usually dish out for them in the kitchen), but it never happens. Next year it will because I found this large tureen which should be big enough to hold the roasties:

A set of four strawberry forks which my daughter pointed out will be just the thing for 'dipping the strawberries in the chocolate fondue that we always have on Valentine's day' (don't think I didn't recognise this subtle reminder for what it was).

This delightful creature will be wrapped and put away until the autumn:

I thought this print was sweet:

And a collection of books. As usual, the books were the first things I found, so I asked if I could leave them behind the counter and come back to collect them:

Some of the designs in the Craft Collection may be out of date but the techniques won't be. M likes Eva Cassidy, so I got her life story for him. Planet Earth I was particularly pleased to get for my son. I rarely find things for him (high tech stuff doesn't appear very often second-hand!). The spine hasn't even been creased. Neither has the Start Crochet. My friend knew I was having difficulty find the Art of Crochet magazine, so treated me to this book. She was charged £1 for three books - wow! The Accidental Gardener is very amusing as well as being helpful, and last but not least, Looney Tunes - the ultimate visual guide. Fantastic.

I know some of you have been out there already and I've been reading about your finds. Treasure hunting is just so much fun!

Blessings,

Andi xx

Happy Easter?

2010-01-12T19:36:00.003Z

I was prepared for the Valentine's Day gifts and cards to be in the shops by now, but I have spotted my first Easter egg display in Marks and Spencer this afternoon. No wonder the years seem to be going past so fast when we're frogmarched by the shops to the next celebration. We haven't even finished our Quality Street yet! Anyone else seen an Easter display earlier than this?

And have any of you purchased or tried to purchase this?:

I've been asking in newsagents and supermarkets but they've all sold out. The assistant in W.H. Smith told me they'd had a lot of boxes delivered because they anticipated it would be popular. How right they were. Not a copy to be had anywhere in a ten mile radius of me.

Not to be outdone and not even thinking of paying the prices asked on Ebay, I telephoned the company that launched the magazine, told them of my problem and ordered a copy from them. It should be here next week. If any of you want this first issue and haven't been able to find it, the company web site is: http://www.theartofcrochet.com/

However, something occurred to me while I was ordering my copy...

You know how, when you phone a corporation or shop etc. that recorded voice comes on the line to say 'your call may be recorded'? Well, I asked the guy whether my call was being recorded. I was told that ALL calls are recorded. When I pointed out that I was about to give my credit card details and that they too would be recorded, I was assured that 'only the top, top management of the company get to hear the tapes'.

Oh. That's OK, then, because it goes without saying that if they're 'top, top management', they must be trustworthy.

How many times have I ordered things over the phone and my details have been recorded 'for training purposes'? This fact has only just occurred to me. Have I been slow in realising this? Do other people avoid ordering over the phone for this reason, and is it something we should be protesting about?

Blessings
Andi xx

The Erosion Bundle Project

2010-01-05T10:14:00.009Z

This project organised by Kris Henderson over at http://erosionbundles.blogspot.com/ has caught my imagination:

Make a bundle of anything you like: fabric, paper, buttons etc. and then hang it in a tree or bury it in the ground until April. After that, open it up to see what Mother Nature has done to the items and make an art project out of them.

As a child I was always digging for treasure in the garden or burying things and then digging them up weeks later to see what had happened. I remember we had a funeral for a plastic soldier whose parachute had failed to open during a jump down the stairwell. I dug him up weeks later to see what had happened to him. (As I type this, I realise how macabre that sounds. I was just curious.) (At least it was a plastic man and not a pet. Now THAT would have been macabre.)

Of course, I got carried away and made more than one bundle:

This first one became, unintentionally, a romantic one. It's filled with lace, a key, heart-shaped sequins and pages torn from an old book of love spells. It's decorated with pink (yes, PINK!) ribbon from Fortnum and Masons. I have a feeling it's going to end up looking like a shrivelled Miss Haversham.

The second one is made up of an empty incense tube. I left one incense stick inside and then stuffed the tube with fabric, crayons, buttons and tissue.

This third is just all manner of things wrapped in the leftover wool from my hot-water bottle cover project and muslin.

My last (four, I know - I got carried away) is buried in the garden. The place is marked with a slab and terracotta pots. This one is a Christmas one in that I put the leftover bits I found around the house such as wrapping paper, paper hats, candle stubs and some holly berries. With each layer of paper and fabric I sprinkled some ground cinnamon.

