Making Good Use

Perhaps It's A Spring Thing

I don't know if it is because Spring has officially sprung (although someone forget to tell the weather that - it's freeeeeezing here today,) or whether it's because we're now on British Summer Time - yay, daylight until 7.30 pm - but I seem to have gone in to declutter overdrive at the moment. 

It was lovely to be able to get rid of two sacks of 'stuff' last Friday, and the fact that they were being collected from the front path prompted me to delve into the seemingly endless pile of 'stuff' that lurkes in the bottom of the wardrobe - and subsequently put a few items into the charity sack and also take a punt and list a few more on ebay.  Oddly enough, a lot of the 'stuff' I found had been rattling around in there for months (if not years) and I'd pretty much forgotten I had it.  Quite a few of the items I listed on ebay have already got bids on them so it looks as thought it was not a complete waste of my time to photograph and list them.   

Once I'd finished with the 'stuff' on the wardrobe floor I moved on to being rather ruthless with my summer clothes.  I think there's some rule that says if you haven't worn an item of clothing in two years, get rid of it.  Hmm, there were quite a few items in there that fitted that criteria - anything really nice will go on ebay but a couple of the items had some minor faults (nothing serious, just little things that meant I wouldn't feel happy listing them on ebay) and they went into the charity sacks.  A couple of items were beyond being of any use to anyone so they went into the pink recycling sack with a 'textile' sticker on it.  I think it's great that Basildon Council will take textiles as part of their fortnightly recycling collections.  Apparently if the items are in good condition they are passed on to charity, if not they're cut up and used as rags for idustrial purposes.  They'll take any sort of textiles and even shoes and handbags - although I'm not sure they could cut those up for rags!

I've finally located a place in Wickford where I can recycle batteries - Boots the chemist.  I don't get on with rechargable batteries as they only seem to last about five minutes in my digital camera and I do get through rather a lot of AA batteries as I take quite a few digital pictures.  P has always been scandalised that batteries were not easily recyclable here and I've always felt rather uneasy about lobbing them into the general rubbish when I know they are full of such horrible toxins.  Thank goodness I've now found an outlet for them to be recycled.  (Have just found this useful site that lets you find your nearest 'Batterycan'  battery recycling point.) 

And finally, in a bid to clear up the pile of 'stuff' that lurks on the bedroom floor (yes, I have piles of 'stuff' just about everywhere) I got out the sewing machine and converted the 'I-don't-believe-it' king size duvet cover into a double one.  After all the hassles I had coverting the other 'bought in error' cover I was expecting a full afternoon of swearing and cussing but it went really smoothly and within approx. 20 minutes I had a pretty good imitation of a double duvet cover.  Some of the seams may not be entirely straight - hind leg of a donkey is perhaps more accurate - but I think I'm with the Amish when they say only God can produce perfection.  I know I certainly can't!!

Toast Trousers and Many Many Thanks

Monday morning always means a trip to the post office to send off ebay items and them a swift rummage through the jumble at the 'Coffee and Jumble' in the local church hall.  I start with the bric-a-brac, which is located just inside the door, and over the years I've had some very useful items from amongst the various bits and bobs for sale on that stall.  Then I move on to the books, again I've had a few good ones from there - both for re-sale and to read myself.  Sometimes, depending on the time of year, there are pullets eggs for sale or garden plants, fetchingly displayed next to a pile of ancient-to-the-point-of-antique 'Hello' magazines. Then a cursory glance at the china and glassware table (don't think I've ever bought anything of that ilk there), and then, finally, a look at the clothing and linens table.  This section is always (wo)maned by Rene, 92 and very spry, and is definitely worth a rummage through.

This week I turned up trumps by finding a pair of Toast ladies trousers in excellent condition (sadly nowhere near my size - I doubt very much that Toast makes anything in my size - but an excellent find for reselling on ebay.)  Then, unbelievably, I found not one, not two, but three skirts in my size amongst the piles of clothes.  Now admittedly I very rarely wear skirts - even when the weather is really hot - as my ankles and lower legs are very swollen these days and I don't like showing them off.  However, one of the skirts in particular has really taken my fancy and may get an airing in the warmer weather - even if only in the garden.  The other two are not really my style but one of them is a lovely Ann Harvey black crepe evening skirt with bugle-bead embroidery on the waistband.  I know how expensive Ann Harvey stuff is and I'll bet that skirt cost an absolute fortune when new.  Needless to say, that one too is destined for ebay.

Many many thanks for all your comments you left on yesterday's post.  There are a lot of different viewpoints and some really really useful ideas.  I so appreciated such detailed replies and excellent suggestions people made - it's given us lots of food for thought and ideas about how to resolve the issue.  Thank you.

What Would You Do?

We've got a bit of a knotty problem chez 'Making Good Use' at the moment and we really don't know what to do for the best.  I'd love to know what your take on the issue is - any ideas would be very gratefully received.

