Making Good Use

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.

Autumn in August

What to do when autumn arrives two months early.  Well, first of all make a large pot of leek and potato soup to supplement the very silly choice of salad for the evening meal.

Two, do a bit of baking.  In this case a little and large combo of Iced Orange Madeira cake.

The large one is for eating now, the little one is for the picnic on Thursday when I'll be meeting up with DN and my sister for another day out in London. 

And, thirdly, for the wet and windy afternoon, a little light sewing.

Two 'stash and dash bags' all cut out and ready to sew.

This and That - and Thank You

First up - a very big Thank You to Gill who has very kindly awarded me the Nice Matters Award.

"awarded to those that are just nice people, good blog friends and those that inspire good feelings and inspiration! Those that care about others that are there to lend support or those that are just a positive influence in our blogging world"

Thank you so much for this Gill, I really appreciate it.

On to more mundane matters. 

We have some very pretty wisteria at the end of the garden, which is normally a real picture in early May.  This year was no exception and for three weeks or so the top of the garden was brimming with its beautiful mauve flowers dancing and bobbing in the breeze.  Imagine my surprise when last week I noticed one or two flowers coming out again.  Although the display is by no means as lush as it was three months ago, it is still really pretty - and most unusual for August.  Does anyone out there know why the wisteria should have flowered for a second time this year.  Or is it just another sign of our topsy-turvy climate change?

For some reason wisteria always reminds me of 1930's Home Counties suburbia - the sort of place where John Betjeman's 'Miss Joan Hunter-Dunn' (she who was 'furnish'd and burnish'd by Aldershot sun') would have lived.  Although these days it also makes me think of Wisteria Lane in Desperate Housewives!!  Not quite such a genteel image.

Yesterday's car boot sale didn't result in anything wonderful.  There were the usual suspects of a few decent books for resale, an electronic dinosaur toy for DN, and a nice thick winter jacket for him too.  I did manage to find this pretty material.  I love the pale mauve and pink flowers on the deep sand coloured background - very summery / beachy.

At the moment it's a fitted single sheet, but hopefully soon it will take on a different incarnation - especially as it is lovely thick material, much too thick for a sheet to my mind - probably as (yet another) bag.

Fruitful

The plum tree in the garden

is now laden

and heavy

with succulent ripe fruitfulness.  We're eating these little beauties, in as many ways as possible, as often as we can.

A quick trip to the Thursday car boot sale yesterday was also fruitful in its own way.

A lovely 'Tonka' fleece jacket for DN,

with this very appropriate label on the sleeve.

A quick tour of the charity shops this morning was also fruitful - this time with a short-sleeved 100 per cent cotton shirt for P (it seems to be as rare as hen's teeth to find these in charity shops at the moment).

Already washed through and drying nicely in the lovely sunshine we're having today.

Yup, quite a fruitful, and money saving, couple of days.

9. (And a couple of F.O.s)

A few hours after I'd finished writing my last post, I had a nagging feeling that I'd forgotten to include something in the list.  Finally, whilst eating my tea, I remembered.  So here it is, number nine, my love of Poldark.

The series was first shown when I was in my mid-teens, and I instantly fell in love with the drama, the costumes, the stunning Cornish scenery, the romance of it all, and, of course, Robin Ellis.  About 13 or so years ago my sister very kindly bought me the complete set of videos - both series one and two.  I've watched them many times since, and still adore everything about it.

In the autumn of 1976, when I had just started the sixth form, and between series one and two of Poldark, we were taken on a school trip to Stratford-upon-Avon to see King Lear.  Although I was studying for my English 'A' Level, I really wasn't looking forward to spending three or so hours on a very hard seat (we were up in the Gods), watching a whole load of 'luvvies' perform.  Oh what a lovely surprise I had when I realised that Robin Ellis was playing the Duke of Gloucester (I think I've got that correct), I even forked out 10p (or whatever it was) to get hold of the opera glasses which were then provided on the back of every seat.  I don't think I heard a word of the play, I just spent the whole time peering through the opera glasses and waiting for Robin Ellis to reappear on stage (which thankfully he did quite often).

I wonder what ever happened to him, I don't think I've seen him on television in many years.  I do remember he was in an adaptation of Barbara Vine's 'A Dark Adapted Eye' about 10 - 15 years ago, and although he was a bit stouter than he had been as Poldark, and his hair was a bit greyer, he was still mighty attractive.

Anyway, enough lusting!!  I've finished a couple of projects in the last couple of days.  First is this knitted hat which I made using the pure wool yarn I got in the local charity shop 10 days ago.

I finished it off with a white wool felt flower and had just the right colour glass button to match.

I'll put the hat away until the autumn and then it'll be up for sale on ebay.

In complete contrast the other finished project is this very summery shopping / beach bag, made using the material I got in Billericay last week.

I'll be putting this up for sale on ebay either today or tomorrow, in the hope of selling it before the sun disappears again.