Making Good Use

The End of an Era

Mum and I braved the icy cold wind to go up to Kingswood for a little bargain hunting this morning.  It was the final day of trading for Woolworths in the town centre.  We went in and did manage to find a few useful bits and bobs at 70% off (mainly yet more toys for DN!!) but it was really sad to see what had been a very thriving shop reduced to the tail-end-of-a-jumble-sale state.  Even the fixtures and fittings were for sale. 

Mum remembers shopping with her 6d pocket money in the same Woolworths as a child and I also remember the joy of going in there as a small child, it was like an Aladdins cave and there was always something you could afford with your pocket money.  As I got older it was the place I used to go to buy singles and LPs, to get a bag of pick 'n' mix or to buy cheap make-up.  As an adult there was a huge Woolworths in Bath that also had a food hall - very useful, and I still have a tin of 'ease-it' oil I bought there sometime in the early 1980's which is still doing sterling service even now - I suspect it will still be going strong in another 25 years time.

Once the Woolworths has closed in my small Essex town (and that closure can only be days away) we shall be totally bereft of anywhere that you can buy such small but useful things as shoelaces, nails and screws, washers, sewing cotton or cheap stationery.  Even the smallest thing like that will necessitate a bus journey to Basildon.  Our Woolworths was really large and is situated in what was once the town's cinema.  It will leave a huge hole in the High Street, and will join the many other shuttered and empty shops that have already fallen victim to the recession.  Economic forecasters say that 10 -15 other national or regional chains are likely to go in January alone - worrying times!

Mum and I did manage to find a few excellent bargains this morning though, especially in Superdrug where I got four boxed Dove soaps, two Radox shower gels and two packets of, ahem, ladies 'hygiene products' for the grand total of £1.87.  Mum also bought next year's Christmas pudding half price in Sainsbury's (it had a sell-by date of December 2010).

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas - we certainly did - and I'll leave you with a photo of Lily, who never has to brave the arctic winds to fetch in supplies, relaxing in the sun over the festive season.

Yule

'Yule or Yule-tide was a Germanic midwinter festival involving a sacrificial feast that was absorbed into Christmas. The pagan Germanic peoples celebrated Yule from late December to early January on a date determined by the lunar Germanic calendar, but the festival was placed on December 25 when the Christian (Julian) calendar was adopted.  The term is still used in the Nordic Countries and to a lesser extent English speaking countries to refer to Christmas. Customs such as the Yule log, Yule goat, Yule boar, Yule singing, and others stem from Yule. In modern times, Yule is observed as a cultural festival and also with religious rites by some Christians and by some Neopagans.'

Today is Yule - the winter solstice, it's also my surname.  I love my surname, it's unusual in the south of England where I live - but in the north of Scotland it's pretty common (which is where my father's ancestors came from.)   I've always thought it was a somewhat inappropriate surname for me as I just loathe midwinter (as did my Dad) and spend this time of year wishing my life away until it is spring (as did my Dad). However, this quote from the Wikipedia page made me think again.  Perhaps it really is a good name for me to have.

'Jól (Yule) has alternately been theorized as deriving from Old Norse hjól, wheel, referring to the moment when the wheel of the year is at its low point, ready to rise again.'

Wishing you all a wonderful Yule - and here's to the wheel rising again soon.

Light (or Lack Thereof)

Just one more day until the shortest day is behind us in the Northern Hemisphere.  Hooray - I can't wait.

At least today we've had some gloriously sunny weather here - which cast a very good shadow of my anglepoise lamp.  That light has proved invaluable these past few months - a good strong adjustable light for me to knit or sew by (perhaps I should have included it in my top five thrifty finds of this year.)  But it will feel so good from Monday onwards knowing that little by little, starting with an imperceptible snail-like change, the natural light is creeping ever more in our direction.

Set Up with a Set Top

Three and a half years ago Mum let us have her old Freeview receiver.  We brought it home and I was very excited to get, for free, loads more channels than the five terrestrial ones.  Well, we fiddled and fussed with the darn thing but couldn't get it to work.  I checked out the Freeview website and found that, despite being only 30 miles from London, our postcode was unable to receive Freeview.  Had we lived in the Shetland Islands or a far-flung spot in the Highlands we would have been fine.  But here, within spitting distance of the capital city, it was no go.

About six months later we had another attempt at getting it to work - still no luck - so it was put back in the bag and we resigned ourselves to putting up with only five channels.  It was particularly annoying when the BBC would advertise really interesting programmes on BBC3 or BBC4 and I knew full well I couldn't watch them.

Fast forward to last month when I had to call in a TV aerial repair chap.  He fixed our aerial beautifully and I was asking him why we couldn't get Freeview in this area.  'Oh, but you can,' he replied.  So I showed him the Freeview box we'd got from my Mum.  Apparently it is now virtually antique and would be hard pressed to pick up anything anywhere.  It wasn't that old - perhaps 7 or 8 years - but is now obsolete.  If my Dad had still been alive he would not have been pleased - having paid £99 for it.

