Making Good Use

This 'n' That

Well, the hideous weather continues apace here - rain, rain, a bit more rain and flippin' freezing as well.   It's joyous, it really is!!

Have you read the excellent post by A Thrifty Mrs about charity shop prices?  Her post really struck a chord with me as I rarely go into the Marie Curie shop we have in the high street here because their prices are often ridiculous, plus they charge for their carrier bags (a mega pet peeve of mine.)  Luckily for me, the other two charity shops we have here are run by small local charities where the prices are much more sensible and the shops are rather more 'old school' chazza than designer boutique.  There is a particular charity shop in Billericay where I think I can honestly say I've not bought a single thing since they put up all their prices extortionately in order to pay for the laminated flooring and posh wooden hangers they now use to give the impression that their shop is upmarket and 'aspirational' rather than what it really is - a charity shop selling second-hand clothes.  Puhlease - who do they think they're kidding!

I was very pleased yesterday to find two unused Brita water filter cartridges in their original wrapping - 50p for both - in one of our 'sensibly priced' charity shops.  They were stuffed away on a small shelf under a basket of hair dyes.  As we had run out of cartridges for the water filter - plus they're darned expensive to buy in the shops - I was hugely delighted with my find.  And, for me, that's most of the pleasure of shopping in charity shops - you never know what you're going to find and often you have to dig around a bit to unearth a treasure or two.  In the same shop I also found a lovely chartreuse green Fenn Wright and Manson hand towel which will be just the ticket in our bathroom, it was also the grand sum of 50p.  Yay for the chazzas who don't charge a fortune and don't want to masquerade as designer boutiques - long may they continue.

I've done another draw for my five-year giveaway goodie bag as Briget (the original name out of the 'hat') won a giveaway from me last year and asked me to draw another name.  So, the second name out of the 'hat' was Fiona.  Fiona, if you could drop me an e-mail with your details, I'll get your prize in the post to you.

Drip, Drip, Drip - There Goes (Yet) Another Soggy Bank Holiday

Wheeeeeeen will it ever stop raining??  Gordon Bennett, I know we badly needed some rain but, really, does it all have to come in biblical proportions, all at once, and on yet another soggy bank holiday weekend.  The boot sales were a non-starter - both yesterday and today - so my thrifting opportunities have been severely curtailed lately. 

And it's so bloomin' cold too.  I'm longing for the day I can finally stop wearing thick knitted socks and two long-sleeved T-shirts (one on top the other) just to keep warm in the house.  I bought a lovely short-sleeved T-shirt last week in a charity shop but at the moment it seems like it'll never be warm enough to wear short sleeves ever again.   I also dug out a couple of summer skirts that I got at a jumble sale last autumn and which I knew needed altering - I've pinned up the hem of one to see if it would look better a bit shorter but it's too cold and grey and miserable to even contemplate trying it on.  Pleeeeeease stop raining and let us see some sun for a change!!

I did find a lovely cerise-pink Emma Bridgewater tea towel for £1.00 in a charity shop last week which will brighten up the kitchen nicely on these dull days.  Plus, two rather spiffy Christmas bauble stamp blocks which are a nice large size and were only 50p each.  I know it's a bit ridiculous to be thinking of Christmas in May (even if the temperature on Saturday was apparently colder than on Christmas Day) but I thought these stamps would make nice cards or could gussy up some plain brown paper rather well.  Mum suggested a gold or silver stamp pad and I can see that working beautifully.  With luck, between now and Christmas, I might come across one somewhere.

Anyway, enough of the moaning - I have a winner of my giveaway goodie-bag to announce.  Briget your name came out of the 'hat.'  Thanks to everyone who took part and for all your kind comments.

One for My Mum

It's my Mum's birthday today - HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MUM - and, along with some nice things I bought for her in Winchester, I made her a patchwork lap quilt to keep her warm during these chilly Spring evenings.

It's my usual very simple design - lots of large patchwork squares on the front - all sourced from the stash,

with some large pieces of floral flanelette fabric on the back (also from the stash) - for that extra snuggle factor.

I always use Hobbs Heirloom batting as it's light, warm and easy to sew, and the three layers were hand-tied together with white crochet cotton at the points where four squares meet.  Naturally, it's turned out a teensy bit wonky in places - but Mum is very pleased with it anyway and that's what really counts.

Five Years / 1,000 Posts Goodie-Bag Giveaway

It was exactly five years ago today that I started this blog and, by sheer coincidence, this is also my 1,000th blog post.  So, to celebrate both these 'achievements' I thought I'd have a goodie-bag of items to giveaway.

A nice and summery lilac and white striped large pillowcase tote with a vintage crocheted piece on the front.

One of my handknitted 'knife, fork and spoon' cotton dishcloths.

A little zipped pouch I made ages ago and have never got round to doing anything with.

And one of my pure wool handknitted beanie hats with a vintage button brooch.  I know this is not really seasonal at the moment but if the miserable wet and windy weather continues you could probably get some use from it now, even though it is allegedly Spring!!

There'll probably be a couple of other items added to the goodie-bag as well - just not sure what they'll be as yet.  Just leave a comment on this post and I'll draw a name on Sunday 6th May.  I'm happy to post anywhere in the world so you're all most welcome to join in.