My daughter got enthusiastic about the project when she saw me making my bundles and wanted to join in. She raided her toy boxes for all manner of items and these were also buried in the garden and are being guarded by a decoy duck:

Digging the ground when it's as hard as iron? Our frogs just didn't know WHAT to think!

I'm not promising to make anything wonderful with the results, but I'm very excited to see how the weather changes the things inside. Our tree looks more interesting, too!

Blessings,

Andi xx

A Beautiful day in London

2010-01-03T16:46:00.005Z

On Saturday we took my daughter up to London to meet her godparents who were taking her to see the new A Christmas Carol film in 3D at the IMAX cinema, Waterloo.

After delivering said daughter, M and I strolled across Waterloo Bridge. It was a beautiful day. Cold but bracing, and the sky so clear and blue I couldn't help be reminded of Paul Newman's eyes *sigh*. The stroll really cleared the Christmas cobwebs away:

Just look at those blues. Beautiful. M works close to St. Paul's Cathedral, so this photo was a must.

Here's the Gherkin and the Oxo Tower. I've heard the restaurant at Oxo is very nice:

We walked to Covent Garden which was bustling. Various aromas fought for our attention: coffee, pastries, handmade soaps. Crowds gathered to watch the entertainers like this unicyclist/juggler:

The Christmas decorations were very pretty. Down in the square below the balcony was a male opera singer. I am not a fan of opera, but he ended on Nessun Dorma which is one of the few tunes I DO like. It was a treat to hear.

The market was full of stalls selling handmade goods. We didn't buy, but there were lots of temptations.

We had lunch at Porters restaurant. I don't think I'd been there since before we were married (and probably then with a previous boyfriend). Porters sells pies. And such pies! I tried scanning in a copy of the menu to show you but it didn't come out clear at all, but it includes Lamb and apricot, Turkey and chestnut, Three bean, spicy lentil and vegetable pies. I chose the Steak, Guinness and mushroom (which I seem to recall was what I had the last time! Shhhh, don't tell M).

It certainly fortified us for the walk back across the bridge. This is Cleopatra's needle:

The sun was beginning to set:

which put the Houses of Parliament into silhouette:

We so rarely go out just the two of us, this was a lovely treat and I felt very content as we met up with our friends and daughter to return home.

Blessings,

Andi xx

THE GREAT BRUSSEL SPROUT TRIUMPH!

2009-12-30T11:51:00.006Z

I don't like 'em, the kids don't like 'em, but M and his family DO like brussels sprouts and as everyone would be joining us for Christmas, I resigned myself to having to cook these horrid little vegetables as part of the Christmas feast.

THEN!

WHY, A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE!

On Christmas Eve I happened to be reading the letters page in the Daily Telegraph and there, in a letter from a Stuart Gillies in Chester, was advice on how to get sprout-haters to eat them:

'Fry a chopped rasher or two of smoked bacon. Add sprouts, cut in half and fry a little more. Add enough chicken stock almost to cover and reduce until barely cooked and the stock is getting sticky. Delicious!'

And they were, too! The youngest even had a second portion! Thank you, thank you Stuart Gillies of Chester. We are converted. May sprouts forever grace your life.

I hope everyone's Christmas was wonderful despite burst frozen pipes, trees falling down and boilers going on holiday. Here're some pics of my pressies this year. I must say, I've been a very lucky girl:

The Cath Kidston bag, Make do and Mend book and jumper were from M (the jumper came from the Oxfam shop on the King's Road, London. Am SO going there in the New Year!).

My brother bought me this make-your-own Camper Van, which I thought was a great gift seeings how there's no way on earth I shall ever own a real one.

This adorable elephant pin cushion was from my sister-in-law and family. Not sure I have the heart to stick pins in him though.

And I happen to know this little cake stand came from the Country Living fair because I pointed it out to my mum at the time. Lo and behold, there it was Christmas morning underneath my tree. Thanks, Mum (and I'm pretty sure you didn't organise the fire alarms going off at the Fair, and consequent evacuation of the whole building just so you could buy this without me knowing. Pretty sure).

HAVE A GREAT NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

Blessings,

Andi xx

2009-12-21T15:41:00.002Z

Merry Christmas

and

Happy New Year

Thanks for visiting my blog

See you all again in 2010

Andi xx

Smile, please!

