Making Good Use

He's My Hero!

P is my hero, he has spent three or four hours tinkering with my computer over the last couple of evenings and - voila! - it's up and running again.

Not only is it up and running but he also managed to install Windows XP on it which is a huge improvement on the Windows 98 which was on there before.  P is mighty pleased with himself (and so he should be) and I'm mighty impressed by P's computer skills.  By 'trade' P is a solicitor and has had no training at all in fixing computers, yet this is the second time he's managed to coax the old girl back from the brink.  Certainly this time the computer was completely 'dead' and I think we both thought that there would be no harm in P having a go at fixing it, if he had failed we'd have lost nothing.  As it is it only cost about 12 quid and approx. 6 hours of work over a few evenings and it is even better than it was before.  We both of us hate the idea of having to chuck something away if it can be at all helped so we are both really pleased with the result.  If the computer only struggles on for another six months or so it will have been worth it.

Yesterday evening P and I were talking about some of the 'big ticket' items we have in the house and how it has paid dividends to have bought really good 'makes' as they do seem to last longer and work better than their cheaper counterparts.  We decided this was particularly true of things like vacuum cleaners or lawn mowers where physical effort is involved. 

For years I got by on second-hand vacuum cleaners and vacuuming was always a huge chore, about 10 years ago P and I invested in a fairly expensive Miele vacuum and I haven't looked back since.  It is still really powerful and easy to use, especially if you fit the correct Miele dirt bags.  On one of my 'cost-cutting' exercises I had decided that the cost of the Miele bags were just prohibitive and that I was going to use a cheaper alternative.  I did this for a few years until one day I was forced to buy the Miele bags as none of the cheaper ones were available.  What a revelation - there is a huge difference in the performance of the vacuum compared to using the el cheapo versions.  And the difference in price was not that big anyway.  Sometimes the old adage 'penny wise and pound foolish' really is true.

Completely changing topic - have a look at this lovely fabric I picked up in a charity shop yesterday.

Its wonderfully bright and psychedelic.  There are two unused pieces which I think were intended as tea towels.  I'm not sure what to do with it, but I did have a thought about trying to make some really funky baby bibs.  It'd certainly be a change from the usual boring white bibs with teddy bears on!!

Make Do and Mend

There is a major "make do and mend" vibe going on around here at the moment.  My favourite pair of jeans have finally gone into hole, and I've attempted to mend them with some iron-on patch material.  I'm not sure how successful that solution is going to be as I tried the same method with my favourite pair of summer trousers (similar size hole in similar area) and it didn't last five minutes.  I think part of the problem may be that the patch material is probably way over 20 years old and so has lost a good deal of its adhesive qualities.  I'm not sure in this modern 'throw-away' society whether you can even buy this iron-on stuff any more, I'll have to check it out next time I'm near a fabric / sewing shop.

Both the jeans and the summer trousers were second-hand anyway so I shouldn't be too surprised that after three years of wear by me they are both finally getting a bit 'worn'.  I'm 'watching' another pair of long-length Marks and Sparks jeans on ebay, and if they don't get too expensive I may well bid on those as a back-up.

But the major 'make do and mend' has to be with my computer which suddenly gave up the ghost some time around Easter.  This is how it has looked ever since.

Not the most attractive of sights for the dining room.  A while ago P bought some extra 'ram' for it on ebay, hoping that that was the cause of the problem, sadly not.  Over the weekend he bought a new hard drive, also from ebay, and yesterday evening fitted the new hard drive and managed to coax some life from the old girl.  We are both keeping all digits firmly crossed that P may have got to the bottom of the problem and that we can get a few more years use from this little beauty. 

We thought it was all over three years ago when the darn thing 'died', but after a few months of on and off work on it (and a whole load of swearing) P managed to fix it up and it had worked wonderfully ever since - until Easter!!  So far P has spent about a tenner and about five hours on trying to sort the problem.  If all else fails, we may get someone 'professional' to have a look at it.  What we really don't want to have to do is to consign this computer to landfill - not if we can help it!!

