Making Good Use

Constructing / Deconstructing

Over the last couple of days I've managed to construct something and deconstruct something else.

The construction part is a draught excluder for the back door.  The back door, like the french windows, is poorly fitting and lets in draughts like you wouldn't believe.  If it was our house we'd rip both offending articles out pronto and replace them with snugly fitting double glazed units, as it's a rented property we have to live with them as best we can.  Like the other draught excluder I made in the autumn, this one has two large hanks of craft wool lashed together to make the filling - fortuitously, the length of each hank was exactly right for the bottom of the door.  The fabric casing was made from an offcut of the 'was a king size now a double' duvet cover.   It seems to be quite effective and the large spots are really quite cheerful to look at.  I bet there aren't many households with a matching duvet cover and draught excluder!!

On the deconstructing front, I unravelled a scarf I knitted a few years ago.  The darn thing seemed to have stretched and stretched to a ridiculous length, all the while getting thinner and thinner.  I'd given up wearing it.  The yarn is some rather nice Rowan biggi print (or something like that, I do know it's Rowan) and I unpicked it with the idea of knitting up a somewhat thicker but shorter scarf.  HOWEVER, now it's back to it's virgin state (although I still need to wash it to get rid of the crinkles) I'm wondering whether to embark on another patchwork knitted blanket.  It'd be a long job as I don't have much in the stash in the way of thick yarn but it would be a nice project to pick up and put down as and when the yarn becomes available. 

Hitting the Sales - Again!

Despite the weather being best suited to those with webbed feet, I decided to head down to Basildon this morning - just to check out the final reductions in the sales, have a mooch around the charity shops and pop into the Friday morning 'Bargain Box.'  I managed to find some good bargains but, for the sake of my finances, I think it's just as well that Arctic weather seems to be set to make a reappearance over the UK again next week.  Being stuck in the house may get a tad wearing at times but, my goodness me, it does help save money!!

Anyways, at the church 'Bargain Box' I got this cheerful pillowcase and a ball of dishcloth cotton for 50p.  I'm not sure if the pillowcase will end up as a pillowcase tote or if I'll actually use it.  As for the dishcloth cotton - well, having discovered how wonderful it is to use hand-knitted dishcloths to do the washing up, I'm always on the lookout for more cotton to knit them with.

As I was passing their door, I also popped in to Boots in the town centre. The Basildon branch of Boots is h-u-g-e and they had a different selection of 75% off items than they had in the (minute in comparison) Wickford branch. 

I bought this gorgeous Celia Birtwell Coin Purse and Key Fob boxed set for £2.50 instead of £10.00 - that'll be destined for ebay at some point although I must say I do rather like the coin purse.  It'd be very stylish to use it for my small change when I go car booting next summer.  In Basildon they also had a good selection of chocolates at 75% off so I bought a box of Belgian Chocolated for £1.50 instead of £6.00 (probably a nice treat for us for the weekend!) and, also for £1.50 instead of £6.00, a box of White Chocolate Truffles.  I'm going to keep those to give to P on Valentine's Day - he does dearly love a white chocolate.  We don't really 'do' Valentine's Day beyond giving each other a card so these will be a nice little bonus for him.

I then popped across the road to Primark where I managed to get another pair of Cath Kidston-esque pyjamas for my sister.  (S, hope you like the cream colour as much as the grey.)  I'll post those to her on Monday and they should arrive in time for round two of the big chill.

In another charity shop I found these two brand new Designer's Guild Oxford pillowcases for £1.25 each.  These are destined for ebay and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they'll make a decent profit.

Finally, I had a quick look in Evans to see what their reductions were like.  I found two quite similar summer T-shirts for myself which were down from the original price of £23.00 each to £5.00 each!!  No way would I have ever paid £23.00 for either of them but at a fiver each I was well pleased.  I also found an Evans winter jumper in a charity shop for £2.00 but that's currently spinning around in the washing machine.  If it looks good on then it will have been a great bargain, if not - oh well, it can go in the next charity sack.

