The one where I nearly pee my pants...

Now, when lady luck shines down on my little patch, she shines brightly.
Not very often do good things happen in this house but they do happen now and again to cheer up our rollercoastering 'plodding along' lives.
I'm often wary that for the good things there's a bad thing lurking round the corner just waiting for it's opportunity to jump out and scare the pants off me..so the good things make me a little nervous..are you with me?

Well, this bank holiday, my sister from up north and her husband came to stay for a long weekend. It's very rare that people stay here, as our house is a tad small but the eldest stinky boy decided a spot of local stinky boys' camping was called for and we, for once, had a spare bed.

My sister and I are very similar even though she's the eldest and I'm the youngest of 4 girls, we have never had a cross word in 41 years...honestly,not ever, so her visits are always the best fun. As I was working on the Saturday all day, we decided on a National trust trip on the Sunday and the Giant Malvern flea fair on the Monday. All exciting stuff.
So on the Sunday after lots of mooching around the garden,sniffing roses and pointing at plants, eating croissants with proper butter in the (still lopsided and unfinished) summerhouse and chatting about my lovely visit to Devon and caravans and the like, we decided on a visit to
Hidcote Manor.Really it was a bit early in the year to appreciate all the beautiful flowers they have there and it was so packed with visitors we even had to wait until someone left to get a space in the car park .
Now big sisters can be a bad influence sometimes, they encourage you to put bids on exciting things you think you'll never in a million years be lucky enough to win. Before we went out for the day,I showed her something on eBay that was only a few miles from us and still at a sensible price. Something my family know I've hankered after for a long time and can bore people rigid over.

" isn't that just typical, pay day is a week away, my truck needs work for its mot and there that is looking at me at the bargain price of £125." I say.

Now the big sis tells me I should put a bid on it as I'll kick myself if the lovely thing goes for that amount and that she will help me out until pay day. There were lots of 'if it's meant to be' moments, the bid was placed and off we went to that beautiful area known as The Cotswolds...
to see pretty, pretty gardens..
Out for a meal (corr we really are splashing out!) and home again, where the said 'eBay thing' was almost forgotten about.....almost.

When I checked, I almost hyperventilated...noooooo it can't be true?

ME?.. the winner?

The owner of a little blue and cream CARAVAN for a mere £132? nooooo...

the VINTAGE one I had seen earlier???

The vintage blue and cream cheeky little 1960's one all ready to be towed behind The Beastie (my old pick-up truck) and only needing a bit of prettifying ???GORDON BENNETT!!!!Yes, when lady luck shines, she definitely shines very brightly!

Breathing

Hello again, sorry about the loooooooong gap between my posts of late, I feel like I can finally breathe again..it's just like we have been holding our breath for one whole month waiting to see what will happen with jobs, the house and all that horrid boring, scary stuff. Then of course there was the snow too, that really threw a spanner in the works...

looks like someone went mad with a foam fire extinguisher!

Pete has just this week, started a job doing something he was doing when we first met 20 years ago and has interviews lined up this month for better ones he'll hopefully be doing in 20 years from now. I can't tell you how many application forms have been filled in and phone calls made.It has been one long nightmare. I've always said it's better to have a couple of strings to your bow so that there's at least another skill to fall back on when you need to...and believe me, as much as he didn't really want to do that job again, he needed to.
Apart from holding my breath and turning blue and my brain trying to escape daily from my head, (and the horrid hospital visits as well) some nice things have been happening too.

I'll let you in on a secret....

