Making Good Use

Spring Forward

This was the weekend I've been waiting for since the end of October - the weekend when British Summer Time finally arrived.  Nothing gives me greater pleasure than to move all the clocks and watches in the house forward by one hour and to know that it will stay light now until almost 8.00 pm.  In a couple of months there will still be streaks of light in the sky at 10.30 pm and by the middle of June until 11.30 pm, if it's a very clear night.  I just love this time of year with a whole spring and summer to look forward to, not only the lighter evenings, but being able to eat our evening meal in the garden (weather permitting of course!), a new growing season to enjoy, and a whole new season of car boot sales to look forward to.  Utter bliss!!  The first evening of BST was celebrated this year with a delicious cheese fondue (the fondue burner behaving itself impeccably this time), and some very spectacular thunder and lightning just as it was getting dark.

I called in to the 'Coffee and Jumble' at the local church again this morning and picked up a few vintage children's records.  To be honest, it was the artwork on the sleeves that sold them to me (although at 10p each they were also a great bargain.)

It's the little black kitten howling her head off that I really like in this picture, although the unbelievably non-PC mother cat about to give her errant offspring a good old wallop for losing his mittens is quite amusing too.  Can you imagine having a child's record with this image on the front these days - 'Health and Safety' would have a fit!

And this artwork with the three blind mice looking like extras from 'Reservoir Dogs' was just too good to leave behind.

Even better, the records themselves are on bright red vinyl.  I remember as a child having a record that helped me to learn my alphabet which was on rainbow coloured vinyl.  Which seems a very modern idea for records that were made in the 1960's.  Years later, as a teenager, it was quite the thing to have 'pop' singles which were printed on coloured vinyl, or even picture discs or, best of all, the 12 inch version of something on coloured vinyl.  Whoever originally owend these records was obviously a very careful child as all the sleeves have survived intact too.  Something which none of my very old records still have.

P often talks about a story-telling record he had as a child which was all about Dominic Dachs und die Katzen Piraten (Dominic Badger and the Cat Pirates).  I think that was LP sized and P says he used to listen to it over and over as all the characters had different voices and there were all the sound effects to enjoy too.  It must have been a bit like an 'Afternoon Play' on the radio, but for children - which sounds a lovely idea.

I'm off to visit my family in Bristol for a few days so posting on here will be a bit sporadic.  The weather forecast looks quite promising with some spring-like weather in the next few days.  It's made knowing what to pack a bit difficult, but it'll be nice to see everyone again, and to be able to make use of Mum's broadband connection (we're STILL on ye olde dial-up here!  19 days and counting!!)

Whilst I Was Incommunicado

Whilst I was miserably offline I took delivery of a couple of very nice items.

I know a wheelie bin may not be everyone's idea of an exciting delivery but I've been waiting over four years to get my paws on one of these little beauties again.  I plainly remember the shock I felt when being told that Basildon Council didn't provide wheelie bins and that I would have to cart my rubbish about in black plastic sacks.  At the first place we lived here we did have a dustbin, but for the past three years we've been reduced to a black sack only.  It normally lives outside the back door, but in the summer months when the sun is beating down on it (and its malodorous contents) it has to be dragged across the garden to a shady spot.  I'd been used to having a wheelie bin for my rubbish for the previous 10 plus years and was most put out to find myself without one.  Things were particularly onerous when it came to garden waste as everything had to be shoved into a bag little bigger than a plastic carrier.  Not an easy task for things like grass cuttings, but nigh-on impossible when dealing with rose or holly prunings - the spiky bits would always poke through the plastic and scratch you as you were manhandling the darned bags.  And you were only given a dozen bags per year for garden waste, if you wanted more you had to pay for them - bloomin' cheek!

As soon as I saw the long-promised garden waste wheelie bins being delivered to our road I made sure that the one with our number on it was safely stowed away behind a locked gate.  I really could have kissed it I was so pleased to see it.  I spent one blissful afternoon clearing only a tiny part of the garden and merrily shovelling fallen leaves and all sorts of cuttings into the wide-open mouth of the bin.  It was sooooooo easy compared to forcing things into a small bag, and pretty soon the bin was full to bursting.  Sadly, it won't be emptied for another 10 days, but I'm already eyeing up all the other bits of the garden that can be tidied up, and their contents so easily disposed of.  Hopefully, the next improvement will be a black wheelie bin for the household rubbish, and then I'll feel that waste-wise we've finally moved back into the 21st century.

The other delivery was something much more conventionally pleasing.

Mum got me this book as an Easter present, and it is fantastic.  It is full of the most wonderful embroidery transfers and they are all iron-on.  There is a pattern for every taste, and any occasion, and apparently each iron-on transfer is good for up to nine uses.  There are also some fantastic photos giving lots of ideas of how to use the transfers.  So far I've only done one of the patterns but I've got loads and loads of ideas for using them in the near future.  I've got a picture in my head of me sitting at the garden table on a warm sunny afternoon happily stitching some of the patterns from this book and admiring my newly tidied-up garden.  That is if it ever warms up and stops raining!!