2009-12-19T16:21:00.005Z

I have an album which comes out at this time of year. It's full of every Christmas photo I possess of the family, and begins with Christmas 1962:

Wow, just look at that fab kitchenette. I wish I still had it. I remember there was a turkey in the oven! The Santa sack was made of very thick paper and was great for sack races about three hours after we'd opened all our presents.

Christmas 1962 was spent at my grandparents' flat and was kept quite simple (well, there wasn't a lot of money around). Look at those vintage baubles. I've been a hoarder ever since I can remember, but sadly the habit hadn't kicked in when this photo was taken otherwise I'm convinced I'd own those baubles now:

My dad used to work part time as a photographer, otherwise I don't think we'd have these precious two photos of that Christmas. I think he was the only one in the family who owned a camera. My mum had a Box Brownie which was hardly ever used.

How different things are today, with CCTV cameras everywhere we go, mobile phones that can take pictures and computers that can send the images across the world in seconds. Our descendants will be swamped with photos of great-great-grandma. Wouldn't it have been wonderful if the ancient Egyptians had managed to invent the camera so that we could have had thousands of years worth of images?

My daughter recently took part in a show with her drama group. She was one of the first performers, in the first act, in the first show EVER in the brand new theatre. Parents were instructed NOT to take photos and to report anyone they saw in the audience taking photos as this was not allowed under health and safety regulations.

So no parent has any personal photographic record of their son or daughter taking part in this local historic event which, as you can imagine, was very disappointing for us all. What made me angry though, was the fact that a member of the Press and a theatre archivist - complete strangers to us - WERE allowed to take photos of our children. Twisted principles indeed.

Blessings,

Andi xx

Christmas Deliveries

2009-12-14T22:13:00.007Z

Thanks everyone for visiting my blog and leaving comments. I really do appreciate them, especially as I've only just started blogging and am eager to 'meet' you all. I really enjoy visiting your blogs. They're opening my eyes to so many different things!

Christmas deliveries:

I came home from choosing my Christmas tree last Thursday to find a note from Postie:

'I have left your parcel on the back doorstep'.

Parcels in the post! Aren't they exciting? I rushed to the back door and sure enough, there was the parcel:

Seeing the pattern on the box was even more exciting:

I LOVE Emma Bridgewater designs and when I opened the box inside were two beautifully wrapped presents. One for me, one for husband:

Just look at those bows. I wish I could tie a bow as exquisitely as this (I'm sure there must be a web site to tell me how. Must remember to look it up):

There was an invoice which told me the gifts were from my lovely friend Roz and her husband, and also what was inside - Christmas star mugs:

Roz gave me permission to open them before Christmas Day because, as she pointed out, they are CHRISTMAS star mugs and we must get full use of them during the season (and in case you're wondering, I DID let husband open his!)

I'm looking forward to the weekend when we can snuggle down with the kids and watch Christmas movies whilst sipping our hot chocolate. Yummy!

Blessings,

Andi xx

Old Friends

2009-12-07T20:15:00.011Z

When you unpack your Christmas decorations and treasures, do you sometimes get a lovely surprise because you've forgotten some of the things you'd packed away last year?

And they bring back lovely memories of flaming, brandy-soaked puddings and the kids' delight at having their own special Christmas plates.

Then there're the figurines that grace the mantlepiece and who only joined the household last year.

The results of your own crafts from a few years back:

Here's an item I bought a few years back from a charity shop. I liked it, but I didn't love it. The decoration is spoiled, I think, by having been sewn on off-white aida, but I bought it because of the work that had obviously gone into sewing it:

I've always kept it in the Christmas box because the cross stitch is so festive, but I've never really known what to do with it. Actually, I don't even know what it's for. It measures about 3 1/2 feet by two and it only has a frill at one end. Some red tatting:

So I doubt if it's a table runner. It seems too large to be a chair back cover. I just couldn't bear the thought of someone's hard work being left in the charity shop.

Anyone got any ideas what it might be?

Blessings,

Andi
xx

One for Sorrow, Two for Joy

2009-12-01T11:56:00.011Z

I had a suspicion I was in for a rough few days when I looked out of my bathroom window first thing last week and saw this guy sitting on the roof outside:

One for sorrow. I looked around desperately for his mate, but the garden, trees and sky were empty. Ohhhhhhh dear!

