Making Good Use

A Day Out By Proxy

On Bank Holiday Monday mum, DN, my sister and my brother-in-law all went to an old-fashioned traditional summer fete in the beautiful village of Kelston which lies at the start of the Cotswolds, between Bristol and Bath.  Although I wasn't able to be with them this year, I have been to this fete before and know what a lovely afternoon it is, I've been able to enjoy the afternoon by proxy thanks to the lovely photos I was sent by e-mail.  Here are a few of the highlights which were particularly enjoyed by DN.

An old-fashioned marionette show.

A display of vintage tractors.

A ride around the surrounding fields in a tractor-towed trailer.

And, of course, the perenially popular although not so traditonal, bouncy castle.

Apparently there was also a spinning demonstration, the village church was open, there were home made jams, jellies and marmalades for sale.  And, most popular with my brother-in-law, home made cream teas available.

Kelston is such a pretty village with all the buildings being constructed in the soft warm cream of Bath stone.  When I read yesterdays post over at Yarnstorm I was reminded that John Betjeman mentions Kelston in the second verse of his poem 'Bristol'.  How he, as a stranger to those parts, knew the area so well is a mystery to me but evidently he recognised the beauty of the place very quickly.

Ringers in an oil-lit belfry Bitton? Kelston? who shall say?
Smoothly practising a plain course, caverned out the dying day
As their melancholy music flooded up and ebbed away.

I can't imagine that either Bitton or Kelston's belfrys are oil-lit today, but other than that I doubt that Kelston especially has changed at all since John Betjeman wrote those words in the 1930s.

Scottie Dogs

I don't have a dog, in fact have never really had a dog.  Apart, that is, from the brief ownership of a very excitable Jack Russell called Katie when I was about nine.  She was a pain in the proverbials for my poor mother who couldn't get her to come back when she was let off the lead (once leading to my mum being stuck on the playing field for an entire afternoon), and if Katie was in the house she would break out via any means possible and start running around on the main road!  Eventually, Katie went to live with a very sensible retired lady who had all the time in the world to deal with her 'wild' ways. 

However, I do have a very soft spot for Scottie dogs - especially the black ones.  They always strike me as such intelligent and friendly little dogs.  Small enough to pick up and carry or have them sit on your lap, but fierce enough not to be described as a lap dog.  One day I would love to own one but in the meantime I content myself with collecting anything with Scottie dogs on it.  I have quite a nice collection of bits and pieces but, alas, it is all stored away in a box in the loft, waiting for the day we finally put down roots somewhere and I can have all my treasures around me again.

For the past 10 years or more I had a favourite coffee mug that had little black Scotties all over it.  It had only cost 99p in Wilkinsons in Beeston, Nottingham (we used to live there), and it had been used more or less every day ever since.  A few weeks ago it slipped out of my hand when I was washing up and BANG, that was the end of that.  So I was really delighted to find this little beauty in the local Oxfam shop yesterday.

It's a Dunoon mug with Scottie dogs in different guises all over it. 

The artist is Cherry Denman. 

Even though this was bought in Oxfam it was only 59p, which strikes me as a pretty good bargain.  I rarely go in to our local Oxfam shop as their prices are often extortionate, and they have the infuriating habit of hanging all clothes by colour rather than by size.  And, just to make matters even worse, they don't have the clothes size marked on the hanger either.  I feel life is just too short to spend ages going through racks of clothes in the vague hope that they might have something in the correct size.  I don't know why Oxfam have this policy, most other charity shops clearly mark the size of their clothes on the hanger and group them accordingly.  Much easier to deal with if you ask me!!

Last week I actually managed a bit of crafting.  This time it was two new book bags, both made using recently bought vintage fabric.

This one has large daisies in mauve and pink on a sandy-gold background and is lined in purple check gingham.

The second one has blue and green flowers on a white background and is lined with a plain pale green fabric.

Both the bags measure approx. 17 x 16 inches and have 24 inch long straps.  I've listed them both on ebay as 'buy-it-now' and I'm hoping they will appeal to school / university students about to embark on a new school year.

A Lovely Surprise

I received the most lovely surprise package in the post this morning from dear Gill at Lucy Locket.  Included was this gorgeous piece of vintage fabric.

It's a lovely buttery soft cotton with these rich red chrysanthemum-type flowers scattered all over a warm cream background.  The colours are so lively and vibrant even though I would guess the fabric is from the 1950s.  I shall be saving this to make something really special.

Then there was a copy (on video, of course) of one of my favourite films - Frankie and Johnny.

I haven't watched this film in years, so I'll really enjoy seeing it again.  In the background is the second piece of vintage fabric in the parcel.  This is a vibrant apple green wool fabric which will be just the ticket for making something for the autumn / winter.

Finally, included was this lovely card.

The message on the back said 'just a little something to brighten your day'.  It did Gill, it certainly did.  Thank you so much.

Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree With Anyone Else But Me

Yesterday P and I stopped at a little country pub on the way back from the car boot sale.

