Pssst ..... don't mention the C word ..............

It seems blogland is split into two camps at the moment ..... those who are laid back and going with the flow and those who are stressing about how much there is to do.  So this post is a 'C' word free zone ! 

This life is not a dress rehearsal dear people so don't worry your socks off about the things you have no control over and concentrate on the things that you can do and changes that you can make.

One of my pet hates is waste.   Waste of any kind really be it food, clothing, possessions and most of all time. 

Since joining the world of blog and visiting crafting forums I have discovered Freecycle, Scrapstores and more recently Ecobees ... each has an ethos of avoiding sending unwanted items to landfill and offer a wonderful opportunity to recycle.  You know what they say about one man's trash being another man's treasure well it is totally true and I love nothing more than rescuing something from the past and giving it a new lease of life.

Over the past couple of weeks I have adopted this little Edwardian sewing cupboard and when the weather improves (we have a light snowfall outside as I write) it shall have a little session with some Nitromors to remove the peach gloss paint and then I shall decide on whether it shall stay as it was intended as a dark oak cupboard or give it a fresh coat of paint and prettify it a little.

A few days ago a vintage Silver Cross Dolls Pram was offered and my heart skipped a beat ..... I hadn't heard anything and presumed that another lucky freecycler was the new owner.  Until this morning that is when I opened my mailbox and there was a message inviting me to arrange collection.  It was described as a restoration project so I was expecting the worst but was delighted to bring home this little baby .....

 She isn't in too bad condition at all and with some TLC and elbow grease she will come up a treat

 The original shop sticker is still attached and the Queensway shopping centre was opened in 1959

 A lovely little Rose cartouche is on both sides of the pram

The hood and cover are in a brown suede-like fabric

 

I am really looking forward to starting on this one!

Nellie the elephant packed her trunk ..................

and said thank you so much Freecycle!

I just happened to be in the right place at the right time yesterday and spotted an offer for a vintage travelling trunk.  The brain cell start whirring again and I thought I would take a chance as it would be ideal storage and for display at the craft markets and I was so lucky to be the receiver of this magnificent specimen ...

It has the manufacturer's name plate on the side which is John Pound & Co of London who had shops in various locations including Oxford Street and Leadenhall Street in the late Victorian/Edwardian period.  John Pound was also a Lord Mayor of London.

The surface looks like hide of some sort and it has wooden battens with brass protectors (but no key sadly) and original locks  ... internally it is very clean for it's age and has a sectioned insert.

I need to do a little detective work on how to clean it up but I don't want to strip it of its age and character.

As for the initials I think they must stand for Not Enough Holidays!!!

Coldest day so far

Today has to be the coldest so far this winter .... woke up to a very heavy frost this morning and at 10.30 am the temperature was still only -4 degrees .... brrrrrr.  When I went to let the chooks out at half eight I took the camera because the trees and bushes in the garden looked splendid with their white frosting.

I am a great fan of Freecycle.  For those of you who don't know the website it is a fantastic means of keeping loads of unwanted goods out of landfill.  I use it regularly when I am having a clear out of the clutter (a lifetime's work in my case!) and if I am looking for something in particular I always take a look at our local groups.  At the weekend I posted a request for a dog bed for Ruby because she is behaving so well it is time for the cage to go and a very kind lady offered one immediately.  It had been living in her loft for three years and now Ruby is quite at home in it.  Late last night a new batch of postings came online and I couldn't believe my eyes ..... I have been looking for one of these for ages and really wanted one to do up for Ellie at Christmas

Good things come to those who wait so they say

It is teacher training day at our school today so I have three children back with me today ..... we have been making samosas this afternoon .... very warming on such a cold day and a great way to use up leftover veg.

The Recipe

225g plain flour

half tsp salt

2 tbsp cooking oil

warm water to mix

I just bung the lot in the food processor and pour the water in slowly till it forms a soft dough.

Leave for half an hour to rest (have a cuppa ;-)

Roll out and cut into circles then cut the circles in half

For the filling fry a chopped onion in some oil

Then add a Shwartz Bombay Potato Mix, a tin of chopped tomatoes and 100ml water

Add whatever leftover cooked veg you have or just parboil a mix of potato, peas, beans etc (a bag of frozen mixed veg would do the job too)

Leave to cool while you are making the samosa pastry

Dampen the semi circles of pastry, put a blob of filling in centre and fold over and seal.

Deep fry till golden

Freecycle and finds

The weekend before last was bright and sunny round these parts and there was just a small car boot sale at a local school .... couldn't resist could I ???

The very first seller had mountains of children's toys and baby activities so I dived in ..... I came away with some lovely toys including the Fisher Price Peek a Blocks Press and Go Train, Tomy Discovery Stack, Pop n Tumble, wooden puzzles and a gift set from Emma Bridgewater in the Men at Work series.

They were all in perfect condition and still in the boxes .... all for a grand total of £15 ..... the train on it's own is £29.99 in Toys R US  and we all know how much the Bridgewater costs so I was well pleased.