My lovely Grannie who passed away last February left me a bit of money and it took nearly a whole year to arrive at my door but boy, was the timing perfect. The mortgage was paid just one day late, the bills were paid and the scary telephone calls I was going to have to make were put off just in the nick of time. It was like she had waited until we really needed it, until we had no more doors to go through and no more answers.She allowed us to breathe again. Big deeeeeep breaths of relief.
I felt sad at the thought of not being able to have something to remember my Grannie by, I have the memories and the photos, but I really would have liked something to look at every day and know that my Grannie had given me the pennies to buy it with. I had known for some time about the money and had months to think of things to spend it on.
I'm not a posh jewelery person, I dont wear a wedding or engagement ring and the necklaces and the rings that I do own are like those huge big chunky ones like Trinny wears (gardeners hands..I'll never be dainty, see) so it got me thinking of other things, a vintage caravan, some some vintage pretties, a trip to the seaside...oooh the possibilities of flittering away pennies on pretty things were almost endless!
Then the shit hit the fan when Pete lost his job and all these fantasies were gone in a flash.

I did however have enough left for one thing and it only came to me whilst staring out the window across the garden whilst wondering how we would ever have got out of this mess if it hadn't been for her thinking of us and the perfect timing that made it all be ok.

summer 2008

The rose arbour at the bottom of the garden had completely got out of hand, huge 15' whips of evil thorny lengths were dangling half way across the neighbours garden and it became so big that it had broken through the roof of the arbour, the fence and the wooden rail that it rested on.It became somewhere we no longer sat under without getting scratched or bits landing on you from above. Beautiful as it was with its little pompoms of pink and white, it was just too big for the space. Such a shame, but this garden is always evolving, so out it came.The poor, now rotten arbour that Pete had built came with it and made some very welcome firewood.


I am now the proud owner of a summerhouse.
Put up by Harry and Pete on the coldest day ever inbetween flurries of yet more snow (I made tea and supervised the doings)

Harry in his mad hat and his Dad's boots

It was something Grannie always had at each house, something we often got told off for mucking about in, or spinning around in the case of the Victorian one at her beautiful Manor House and something she had once bought as a present for my mum too.

It still needs quite a lot more work, we will 'vintagey-fy' it and put proper slate tiles on the roof like we did with the chicken house, paint it green and cream and I have a garage full of spare furniture to decorate it with.The garden will be rejigged, the awkward to cut hedge has gone, the pond will be moved and a trellis-topped (and honeysuckle covered) wall will be built out of old bricks (by Stinky George if he ever stirs from that permanent teenage sleep) but at the moment in the constant rain, it all looks rather awful and very muddy.
I can't wait. Roll on Spring, roll on Summer.
I'll sit there with my cup of tea,with no doubt a few creatures around me listening to radio 2 on my Roberts radio in my vintagey-fied summerhouse with its bunting up and be in utter bliss.

Thankyou Grannie. Thankyou so much.

The good,The bad and the downright lovely...

Wooooosh..there it goes, that was the year then, all over and done with for another twelve months.Here's to a good,prosperous and healthy 2010..Happy New Year!!
I'm not a great fan of December, I have to admit. I love the build up and the trimmings and excitement, reading everyone else's blogs and living the season through other's eyes but bad things have a tendancy to happen around this time of year for us so I'm not what you would call the life and soul of any party.
When I was younger my Grandparents both died, my Granny 'Mopsey' on Christmas day then several years later, my Grandpa 'Pop' on Boxing day. I always think of how my Dad kept a brave face all over Christmas, we never knew till later. There have been various other things happen in Decembers past which I wont dredge up, but it is a strange month which I tend to go a bit quiet in.
My parents are in Thailand at the moment, celebrating their Christmas and New Year Thai style with my sister and her family. It's a Christmas holiday they cut short back in 2004 that they are now having good and proper.
Yes, that 2004, that Christmas in paradise, that boxing day Tsunami.
I watched a program the other night that showed the full horror of the Tsunami as caught on peoples cameras. I kept thinking about it again and again, seven members of my family would have been there on that very beach on that very same Boxing day but through a strange twist of fate, came home early because of Josie being ill. Their hotel was totally destroyed by the water. It sends a shiver down your spine.So, Christmas for me, and I know it's a bit gloomy, means I tend to be thinking about those people who may be having a tough time or who are remembering loved ones. I really dislike the commercialism of it all and the endless buy, buy, buy adverts on TV.
Onto some cheerier things now, I had some lovely surprisesrecently, really unexpected ones, firstly I won a competition.. one of those easy peasy 'missing word' ones, I entered on a whim late one night.Never in a million years did I think my name would be drawn out of the hat, but low and behold, those lovely people at Cabbages & Roses sent me £50 worth of Burt's Bees goodies the very next day, all beautifully wrapped in C&R paper and smelling coconut-honey-minty gorgeous.. Needless to say I saved it all for opening on Christmas day..Just look at that cute polka dot bag!!! purrrrrrfect for a polka dot nut like me. Then, my lovely facebook buddy Julie in Sweden (swedishhouse blog) sent me the most gorgeous old Swedish toadstool candleholders.. she knew I was down in the dumps after a particularly miserable facebook post and tagged them with my name in a photo saying these are heading your way! Then as if things couldn't be any lovelier, one of my favourite blogging ladies, Steph sent a lovely parcel of vintagey goodies to cheer me up even more. oh I've missed the Russian cocktail sticks out the photo! they're such pretty colours too.

