Making Good Use

In Like a Lamb

March has certainly arrived like a lamb.  It's been yet another bea-u-tiful warm and sunny day here in Essex and a quick look around the garden showed that nature is really beginning to spring-forth at the moment.

The trees are starting to come into flower and there are ladybirds a-plenty going about their ladybird-y business on the garden table.

Question is, will it go out like a lion?  Hard to imagine at the moment (check out the clouless blue sky) but who knows - we could have snow again before the months is out (yeah, ever the optimist, me!!)

Tempus Fugit, and All That Jazz

Five days since my last blog post and I honestly do not know where the time has gone.  As usual, I seem to be busy doing nothing - except cooking and washing up with a little laundry and ironing thrown in for good measure.  The local charity shops remain resolutely full of absolute tat - some of it wildly over-priced at that.  Technically, the car boot season round these parts could well start up again this coming weekend - it'll all depend on the weather and how wet and boggy the boot sale fields are likely to be.  I cannot wait to get back into the swing of a shiny and new boot sale season - it seems like flippin' ages since I've had a good root around in other people's cast offs and junk!!  There is the added bonus of the Shenfield Scouts Mega Jumble Sale taking place on Saturday 10th March too.  That jumble is always well worth going to as they have HUGE amounts of stuff for sale and I inevitably find some wonderful gems there.

I did got to a table top sale in a local village hall last Sunday.  I didn't buy much but did come away with this rather nice embroidered and beaded black velvet evening bag from Accessorize, still sporting its original £22.00 price tag, for the princely sum of £2.00.  Plus I got a few bits and bobs for myself and some Super Mario pyjamas and a fleece top for my nephew.  Sunday was a gloriously warm and sunny day here in Essex and as the table top sale was being held at one of the villages around the Hanningfield Reservoir, P and I had a lovely leisurely stroll in the sun and sat watched the various geese and ducks waddling and flapping about on the banks of the reservoir and in the water.  Sadly, I forgot to take my camera.

Would You Adam 'n' Eve It

It's hard to believe that less than two weeks ago there was still a considerable amount of snow on the ground here in Essex.  This morning, on a gloriously sunny Spring-like day, I was able to venture forth wearing sandals.  Yup, that must be the earliest date ever that I've brought out the Birkenstocks from their winter hibernation.  Long may it continue.

And I picked a name from the virtual 'hat' (actually in this case it was from a small pharmacy bag as that was the nearest receptacle to hand) for the Bunty Book giveaway - and the winner is Sarah Morris.  Thank you very much to everyone who took part.

Wooly Thrifting

There were only a couple of useful thrifting finds for me on Monday - despite visiting all three charity shops in the high street and the 'Coffee and Jumble' too (I wonder if the dearth of items in charity shops is a reflection of the current woeful economic times - probably.)

All the items I did manage to thrift were wool related.  A lovely vintage mittens knitting pattern - which I got for my Mum as she has been knitting quite a few pairs of mittens recently and I knew she'd like this addition to her pattern stash.  (Though I can't help but think that the seagull motif on the navy mittens does tend to look like the wearer is giving the 'V' sign!!) Three balls of yarn, the black ball is pure new wool and the two variegated ones are 90% wool (which is close enough to being pure wool for me.)  The wool and the pattern cost me £1.00 for the lot in one of the charity shops.  And for 25p at the 'Coffee and Jumble' I found the Granny square crochet cushion cover.   As being able to crochet comptently is a skill which continues to elude me, I'm always happy to find hand-crocheted items that I can use about the house.

World Exclusive Photos

Making Good Use are thrilled to announce that Miss Isabella, the notoriously shy and retiring Maine Coon, has graciously invited us into her beautiful home and has given us a world exclusive photo opportunity of her and her new cat quilt.

Miss Isabella is seen here modelling the new quilt with great aplomb and she tells our reporter that she finds is quite the most comfortable and stylish addition to her delightful town house.  'It's soft, warm and makes THE best spot to lounge on after a long day on patrol in the garden and garage,' Miss Isabella is quoted as saying.  'It's just the right size for me and is too small for any of my human servants to want to snuggle on or under it, which I really appreciate as I'm not too keen on sharing,'  she added, looking extremely fit and well despite long hours spent on mouse patrol. 

Her erstwhile cat companion, Mr Max Money, also granted MGU a photo opportunity.  He is quoted as saying, 'Miss Isabella can keep her fancy pants new cat quilt, I'm more than happy stretching out on the little-est house human's cosy quilt.'

What an Excellent Tip

I saw a very useful tip on Superscrimpers the other week - when you can't get squeeze any more out of a tube, cut the top off and get to the rest of the contents that way.  What I particularly liked about this fairly bog-standard scrimping idea was the using of the cut-off top part of the tube as a new 'lid.'  It totally works and I've cut down both the tube of moisturiser I'm currently using (a rather lovely Evian one that Caroline sent me as part of a swap parcel,) and the splendiferous Body Shop Eye Cream that really does seem to keep my dark under-eye circles at bay.

I was amazed by how much was still lurking in the Evian moisturiser tube, especially as I could no longer squeeze any out throught the nozzle, and this little lot should last me another few weeks at least.  (Please ignore my seriously wrinkly-looking hands in the photo - will have to start using hand cream a bit more often methinks!!)

I'm enjoying this new series of Superscrimpers a lot more than I did the last one.  I'm not quite sure why, it just seems that the whole tone of the programme has changed a bit and there are a lot more practical and 'do-able' tips on it now.  As well as the useful make-up and manicure suggestions (not that I'm much of a one for manicures but the ideas were interesting,) I really like the motoring, gardening and decorating tips that some of the male 'superscrimpers' have talked about too.  In the first series I felt some of the tips were a bit 'hardcore' even for a keen frugalista like me - after all, being frugal doesn't have to be too 'hair shirt,' if you know what I mean - and it's nice to see younger 'superscrimpers' and their suggestions on air too. 

