Making Good Use

Jumble Finds

After having got over the HUGE disappointment of most unfortunately missing the first half-hour of Saturday's jumble, I still managed to come home with some excellent finds. 

 
Vintage tapestry with its original 'Made in the Empire' label still attached, a Granny square crocheted tea cosy, 1970s desk tidy (love the pea-green colour,) a box of unused typewriter ribbons (sold some before on ebay and they went very well,) a pack of unused denim elbow patches - just the thing for my about-the-house hooded cardigan which has developed a whopping great hole in one elbow, and a large piece of fabric which has a gorgeous Indian print on it - I'm thinking this may make a nice skirt for me next summer.

 
A full-size stove-top kettle.  After my recent kettle-less experience I thought it prudent to buy this one when I saw it.  It needs a bit of a wash but should make boiling sufficient amounts of water a lot easier if / when our new electric kettle goes kaput or, indeed, if we have a power cut.

 
A brand-new, with £39 label still attached, Marks and Sparks jacket - £1.00.  This one is destined for ebay at some point.

 
Two really large feather cushions pads - 50p the two.  I was delighted to find these as I've got a small project in mind that requires cushion pads this size.

 
And a jolly nice summer skirt for moi.  I also found a pair of Monsoon jeans for my sister - 50p, a pile of T-shirts for my nephew - all 20p each, plus quite a few books that were good for re-sale.  So, all in all, despite being late for the start I was well pleased with what I brought home.

Grrr!

Yesterday was the local Shenfield Scouts 'Mega' Jumble Sale.  They only hold these sales twice a year - once in April and once in October, and when they say 'mega' they're not joking - those sales are HUGE.  I've been looking forward to it for the past couple of weeks since seeing the advert in the local paper.

 
P and I had a very early lunch and left home at 1.00 for the drive over to Shenfield, planning on being there just before 1.30 which would give me plenty of time to queue for the opening time of 2.00 pm.  Imagine my horror when we got there and found people already leaving laden down with carrier bags of swag!!!!  The sale had started at 1.00 pm and not 2.00 pm as advertised in the paper - b*gger, b*gger, b*gger.

 
I was out of the car like a long dog - never mind ye olde dodgy hip - woosh, I was up the path and in the door lickety spit.

 
I came away an hour later well pleased with what I did find, although still pretty p'eed off at having missed the first half hour.  Finds included this lovely hand-embroidered cloth featuring boats, fish, flags and a lighthouse.  Igot plenty of other goodies too which I'll blog about tomorrow.

St Peter's on the Wall

If you ever find yourself at the furthest-most reaches of eastern Essex, way out in the wilds of the Dengie Peninsula, as far as the land goes until it becomes cockle spit and salt marshes, and where the North Sea is just a few yards away, do go and visit the amazing St Peter's on the Wall.

 
Built in 650 AD by St Cedd, using stones from the Roman fort of Odona that originally stood on the site, it is the oldest remaining church in England.  I have never visited anywhere quite like it, it is totally other-worldly and utterly beautiful.

 
It is reached via a rough path between fields

 
with a WWII pill box in each one.

 
Where the sky seems to go on forever.

 
And where it is just too far away from civilisation to have ever been wired up to the national grid.

 
It was stunning and well worth battling the fierce wind howling off the North Sea to see it.

Guests

Things will be a bit quiet on the blog for the next day or two as we have P's brother and his family visiting from Switzerland.  They've all gone up to London for the day to do a spot of sightseeing leaving me and my dodgy hip to mind the fort, a pile of Swiss passports and a couple of wallets - a sensible move if you ask me as you can never be too careful when visiting the tourist hotspots of central London.

I'm hoping that the hip will be up to joining them all on a visit to nearby Burnham on Crouch and then on to the Saxon church at St Peters on the Wall - which I've wanted to see for ages.

I've been racking my brains to try and remember the little German that I know, and have been put to shame by P's 11-year-old niece's command of English - very impressive.  I managed to follow a fair part of the conversation yesterday evening but kept pretty quiet so as not to make a fool of myself speaking in 'Deutsch.'  To make matters even more complicated for my pea brain (this is the woman with the ungraded French 'O' Level, don't forget,) they speak Schweizerdeutsch - a sort of Swiss patois of German which sounds very very different to German Deutsch, if you know what I mean..

50p or £1 Million

Yup, I was given the choice of paying either 50p or £1 million each for the three tops I found at the car boot sale yesterday.  Oddly enough, I chose the 50p option.  The three ladies on this particular stall were all plus size girls (always a bonus for me as it means they'll probably have clothes in my size) and were all having a jolly good time.  They freely admitted they were only there for the food and drink opportunities and they were so cheerful and in such high spirits that they strongly reminded me of 'Beryl Cook' ladies - round, good-humoured and full of fun.  Plus, they had a rack full of really nice clothes. 

 
I bought this ditsy-print number which I washed, ironed and have already worn today.  I really liked the tiny pink flower print on a black background and it was just the thing to wear on the last really warm day we're likely to get for a good few months.