Right next to our house is a large garage which looks like it should belong to our house but it doesn't, it belongs to the lady in the last bungalow of another road.  She's in her 70s and is a very nice person who I often stop and chat with and whom we've both got on with very well over the time we've lived here (five years.)  Just before Christmas her son-in-law took over the garage and started doing it up in order to run a motorcycle training business from there.  We had no problem with this and were quite happy to let builders and roofers in to our garden in order to make the garage watertight.  A large security light, a phone line and, of course, half a dozen or so motorbikes were subsequently installed.  We still had no problem with the activity at all.

However, recently - especially since the advent of the better weather - we have been woken up tres early on numerous occasions (one weekend it was 8.00 am both Saturday and Sunday) by frantic revving of motorbike engines, and loud talking and laughing practically outside the bedroom window.  After yet another rude awakening on Friday morning (7.00 am or thereabouts) P had a polite word with the chap and told him that we were finding the noise and general commotion very intrusive.  The chap was most apologetic and very polite about it all.  Saturday morning he was much quieter but by Sunday it was back to square one - albeit not quite so early.

Our problem is what should we do next.  Do we have another word with him (and he doesn't even live in the bungalow that owns the garage by the way - he doesn't even live in our town,) and give him another chance to tone it down a bit, do we have a word with his mother-in-law who owns the garage, or do we go straight for the jugular and report him to the local council for running a business from a residential address. 

One of the main benefits of living in this house is that it has always been incredibly peaceful around and about and both P and I are now finding the noise and intrusion of this happening practically in our own garden very very stressful.

I would add that the chap involved seems to be a really pleasant bloke and I know he was made redundant last year and that he set up this business to try and get himself back on his feet.  I don't really want to cause him a load of aggro but he is breaking the law and he is really intrusive and noisy in a very quiet residential road.  Even our next-door neighbours have said that they're not too happy about what he is doing - although not to him - and I suspect other neighbours are also finding it all rather trying, although none are as directly affected as we are.

Being an uber coward myself, I would just move (there are other issues with the house that I would be glad to leave behind as well) and let someone else deal with the problem.  But that's just me - a typical Cancerian - who never faces a problem head on and who likes to avoid confrontation at any cost. 

What would you do to try and resolve the problem?

No, Thank You

I thought it was a very nice gesture that Help the Aged put this little slip / bookmark through the letterbox this morning after picking up the two bags of 'stuff' I'd left out for them to collect.  It's nice to be reassured that it was, indeed, the bona fide charity who had collected the bags - I'm never quite sure if it's not some conman driving round when he knows there's a charity collection happening, stashing the bags in his own vehicle and then selling the goods on ebay.  Call me suspicious if you like, but that thought has often crossed my mind! 

I ALWAYS donate to any charity that is willing to take books in their kerbside collections.  So many charities only want clothes, CDs, DVDs, jewellery etc etc.  Many now specify no bric-a-brac and almost all of them refuse to collect books.  Up until now it's only really been the British Heart Foundation (BHF) who would take books and I'm loath to donate to them after my poor Mum got caught having to dial a premium rate telephone number (and having to wait ages on it) to ask them if they would like a large oak sideboard she wanted to donate.  They'd recently opened one of their humungous Furniture and Electrical shops in the old Woolworths store near where she lives and she immediately thought it would be a good item for them to sell. 

It was a beautiful sideboard but when the bloke came from BHF to pick it up he said it would be no good for them!!  Charming!  Eventually Mum sold it to a second-hand furniture dealer who was more than happy to give her good money for it, and who also informed her that she would have been phoning a premium rate phone number to speak to BHF.  Sure enough, when she checked her phone bill the call had cost her approx. £1.75.  Needless to say she will never be donating anything to BHF again and neither will I.

Very Lazy Ginger

I was recently asked to try out a jar of Very Lazy Ginger from The English Provender Co.  I don't generally use a lot of ginger in cooking so I had to put my thinking hat on as to what to do with it but anything that cuts down on preparation time is always a winner with me.  I came up with a couple of ideas - chopping it finely and adding it to Greek yogurt - very nice and also, again chopping it finely, and adding it to some plain cottage cheese - which certainly livened up the taste of something that can be quite bland. 

I haven't given it a try in cooking as yet but as it lasts 12 weeks once opened, I'm sure I'll find the opportunity.  I can imagine it would be good added to a stir fry or even with some stewed fruit.  Nice stuff and a useful addition to the store cupboard.

A Banner for My Boy

For some very odd reason I've been extremely energised today.  Amongst other things I've achieved so far is

* ANOTHER load of washing done and hung out on the line.  (You would not believe the amount of dirty laundry that P brought back with him.  And most of it was formal shirts which I find extremely tedious to iron!)

* ANOTHER stack of ironing (more flippin' formal shirts) done.

* Finished making my sister's birthday card.  I finished this off as I was having my breakfast and watching 'Frasier' on Channel 4.  It's unheard of for me to get moving that early in the morning - I fear I must be sickening for something!!  I'm rather pleased with the result and hope she will be too.