Downstairs, I was greeted with a broken down washing machine still full with water, suds and clothes. Took me the good part of an hour to get the water drained and the door open so I could rescue the clothes inside. The machine had been quite ill for a few months and as it was an old lady, I decided to put her out to pasture and order a new one. Express delivery. Cost me an extra £20.

A couple of days later I had a trip to the dentist where I had a wisdom tooth extracted. I kept the tooth (Alas the Tooth Fairy didn't call. I'd hoped for paper with a nought on it. Damn that magpie!) and I thought about putting a photo of it here, but didn't want to spoil your breakfast.

Sunday I hunted for a pattern to make a robin. I could only find a regular bird pattern at Spool and my first attempt looked rather like a very sad and lonely budgie:

So I adapted the pattern to make the neck and tail shorter:

Slightly more the shape, but still not right. The poor thing looks one tweet short of a song, doesn't he? And is that what's called a Roman nose?

Third attempt, and I think we're getting closer to what I had in mind. Got to get some decent eyes:

And hearts. I had a go at some hearts. This is the only one that came out well enough to be shown. It was supposed to be snowy/Christmasy, but I think it looks more like a wedding heart:

Oh, and my cooker broke down. They're coming to fix it tomorrow. It's an Aga and the kitchen is so cold and sad without its constant heat. Can't wait for it to be fixed. HOWEVER, looking on the bright side, I now have the chance to give it a thorough clean while it's cold - something that's difficult to do when it's working. And....

The magpie's mate appeared! Hallelujah! Nice things began to happen.

Through the post came a parcel from Sarah at The Blueberry Patch. It was the lovely reindeer I'd ordered and he just looks great on my mantlepiece along with the Cinnamon Colonial Candle I found in TK Max (am I being stupid or is Colonial Candle almost impossible to find in the UK?)

Another parcel in the post was this lovely snowglobe advent calendar that I also saw on Sarah's blog site and immediately sourced it and bought my own:

Then, for the first time since I was small my mum bought me an advent calendar. So now I have two! This one is from PastTimes and is the real old fashioned type that you stick to the window and the light shines through the little pictures and illuminates them:

And today my copy of How the Grinch Stole Christmas arrived. This is the original version with Boris Karloff narrating. I've never seen this movie so I'm really looking forward to a cozy afternoon with the kids next weekend, by the fireside, homemade cake and possibly hot chocolate:

It's beginning to feel a bit like Christmas! Happy December! And God bless us, every one.

Andi

I Don't Do Pink!

2009-11-21T16:41:00.007Z

What can I say? I know pink is a very much loved colour in the creative/thrift/shabby chic corner of blogland, but I have to admit it is not my favourite. It's way down there with peach and yellow. I much prefer blues, greens, blue/greens, browns, orange and ivory. I avoid pink. I believe some shades of pink can actually make my teeth hurt.

I went around the house today collecting every possession of mine that's pink. Dear reader, the following photo shows the sum total of the pink I own:

How about that? The coathanger was knitted by my Nan sometime in the 70s (the fabric is nylon offcuts she got from the bargin bin at Brentford Nylons - anyone remember them? Of course not - you're all far too young). The perfume is Agent Provocateur; the rainhat (top right) came free with the Lady Penelope doll in the 60s, and the collection of boxes within boxes (centre bottom) was made by my son about ten years ago and two of the boxes are pink. The perfume bags and dog were a pressie and the sissors and tape measure were accidents.

Also, two of the dolls I have from childhood wear pink. This is Angelina who comes from Austria and Jane who's wearing a 60s Faerie Glen dress.

I do possess some pink underwear but I didn't choose it. Enough said, let's move on....

But something is happening now that I've discovered blogland. I visit all your blogs and see wonderful photos of things you've created, treasure hunted, transformed, bought, and they're beautiful; and many of them include pink. I think...perhaps...the thought that pink might be OK is seeping into my brain, because look:

A quilt and shams I bought last week in the local charity shop.

It has pink in it!

The hat I had to buy in TK Max last weekend:

I can tell myself the velvet trim is a raspberry red but that twinkle in the flower center is definitely pink.

Even my camera case (a Christmas pressie last year) has Cath Kidston pink blooms over it:

And then the beautiful quilt (yes, another one) I bought at the Country Living Fair from Forever England is green and pink:

As long as it's subtle and there're plenty of other colours surrounding it, I think I can cope. One step at a time.

Blessings,

Andi xx