Making Good Use

Mum's Birthday Present

It may be a tad unconventional, but what Mum really wanted for her 80th birthday present was a bit of a makeover to her front garden.  The bed in front of her living room window had become totally choked with brambles, a stupidly large buddleia and self-seeding aquilegias.  Add into the mix a couple of stunted old rose bushes and a large shrub which attracted all manner of slimey slugs and snails whenever it rained (and it certainly can rain in the West Country) and the time had come to get something done.  Cue one lovely young chap of a gardener, a delivery of pale plum-coloured shale and four or five hours hard work and ta dah!!

Mum's front garden has been transformed.  She is delighted with it all and it really does look so neat and tidy and should be easily low maintenance from here on in.  

A few pots have already been displayed and Mum is now talking about getting some lavender plants and a nice large pot to add to the mix.  I particularly like the display of pansies in Mum's old tin 'clothes washer'.    I'd like to do something similar with an old jam pan I've got - it would look very fetching outside my front door.  So it's a bit belated (almost three weeks belated) but Mum finally has her birthday pressie.

Just wanted to say thank you so much to everyone who left comments on the last post but one - I was very touched by your kind words.  I still haven't fully decided whether to carry on blogging or not, I'll see how I feel in a week or two.

Second-hand But New

A couple of weeks ago - when the weather seemed a lot more promising that it is now - I got my summer clothes out of their storage box.  When I'd hung them up in the wardrobe I realised that a) I didn't much like most of them and b) I didn't have half as many summer clothes as I'd imagined.  Well, luckily (!), the weather has been so miserable for the past week that I'm back wearing winter jumpers and long-sleeved T-shirts (oh, the joys of a British 'summer.)  Trouble is, I'm mightily fed up with all my warmer clothes too - having worn them pretty much continuously for the past eight months.

So, most serendipitously, this morning I found two never-been-worn-still-with-tags-attached tops which are warm enough for the weather at the moment but still fairly Spring-like in colour (I am hugely fed up with wearing 'winter' colours.)

Lilac coloured three-quarter sleeve T-shirt in a lovely long length.  Hadn't realised this one was brand-new with its original tags until I got it home.

M&S pure linen top, very nice quality.  Apologies for the 'frilly' effect to the sleeves but it's got one of those odd roll-up and button sleeve things going on - which I don't get on with so I unrolled the sleeves when I tried it on.  Both tops were £4.50 - which I initially thought was a bit expensive but, having realised they are both brand new, I now think were excellent bargains.  They both came from the same local hospice charity shop.

In case you were wondering why photos have suddenly reappeared - I took the opportunity of posting whilst being able to use Mum's camera and computer.  Normal photo-less service will, sadly, soon be resumed!!

Sweet Sixteen

I had a surprise visit from an old boyfriend over the Bank Holiday.  Well, I say it was a surprise but it wasn't really all that surprising as I am living in the same cul-de-sac where he grew up and where his parents still live.  I'd seen his parents around and they'd told him where I was living - which is a bit of surprise for all concerned (including me!!)  Anyway, although he now lives in London, his Dad is none too well so he was down to visit when he called in to see me.

We went out together for about a year when I was 16 and he was 17 and he was my first boyfriend.  We have met up again several times since then - the last time being well over 20 years ago as it was before I'd met P - and it is lovely that we seem to be able to pick up conversations and stories as if all the years in between have never happened.  Though when we compared ourselves to a photo he had on his phone of us in our 'youf' it was easy to see the toll the years have taken on us both.  He is now totally white haired and I have to hobble round with a walking stick. 

That photo has really brought home to me how soddin' old I'm getting - though as was pointed out, it was 37 years ago when we went out together so it's not surprising we've both changed a great deal.  I'd love to show the photo on here but Typepad is still refusing to allow me to put photos on the blog.  I really must do something about that ASAP or pack in blogging altogether - which I am thinking of doing, anyway.

It's a funny old world, ain't it?  I never in a million years thought I'd end up living just a few doors down from my ex-boyfriends family home.  Nor did I ever think when I was 16 that I'd become the wrinkled old bat hobbling round on a stick that I seem to have turned into.  Ah, to be sweet sixteen again and have all your life ahead of you.  I'm pretty sure it was Oscar Wilde who said 'youth is wasted on the young,' how bloody right he was!!

Hats Off to Hugh

Well, the River Cottage Canteen certainly didn't disappoint.  The food was superb, the staff friendly and knowledgeable and we all had one of the best meals we could ever remember eating.  If anyone is interested, our selection went as follows:  Mum and my nephew shared a South West fish board for starters, my sister and I had the onion bahjis and my brother-in-law had a pollack fish dish which doesn't appear on this week's sample menu.  For mains, my Mum and sister both had the chickpea and cauliflower curry (small quibble with that dish as Mum felt the chickpeas could have done with a slightly longer cooking time,) I had ham and eggs, my nephew had sourdough pizza (we sort of shared our mains between us and I can definitely say that the pizza was delish!!)  My brother-in-law had bangers and mash.  For pudding I had the chocolate pot (shouldn't be eating chocolate really but it was soooooo gorgeous - the nicest dessert I've had in many a long year,) Mum and my sister had yogurt pannacotta with rhubarb and hazlenut biscuit - which they declard was divine, my nephew had the chocolate brownie sundae (it looked superb,) and my brother-in-law had the Salcombe dairy ice cream.