* Got through a mountain of washing-up from yesterday.  Yes, I am totally slovenly, and only wash the dirty dishes the next day!

* Wrapped four ebay items so that I can post them tomorrow.

* And got out the sewing machine and made a name banner for my nephew as an Easter gift for him.

These banners seem to be everywhere in the blogosphere at the moment and I thought it was something he might like to hang in his bedroom.  Thankfully he's got a nice short name as cutting-out and stitching the letters was a bit of a fiddle.  Everything came from the stash - the most difficult part was finding fabric that didn't have flowers on it or was pink (something my nephew really wouldn't want.  He rates pink as being 'rubbish', along with Hannah Montana - apparently she's rubbish too!) 

So, The Chocolates Get a Post of Their Own!

Don't know what the problem is but I just could not load this photo with my other post - and I wouldn't want you to miss out on how thoroughly delicious-looking these little babies are!!  I think I'm gonna start with the white chocolate slab.

A Swiss Bearing Gifts

P finally arrived home yesterday evening after his mega business tour of the Far East.  En route he'd spent three days in Switzerland too - mainly on business - but it also gave him a chance to catch up with his family.  Not only was I very pleased to see him safely home - albeit exhausted - but he also arrived bearing gifts.

First up was a very posh folding umbrella from Shanghai Tang.  I know it looks a bit boring in the photo (and a little over-shadowed by the bag it came in) but when it's opened up it has lovely writing on it in lime green on a classic black background.  When P asked me if there was anything I'd like in Shanghai Tang I immediately thought of a new brolly.  I've had my present one for years and it is looking decidedly worse for wear.  I shall feel quite the swell when I use my 'designer' brolly the next time it rains.

Also brought back were two Agnes B business class 'amenity bags' full of Dermalogica toiletries.  I can't decide whether to keep them myself of try my luck with them on ebay.  I'll have to ponder on that for a day or two as I do like me some nice toiletries.

P had met up with his sister whilst he was in Switzerland and it was a lovely surprise to receive a couple of gifts from her too.  She sent them as a thank you for double-checking her English for a piece she is hoping to have published in Selvedge Magazine.  Needless to say her written English is as impeccably brilliant as her spoken English (puts my teeny tiny understanding of a few words of Swiss German to absolute shame) and so I actually had very little to check.  I was very very pleased though to recieve

a beautiful embroidered scarf (which I think comes from India) in the most gorgeous vibrant tones of lime and blue and a pack of very very scrummy Laderach Swiss chocolates - you just can't beat a nice Swiss choccie.  I've had these before and they are delicious.  I'm very much looking forward to having a piece (or two) after the evening meal tonight!!  Yum.  (Don't know why I can't upload the photo of the chocolates but Typepad seems to be playing silly devils at the moment.  I'll try and put the photo in a post of it's own.)

In The Words of Victor Meldrew....

'I don't believe it!'  I've only been and gorn and bought yet another king-size duvet cover masquerading as a double!!  B*ggerations,

I spotted it in a charity shop in Basildon this morning and thought the appliqued velvet ribbons and decorative stiching were just lovely.  It was clearly marked as a 'double' and was priced, with two matching pillowcases, at £3.50.  I was very very pleased until I got it home and unfolded it and thought 'Uh oh, that looks a tad on the large size for a double.'  Yup, once again I've ended up with a king-size instead.  I foresee another fight with massive amounts of fabric and the sewing machine next week.  Although, as my Mum said when I told her, if it had been marked as a king size it would have cost a lot more.  Which is a good point.

I did manage to find some rather nice vintage wool - 40p for the lot - whilst I was there.  And I also finally found some really nice things for my sister's forthcoming birthday - so that was a relief. 

Unfortunately, I've been plagued with a rumbling headache all day (I woke up with it and when I wake up with a headache I just know it's going to hang around for hours and hours) and then the bus broke down on the way home!!!!  I could have done without that but fortunately the next one came along after about 10 minutes.  The poor driver of the second bus must have wondered what had hit him when about 15 passengers and the driver of the original bus all leapt out in the road to flag him down.

Kind Comments

Just a quick note to say thank you very much for the kind comments you left about my little embroidered bee.  My neighbour was delighted with the result and I was so pleased to be able to help that beautiful tablecloth carry on being used for a little while longer.  I'm very fond of my next-door neighbours - they have been extremely kind to me in the past - and I would do anything I'm able to in order to help them out. 

'Mrs' next-door neighbour has a degenerative muscular disease - a bit like multiple sclerosis - and so is very limited in what she is able to do these days, although she was obviously a very talented home-maker and all round 'crafty' sort of person up until quite recently.  She has passed on a lot of her old sewing bits and bobs to me and I always feel rather sad about accepting them as it means she is admitting that she is able to do less and less work with her hands as her illness progresses.  The amazing thing is though that she is never miserable, always smiling and ready for a chat and always great company to be with.  I think I can honestly say they're the best next-door neighbours I've ever had.