 
This check shirt will be good with or without a long-sleeved t-shirt underneath so should be a useful addition when it gets cooler.

 
This beach cover-up has such a striking print that I couldn't not buy it for 50p.  Not quite sure it's my style but I'm going for the Le Blog de Big Beauty look with it.

 
I was surprised to find this bag by the American designer Vera Bradley.  I wouldn't have known about her at all if it wasn't for reading a lot of American blogs these days.  The printed fabric is gorgeous and it's a really nice bag that's had hardly any use at all (if any.)  I was more than happy to pay £1.00 for it.

 
Finally, I found another bag which was also £1.00 - I only bought this one for the wooden handles as I know they are terribly expensive to buy - and a couple of packs of vintage tile decals.  Not sure if they'll be any good on ebay but for 25p it was worth taking a punt.

Weird and Wonderful Weather

 
Well, this unseasonably hot weather is certainly a nice change but it does seem odd to have the leaves falling from the trees whilst it is 27 degrees during the day.  The sleeveless tops and skirts have been resurrected from the wardrobe and we're making the most of these balmy evenings by eating al fresco by candlelight.

 
The tea lights in glass jars awaiting recycling have been brought out again and yesterday evening we had a barbecue - only the second this year.  It was unusual and quite lovely to be toasting marshmallows over the barbie when it was totally dark in the garden and the bats were flying around to keep us company.

I could take this sort of weather right up 'til Christmas - although without wishing to be too picky, a few degrees cooler would suit me too - and wouldn't that make a marvellous savings with the energy bills this winter.

A-Z of Me

This A-Z meme seems to be doing the rounds of a lot of blogs at the moment so I thought I'd join in too.

A - Age 51 (still feel like I'm only 21 inside though, it's the exterior that lets me down!!)

B - Bed Size - Double, wish it was a king-size but there's no room large enough in this house to fit one.

C- Chore You Hate - The bl**dy washing-up.  I seem to spend my life either cooking (which I quite like) or washing-up these days.  Roll on being somewhere with a kitchen large enough for a dishwasher.

D - Dogs - I'm much more of a cat person but would dearly love to have a black Scottie dog one day.

E - Essential Start to Your Day - A large mug of Earl Grey and a couple of slices of toast and marmalade.

F - Favourite Colour - I would have said red until recently but these days I'm very partial to that sort of pea-green colour which I think is poshly called 'chartreuse.'

G - Gold or Silver - Definitely gold, preferably with a large diamond in it!!  Still rocking my engagement ring (no, we never got round to actually getting married) which we bought in the jewellery quarter in Birmingham 16 years ago.  It's gold with five fantastic diamonds in it and is still the nicest engagement ring I've ever seen.

H - Height - Fairly Amazonian.  I always claimed to be 5 foot 10 inches but think I've probably shrunk a bit and am now about 5' 9".  Love being tall and it comes in very handy at jumble sales to reach over the heads of other people.

I - Instruments You Play - Had three years of piano lessons as a child and only got as far as Grade 1 - nuff said, I think.

J - Job Title - PA to my other half, P.  Ebay Entrepreneur (I wish!)

K - Kids - Absolutely not in a million years - I might have ended up with a child that was as rude, disobedient and downright difficult as I was when I was little.  Love my eight-year-old nephew to absolute pieces though.

L - Live - SE Essex - classic stomping ground of the archetypal Essex Girl.  Love it here, even though I'm an incomer from the West Country.

M - Mother's Name - Erna.  It's a German name which her Dad chose - he was Ernest - and poor old Mum has spent her whole life being mistaken for an Enid, Edna, Ena etc etc.  I rather like it though and can't imagine my Mum being called anything else.

N - Nickname - Bibs or Bibby.  My Dad especially used to call me this, though Mum sometimes does too.

O - Overnight Hospital Stays - Just the one night about 25 years ago when one of my ankles swelled up suddenly.  They obviously thought it was a blood clot in the leg but after some horrible tests never found anything.  Turns out it was just the start of my oedema problem (a family trait from my Dad's side.)  Both my ankles are now permanently swollen - oh the joys of getting older!!

P - Pet Peeves - Apart from the motorbike git who is STILL running a business from the garage right by our front door!!!! I hate litter dropping, gum chewing and lying - I really really hate lies being told.  About anything, by anyone.

Q - Quote From a Film - Going to have to cheat a bit here and give my favourite quote from a TV programme.  'Get on with it, c*ckend' (to be said with a Glaswegian accent.)  From the fabulous, the inimitable, the-soon-to-be-returning-for-a-second-series (hurrah) 'Mongrels.'  I often find this phrase floating through my mind and it seem's to work for a lot of situations.

R - Right or Left-Handed - Right

S - Siblings - One sister, Sarah, who is 2 years and 9 months my junior.

T - Time You Wake Up - Usually around 8.00 am.

Underwear - Yes, unless it's really really hot and I'm at home and then I don't bother.

