hit the decks

weh-hey the sun came out... it's time to hit the decks!
These are two of my four revamped deckchairs,the 'newer-old ones'..a housewarming present from Pete's mother 19 years ago. I remember she couldn't get over the fact we wanted old fashioned wooden deckchairs instead of a metal padded garden recliner!
Handily the deckchairs doubled up as our first chairs for the lounge too..ahh those were the days.


They are a bit 'Cath' so if your not a fan look away now ..


Ta-da!
The boys managed to get the original red and white stripey fabric covered in oil (they were probably used as a convenient hand towel whilst repairing bikes in the garage..which is just the sort of thing teenage boys do) So it was time for a change.
A staple-gun, spare paint, one and a half metres of cheap, heavy duty, spotty fabric (no, not Ms.Kidston's) and a few minutes sewing in a straight line..the best kind of sewing!


I did however, like the impatient numpty that I am, manage to staple the fabric on the blue one to the wrong side of the bottom bar, so guess what I'll be doing in five minutes time...

See the big new cushion? well being a bit behind the times here in middle England, we had a new store open called Homesense which I no doubt guess you all shop in already and I'm just the dimwit who had never heard of them.
Amongst the trinkets and lamps and lovely things,they had a proper Jan Constantine cushion in there for £35 instead of £73.
A big union jack blue one.A rather lovely big union jack blue one.
Just the one left.I nearly peed my pants.

Domestic bartering ensued.
Pete gets a bit more tattoo than I hoped he would and I got a proper JC cushion.
Oh well it's his arm after all.And yes it is lovely and soft and hand embroidered!

I'll show you the other two deckchairs another time, they have the original scruffy 1950's paint which I love.
Cheerio for now x

Mr.Grieves and the tree of happiness

Where we live ,on a little lane of 6 properties tucked between two houses and bordered by the park, it used to be orchards. The Worcestershire area is famed for its fruit, used mainly to make Cider.

When we first moved here there were several very old apple trees scattered between the gardens that unfortunately have since been cut down. Our old gnarled tree is one of only two that remain, full of mistletoe and loved by the blackbirds.

Ours will never be chopped down whilst I'm still living here!

Every year without fail, it produces hundreds of beautiful ,rosy tinted sweet apples. I've been told by a lady who's lived here for more than 40 years, that they are a 'James Grieve' variety, a Victorian apple first developed in Scotland.

My old truck is parked beneath the tree and every now and again you hear a thud of an apple dropping onto its roof....sounds like it's time to climb the tree then!!


hmmm...3 men in the house and guess who gets the job of chief apple collector...yep.. me!

why are the best ones always at the very top?
The neighbours must think I'm mad,balancing on top of an old truck,one leg in the tree, one on the roof, collecting apples with a basket and a camera! ..the hills ..the hills...I can see the hills! .....(well, one of them anyway!)

Five basket-loads later and we have only picked about a quarter of them...I'll leave lots for the birds and bugs. The rest of them get shared out amongst our neighbours.

...totally organic and not a mark on them!

oh goody,I think we shall be having apple crumble for tea.Yummy!..I had better get peeling and chopping....apple anyone?

Talking of trees...

Emily, and her amazing cakes blog called ''sugar & meringue'', has tagged me with her 'tree of happiness award'..thanks Emily, I could do with thinking about some happy stuff at the mo.. so here are the six things that make up my tree of happiness :

1.Chickens...I absolutely love chickens..we had a very long garden in the house I grew up in and they lived right at the bottom next to the vegetable patch. When I was little I used to carry them around and bring them in the house, dress them in dolls clothes and basically annoy the hell out of them! but I have been obsessed with poultry ever since and can bore the pants of anyone who needs any 'chicken info'!

(me and Dick-p)

2.My best buddy...known affectionately as Dick P. I don't know anyone who shares the exact same stupid sense of humor as me..or someone who uses the words 'poo' or 'pants' as much as me.I met her on the first day of art college and knew immediately that we would be friends forever, infact I think of her as my fourth sister now. We have had such a laugh in the last 20 odd years and I just wish we lived nearer to each other.

(photo borrowed from google)

3.The North...I really love Northumberland and Cumbria, such a beautiful,rugged place..featuring the two things on my 'have to live near' list..water and hills. I even love the unpredictable weather they get there..this leads me to my next happy thing..

(photo borrowed from google)

4. Geordies...I love this accent and every Geordie (a natve inhabitant of Newcastle-upon -Tyne) I've ever met has been so friendly. I once got marooned on a train with a whole bunch of Geordie red-coats coming back from their summer stint in a Cornish holiday camp..talk about hilarious. Hah way man.

5.Books...I love reading about the Tudors, the last book I read was based on fact and charted the history of Lady Jane Grey..a sad and tragic tale, I couldn't put it down and was reading it in my pyjamas at 2 in the afternoon with tears running down my face! (silly tart!) I also love vintage children's books and 'housey' books...I would much rather be reading than watching TV.

(photo borrowed from google)

6.Cake...I would be a caketarian if I could..who ever decided that a simple mix of sugar,butter,eggs and flour would make the most delectable food of all time needs to be given the highest accolade of all time..well in the cake world anyway...Cake! I LOVE it...so quite apt that this happiness tag came from a cake lady herself.

I've also been given this award recently from Segsa Carol and Deb..thanks you guys, you're so kind! I will pass it on at some point, it seems to be awards-a-gogo at the moment, so I will leave it for a bit if you don't mind ( I'm so lazy aren't I ..sorry!!)

An English Summer holiday

I really adore wooden houses, something the Scandinavians and Americans seem to have down to a T...you rarely see them here in the UK as each region has its own style usually created from the stone local to that area. I would love to live in a clapboard house with white painted tongue and grooved walls inside and brightly coloured accessories, particulary red with various shades of blue, a bit of bunting and some vintage toys and books.To me it seems so timeless and I can never imagine becoming bored of that look.

It's way out of our budget, but I've always wanted to stay here: http://www.thedodo.co.uk/index.htm it looks so very British seaside holiday..buckets and spades and union jack paper flags at the ready..you can just feel the sand in your toes looking at this gorgeous place (even though the beach is a pebble one!).If it belonged to me, I wouldn't dare leave all those lovely furnishings for strangers to use, I would want to live here all the time, salty sea air and that lovely bright sea light streaming through your windows. oooh roll on summer...and please don't rain forever like last year!