You Have To Speculate to (Hopefully) Accumulate

I've been keeping a weather eye on the sale in Boots, waiting for their half-price sale to drop even further.  This morning, as I was passing on my way back from the Post Office, I noticed that it was now 75% off so in I went to see what was on offer.  I bought three items which I hope I'll be able to sell for a profit on ebay.

A Ruby and Millie Kabuki Brush (whatever that is!) and case - £2.00 instead of £8.00.

A Ruby and Millie Travel Brush Collection - £3.75 instead of £15.00.

And a Ted Baker 'Divine' Cosmetic Purse with body wash, body spray and lip colour - £3.00 instead of £12.00.

There were loads of gift sets at 75% off but I didn't want to go too mad and only bought those whose names I recognised and which I thought might be genuinely good bargains.  There were a couple of other women there who had over-flowing baskets of sale items - and a lot of the items would make lovely gifts for anyone interested in designer make-up / toiletries.

And for myself, I splashed out and spent £2.00 on this Country Living Strawberry Preserve with ceramic spoon and spoon rest set.  (Sorry for the cr*p photo - this is what passes for daylight here this time of the year!) I have high hopes for this jam as even at £2.00 it's not (in my opinion) cheap.  I must say though, I can't imagine who would have paid £8.00 for it originally!!

ETA - Keep meaning to say, if anyone is interested in seeing a recent interview with Amy Dacyczyn - she of 'The Tightwad Gazette' - nip on over to Yard Sale Queen's blog where she has a link to the interview.  It's very interesting and, my goodness me, Amy has a beautiful house. 

Gosh, Darn It!

I've spent an inordinately large amount of time today attempting to darn a couple of pairs of handknitted socks which had gone into quite mahoosive holes around the heel.  Mum knitted the socks for me several years ago and they are lovely and toasty warm, and just the thing for wearing about the house on cold winter days. 

I've got no idea of the correct way to darn - never having really tried to do it before - but I adopted the method of trying to weave the darning thread in and out of the holes, creating a bit more fabric as I went.  I wouldn't say it is a particularly neat and tidy job but it does seem to have worked fairly successfully. 

I know how much work went into these socks and that, coupled with how comfy they are to wear, meant I really wanted to get a bit more wear out of them if at all possible.  I certainly wouldn't waste so much time mending cheapo 'bought' socks, even though P had the mad idea that I would be darning all his socks for him when we first started living together.  I think not!!  He's still got a bag full of holey socks somewhere, - presumably in the vain hope that I'll eventually relent and start darning them!  And that just ain't gonna happen any time soon.

And Today's Bargains Are ....

 
 

Two rather fabby largish pieces of vintage fabric found in one of the local charity shops - 50p each.  Not sure whether to keep hold of them or to try and sell them on ebay.  I've had some quite reasonable successes with selling vintage fabric on ebay in the past but, on the other hand, I do rather like these prints - especially the op art-style one.  Hmm, I'll have to think about it.

Another excellent bargain today was something far less pretty, but a lot more useful.  A pack of 12 Nouvelle toilet rolls for £1.66!!  Super bargain!  Somerfield have 12 packs of Nouvelle on half-price special at the moment - £2.50.  I bought one pack last week and decided, as I didn't have much other shopping, that I'd get another this week too.  Along with death and taxes, it's a certain in this life that toilet paper will ALWAYS get used eventually. 

Anyhoo, I'm just checking out the 'battered tins and split packaging section' at the back of the shop - 'cos you just never know what you might find there - when I spotted three 12 packs of toilet rolls stacked on the floor.  They had 33% off stickers on them so were reduced to £1.66.  I think they were reduced because some of the packaging is torn but, really, who worries about that!  I wish now I'd bought a second pack of 12 rolls too but I wasn't sure I'd be able to carry them all in the shopping trolley.  Even the lady at the checkout remarked what a bargain it was, and wondered if they were reduced because they were near their sell-by date!!