Bunty Book Giveaway

I really enjoyed reading through the 'Bunty Book for Girls' that I found for 50p recently and as I had a lot of nostalgic comments when I mentioned it on the blog last week, I thought I'd spread the 'Bunty' love and offer the book as a giveaway.

So if you too would like a trip down 'Bunty' memory lane, leave a comment on this post and I'll put all names in a hat and choose a winner next Wednesday (22/2/12.)  I'll have to limit the giveaway to UK addresses only as the book is a tad too heavy to be posting it overseas - sorry about that.

Not Bad, Not Bad At All

The jumble sale this morning turned out to be quite good.  P wasn't sure the car would start in the sub-zero temperatures - it did, and I wasn't sure the jumble would still be on due to the weather - but it was.  The only downside was that they'd opened the doors early and apparently a lot of dealers had already been in, bought shed-loads of stuff (no idea what sort of 'stuff') and were long gone by the time I got there (15 minutes before the advertised start.)  I do find letting people into jumble sales early veeerrrry annoying - especially as there was a nice large entrance hall for them to wait in so they weren't actually queueing up in the cold - but there we go.  Despite the locust-like dealers I still managed to find some nice bits and bobs and without that lot pushing and shoving the whole jumble was very civilised.

Four balls of Jamieson & Smith pure wool 1 ply cobweb yarn - 10p a ball.

A large bottle of Body Shop Dewberry shower gel - 10p.  I also bought a Victoria Beckham body lotion for 10p but the smell of it is so nauseatingly overpowering that I've put that straight in a bag for the charity shop.  Pure migraine in a tube - yuk!

A rather nice crepe scarf - 10p.

A lint remover set - 50p.  This was a fortuitous find as I've pretty much run out of the sticky paper stuff for the lint remover I had before.

A tres useful Nordic-style hat with earflaps - 10p.  Oddly enough, I was only thinking yesterday that I wouldn't mind a hat that covered my ears.  It's been beautifully hand-knitted and is made of pure wool.  Think I may have to remove the pompoms before I venture out in it though!!

A gorgeous, and huge, piece of vintage fabric - just crying out to be made into cushion covers, 20p.  It's currently having a good over-night soak in some biological washing powder to get it extra clean before I decide what to make with it.  Yup, all in all, it was not a bad jumble at all.

Linking up (for the first time in aaaages) with Apron Thrift Girl's 'Thrift Share Monday.'

A Little Light Thrifting

Thrifting opportunities are always thin on the ground for me in January and February, and this year has certainly been no exception.  The charity shops seem to be full of overpriced Primark, Tu and George tat with the odd bit of dodgy 'Valentine's-appropriate' rubbish thrown in for good measure at the moment.  I am having ser-i-ous boot sale withdrawal now and cannot wait for the new season to start in March (weather permitting, natch!)  Anyhoo, on a brighter note there is a WI jumble sale tomorrow morning (am just hoping that it won't be unexpectedly cancelled like the local table top sale was last Saturday.  I shall be seriously peeved if it doesn't take place as it's going to involve quite a long drive out into the wilds of the Essex countryside to get to the village hall where it's being held.)  I have high hopes for the jumble being just the thrifting 'fix' I need to tide me over until March.

It hasn't all been a total lost cause though.  I did find a rather spiffy organic shower gel for 20p in a local charity shop (RRP £6.95 so that's a nice bargain.)

Plus in the same charity shop I found this vintage wrap-around pinny which I'm pretty sure had never been used.  I have had to wash it as it had some storage marks on the fabric but it is in immaculate condition.  It cost me £2.00.

In Billericay yesterday, I found a set of Body Shop Satsuma shower gel and body butter for £2.50.  It's a bit more than I'd really like to pay but as I'm going through body butter at an alarming rate during this hideous cold weather, I thought it would have been silly to have passed it up.

Best find though has to be this facsimile Bunty annual, featuring all the best bits from the 'Bunty' comic. 

I was a great fan of 'Bunty' when I was little - along with 'Princess Tina' and 'Diana'  - and was always particularly enamoured of the back page cut-out Bunty doll and clothes.

I'm having great fun reading through this book and remembering and reminiscing about childhood days - and all for 50p too.

Kind Words on Knitting Patterns

I tend to stay well away from knitting patterns when I'm knitting and like to make things up as I'm going along.  I don't knit garments as there's an awful lot of work (and wool)  involved in a handknitted item to fit my size (!) and ten chances to one I wouldn't be happy with the outcome anyway.  I'm usually knitting with bits and bobs of wool I've found at boot sales or in charity shops so I'm pretty constrained with the size of the items I can knit anyway - which is why hats, scarves, cushion covers and knitted dishcloths are pretty much the limit of my repertoire.  Hence the reason why the only two knitting 'patterns' I've put on my blog are for a beanie hat knitted on two needles and for my knife, fork and spoon dishcloth.

A few weeks ago I had a lovely comment from somebody about the dishcloth pattern saying 'made about 10 of these as additional xmas pressies. Going to make myself some now. Everyone says they are too nice to use!!'  I was so pleased to get this message, it gives me a real warm glow to think that a knitting pattern I devised is out there being knitted up and enjoyed by other people.    And then this morning I had a lovely comment from Kathleen at Four Miles North of Nowhere blog with a link to her blog post about knitting up my beanie hat pattern - and a lovely job she's made of the hat too. 

As I'm no knitting pattern designer so these two ladies and their kind words about my patterns have meant an awful lot to me - thank you both.