Every Cloud ....

Being reduced to ye olde dial-up internet connection (which doesn't work during the evening!!) has at least meant that I've had a bit of spare time.  Who knew I spent quite so much time each day surfing the net!!  The extra time available has meant I've actually got on with some crafting for a change. 

I finally sewed up the two bags which I'd cut out sometime in January.

This one was using the same thrifted John Lewis material as the bag I gave to Mum for Mother's Day.

And the second was made using some very nice vintage Laura Ashley upholstery material which Mum gave me.

Both bags are lined in thrifted sheeting and I'm quite pleased with how they've turned out.

I also got a bit of knitting done too.  There was a black headband for P's Mum which she was very pleased with apparently, another organic cotton facecloth, and two strawberry cupcake tea cosies.

 

These were made using some very thick cream wool which I picked up in a charity shop last year and had already knitted into an all cream-colour tea cosy.  That tea cosy was way too big for my teapot and the idea of unpicking it had been knocking around my brain for ages.  Finally, sans internet, I got going and unpicked it.  The red wool was thrifted a few weeks ago and is a really nice pure wool.  I only had two 50g balls of that and as I had to use it double to match up with the cream base I wasn't sure I'd have enough to finish two tea cosies.  Luckily, it was just enough - I had about a foot of wool left at the end of the second one.  The 'cream piping' on the top is made from pure wool roving and which I hand felted.  These have turned out better than I expected and when I finally get my ebay account sorted out again (hijacked by some joker who was selling digital cameras apparently), then they'll be up for sale.

I'm Dreaming of a White Easter

It's very rare that we ever get a white Christmas in the south of England, but this year we did get a white Easter.

This was the view from the french windows on Easter Sunday morning.  Quite a winter wonderland.  It didn't last though, and by the afternoon it had all melted away.

I know Easter was especially early this year, the earliest since 1913 apparently, but three years ago Easter was also at the end of March and the weather then was glorious.  I remember it well as P and I had just moved into this house and we spent quite a bit of the Good Friday in Ikea buying shelving and other such exciting things.  The weather then was so warm that I was already wearing my summer sandals with bare feet.

On the other hand, my sister's birthday is at the beginning of April and although some years the temperature can be in the high 60s, the number of times it has snowed on that day are just too numerous to remember.   

I can remember in mid-April 2000 there was quite thick snow lying on the ground in Bristol.  We had lost all television pictures and were out in the road trying to see if our TV aerial had fallen off the roof, trudging about in thick snow whilst it was still broad daylight at 8.00 pm - very odd!!  That is the latest in the year I ever remember snow falling although I had a friend at college who swore she could remember it snowing on the beach in Scunthorpe in early June 1976 (just before the famous heatwave started).  What's the lastest you can remember snowfall?

Compare and Contrast

Yesterday was our annual day out in Southend-on-Sea.  P goes to check out the matches at the Southend Chess Congress (held every Easter weekend), and I go for a wander around the charity shops. 

On Easter Saturday last year the weather was glorious, we walked along the beach, had a Rossi ice cream each (totally delicious and unique to south Essex), had a fish and chip lunch at a rather down-market eatery on the front, and came home with faces red from the sun.

This Easter what a difference!!  P, as usual, went to have a look at the games being played in the Chess Congree.  I, as usual, had a good trawl around the charity shops (netting a few books for re-sale, a rather nice hooded fleece for myself for only 99p, and a T-towel with a gorgeous floral pattern for 50p - which when I got back home I discovered was by Cath Kidston, nice).  There the comparison with last Easter ended.  I, rather foolishly, decided to walk down to the sea front in between heavy showers to take a few photos, and was almost blown off my feet by the force 10 gale coming directly from the arctic.  Now I'm a heftily built person but the wind did literally almost blow me over it was so strong!!

When P and I met up for lunch we decided to avoid anything on the sea front for fear of frostbite, and settled for a rather chi-chi French restaurant in one of the side streets.  The food here was gorgeous, although a bit nouvelle cuisine in portion size, and the ambiance and decor was excellent.  Having enjoyed ourselves thoroughly over lunch we headed back out into the frozen wastes, intent on picking up a few tasty treats from the French market which is also an annual Easter feature at Southend.  Sadly, the cold and wet had proved too much for the French traders and we arrived just as they were packing up!!  That was a bit of a bummer as P was really looking forward to some dried meat delicacy (it looks like dried Reindeer to me, but P assures me it's not!), and I was looking forward to some delicious French cheeses!!