A Trip Down Memory Lane

I had an unexpected and very pleasant two-day break in Winchester this week.  I did my degree at King Alfred's College in Winchester (now apparently re-named as The University of Winchester) and spent three very happy years living there.  I left KAC thirty years ago this summer and this is only the second time I've been back to Winchester since then.

The famous Winchester Cathedral (hands up all those of a certain age now humming the song 'Winchester Cathedral, you're getting me down'!!)  We would have liked to have a look inside but as they now charge £6.50 entry fee we thought we'd give it a miss.  I've been in many times in the past and my graduation ceremony was held here, so I didn't feel I was missing anything by not coughing up the money.

We spent an incredibly relaxing hour or two avoiding the rain in The Wykeham Arms, just round the corner from the cathedral.  I used to live across the road from this delightful pub and at one time it was my 'local.'

Winchester is full of history and exquisite old buildings.

It seems that round every corner there is a stunning building with a wealth of history.

The whole place is beautifully maintained - even the bollards are little works of art.

Plus, it has some fabulous shops.  I spent some considerable time perusing the wares in Cath K.

And also ventured into this lovely shop which was mentioned in this month's Mollie Makes.

There was a fair bit of shopping done but most of it of the birthday present variety.  I did, however, buy myself some Cath K bias binding and two rather nice brooches from The Hambledon - a pair of swallows and a weeny little poodle.

Mollie Makes Inspiration

I've read some negative comments about 'Mollie Makes' magazine on a few blogs lately, and whilst I do know what they mean about the 'twee' cover photos which always feature hands and that some of the articles can be a bit 'samey', nevertheless I tend to buy a copy every month.  Not everything featured in the magazine floats my boat - bit too much reliance on Japanese-style embroidery and amigurumi-type felted animals for my taste - but I usually find at least one thing that inspires me every month.

This month I was intrigued by the button fridge magnets they showed, especially as I have quite a large stash of vintage buttons and a pile of stick-on magnet strips.

Ta-dah, a quick sort through my buttons to find some without shanks and a bit of judicious snipping to size of the stick-on magnets and I've got enough button magnets to keep me going for a while.  I'm particularly liking the square brown button magnet and the little wooden one in the bottom left corner.

Allegedly it's Spring

Not that you'd know it from the weather this past week or so, today has been digustingly cold for April with heavy showers and a vicious easterly wind blowing.  I've got loads of salad-type recipes I want to try out from the Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall 'Veg Every Day' book but tonight's evening meal was a good old warming plate of beef stew and mash - much more suitable for the weather, if not the season, than a plate of cold food. 

The simple fact though is that it is the middle of April (despite the weather being to the contrary) and my sewing thoughts have turned to making a few more summery pillowcase tote bags - with the hope that I can sell as many on eBay as I did last year.  I've only completed three so far but have got a few more vintage pillowcases washed and ironed and ready to be transformed into bags.

I've got a few of these bags myself and they get used every week when I do the major food shop on a Monday.  They are incredibly roomy and have held up very well to being stuffed to the gunnels with heavy tins, four-pint cartons of milk or huge quantities of fruit and veg.  I'm surprised myself how well the ones I've got have lasted and when they look a bit grubby they can easily be chucked in the washing machine to freshen them up - you can't do that with a plastic bag!!

Plus they fold up nice and small to fit into a handbag or a pocket, so I'm never without a cloth bag when I head out and about.  You never know when you're going to need a bag, especially now that some charity shops have started charging for their plastic bags (I do find that an awful cheek!!)

Henri, Le Chat Francais et son Ennui

Do check out this fabulous video - tres amusant.  Poor Henri, I know how he feels!!

PS - Have also found another Henri video -  'Je suis Henri' - here.

A Tiny Bit Zen

Quite astonishingly, I've single-handedly managed to drink a mega-large bottle of Disaronno in only four months!!  I was about to chuck the bottle into the glass recycling box when I realised it was actually rather a pleasing chunky shape.  After several hours soaking it in a bowl of water to remove the labels, it makes quite a nice stem vase.  With the addition of a small branch of what I think is Jews Mallow from the garden, it's now adding a tiny bit of Zen to our living room mantelpiece.

Liberty Letter Card

I never fail to be astounded by the cost of greetings cards in the shops.  Recently, I was looking for a Mothering Sunday card for my Mum in WH Smith's and the one I really liked was priced at £5.40 - gulp!!  Much as I love my Mum dearly I wasn't prepared to fork out that much for a card and settled for one that cost about £2.50 - and that was a very bog-standard sort of card even for that money. 

Last week it was my sister's birthday and I decided I'd try making her a card instead.  I'd left it a bit late so knew I couldn't go for anything too fancy or time-consuming to make and settled on the idea of something with her initial on it.

I found a little bit of some lovely Liberty tana lawn fabric I had, chose a typeface from Word, enlarged it to 400 pts and printed it out.  Then I simply cut round the 'S' shape, ironed some light interfacing to the back of the fabric and traced round the 'S' on the back of the fabric and cut it out.  I then attached it with double-sided tape to some of the lovely recycled card blanks I once got from The Makery (sadly, they don't seem to have them in stock any more.)  I was well pleased with how it turned out and all for a smidge over 50p.