I can't begin to tell you how lovely it is when someone you are yet to meet does something like that. LOVELY it is...just lovely.
I'm still so behind with everything, right now I'm meant to be making some roman blinds for the dining room as they were next on the 'to do' list (which is currently at least four A4 pages long) I have had the white linen fabric for months but seeing as I can't afford the batons to go in them and they would look like big baggy knickers hanging at my window, maybe it's not such a bad thing. I did manage to finish my patchwork cushion at last and after a lot of deliberating backed it with some Cath kidston fabric I found on eBay that normally only comes in oilcloth items..yes Mel, it's Provence rose! well spotted! (the lady who sells it is in Hong Kong, so it must be where the CK things are made) My mum gave me some money for Christmas and told me I would be in trouble if it was spent on bills or food and wanted to see what I bought with it, real proof of pretty stuff..so, after I had hankered after that patchwork throw at the Malvern flea fair back in September..you know,'the one that got away' and I saw these four vintage placemats on Louise Loves, I knew that they would most certainly fill that void. I hand stitched two pairs of the mats together to make them into cushions, just as Louise suggested,backed with some vintage French linen..oooh 1930's prettiness! The colours seem to be very Spring-like and fresh. I wonder what all the fabrics had been before?I suppose the bad thing is that Pete still hasn't got a proper job, the agency work finished and we are quite literally clutching at straws and living off fresh air (and Quality Street sweeties morning,noon and night) but when you find messages like this on the fridge door, it can't be all that bad... can it?I've got a mad busy week next week with horrid prodding biopsy things going on again..yuk (six months comes round too quickly for my liking) and some very much needed extra days at work so I hope you'll forgive my utter rubbishness at message replying yet again x

ps..my front door is painted in OLIVE by Farrow & Ball!! I forgot to reply to you earlier Claire and Kristina..sorry! xx
I always find their colours come out much lighter than on the chart, so it does look very similar to Cooking apple green!

The Blue 'oeuf' and the kindness of strangers

Not only were we excited by the tiny amount of snow but Violet our little grey hen who has seemed very fidgety lately,was so excited she popped out her first blue egg. Followed the next day by another in the most perfect shade of eau de nil. I much prefer the French word for egg 'oeuf' it at least shows some of the chickens' effort at laying it in the word.."ooooooo-ff"
So now she officially becomes a 'Hen', no longer a chicken.I've been in a jolly mood all week as the dreaded court case was thrown out..helps to show up if you want to accuse someone of something (what idiots) and I've been doing a spot of sewing, had a really nice Christmas and things are looking ok..not fantastic, just ok but that'll do me.