After a quick look into Gades knitting shop (fabulous selection of wool and other sewing bits and bobs, I'd highly recommend a trip here if you're ever in Southend) where P treated me to a ball of Noro Kureyon as a small Easter gift, we made our way back to the station and were delighted to find that the train was just about the depart.  On we got and settled back for the 25 minute journey home, smugly congratulating ourselves on a lovely day out despite the weather.  The train got about half way to our destination when we were all turfed off at a small station as there was a 'mechanical fault' with the train.  P and I decided to walk to the high street and see if we could find a cafe open (we couldn't) before heading back to the station and catching the next train.  When we got back to the station we found that we had to go to the 'down' platform to catch the 'up' train which seemed a bit odd but we followed directions, and the train was due in 5 minutes.  Half an hour, one blizzard, and a quick jaunt back to the usual 'up' platform and we finally got back onto a warm train.  To make matters worse the station we had been abandoned at was totally locked over the weekend with no loos, or waiting rooms available, and no member of staff to have a go at (and, believe me, I would have liked to have had a go at somebody!!)  So this Easter we arrived back from Southend-on-Sea with red faces yet again, only this time it was from being stuck outside in a blizzard and not the sun.  Ahh, the joys of a great British bank holiday!!

PS  We did have a lovely day out despite the moaning above.

PPS Sorry for lack of photos, not sure I'd ever be able to upload them using ye olde dial-up connection!

Almost Online

The problem with Tesco.net broadband is still ongoing.  Apparently the fault lies with BT (British Telecom), they don't know what is the problem, can only try fixing it at night, and are going about it using a trial and error method!!!! And this in a first-world nation in the 21st century - pah!

To try and get round the problem P has re-installed the old dial-up connection we used to have.  It's slow, and photos are a complete nightmare, but at least it works. 

We've just spent a rather cold and windy, but pleasant nonetheless, Saturday in Southend-on-Sea.  I'll be back tomorrow with a bit longer post.

Still Stuck in the Library!!

Still no internet access at home via Tesco.net - it's now gone on so long that I think they have to start paying out compensation!!

To add insult to injury I can't access either my e-mail account or, more worryingly, my ebay account either - what the bloomin' heck is going on with the internet at the moment?

For a change of scenery, today I'm accessing what I can via the internet in Billericay library - at least it makes a change from our local library.

Hope to be back up and running at some point in the not too distant future.  'Til then, all the best.

Normal Service Will Be Resumed ....

.... whenever Tesco.net get their act together and restore the internet connection for the whole of the south of England - GRRRR! Am presently having to use the computer in the library - its speed is dead slow and stop!! Double GRRRR! Hope to be back online in the fairly near future. Hope you all have a good weekend.

Putting a Face to the Name

It's always nice to put a face to a name and although I'm very careful not to show my face, P's face, or DN's face on this blog (I HATE having my photo taken and nobody would want to see my fizzog anyway), I thought you might like to see P and I as depicted by his eight-year-old niece.

I have to say she's captured our likenesses pretty well, especially as she hasn't seen me in an awfully long time.  The objects that look like deelly-boppers on the top of P's head are the arms of his glasses.  I especially like the fact that she's drawn us holding hands!!

P's niece and nephew are really into giving handmade presents and P came back with a nice couple of items they had made for his recent birthday.

There is this long dangly doo-dah decorated with shells, corks and glass beads with a wooden boat at the bottom, and which will look very nice hanging from a tree or the shed door in the summer.

And a heart-shaped box decorated by the children and filled with delicious Swiss chocolates.

For his niece's birthday I sent over this child-sized knitted hat I made a while ago.

Apparently she was delighted with it, and was particularly taken by the fact that it was handmade and so nobody else would have one like it.  Now, that's a girl after my own heart.

I Like a Nice Cup of Tea ....

.... at any time of the day.  I always have a large mug of Earl Grey with my breakfast, one or two mugs of plain old 'monkey' tea during the afternoon, and another mug-ful in the course of the evening.  (I will confess at this juncture to having a couple of cups of coffee between 10.00 am and noon.)

P too is a keen tea drinker, and we have one (very small) kitchen cupboard dedicated solely to boxes of different tea bags (and a jar of coffee).

Most of the fruit tea-bags and the green tea-bags are purely for P's use, although occasionally I have been known to partake.  I do enjoy a Rooibos (Red Bush) tea sometimes, it's especially good for aiding digestion and being tannin free is good to drink late in the evening.

I find a mug of tea (I can't really be doing with a tea cup and saucer) wonderfully refreshing, and will drink it even on a blazing hot summers day.  It has wonderfully restorative powers and the concept of the British having a 'nice cup of tea' as the panacea for all ills is pretty much true.  Immediately after my father died in hospital one of the nursing staff offered to make us all a cup of tea, it was just what we all needed and although it didn't make a terrible time better, it did at least quench our thirsts and gave us all something to do whilst we gathered our thoughts.

What I really can't stomach, and indeed find quite an insult to a steaming hot cup of 'rosy lee', is iced tea - yukkity yuk yuk yuk!!  P always comes back from Switzerland with at least one bottle of this and then is amazed when I tell him I really couldn't drink it.

I don't want to offend anyone who thinks iced tea is wonderful, it's just that as far as I'm concerned nothing can beat a steaming hot mug of 'cha.'  And, yes, I have tried iced tea - bleugh!!