On a completely different note - have a look at the cutest ever picture of Lily, she very kindly sent it to me for my birthday.

I particularly like the fact that her nose is the exact same colour as a pink Mr Kipling Fondant Fancy!!

Time and Tide ...

As we all know time and tide wait for no man (or woman) and today I'm YET ANOTHER year older.  Even my mum can't believe I'm as old as I am!!  And I certainly can't, behind this middle-aged exterior still lurks the mind of someone in their early twenties.  Never mind though, I did get some very nice birthday pressies.

There was a snazzy red pair of Birkenstocks

to add to my ever growing collection (if I ever won the lottery - fat chance, I don't even do it - I'd have a pair of these in every colour they make).  These sandals are wonderfully comfortable and are my daily footwear from Easter to October.

Then there were some wonderful crafty items - Amy Butler fabric in two different prints

and an Amy Butler bag pattern.

Cath Kidston fabric in a wonderful rose bud print.

'Yeah, I Made It Myself' book, and a Raspberry Tea Cosy kit from Laughing Hens.

From P I had a pillow which is filled with Spelt and which has proved wonderfully comfortable for my dodgy shoulder (I do creak and groan a bit these days as I am now almost as old as Methuselah), and a Dualit hand-held mixer.  I did toy with the idea of giving this a whirl and making my own birthday cake - but then I though nah, sod it, it's my birthday and I really am not going to cook!!

But the best present of all, and the one that cost absolutely nothing, was DN phoning me up and singing 'Happy Birthday' to me, and then blowing me a few raspberries down the phone - just for good measure.

Rayleigh Reportage

I had a quick trip over to Rayleigh this morning.  I hadn't been there for nearly six months, which is ridiculous really as it is only one stop down the line on the train.  I normally go by bus but thanks to the queue in the Post Office being out of the door I missed the bus I was intending to take and so had to go by train.  I only managed to catch the train by the skin of my teeth and then at Rayleigh I had to walk up the huge hill that leads to the High Street.  This hill is the reason I normally take the bus, even though it takes about six times as long to get to Rayleigh, as the bus takes me directly to the High Street.

There are six charity shops in Rayleigh High Street, with four of them being, in my view, ridiculously over-priced.  I always have a look anyway, but very rarely buy anything in those four.  Today was no exception.  However, there is a wonderful Salvation Army charity shop, a real glory-hole, where things are piled in boxes and baskets, and where I spent a very pleasant time rooting about.  I found a few useful knitting / sewing bits and pieces.

I was particularly pleased with the size 3 3/4mm knitting needles as I had chipped the end off one of the pair I already had.

I also got a copy of the June 2007 edition of Craft Beautiful for 35p instead of the £3.50 cover price- bargain!

Finally, I managed to get a few books for re-sale.  Some of which were quite good.

All in all, it was worth the hike up Crown Hill.

Flaming June (Not)

Yesterday, whilst dodging the leaden skies and heavy showers, P and I went for a delicious lunch at a nearby country pub.  I knew the food was going to be good when I saw how spectacular their window boxes were.

And I wasn't disappointed, the food was absolutely fantastic.  I had Goats Cheese Tart, followed by a Steak Burger and rounded off with a Hot Fudge Sundae.  P had Calamari to start, followed by Steak, Ale and Stilton Pie and he finished with Eton Mess.  No pictures of the wonderful food I'm afraid as I felt a little embarrased to be taking photos of what arrived at our table in a restaurant full of people.

With very full tummies we went on to a local beauty spot to walk off a few of the excess calories we had just consumed.

This was the lovely view from the car park.

However, you had to be careful where you walked as there were just thousands of very tame ducks and geese dodging about under your feet.

There were white ones

brown ones

bigger brown ones

and ones that I think are Mallards.  Note my ornithological knowledge is astounding!!

And, yes, they really were that close!!  I can only imagine that they are often fed bread and titbits by visitors and they have learnt that getting up close and personal to humans is a good idea if you're a bit peckish.

All the while we were at the reservoir the skies were getting darker and darker. 