The whole experience was first rate and we couldn't have had a better meal or a nicer time on Mum's special day.  River Cottage Canteen certainly isn't a budget option but for a special occasion - and they were certainly doing a roaring trade yesterday lunchtime - it would be hard to beat it.  We're not a family who like getting dressed up so the really relaxed and easy-going dress code was ideal for us, too.  I'm thinking maybe P and I can give it a whirl when he comes home for his two-week holiday, 'cos that'll certainly be a cause for celebration!!

It's a Big Day Tomorrow

Yup, tomorrow is a big day of celebration as my Mum reaches a 'significant' birthday milestone.  (I won't mention exactly how old she'll be but lets just say it's a pretty impressive 'round' birthday.)  As luck would have it, my nephew (Mum's most favourite little person in the whole wide world) has got the day off school tomorrow as his school is being used as a polling station.  We couldn't have ordered that better if we'd tried. 

To celebrate we're all going to try out Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's new Bristol restaurant for lunch.  It should be a really interesting experience and we're all looking forward to seeing what we think of the food and the place itself.  I know my nephew has been studying the menu in the window quite closely on his way past each day from school.  Ah, he's a boy after my own heart - he loves his food. 

The handmade Happy Birthday banner will be getting another airing at some point and we're hoping to take in a little light charity shop perusing after lunch as the Whiteladies Road / Cotham Hill area of Bristol are a mecca for charity shops.  Though the prices are a little high, there are some fabulously high-end items to be found.  My sister has got an amazing wardrobe these days and all of it thrifted from chazzas in that area.

There will also be some homemade ginger cake - courtesy of my sister who is a wonderful cake maker - and no doubt a rendition or two of 'Happy Birthday' to celebrate Mum's day.  She was so nearly born 'Queen of the May' (May 1st) and only missed that title by an hour or two, but she has got May as her middle name to celebrate her birthday month.

Happy Birthday for tomorrow, Mum, and here's to many more.

 

Interesting

There is a very interesting article on the BBC News website today, asking 'How Little Money Can a Person Live On?'  I certainly score a massive fail on the £12 per week to eat healthily part - though the article does concede that the actual cost would probably be double that if people are not confident in the kitchen or don't have the necessary equipment.  I am fairly confident in the kitchen and probably have all necessary equipment but I still can't manage to feed myself on only £12 per week.

Transport costs would also be impossible here in Bristol.  I see the article cites that a four-mile single trip can cost as much as £2.20 in the North East.  I've got news for them, a single trip that is no more than a mile costs £2.20 in Bristol!!  Yup, our bus fares here are shockingly expensive - much more so than for the same transport company (First) than they were in Essex.  There is a 'Fares Fair' campaign underway in Bristol to try and get the bus fares brought down to a more reasonable level.  We can only hope that the campaign succeeds.

I do much better with the clothing side of things as I don't think I spend the average of £4.80 per week on clothing - approx. £250 per year.  I can't remember that last time I bought anything new to wear (though did have some new knickers and socks for Christmas and two new bras for my birthday last year.)

I also don't spend anything like the £11.50 per week average on takeaways or restaurant meals and alcohol - though I did have to buy a bottle of red wine last week for cooking purposes (cheapest I could find was £3.99 from the corner shop.)

I don't have a pet (though Mum's cat Lily is a pretty good substitute), the car is off the road at the moment, and I only have a cheapo pay-as-you-go mobile phone which I bought five years ago for a tenner.  I still couldn't live on £53 per week and I pity the poor souls who have to.

Anyway, have a look at the article and see what you think?  Some of the statements really annoyed me - this one for example

'Conservative MP Alec Shelbrooke has called for a welfare cash card to ensure
that benefits are spent on "essential" items only - food, housing, transport,
clothing and energy.

They would be prohibited from spending the money on "luxury" goods such as
Sky TV, cigarettes and alcohol - items which "hard-working families" have to cut
back on when money is tight.'

But then a Tory, who's probably never had to worry about money in his life, would come out with a crass statement like that, wouldn't he?

It's That Time of Year Again

Yup, it's the time of year when the lawnmower has to come out of hibernation again.  I'd delegated tha task of grass cutting to P the last two summers, as the fruit trees in our old garden made cutting the grass tres difficile - to say the least!! (I understand that our ex-landlord, who has moved back into our old house, has cut all the fruit trees down - which seems a shame but they had got waaaaay out of control, and it'll certainly make the grass cutting much simpler.) 