V - Vegetables You Hate - Celery (yuk, yuk, yuk,) Spinach, Asparagus.

What Makes You Run Late - Nothing, I'm a bit OCD when it comes to being early for things.

X - X-Rays You've Had - Um, teeth - numerous times.  Right hip x-rayed recently, too scared to go to the doctor's to get the results!!

Y - Yummy Food That You Make - Chicken Mexicana, Beef Stew, Salmon Fish Cakes.

Z - Zoo Animal - Not very keen on zoos but think I'd probably choose either penguins (they have that wonderful 1930s enclosure at London Zoo) or meerkats - they're just uber cute.

 

Rozzers and Reality TV

Our local Sunday boot sale seems to get more bizarre by the week.  Yesterday, not only were there A LOT of police officers in high-vis jackets and full uniform strolling around (obviously getting a bit bored in their compound whilst waiting for the Dale Farm eviction to finally get started,) but they were also filming for 'The Only Way is Essex.'  I don't know what the particular muppet's name is who was being filmed but he's the one whose conversation seems to consist mainly of 'Shuuuuuut Up.'  I have watched a few bits of TOWIE (but only when really desperate for something to watch) and it is truly appalling viewing.  Why anyone would want to watch such a bunch of brain-dead morons is beyond me but the filming was certainly attracting a huge crowd - mainly, it must be said, of pre-pubescent girls.

Despite all the weirdness going on, or maybe because of it, I didn't find an awful lot that took my fancy this week even though there were a huge amount of sellers.

 
I was rather pleased to find this matryoshka / Russian doll printed pencil case / make-up bag for 50p.  Russian dolls and oilcloth, definitely a winning combination in my book.

 
Two spotty enamelled tin mugs - 10p the pair.

 
A few more vintage wooden Sylko reels - £2.00 for the lot.

 
And from the same seller some pure wool yarn - 50p per hank. 

 
I can never resist pure wool yarn if it is cheap enough and this label particularly caught my eye.

 
And. finally, a Hornsea Pottery Fauna jug with wistful-looking doefor £1.00.  It does have a bit of a crack but I thought it was quite sweet for that money.

Linking up with Apron Thrift Girl's Thrift Share Monday.

Every Cloud

I really don't like this time of year.  I know many people think autumn is the best season of the year, but for me it's just the harbinger of cold, wet, grey miserable weather, dark mornings and even darker evenings, frost, snow, fog, damp and decay in the garden and - worst of all - the demise of the car boot season.  I find absolutely no pleasure in having to wear socks and shoes again, to have to put on a hat, scarf, gloves, coat etc just to pop to the high street and I certainly find no pleasure at all when it's dark at 4.00 pm and remains so until 8.00 am the following morning.  No, really, I fail to see the pleasure in autumn or winter at all.  (And I'm not even going to mention the fast-approaching festering season - I've already spotted Christmas cards, Christmas puddings and tins of Quality Street for sale in the shops and it's only just autumn for goodness sake!)

Still, as the saying goes, every cloud has a silver lining and for me the fast-encroaching colder weather will be ever so slightly enlivened this year by being able to wear the Icelandic cardi P very generously bought me as a birthday present when we were in Reykjavik in June.

 
On a couple of recent cooler days I have thought about wearing it but, nah, it's still too mild for that.  This cardi is stupendously warm and cosy and might even mean I can get away without having to buy a new coat this winter (my old coat is now ridiculously too large on me) if we don't have really fierce weather.  I may even take to wearing it about the house if it means we can keep the central heating off for longer.  Seriously, don't get me started on the 'joys' of having to put the heating on and the scandalous cost of gas and electricity these days as that's just a whole other subject I could whinge and moan about. 

Taking it to the Maxi

If it hadn't have been for the wonderful Vix at Vintage Vixen and her totally amazing sense of style, I'm not sure I'd have looked twice at the archetypal Seventies maxi outfits that I found at this week's boot sale.  All the items had been handmade by the still stunningly slim and upright older lady who was selling them.  She told me that her husband used to be in the Diplomatic Service and that she had a lot of occasions where she had to look really smart - and that it didn't do to wear the same outfit twice.  She must have looked amazing in these stunning beauties, not to mention the fact that she must have been a very talented seamstress with a great eye for colour and fabric.

 

A wrap-around maxi dress made from a quite heavy-weight crimplene fabric.  It was the print on this dress that first caught my eye when I came across her stall.

 

A rather Biba-esque purple maxi dress with panels of purple peacock feather type patterns.  (Apologies for the lousy photo - barely daylight here today!)

 
 
Two pairs of maxi culotte-skirts.  The red and navy floral fabric just shouts 1970s to me.

 

And this amazing halter-neck catsuit in navy with yellow polka-dots and a bright yellow collar. 

All the clothes are beautifully made and must have looked stunning on the lady I bought them from.  Sadly for me, they're all made to fit someone who is not only as tall as I am but is also a size 10 - 12 - which I most certainly am not.