I have to show you something that Faye at Country Chic sent me,this was a really,really nice surprise, it arrived just before Christmas and was my only present on Christmas morning, (apart from some nice smelling deodorant from Harry,very practical..!) so not only did Faye make my day, she certainly cheered Pete up as he was feeling a bit bad that he wasn't able to get me a pressie. The box that arrived was full of lovely things, a copy of The English home, my favourite magazine which I had recently had to cancel my subscription to, a rose scented bar of soap all wrapped up in fabric and ribbons to go in your knicker drawer but far to nice to hide away, posh chocolate and this gorgeous toadstool that Faye sells in her beautiful online shop...'The country chic home'I do like spotty toadstools! Isn't that so very nice of her? What a lovely lady. I sent her a whole heap of good karma in return!
I was dreading this Christmas and it turned out to be one of our better ones, the things we had, we really loved and because there weren't many, we appreciated them far more. George got his Banksy poster, his much hankered over DVDs of some crazy bloke doing crazy things, Harry got his replacement bike helmet so that at least I can sleep at night when I find out he does stunts like this .. Pete got his electric jigsaw (many little jobs involving wood and possibly 'Stanley the dog' shaped cutting planned for him) and I got a pair of the prettiest Cath Kidston red slippers from my mother-in-law (she is just the best mother in law)..already looking well used ..and part pompom-less thanks to one of the cats..pests! As well a few other little Cath Kidston bits and bobs from my sisters which were lovely too.
In fact it made us realise and remember what it's all about really, sometimes it's very easy to get lost in the commercialisation of it all.
This morning I made a couple of London Underground cushions , thanks to a tutorial by this lady in Australia..so easy peasy, infact I cheated and didn't even have to put a zip in as I just made an envelope opening so you just fold it and sew down the two sides.
Thanks for the tutorial Kathryn!I love things like this..making something different out of something run of the mill like a tea towel. I'd like to cover Georges boring drum shades with a map of the underground but I'm not getting very far with the pestering (maybe I should just do it whilst he's at college!)I'm going to make some more cushions for my little shop too, the Kate Forman ones I made for Christmas presents went down really well, so I'm aiming for a few more union jack ones and some flowery ones too..(well that's the plan)
Have a great weekend..and keep warm! x

prizes,new life and stormy weather

I've been a lucky girl of late,winning some beautiful gifts from Hen's giveaway that arrived in a beautifully packed parcel of pink this morning.They are even more gorgeous in the flesh..stitching so tiny and perfect it looks like pixies have sewn it all...she's a talented girl that Hen.
Then I had a parcel of Christmassy pay it forwards from Twiggypeasticks, that have scented my room with some yummy spices for mulled wine and pretty little handmade decorations for the tree, another talented girlie, I will have to pass that pay it forward on at some point.
Anyway, thankyou for all your recent messages, I have put the 14 names that were kind enough to ask a question into a hat and pestered a stinky boy to pull one out, in this case Harry, so having tipped them all out of the hat accidentally not once but twice,(clumsy oaf!) he eventually managed to pull Stephs name out amidst some teenage muttering and mumbling..so, lovely Steph at Curlew country, a little something will be winging (that's your clue!) its way to you at some point,once you let me know your address.

I've been reading about the bloggers vintage and homemade fair,that took place on Saturday.What a lot of hard work was put into that, it all looked wonderful.I would have loved to have gone..The bags under my eyes would have been so handy for all those lovely treasures! Well done Michele and Jane and all the other ladies who worked so hard to bring it to fruition.
This month is usually a mad one,visiting my sister up north for Bonfire night and then seeing my mum and other sister too..Like a lot of my family,they both live abroad but have recently been over here.Unfortunately neither happened, with me going into hospital and Jac has been busy with the Dragonfly charity and doing some press interviews,whilst my mum was looking after little Charlie,her son,it made it all a bit difficult really.
My 'little' brother and his wife (that's them in the wedding photo above) had a baby girl on Thursday..9lbs 8oz..what a whopper!..eek! it makes your eyes water!..I hope that one day I'll be able to meet the new baby-with-no-name along with her gorgeous big brother Jake who thinks his Auntie lives in a box called 'pooter' on the other side of the ocean...I shall be sending them the lovely pink new baby card that Krafty Keely made for me a while back.

