Bargains galore and a productive weekend

Hope everyone is well and not fallen victim to the swine flu or any other nasties out there. I've has a nice productive weekend and feel really satisfied on a Sunday evening that a lot of odd jobs have been ticked off the 'to do' list. We have to try and get as much done as we can in the next couple of weeks because OH goes into hospital on 13 Aug to have his knee replaced and he will be on crutches for 6 weeks and probably at home for 3/4 months. The wet weather has held off round here so we managed to get some car booting in too. The garden has been tidied, redcurrants and first blackberries picked, grass cut and I must start to think of where I am going to plant my bulbs. I also managed to spend some time tidying up the small room where I dump all my craft bits and pieces and car booty bargains ..... it is also the room where the grandchildren sleep when they stay over and it was getting to the point where you couldn't see the bed!

On Friday I put my name down for some crafting and card making materials that a local Freecycler was offering .... I was delighted to get a message late this afternoon to say that I could go and collect them and this is what I came home with

Masses of papers, cards, a cutting set, glue, stickers, books, magazines .... as I childmind these are a Godsend and will keep the small people going for ages.

At the car boot this morning there was a lady with boxes of wool and fabrics from her crafting days so I had a good rummage through and came away with this stash of knitting yarn

buttons, threads - The Percy Pig sandwich maker was from another seller .... unused and a snip at £3

some lovely children's fabrics including some pretty Rose & Hubble

all that lot for a fiver .... much bargains!

I also got another load of knitting yarn yesterday so that's me sorted for the winter months.

Hope you all had a good weekend .... going to get an early night tonight ready for Day 3 of the summer hols .... I've got four children tomorrow and really have to build my energy levels for Tuesday when I have got six !!!

Sunny Sunday at Delapre Abbey

Today was the day of Delapre Abbey's St George's Day Celebrations in Northampton. They had a craft marquee and I was lucky enough to get a stall ... the sun was shining as we arrived.The Abbey is surrounded by acres of glorious English countryside and we wished we had brought the dog with us ... they were allowed on site and she would have loved it.This is the Abbey courtyard and the Craft Marquee faced the clock tower building .. this area was used later in the day for musical entertainment.It didn't take too long to set up our table as I had been practicing on the kitchen table last night ... this is only the third fair that I have taken part in so am still learning.
This is me all ready to go ... my daughter Laura came along to help and husband too but it was a little cramped behind the table as we had to share with the neighbouring stall run by Linda and Steve .. a lovely couple who we chatted with all day and swapped crafting and life stories ... it was really nice to meet friendly people and made the day go so much quicker. With the current economic climate it seemed that a lot of people were just looking and not spending a great deal but not a bad day overall and a profit was made ... seemed later in the day the good people of Northampton were more interested in offloading their spare cash in the beer tent.

During the afternoon this gorgeous Silver Cross coachbuilt pram arrived in front of our table ... it was the pram that caught my eye, I love them but my daughter wouldn't be seen dead with one (shame). Then I did a double take on the baby ... it is a handmade re-born doll, her name is Georgina and she is so life like it was quite spooky.

Then to top the day ........ yes ladies and gentlemen .... Elvis was in the building ... this young man came on to do two sets during the afternoon and he was really good (considering he probably wasn't even born when the King died .... for those of you who are old enough do you remember where you were at that time? I was tucked up in bed with an old tranny radio under the covers so my dad couldn't hear listening to Tony Prince on Luxembourg 208)

If you see anything on my table that you like please get in touch as I have lots left and will be adding them to my website and blogshop during the coming week. Tara for now.

Sunshine, snowdrops and snow !!!!

Just when you thought it was safe to venture out here comes the Arctic weather again. Oh well batten down the hatches and back to the sofa - time today to complete yesterdays sewing project - a bright patchwork throw and cushion and to pick up on another incomplete one. I have a habit of starting something, getting a little bored and moving onto something else - they do all get finished eventually. I have just joined some fantastic Craft websites in order to sell my little creations and am now contemplating the next big step of starting my own website shop. I have been using Ebay but find that it is now getting harder to attain a reasonable price for anything - will have to blame the credit crunch again. I see myself as a domestic re-cycler - I use fabrics both old and new together with ribbons, buttons and trimmings reclaimed from old garments. It is most satisfying to complete a project and even more so when somebody likes it enough to part with some money. Perhaps we should all move to buying more hand made goods to help the economy at the bottom end and give the big boys a boot up the bum for their mass produced rubbish.