We ate our delicious carvery lunch at a wooden table in the dappled shade of a gnarled old apple tree.

Which despite its age was heavy with fruit.

The pub is a pretty building and week after week, as we have gone to and fro to the car boot sale, we have commented on how many cars are parked outside at Sunday lunchtime.  Eventually, two weeks ago, we decided to try it out for ourselves - it was great.  A real traditional English Sunday lunch with loads of roast meat and as much vegetables as you want.  The best part was the tranquil beer garden which backs on to open fields and is dotted with really ancient apple trees.  We were so impressed two weeks ago that we paid a return visit yesterday.  The weather was perfect for sitting outside and it was so nice to be sheltered from the heat of the sun by such a venerable old tree.

But the meal, lovely as it was, was only the icing on the cake of a very successful car boot foray.  Not only were there were the usual books for resale and some tops for DN, but a whole host of lovely bits and bobs for me.

There was a china terrier to add to my collection of them.

He's a little bit battered around the edges, but for 20p I'm not complaining.

An unused Irish linen tea towel with the most 1970s of birds on it.

A couple of very pretty pastel-coloured vintage glass Christmas baubles.

Some unused vintage haberdashery bits and bobs on their original cards (and a vintage Christmas cake trim).

And, finally, a beautiful handmade felt tea cosy with this exquisite embroidery of a blue tit on the front.

I'm so pleased I found this.  I don't think it has ever been used and there must have been so much work put in to it all those years ago.  The cost - 15p!!

Thanks, Mum

My mum recently found a couple of wonderful vintage tablecloths in a charity shop, and she very kindly posted them to me.  They are so pretty and I'm really pleased with them.

The first one has these wonderful pink roses spilling out of a vase in each corner, and is very 1950s in feel, especially the rich gold colour which highlights the pink of the roses so beautifully.

I think the second one is older (possibly 1930s) as it has much more muted colours in the design and is made of linen.  The crocuses in a willow-pattern bowl are in each corner with a border of crocuses all around the edge.

They are both lovely and I'm not sure what to do with them as yet, but I'm hoping inspiration will strike soon.

It was especially kind of mum to think of posting them to me this week as she has had a most upsetting and worrying few days.  Last September she had to have an emergency operation as she was bleeding from a stomach ulcer and also had some 'warty-type' growths in her stomach.  Mum made an excellent recovery but there was always the underlying worry that the growths were something malignant.  We all waited with baited breath for her follow-up appointment with the surgeon to arrive, but Christmas came and went and nothing happened so we all assumed that everything had been OK and, due to cut-backs in the NHS, she wouldn't be followed up.  Imagine mum's horror when last Monday, out of the blue, the surgeon's secretary phones to ask why mum hadn't attended any of her appointments!  It turned out they had been sending all the correspondence to an address we last lived at 43 years ago!!!!  Three days of worry and dread followed until the secretary phoned back to say that the surgeon had finally given mum the all-clear regarding the growths, although he would still like to keep an eye on her now and again.  Thankfully, all is well but it would have been just the same if there had been a problem.  It really beggars belief that something as simple as the wrong address wasn't checked sooner or, indeed, when mum left hospital!!  Really, you couldn't make it up!!

Promenading by Bus

Yesterday evening P and I had the use of a couple of free tickets to attend a Mahler concert at the BBC Proms.

The venue was the Royal Albert Hall and although it was a miserably cold and damp evening it didn't disappoint either inside or out.

(Apologies for the ice cream / burger vans in the foreground - presumably even culture vultures like to indulge their plebeian side occasionally!!)

The frieze around the top of the building is particularly spectacular.

Sadly, it was just too dark inside the auditorium to get any decent photos - but I did manage this one of the rather odd ceiling.

To my eye it looks like a host of UFOs about to land, but P and I presumed it is some clever system for making the most of the acoustics.

The concert yesterday was Mahler's Symphony No. 3 which was quite good, well certainly better than I had been expecting, especially as Mahler is not really my cup of tea.  P and I had primarily gone for the experience as neither of us had ever been to the Royal Albert Hall before although obviously we've seen it on TV many many times, both for the Last Night of the Proms and for the Service of Remembrance.

What turned out to be a wonderful revelation was travelling by bus from Liverpool Street to the Royal Albert Hall.  The buses were clean, efficient, turned up with amazing regularity (we never waited more than 2 - 3 minutes) and are very affordable.  I'm used to dealing with First Bus both here in Essex and in Bristol - these buses are usually grubby, old, turn up whenever they feel like it - certainly bearing no relation to any timetable, and are expensive.  Ken Livingstone should he heartily congratulated for his policy of taxing motorists via the Congestion Charge, and then putting all that revenue into public transport in London.  If he can do it why can't all the other large cities in the UK? 

Wonderful Wee Wonderfuls

I noticed last week that Hillary over at Wee Wonderfuls had her little felt creatures patterncards for sale.  For once I had a bit of spare cash in my Paypal account so I went mad and ordered myself a set. 