The stormy weather arrived here this weekend, and with it some bad news, my euphoria when the taxman gave us some pennies to play with(and recent online spending spree..oops) was very short lived, Pete who works 72 hours a week just so we can survive the bills looks like he may have his hours cut by quite a lot..it would almost half his salary if they did..the credit crunch will be biting us very hard, so many people will be in the same boat this year it's quite frightening..Brown robs the rich to pay for the poor but what about the people in the middle? the ones not on benefits who work every hour they can just to keep their heads above water, who own their own house and will loose it in a shot if they can't pay for it..but can't sell it either..who cancelled their insurance as it was too expensive (arrrggh) what about them? It's not Mr. Browns fault, I know.I hate politics but I needed a moan.
So I am trying to find a job, any job so I can help out, Christmas is a case of 'if and when'..The stinky boys have been warned they may have a gas bill instead this year.I'm sure they will be thrilled with it.This week I have to feed a family of four, five cats and a dog on £38.50..It can be done, I've done it before..you have to plan ahead, stick rigidly to your shopping list and get used to the cats being sick because they don't like the cheaper alternative..sorry pussies.Thank goodness we get free eggs.Less in the winter when the hens egg production slows down, but enough to make a stupendously good quiche.

I am feeling incredibly guilty. I'm also feeling sick.

Next Tuesday (2nd) I should get the results of a biopsy.The C word has been mentioned and I'm not talking Christmas here, but only in passing conversation..funny how it's the one word you remember out of all the medical blurb..funnily,I'm not in the slightest bit worried about it, what I don't like is the messed up hormones that caused all the trouble in the first place...how about these for just some of the side affects of the drugs I'm on..

• weight gain (ooh goody..some more!)

• spots (yay we love those, whiling away the hours infront of the mirror)

• mood swings (hoorah, boo, scream)

• depression (groan, sob)

• bloatedness (parp)

hang on a minute these sound very familiar..it's another puberty..I'm going to be a teenager again!!! heaven forbid!!!
So my lovely blogging ladies, I'm going to sign off for a while.I'm sure you want to read about lovely things really and as you can see, I'm a bit stuck for those at the mo, I will however,be adding some things to my shop along the way, including some vintage things..like eiderdowns (the one above has been reserved but I will be adding some more) and pretty stuff that you may just like to take a peek at..or if you are in the same boat as me...a sigh at..
xxxxxxx

Friday ramblings!

-38 As a 1930s wife, I amVery Poor (Failure) Take the test>

I've had two good things happen this week, the first was a giveaway that I won from krafty keely..although I really don't think I deserved to win...I was entered in sympathy for my appalling score as a 1930s housewife...minus 38 points..MINUS!! oh dear. Pete would wholeheartedly agree with that score as I am totally undomesticated when it comes to wifely things..if you haven't already you must have a go..some of the questions are hilarious..anyway, I won a card of my choice from a selection and a custom made card..which I have already had..I can't show you as its for my mum and dads 50th wedding anniversary on the 5th of July and they sometimes pop by for a read..but I can assure you it's really lovely! thanks Keely!


The second was a blogging award..and such a nice one at that..

Thank you, Thank you Queen of 50 cents, I'm very flattered that I make your day, especially as you live across the pond, as it were!!

So now I have to choose, according to award rules, 5 blogs I'd like to pass it on to..hmmm a difficult one as I love reading so many!


Well, I'll choose Julia's blog, Steph's , Jane's ,Clare's and Sophie's blogs.

These were the first blogs I ever started to read and have loved them ever since, they were my inspiration and they really do make your day with their lovely photographs and inspirational stories, although we all miss Sophie's regular blogging.... please come back Sophie Honeysuckle!


Stephs blog is lovely and I just love the old fashioned words she uses in her writing, It's like reading an Enid Blyton book about the countryside and interiors (smashing!)


