Kojak and the Argonauts

The stinky boy did something scary..not scary like this or even this thank goodness, no, the floppy long-haired one who's face has not been seen for about 10 years ..shaved his hair off to what can only be described as 'velvet length'.
It's quite strange seeing one's son for the first time at the age of 17 and a half, quite strange indeed.
I see that he has two eyebrows, pale blue eyes and the longest most beautiful eyelashes EVER (jammy devil).
I must admit I did moan about him getting his hair cut but I didn't really mean him to have it that short.
Hmm that'll teach me to keep my mouth shut!!

So now, in this house lives: 'Kojak' (that's Pete's nickname who seems to think he's more Vin Diesel (that's Vin below) than Telly Savalas (that's Telly above)..) er-hum, moving on swiftly and remembering to clean the mirrors more often, they must be seriously filthy in this house...

Action man circa 1977 (complete with authentic scar) that's stinky George;

(photo from toypincher on flikr via google!)

and Prince Harry..that's him below ..well he looks a bit like our Harry, so people tell us anyway, although our Harry's hair is more sandy coloured (just don't tell him it's ginger for goodness sake or all hell will break loose)

Me? well New Tricks is back on the TV so that means they'll be a whole rash of people saying I look like Amanda Redman.(but only if I have my hair down)woo hoo!! that'll do me thankyou very much indeedy..and I really dont care that she's 10 years older, no sir-ree!

So what I 'd love to know (because I'm very nosy) is just who do people say YOU look like??? go on do tell...!

ps.thanks for your messages, I promise I'll show and tell the (still unfinished) dining room..oh and show some pictures of the deckchairs,that is when Summer,oops, no, I mean 'Monsoon season' finishes and I can actually use them!
Enjoy your weekend! xx

A game of wish miss and hope

My life at the mo seems to be all work and no play which is all a bit pants (but I really shouldn't moan) and whilst I have five minutes to spare I thought I would do a little list of wishes and misses and hopings...just for silliness and because even I'm sick to death of seeing those blessed lupins!

Ok the game...pretty simple for simple minds like mine!

I really wish I hadn't just left that highlighting bleach on my hair for quite so long..YIKES! Tart alert!

I miss blogging and I soooo want to have more time to do it but I hope to do more in the winter

I wish you didn't have to nag at teenage boys so much. Nag, nag, NAG

I really miss my Mondays at home,I don't think my house has been this messy since we moved in!

hmmm .. I hope Harry's revising for those GCSE's..

I wish they wouldn't miss the laundry basket when their dirty washing gets launched across the landing at random moments. IT IS NOT RUGBY GEORGE!!

I hope that's not a cat being sick I can hear..why do they have to come inside to be sick???Is it to show me their latest meal of grass or fur? how nice of them to do so.

I wish teenage boys wouldn't leave the washing up for me to do.Baked beans at lunchtime don't half stink the house out when they are left in the sink in a saucepan all afternoon.YUK!

I miss being that bit thinner and that gorgeous top from Coast not fitting me(and half of my wardrobe for that matter!)

I hope one day I will be thinner so I can wear all those clothes again!!

but I really wish I didn't like cake quite so much...

I miss gardening with firemen (phwoar)

I hope my old truck passes its MOT this month

I wish those noisy magpies wouldn't cackle right outside my bedroom window at 5 in the morning...ooh spiteful birds they are, beautiful in their tux's but what meanies..

I wish I could finish all those niggly little jobs in the house,they'll be in their hundreds soon!

I miss the coaltits and would love them to come back soon

(but I hope the kitties dont eat them when they do)

I wish I hadn't started revamping the vintage deckchairs someone gave me

I'll miss the old fabric already!

but I hope I can find some just as nice

I wish it wasn't going to rain tomorrow.

I do miss having 3 sisters around to do girlie stuff with

I hope my big sister does come and stay really soon HINT, HINT BIG SIS.

I wish the chickens didn't make dust-bath craters everywhere in the garden

I'll miss Harry when he goes off this month with his best buddy on holiday for two weeks

but I hope he has a nice time in France and gets to visit his Grannie and Grandpa who live there.

I wish I could think of more misses and I really hope you're not too bored!

I wish that I hadn't missed the vintage and handmade fair and hope to go to the next one (it looked so much fun!)

I wish I'd charged more for that job on Saturday..what a nightmare,it cost more to do than I earnt! I miss those expensive tree loppers and I hope the new ones last a bit longer!

I wish I could go to Canada have tea with Lisa and see my little brother that I miss, but I hope to see him in September over here yay!

You may have gathered from the date (its actually the 15th of July today not the 5th of June!) I wrote this a while ago, I've been loitering around blogland, reading other blogs and pondering whether to continue with my own..it really isn't very exciting here in the land of Vintage Pretty and shabby at the mo!

Oh and if you are wondering.. Harry did revise and I am missing him whilst hes on his trip, it was the cat being sick, my truck failed its MOT for the first time in 18 years (booo) and had to have its bottom welded (sounds painful) and I did paint and re-cover the deckchairs and funily enough they do look ok.. so no more comedy acts of falling through old fabric in the garden... but that's a whole 'nother post hopefully not as far apart as this one and maybe a little bit more exciting ( with maybe even actual photos of exciting stuff!)

x

A rare day out..