I Think It Must Be Delayed Cabin Fever

Well, today was red-letter day indeed - not only did I get out of the house, not only did I got out of the house accompanied by my shopping trolley but I actually went somewhere apart from the High Street.  Yup, for the first time in what seems forever, I got out of the house with my shopping trolley and got on a bus and went somewhere different.  I had a morning out in Billericay.  I think the excitement of it all went to my head somewhat as not only did I manage to spend £31.50 in Waitrose (and, really, there was very little to show for it - but what there was will be very very tasty), but I also managed to buy rather a lot in the charity shops too.

A pack of 10 Cath Kidston for Marie Curie Cancer Care Christmas cards reduced from £3.99 to £1.00.  Somehow I think next Christmas I'll wish I'd bought more of these.

An unopened roll of Vymura 'Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady' Hare Bells wallpaper - £1.50.  I'm taking a bit of a punt on this that it will sell well on ebay.  Who knows, but I'll keep you posted as to how much it sells for.

A pack of large plastic buttons.  Obviously intended for small children to play with but I thought for 49p I'd probably be able to find a use for them eventually.

 

A little set of painted wooden mushrooms / toadstools.  Probably shouldn't have bought this as it's just another item that'll need dusting but it was only 99p and it is incredibly Japanese-kawaii-like and I did really really like it.

A summer top which was £2.65.  I originally got this for myself but having tried it on I'm not so sure it's really 'me' so that may end up on ebay eventually.

In the same charity shop this beautiful plus-size embroidered silk jacket (it is jet-black in reality but I had to resort to photographing it in the garden to get the embroidery to show up) was pulled out of a bag by the lady behind the till whilst she was serving me.  She asked if I'd be interested in it for £2.00 as she was just about to send it for rags!!!!  WHY?  Anyway, it's not my cup of tea but it is a beautiful jacket with embroidery on the back as well so I thought I'd give that a try on ebay too.  I'm sure someone will like it and I'd much rather someone got some wear out of it than it end up being cut up for rags.  Makes you wonder what other perfectly good clothing given to charity shops ends up as rags.

'New' Bedding Set for £6

Ta da - my 'new' bedding set which cost me the grand total of £6.00 - £5.00 for the rather splendid supima cotton sheet in the M&S post-Christmas sale (thanks, Mum, for encouraging me to buy it), the £1.00 duvet cover that had to be re-sized from a king-size to a double and the pillowcases that came with another duvet set (Ikea, but bought in a charity shop) seven or eight years ago.  I'm rather pleased with this ensemble, especially as it goes rather nicely with the lavender coloured paint on the walls.

I'm always on the lookout for second-hand duvet covers, pillowcases etc as much of the bedding I already have is seriously ancient - and I'm talking 15 plus years in many cases.  Duvet covers are wearing very thin as are some of the pillowcases and it's only a matter of a very short time before mahoosive holes will inevitably start appearing.  Apart from my 'new' bedding, the next newest bedding we have is rapidly approaching double figures in age - the charity-shop-bought Ikea set and a rather spiffy paisley-print Caroline Charles duvet set which was bought on mega mega discount when a large department store closed down in Bristol.

I never fail to be amazed by how expensive duvet sets are new - although, to be fair, there is a huge amount of fabric involved - although I was surprised to find in the latest Aldi leaflet that a set of one fitted and one flat sheet was priced at £16.99.  Anyway, next time I come across a king-size duvet in a charity shop or a car boot sale, I'll remember that it can be (fairly) easily sized-down to a double.  And, I'd just like to say thank you very much to The Shopping Sherpa and Lindsey for your inspired suggestions to resize the duvet cover on my post when I discovered it wasn't a double after all . 

Not So Simples!!