Luckily we made it home just in time.  Or should I say, I made it into the house just in time - poor P was stuck in the car at the side of the house for about 30 minutes while this thunder / hail storm was going on.

Flaming June indeed!!

A Grand Day Out

Yesterday I had the most wonderful day out.  My sister and my darling nephew came up to London for the day so I met up with them at Paddington and we all had a jolly good time.

There was a visit to this must-see shop for all young (and not so young) kids.

There was a 'flight' on this famous landmark for DN and his mummy

I've already been on the Eye and wouldn't repeat the experience.  I didn't know I had such a problem with heights until the capsule doors had closed and I was well and truly stuck!!

So as they headed off to great heights, I was left with the pushchair and several large bags, to try my hand at a few 'arty' shots of the London Eye

And a more traditional shot of the Houses of Parliament.

After their 'flight' there were 'living statues' to be wondered at on the Embankment.

And 'bicycling lizards' to be in awe of.

All in all it was a truly magical day (and not just for the four year old of the group). 

Kaftan Completed

Yesterday afternoon I finally finished off the kaftan which has been hanging around for weeks.  Needless to say, because I am being uber fussy again, I'm only slightly pleased with the outcome.

Although I used a pattern to make this top, I hadn't bothered to read the 'list of ingredients' before I started to cut out.  I should have had iron-on interfacing for the neckline and bias binding for the armholes on the sleeveless version.  I did manage to find some sew-in interfacing which worked OK, although it was 'medium' weight and I think 'light' weight might have been more appropriate.  But all in all I was quite pleased with how the neckline turned out.

I thought I could overcome the lack of bias binding by cutting the material around the armholes a bit bigger than the pattern and then folding the extra back on itself to form a neat armhole seam.  No such luck!!  Those armholes caused me no end of trouble and I'm not very happy with the final result.  I also cut the top quite a bit longer than the pattern suggested so have ended up with really long slits on either side.  I quite like this feature although am not sure it's really appropriate with the style of the neckline (if you see what I mean!!)

All in all, I'm moderately pleased with myself.  I think I'll definitely try making this top again but with sleeves this time.  I could envisage it as a winter top being made from a very fine corduroy material, or as a really light summer cover-up being made in a semi-sheer fabric.  Considering how much the pattern cost me to buy (absolute daylight robbery in my opinion!!) I definitely want to get my money's worth from it.  At least the material only cost my £1.00 and there is plenty left over.  While I had the sewing machine out I decided to use some of the leftovers to make a summery shopping bag.  I was much more satisfied with the outcome of this.

It is fully lined in a crisp white cotton material (also thrifted) and is up for sale here.

Pantry on Parade

There was a wonderful post over at Little Jenny Wren (www.littlejennywren.blogspot.com) the other day entitled 'The Womanly Art of Thrift'.  It is all about having a well-stocked pantry and stocking up when you find cut-price offers on tinned goods, or stocking the freezer with seasonal fruits and vegetables if there is a glut.  This got me thinking about my own very small pantry.

I don't have a pantry in the typical sense as we live in a rental property (don't ask, long story, now waiting for the housing market to fall from its ridiculous current position) and although the kitchen is a reasonable size, only one wall has any units.  When we moved in we bought some cheap shelving from Argos and this is now my pantry.

I was very unsure about this arrangement at first, fearing that everything would look really untidy (looking at the photo it probably does but I don't notice any more) and that there wouldn't be enough room for everything.  I have to say these open shelves have worked really well as it is easy to see at a glance what I have or haven't got, and there is no danger of things 'getting lost' at the back of a cupboard.  All our current foodstuffs are kept on these shelves, except items that need to be kept chilled, they are in the absolutely minute fridge!!

Although shelf space is limited I do like to stock up on any special offers I come across, or to buy in bulk if we go shopping using the car.  This leads to some very imaginative storage ideas.  The spare teabags are kept in the wardrobe, as are any spare breakfast cereals, toilet rolls, tissues and, as far away as possible from the other items, unopened packets of washing powder.  Extra tinned goods are kept in the cupboard in the hall, which also houses all my electrical kitchen items - food processor etc.