Anyway, with no P to call on, and the grass getting longer by the day, I had no choice this morning but to do it myself.  We've had our electric lawnmower for a looooong time and it has got rather temperamental in its old age - you have to hold the cord just so or the blasted thing won't start up.  So, bearing this in mind, I started on the patch of grass nearest the garage (where said beastie is stored) thinking that at least I wouldn't have far to put it back should it start playing up.  No worries, it started up just fine.  What I had failed to realise though was just how long the grass had become.  It seemed like every 30 seconds or so I had to stop to empty the grass box (and, indeed, having only done two of the three 'lawns' (I use that term very loosely) that we have, I've now got an almost full green wheelie bin.) 

Another point that I failed to take into account was that being on a devilishly steep hill, our garden has rather a  lot of steps - and what fun they are to lug the mower up and down!! - plus, the front 'lawn' is on a rather perilous slope.  That, and the slightly worrying wisps of smoke and faint smell of burning emanating from the handle of the mower (thank goodness I was also using a circuit breaker!!), made cutting that particular patch of grass quite the adventure.

At this point - and having bust the metal button off my jeans whilst bending about emptying the grass box - I thought enough was enough and I put the lawnmower away.  I even had to go and have a quick lie-down I was that knackered.  I'm saving the joy of doing the grass in the back garden until tomorrow, and I'm really not looking forward to lugging the mower up all the steps there, I can tell you. 

One of the things I noticed about the house when I first came to view it was how long and shaggy the grass was - I'm beginning to understand why now!!

Charity Shop Prices - How Do They Decide What to Charge?

On Saturday Mum and I took ourselves off to Hanham to check out a Methodist Church Spring Fair and to have a nosey round the two charity shops there.  The Spring Fair was very good - loads of upmarket toiletries for me, a vintage Stratton powder compact, two books for Mum and a jar of homemade marmalade for each of us (wish I could show you some photos but Typepad still won't let me load them - must find out why ASAP.) 

After a coffee / hot chocolate break in the local Wetherspoons we went across the road to check out the charity shops.  If anyone is in the Hanham area, both of us can highly recommend The Cat Flap (raising funds for Bristol's League for Cats) as a wonderful place to have a rummage around with excellent prices, too.  I came away with two Emma Bridgewater tea towels - brand new with tags attached - for 50p each, a long-sleeved T-shirt and a pair of tracksuit bottoms for my nephew - 50p each from the 50p rail, and Mum got two balls of lovely wool - £1.00 each.

We then moved on to the local hospice charity shop (any one in the Bristol area will know exactly which hospice shops I'm talking about as they are everywhere - there are two of them in Kingswood High Street alone!!)  These shops are all very upmarket - wooden hangers, laminate flooring, colour-coordinated clothing etc etc - with high prices to match.  I did lash out £4.00 for a long-sleeved stripey T-shirt even though it was 'George' and probably didn't cost any more than that new.  But, hey ho, it was just what I'd been looking for, fits a treat, and is in very nice order.  Mum, on the other hand, picked out a beautiful skirt for my sister which turned out to be from a very expensive brand called 'Coast' - neither Mum, me nor my sister had ever heard of them.  (I got the heads-up on them being expensive from a comment Caroline made in this post - thanks for that, Caroline.)   Seems that these skirts retail around the £80 mark - and the skirt is pure linen with a pure silk lining, very nice quality.  Thing is, they were only charging 50p more for this beautiful skirt than the £4.00 I paid for my George T-shirt - so exactly how do charity shops decide on their prices?  It sure is a mystery to me!!

My Most Expensive Charity Shop Clothes Purchase - Evah!

Yesterday I had my most expensive charity shop clothes purchase ever and splashed out twelve whole English pounds on a brand-new with its original tags Windsmoor coat.

It is a really lovely coat and just the right sort of weight for the Spring, it fits like it was tailor-made for me and new it must have cost somewhere in the region of £200.  I was so delighted to find it that I didn't hesitate about the price.  Normally I wouldn't dream of parting with such a lot of money in a CS but in this case I was more than happy to make an exception.  Even the lady on the till commented that I'd got myself a good bargain there - and I had to agree.

Another Saturday, Another Table Top Sale

The table top sale season still appears to be in full swing here in east Bristol - not a sniff of a boot sale as yet, though.  Last Saturday I went to one in Whitehall (in the church opposite where we used to live in the late '90s,) and next Saturday I'm off to another in Staple Hill.  This week's sale was not too bad, unusually for me I came home with a bag full of items that were not for resale but for me.

Five of these plates - 20p each - which are a useful 'breakfast' size.  I love the rose-print on the front and the fact that they are from the Bristol pottery.

To make way for them I binned three of the very badly chipped plates which we've been using for years.  I did feel a bit bad about just lobbing them in the bin but really  I couldn't think of any good reason to keep hold of them any longer.

And for 50p each, two unused M&S 125 year anniversary mugs,  I'm really loving the fifties-style advertising on them.  These were not a strictly necessary buy as I've got a cupboard full of mugs with such things as 'NatWest, the bank for students' emblazoned across them!!  At least these are pretty as well as practical.

I also came home with a brand-new The Sanctuary Spa Skin boxed set full of nice things like moisturiser, face masks, eye gel, face wash and exfoliator for £2.00 and an unopened Body Shop White Musk Talc for 20p.  That one was a particularly timely find as I'd just run out of talc.