You may remember last year we were lucky enough to be given some free tickets to the Malvern Spring gardening show by a lovely neighbour.I was only watching Gardeners world and thinking how good it looked again last night and a pity that our nice neighbours had moved, when stinky George produced an envelope with two tickets in for the show." from 'thingy' " he says, "who used to live next door, they called round yesterday" (they have since moved to a new house but still own the house next door)
WHOOPEE !
So off Pete and I trundled in my old truck to visit the show only 10 minutes from our home.
There was definately a bit of a vintage/reclamation theme going on this year if you ask me, maybe I'm wrong,but there were more sellers with antique gardinalia and vintage garden bits and bobs and more lovely show gardens featuring old tools and vintage sheds than last year.Lots of alliums, which I always admire, and plenty of themed colourful gardens, I love the combination of dusky dark leaves and vivid oranges that seemed to be used this year...(sorry,the photos are a bit blurry,oops!)

but then again, I love purple flowers and circles used in the garden too, whether its alliums or box balls..or stone balls!But you can't beat a bit of vintage in my eyes, I just love this cute potting shed, with it's old tin signs and antique tools..This lovely greenhouse was just my cup of tea too!I did manage to get some nice old bits and bobs, only a few plants as I thought they were a bit pricey to be honest.Some much needed planters for my lollipop Bays; which have been crammed into their original pots for far too long and fell over if you sneezed near them! an old enamel bucket in the most delicious shade of blue and some Camassias to plant in them, this bargain of a big galvanised trough (£7!) which will weather down nicelyand yet another bargain item, a rusty metal obelisk for my clematis to climb up.It certainly pays to make an offer to the sellers, especially on the last day! last but not least I had to visit The Allotment shop again where I found this little packet of replica gardening ephemera.. It's just fab! I have no idea what I'll do with it all yet, but what a cute and interesting collection of vintage papers, pamphlets,cigarette cards, posters and seed packets.There's all sorts of bits and bobs in there!

You may like to check out the company that makes them...

www.mempackcompany.com

(I think I might get the seaside holiday one aswell)
So anyway that was a rare day out for us and a really good one, so for now, if you'll excuse me I have some balls of my own to trim...(box ones of course)

Somebody...

SOMEBODY is in my bad books. No names mentioned but he's furry, rather old and ginger..(and rapidly using up his nine lives)
He had every test going at the Vets because he was looking ill, not eating,depressed and scruffier than usual.
£180 later...(£180 !!!) one puss cat is returned home with a clean bill of health from the vets.

The reason?
turns out SOMEBODY didn't like the new cat food.
and if he thinks he's having that 'sachet ' cat food for posh spoilt Princess cats every day of the week, he can think again.
hmmmm pesky cat.
Still love him to bits though.x

Life begins..

..as they say, when you hit 40. Yep, I've hit forty today.. FORTY..ooh scary! But if life begins, then that's all right with me and I'm quite looking forward to it..although the 'middle age spread' can hold off for a bit longer and I'm not quite ready for the 'Tena ladies'..just yet.
The filled wooden flower box in the photo above was a birthday gift from my lovely boss at the shop...how gorgeous are they? I just adore them. And I've had a lovely suprise from my sisters and brother..but more about that another time, I think this post should really be a grovelling apology to all those people who sent me messages! I've been madly busy, had a computer virus that had something to do with emails and still seems to crash or play up each time a new email arrives (grrrr) and we've been decorating That room again. Lack of time is a horrid thing, I have ten million jobs to do, the gardening to do and finish decorating something I now wish I hadn't started! Even Easter came and went in the blink of an eye.
I've also had some sad news that knocked the wind out of me a bit when a friend who I had only seen a few days previously, died unexpectedly.I shall miss him and it hasn't really sunk in yet.
I've also missed blogging.I really must find more time from somewhere or other to catch up, either that or employ a chef and cleaner as well as a general gardener,and decorator. So I'm very sorry if I didnt get back to your messages, I felt terribly guilty when I couldn't because of the virus frustrating me to the point of the computer being launched out the window or just not having the time.Just how do you full-time workers find time to blog? Hopefully I'm going to be more organised, pull my finger out and get back to normality soon-ish.I did manage to paint the hen house last weekend..much to the annoyance of the ladies, who made so much noise the footballers playing on the park peeped over the front hedge to see what was going on.(I think Betty must have wanted blue instead of green as she seemed to be making the most noise)
That room (the dining room) is still in chaos, but this time I think I might just like it when it's finished as we have a different table and swapped about the furniture. I'll do a grand unveiling later where you can tell me you prefered it before!
We had to pick up the new old table from Bath and on the way back we called in at Cafe no.9, owned by the lovely Anna at All things lovely. I must admit I was really nervous saying hello..but her cake is to die for ( just dont smile after you've eaten the poppy seed as you get poppy-seed-polka-dotted teeth) the cafe is lovely like Anna and you must check it out if your passing that way.
So that's it for a bit..nothing exciting to report really, George is much, much better..and I'm still plodding on.
Enjoy your week and please forgive me if I fall silent for a while! xx