They arrived this morning - which is super quick as they had come all the way from the US of A.  I'm really pleased with these as they are so cute, and I have a lot of pure wool felt in some gorgeous colours which will be just the ticket for making a few of these critters.

The patterns are printed on very good quality card and the instructions seem to be really clear and concise - there are even diagrams to show you how to do the various stitches, which should prove helpful for me.  The patterns are specially designed for hand sewing so they'll make a nice change from knitting when I'm watching TV.  As Hillary says on the patterns 'And just why is hand sewing fun?  It's quick, easy to learn, no expensive sewing machine is necessary and like the other popular handiwork (knitting), it's small and portable and good for the soul.'

Along with the patterns was this lovely 'thank you' card

which I thought was a lovely touch.  I feel I really should be thanking Hillary for devising such amazing little creatures.

Who Kidnapped Summer?

After a very disappointing car boot sale yesterday - heavens opened as soon as we arrived, only a few soggy sellers and wet grass, so back in car within 5 minutes - I took myself over to Billericay this morning in the hope of finding some gems in the charity shops there.  Alas, that too turned out to be rather a fruitless trip.

I did find a large piece of unused Ikea fabric

which I was pleased with as I particularly like this print.

Lack of energy (due, I'm sure, to the lack of sunshine) over the weekend meant I only did a very little crafting.

I managed to cut out two bags from some recently acquired fabric

so now I only need to muster up the energy to hoik out the sewing machine and then I'll be ready to rock.

And I finished off YET ANOTHER beanie hat, knitted from some recently thrifted wool and decorated with plant-dyed pure wool felt and a vintage button. 

I've got enough wool left to make a second one of these, so I think I'll cast on for that this evening as I can't summon up the energy to do anything more exciting. 

I'd love to know what happened to our summer this year, normally I'm much more energetic when the sun is shining.  Alas, this year it looks like autumn arrived in May and will continue until November, to be quickly succeeded by winter.  And it's an awfully long haul until spring rolls round again!!  Goodness, I'm cheerful today!!!!  I think it's S.A.D. striking already!

A Grand Day Out - The Sequel

Yesterday I had another 'Grand Day Out' in London with DN and my sister. 

There was the usual trip to Hamley's, this time to add a couple of Ben 10 toys to DN's growing collection, although the Spiderman toys also had to be given a quick perusal.

Then it was on to the Natural History Museum for the dinosaur exhibition.

I had never been to one of the London museums before, and I was amazed at how large and grand the building was.  The whole building, both inside and out, is made of this creamy stone in the style of some huge baronial castle. 

Inside much of the stonework is beautifully carved

and it is amazing to think that this building was purpose-built 125 years or so ago for the edification of the general public.  Those Victorian benefactors must have been extraordinarily generous.

This huge dinosaur skeleton is the first thing you see when you get into the museum.

Which gives you some idea of the sheer scale of the whole place.

The dinosaur exhibition is totally 21st century with a life-size animatronic model of a T-Rex as the 'piece-de-resistance'.

 

This model was amazing - and well worth the half hour or so wait to get to see it.  Who knew that dinosaurs were that popular!! 

A visit to the dinosaur shop resulted in a roaring 'head on a stick' going home with DN.

Afterwards there was a trip around the 'Earth' section where you can ride an escalator right through the centre of the earth.

And experience for yourself what it feels like to be in an earthquake in the life-size mock-up of a Japanese supermarket.

There were also lots of 'hands-on' experiments like this one that demonstrated how vortexes (vortici?) work.

The amazing thing is that all this educational entertainment is still absolutely free.  What a wonderful resource our museums are, and long may they continue.

PS Apologies for the 'fuzziness' of the pictures of DN but you just can't get the little beetle to stand still long enough to have his picture taken.

Stash and Dash Bags

I completed the two Stash and Dash bags yesterday afternoon.  I'm not totally thrilled with how they turned out, although much of the problem is my own doing.  I omitted the pleating to the bottom of the bags which is, I think, why the lining has turned out to be a tad too small, especially in the mushroom print bag.  And I didn't think I would bother with top-stitching the zip on the first (the floral) bag I made.  That was a mistake as the top-stitching definitely gives better definition.  Also with the floral bag I should have had two contrasting fabrics instead of the same one for both top and bottom panels - it works much better when there is a nice contrast between the two parts.

Here are the offending articles.

This is a nice easy pattern to put together and I'll definitely be making it again.  However, next time I will ensure that the lining is plenty big enough, and that I try to use 'stiff' enough fabric so I don't need to use interfacing (I wasn't that chuffed with the feel of the interfacing on the mushroom bag).  What I'd really like is to try the large version of the bag which is about twice the size of these small ones, trouble is I can't find any 12" zips in the charity shops so until I do I'll have to stick with the smaller versions.

I won't be posting tomorrow as 'A Grand Day Out - part II' is taking place. I'm meeting up with DN and my sister in London again.  There will be a return trip to Hamley's for, hopefully, Ben Ten toys, and then on to the Natural History museum for the dinosaurs.  We're all very much looking forward to it as this will be the last trip to London before DN starts school next month.