On the next stall I spied a print from one of my favourite artists Faye Whittaker .... her studies of Edwardian children are charming. I was just about to buy it when the stall holder said she had two more so I came away with 3 for a fiver and one of them is a limited edition signed by the artist.

My final bargain that day was a boxed set of game, DVD and book of Going on a Bear Hunt (one of our favourites) and for the first time in my life I haggled upwards, if such a thing is possible, the lady only asked £1 and it is pristine .... even I couldn't take it for that price and gave her £3 instead.

Then yesterday on Freecycle someone was offering some old embroidery and crochet magazines and I was very lucky to be selected to give them a new home.  Just take a look at these

They are almost 100 years old ..... the blue competition slip in one of them states that entries have to be in by 10th June 1916 ..... how marvelous is that and what a prize ..... £130 in 400 awards which is the equivalent of almost £37,000 today measured against average earnings.

I love old textiles so I'm really going to enjoy reading through these ... the advertisements are fantastic too.

School Summer Holiday Diary Week 3

Well here we are half way through the summer holidays already .... I had a quieter week this week with only two minded children because I had originally planned to have two weeks off but had to cut this down to one for the purely mercenary reason that we needed the money. If I don't work I don't get paid and this family needed the care so it worked out well for all of us. It has been a bit of a tense week because my husband went in for total knee replacement surgery on Thursday and he hates hospitals and wouldn't openly admit it but he was scared stiff. It's all done now so that's the worst of it over, today they are going to try and get him on his feet which is not an easy task as he is a big bloke and stands 6'2" ..... once he has mastered this and walking on crutches he can come home.

We popped over to Hitchin yesterday as it is Flea Market day ... I love having a browse around and found these little pressed glasss sundae dishes for £1 each .... they are so diddy and only stand around 2" tall ..... I am sure they are from a child's toy set and as an avid collector of vintage children's toy tea and dinner services I had to have them. I hope to do a longer post on my collection to share with everyone sometime soon.

Also managed to get this book ...... I am going to attempt to recreate Hannah's wedding bouquet from last weekend as a surprise gift for her when she returns from honeymoon. It is a gorgeous book and it is amazing just how many flowers can be made and how realistic they look. I am going to use an old Knitting Nancy to do the covering for the wire stems. Watch this space.
I always take a daily look at the offerings on my local Freecycle group and yesterday someone had this

An old brown cupboard I hear you say .... what on earth does she want with that???? But look what is inside ....................

A vintage Singer treadle sewing machine ....... it is a bit musty but apparently it is still working. I will try to find time this weekend to give it a clean and test it out and also decide whether to just polish up the wood or be more daring and give it a lick of paint. I do like old wood but can see it looking fresh and clean as a decorative object and also practical because I can use the cupboard space as storage for my sewing paraphernalia and sit the leccie machine on the top. It is so compact and like a little Tardis with a drop leaf extension to the LHS which would make a super little sewing table and free up my kitchen table which accommodates the machine when in use at the moment. What do you think .... to paint or not to paint ?????? that is the question.

Ooh forgot to mention have you seen this fantastic giveaway .... http://ihavetosay.typepad.com/randi/2009/08/from-my-stash-to-yours.html#comment-6a00d8341c52ef53ef0120a54a8ff0970c

Freecycle, skip diving, thrifting and a new magazine

We have spent a lot of time in the garden over the past few days because of the glorious weather. It is lovely to see everything coming to life again after the winter months and we have been moving a few things around and planting out some shrubs that have been in pots. This area is in front of the bird shed and it was a little bare so was the ideal relocation spot. Just as we were finishing my daughter shouted to say that someone on Freecycle had just offered some garden rocks and she was only a few minutes away from us so within half and hour we had claimed them, collected and look how they finish it off perfectly. I am really getting into Freecycle .... it is a great way of passing on your unwanted items to someone who has a need instead of taking them up to the tip. We have offered quite a bit of stuff that has been collecting up the side of the house (it was looking like Steptoe's Yard but is clear now) and in return have collected some items that we were in need of ..... we have just returned from collecting 3 trees - a Salix, a Corkscrew Willow and Cytistus (Broom). On the way we passed a skip which had some terracotta planters dumped on top of it ..... so guess what I did my best Kirsty Allsopp impression and dived in to claim them!This little shabby chic planter is an old bird show cage ..... we have dozens of them from my OH bird breeding pastime and I have been meaning to do this for ages. I have planted some Ivy, a Fuchsia, Lobelia and Petunia which should grown and trail through the bars to make a lovely display and save these lovely old cages from going to waste. We do have lots more and if anybody would like to buy one I would be happy to sell. Please get in touch via my blogshop for details. The postman brought this today .... a brand new sewing magazine which I have subscribed to for the grand total of £1 a month for the first 3 issues. I have had a glance through and it looks good.

and yes she's even in here too ... as if she needs any more publicity !

And to end the day on a perfect note one of our girls laid our first egg this morning .... well done Ginger ...... a small but perfectly formed offering. If anyone is thinking of getting some chooks I highly recommend it .... they are so funny with lovely characters of their own and when I go down to them they scuttle out and we have a chicken chat and they are such fuss pots ..... love a tickle under the chin.