Jane always manages to remind me of things I have stashed away and forgotten about, she appears on virtually every blog list and quite rightly so.. Blog Royalty!


Clare's blog is pure eye candy and she's a nice thoughtful blogger too, she certainly made my month, nlet alone my day when she sent me a little surprise to cheer me up not so long ago.


then Julia..Julia never ceases to amaze me how great she is at leaving messages to everyone..and along with her really great blog, it's those messages that really can make your day!

So girlies..this little award is for you...
Hope you agree with my choices!


Thanks to everyone who made a purchase from the shop..I was really surprised how fast things sold..they have all been posted out, so any problems get in touch people won't you!!


Have a great weekend bloggers, see you Monday!
x

prizes, pretties and more girlie stuff

Ok I suppose I could have left this 'til Monday for the 'pretty post' but heck I'll show you today!

These are some of the wonderful goodies I won in Julias giveaway a few weeks ago...I was one lucky lucky girlie!

Pete could hear the squealing in the garden when I opened this perfectly packaged candy-coloured parcel..I was overwhelmed with all the gorgeousness of everything..and not only that..there was LOADS!

a cute vintage patchwork cushion... (that matches perfectly with my recently thrifted 50p pair of candy-stripe pillowcases)

cute little birdie...

cute little fabric flowers...

the cutest mini bunting that will reach halfway round Malvern...(this is just some of it!)

some of those uber cute dishcloths that I have to drive to the other side of Worcester for should I run out...

Cute moo cards...

and CHOCOLATE...

oh that's gone, but not only was it chocolate..it was Green and Blacks Vanilla chocolate..chocolate royalty!..ok that's enough about chocolate as I will start dribling like a dog if I talk about it anymore..and yes.. I was mean and I didn't share it!

See I told you I was a lucky girl!

I like Julia... Lots x

It's around about the end of May that there's enough roses coming into flower for me to cut some for indoors...I love to fill this little Greengate jug with a few blooms..these ones smell like apples..much nicer to wake up to than the smell of socks......Pete.

I can't wait for my little secret arbour to be in Bloom..it's absolutely smothered in buds..it will be a sea of pink pompoms when this rose comes out and I can hide away and read a magazine without being found! (apart from Winnifred..she likes it there too, mainly because the fish food is there aswell) and when the sewing fairy comes back to visit, I can make the cushions for it...Bliss..

Good things and Stanley

Thanks to a nice lady called Mair, I'm now the proud owner of a Cath Kidston Stanley! Yay!

Where would you like to live Stanley? will the dresser do for now?

I'VE GOT A STANLEY!!!

Can you tell I'm over excited? lol

Thankyou so much Mair, for letting me know where I could find him...

Isn't the weather divine? well I hope you are having these glorious Spring days too, I had my breakfast outside with this chap this morning...Basil. The cats go all lovey-dovey when it gets warmer, then they go all grumpy when it gets too hot!

I see someones found my new chair!

This is Winnie, she's about 16 and is my brothers cat, she's living out her old age with us as my brother lives in Canada now.

Winnie likes to sleep.A lot.

This huge Horse chestnut tree grows in our front garden,its so big I couldn't fit it in the photo! I love the candelabra flowers that come in April or May...each one turns into a conker and in October we are overwhelmed by them,there are millions of them!

The hens need crash helmets as their house is under the tree, every now and then you hear a squark as a conker drops from above. Maybe I should buy them some toy action-man helmets from ebay..what a sight that would be!!! Hens in helmets

Well as you can imagine not a lot grows well in the front garden so it is mostly shrubs, with a splash of colour in late summer from my 'hot' flower bed nearer the house.

Every spring,one of the hens goes broody.This year it's Dollys turn, She hides everyones elses eggs as soon as they lay them and fluffs up to twice her size when you open the box to collect them..she's a lovely hen, really friendly.. such a shame, I would love to hatch some chicks but I couldn't risk having a cockerel again and having to rehome him...not after Merlin!