Just a very brief post today as I've spent most of the afternoon wrestling with a king-size duvet cover, a very small table and the sewing machine.  I really thought it would be the most simples little job to convert this sold-to-me-as-a-double-but-turned-out-to-be-king-size duvet cover which I shockingly bought last June.  Turns out it's a real swine to try and manoeuvre such a huge amount of fabric through a sewing machine which is placed on a rather small table.  Anyways, the job is now done - although it's a bit of a botched job (but, then, my sewing attempts usually are) - and the duvet does go rather splendiferously with my new £5 M&S fitted sheet.  If we get anything resembling daylight tomorrow, I'll take a photo of the finished article plus sheet to show you.

O.U.T.

Yay, I've finally got out of the house.  The expected heavy snowfall didn't materialise here over the weekend, in fact a definite sign of thawing could be seen.  Saturday evening the patio was thick in snow and the drainpipe was frozen solid, Sunday morning the patio had miraculously reappeared and the drainpipe was dripping away nicely.  Not sure how the Met Office got it so wrong (AGAIN!! - this is supposed to be a 'mild' winter!) but I'm very glad that this time their dire weather warnings didn't come true.

So, after being snowed-in for the past six days, I set off very gingerly towards the High Street this morning.  Fortuitously, I'd also sold quite a profitable book on Amazon last night so I would have had to go to the post office anyway.  Once I'd slithered and slipped my way down our side road and made it in one piece out onto the main road it was quite easy going underfoot.  I couldn't swear to it but I think the pavements on the main road may even have been gritted at some point (something I've never known any local authority do in the UK - no matter how bad the ice on the pavement gets.)  By the time I reached the High Street itself the roads and the pavements were all totally clear.

I was very pleasantly surprised to find the 'Coffee and Jumble' in full swing, and doing quite a brisk trade too.  Even the 92-year-old who (wo)mans the clothing table was there as usual - no doubt that's due to the 'Dunkirk spirit' that older people seem to have in abundance but which is sadly lacking in anyone under the age of 60 or so (I blame Maggie Thatcher, but that's another story!!)  Sadly, I came away empty handed and only managed to find some tissue paper in one of the charity shops (8 sheets for 25p - I bought all four packs they had).  Pickings do seem to be very lean at the moment - maybe it's the time of year, maybe the weather, maybe the recession, who knows - I'm keeping my paws crossed that things will get a tad more interesting in the charity shops soon.

Final port of call was Somerfield where I got in another load of supplies which will, hopefully, see us through until next weekend.  I took advantage of Somerfield's free home delivery service which is very reliable (even in this snowy weather) and all my groceries were delivered to my door about an hour after I got home.  I shall start getting lazy if this cold snap continues, I haven't dragged my shopping trolley around for nearly a month!!

Like Piccadilly Circus

I took this photo of our back garden first thing this morning - it seems it was like Piccadilly Circus out there at some point during the night.  I suspect the paw prints were made by Mr Foxy Loxy and he was after the bits of mouldy cheese I threw out (for the birds) yesterday evening.

For some reason he also circled the rotary washing line whilst he was there - that's a bit odd as there were no food bits thrown in that direction at all.

The tuna pasta bake was quite tasty for tea yesterday.  We were both quite hungry by the time we ate so it all got snaffled up pretty quickly.  It lacked a certain 'je ne sais quoi' tastewise but that may have been to do with the fairly mild cheese sauce made with Red Leicester.  If I make it again I think I'll add more mustard to the sauce and some Parmesan to tickle it up.

The cold weather seems to have sent me into a cooking frenzy as this morning I made veggie soup from the leftover carrot, cabbage and potatoes from Wednesday evenings tea.  Then cooked up mushrooms, carrots, pepper, garlic, onion and rice as the stuffing for tomorrow night's evening meal - stuffed cabbage leaves - and now I've got a large pan of sausage and cider casserole bubbling away on the hob ready for tonight's meal.  I've jotted down a few recipe ideas for the coming days and I'm fairly sure we're good until next weekend with what we've already got in the house.  We may not overly enjoy all the meals but we sure as heck won't starve.  

Also, thank heavens for the Christmas treats that were leftover - they're serving us very well as dessert each evening, and for the huge tin of M&S biscuits given to me by my nephew - they really hit the spot with a cup of tea or coffee.