Amy Dacyczyn in The Tightwad Gazette also recommends stockpiling tinned / non-perishable goods when they are on special offer, and she too suggests keeping them wherever you can find a space - under the bed, behind the sofa, in outbuildings.  I haven't gone as far as to store things in the shed as yet but you never know should I come across a really good deal on something non-perishable.

Apart from the logistics of having limited storage space in the kitchen, I'm further hampered by not having a freezer.  In many respects this doesn't bother us as we haven't eaten much in the way of frozen food in years, although I don't half miss having ice cream available.  However, it does mean that I can't freeze any of the plums or apples that we harvest each year from the fruit trees in the garden.  So, in time-honoured fashion, we tend to eat an awful lot of these fruits when they are in season, and I also share out a lot with the next door neighbours.

I once saw Nigella Lawson on TV showing her pantry, it was a small room - probably the size of my bathroom - stacked floor to ceiling with built-in shelves and, as you can imagine, stocked with the most wonderful exotic array of tinned and bottled goods.  Ah, what I could store with a space like that!!

Whether Or Not It's The Weather For It ....

.... I'm knitting winter hats.  It may seem a little eccentric to be knitting winter hats in the middle of summer, but last Christmas these hand-knitted hats sold quite well.  I promised myself that this year I would be a bit more organised so whenever I manage to find some suitable wool I get knitting.

I'm strongly drawn to mohair type yarns at the moment so when I found this vibrant purple mohair in a charity shop yesterday I knew I'd try it out as a hat.

I'm envisaging adding some pretty glass buttons near the rib when it is finished as an added detail.  I think you can certainly say that this hat is going to be for the more 'confident' hat wearer due to its strong colour and total 'fluffiness'.

All my hats are made from thrifted wool, although not all are in such 'leary' shades as the one above.  There is this ice maiden blue -

with a knitted flower trim topped off with a vintage button.

This sugary pink one with wool felt and vintage button trim.

And this tweedy sage green one again decorated with wool felt and a gorgeous vintage button.

They are a nice little knitting project for this time of year as they are completed over a couple of evenings and, being small, never get too hot on your lap.

As I'm typing this World War Three has broken out in my garden with next door's killing machine / cat chasing some poor bird around the garden whilst being dive-bombed by other birds.  Nature truly is red in tooth and claw, especially when Jester is involved.

It Was One of Those Days

You know the sort of days where nothing goes right, nothing major goes wrong but there are lots of minor irritations - I had one of those days yesterday.  I was hot, I was bothered, and I was VERY short tempered.

I made the top that I had refashioned from an old T-shirt and two vintage pillowcases - it looks OK but I'm not sure about it on.

I spent hours messing about with this darn thing and now I think I look ridiculous in it!!  I don't really know why I bother to make myself clothes as I never like the finished article on.  I do tend to be uber fussy with my clothes - I like them to cover as many lumps and bumps as possible and I never seem to get a good fit with things I try making.  Perhaps I should stick to making bags, at least I like those when they're finished.

The next blow was spotting yet another mouse scuttling around the kitchen!!  Oh bugger!!  We were beginning to hope that the one we caught last week was the sole protagonist - alas, obviously not.  Ah well, back to trying to catch the little swine in the humane trap.

On a more positive note, I did manage to cut out the kaftan-style top yesterday (although I'll probably hate that when I try it on too!!!!).  And, this little lot was collected by the local hospice charity.

So at least there is a lot more room in the shed now and also I've had a bit of a (late) spring clean in my wardrobe. 

Most of what was collected were books I have bought with the hope of re-selling them and this is only about two months worth!  I do buy in a lot of books from charity shops / car boot sales but many many of them end up back in a charity shop as they are complete duds for re-selling.

Today has been a much better day - thank goodness.  The oppressive sultry weather of the past couple of days has finally broken and it is now raining heavily, with thunder rumbling around in the distance.  I've had a nice morning 'doing' the charity shops in Billericay, and a productive afternoon listing items on ebay.  And, most importantly, I haven't jumped about a foot in the air on catching sight of the flippin' mouse - YET!!