A couple of weeks ago P and I were in Woolworths checking out their mega-sale (I still can't believe Woollies have gone bust - it's going to be very sad without them on the High Street) and saw they were selling set top boxes for £16.00, with the 20% discount that was on pretty much everything that day we ended up paying £13.80. 

Well, it was a doddle to set up (we'll gloss over the fact that the video now doesn't record), and I'm like a child in a sweet shop, there's so much choice - although I do admit that much of it is repeats.  But who cares when it means you can do your ironing in the afternoon whilst watching re-runs of the original 'Randall and Hopkirk Deceased' on ITV4 - heaven.

Having Decided

To knit myself a new hat which goes with both my new black coat and my trusty old red fleece - the flippin' weather decides to become positively balmy.  Actually into double figures- and I don't think it's been there since the end of October.  Not that I'm complaining at all.  It means the heating can stay switched off for far longer, and I even had a couple of windows open this morning - just to let some fresh air into the house.  Bliss!

I'd decided that I really didn't feel comfortable in the other hat I recently knitted for myself.  I'm not sure what the problem was - apart from the fact that it didn't really suit any of my coats.  I never actually wore it so in the New Year it'll be going up for sale on ebay and / or etsy.  Then I'll be hoping that the weather has turned muh colder again so that people are looking to buy hand-knitted toasty-warm beanies.

Top Five Thrifty Finds of 2008

I came across an interesting new collaborative blog yesterday - The Thrifty Chicks - where there was a post for the top five thrifty finds of 2008.  That got me thinking about what my top five would be.

Clothes-wise there are two finds that have proved to be very useful.

This little bolero-style cardi which I got for 20p at a car boot sale during the summer.  I wasn't sure it would be my sort of thing but it has proved incredibly useful and is a great extra layer over long tops.  I think it was from the same seller that I got a rather nice wrap top and a black longer length cardi from the summer before, they were both 20p too.  I hope I come across her next season as well.

For the rather more expensive price of £4.00 was this cardigan-coat that I picked up in a charity shop in Bristol during the summer.  This had a good bit of wear in the autumn and would be useful to wear about the hosue if the weather gets much colder.  Although it was more than I would usually pay in a charity shop I did see almost identical cardi-coats featured in this autumn's Evans catalogue - and they were £55.00 

In the houseware category I think the best find this year were these two Pyrex bowls which have seen LOTS of use.  I know they came from the 'Coffee and Jumble' but I can't quite remember what I paid for them - probably 50p each.

Although not strictly all from thrifted yarns found this year, my knitted patchwork blanket has proved absolutely invaluable already this winter.  It is always folded over the arm of the sofa, just waiting for one or other of use to feel a bit chilly and to wrap ourselves in it. 

Financially, the best find of the year had to be the Ikea / Cath Kidston Rosali double duvet cover and pillowcases I found at the 'Coffee and Jumble'.  I paid £2.00 for the set and re-sold it on ebay for a very healthy profit.  Of course, now I wish I'd kept hold of it as it was just so pretty.

What have been your best thrifty finds this year?

The virtual hat (this time my Mum, via the telephone) has chosen number 3 as the winner of the freebie kntting book.  Number 3 was The Shopping Sherpa.  TSS, come on down, and let me have your address and I'll get the book in the post to you.

Folder 6, Photo 6

I was tagged by  Heather to show the 6th photo in the 6th folder on my computer.  Now, as I'm unable to delete any photos at all (and haven't been able to for well over a year), I had a lot of folders to choose from.  Luckily, the 6th photo in the 6th folder was something quite indicative of what my blog (and lifestyle) is all about - buying second-hand.

It's the close-up of the Tonka logo on a very nice 'pre-loved' fleece jacket I'd bought at a car boot sale that day (August 2007) for DN.  I'm not sure if it still fits him as he grows like a weed these days, but I know he had a lot of use from it and it looked lovely on him.

I'm always on the look-out for clothes for DN but they are a lot harder to find now he is older.  When he was a baby it was easy to find beautiful clothes for him in any charity shop or car boot sale, and because little ones grow out of their clothes before they 'wear them out' those clothes were always in really nice condition.  As he's got older and taller the clothes fit him for a lot longer, as they do all children of that age, and even if I find the right size for him the clothes do tend to be a bit more 'worn'.  Mind you, having seen DN chucking himself about in the park I'm surprised how sturdy the clothes must be made to withstand the 'grief' little boys put them through.

I still do find some good bargains and there is a winter coat, a warm and cosy fleece jacket, three pairs of (new) underpants and a long-sleeved top waiting to go back with me to Bristol next week.  They were all from charity shops and cost only a fraction of what they would have originally cost new.

When DN has outgrown things my sister passes them on to a work colleague who has a little boy younger than DN.  And so yet another child gets some use from those items.  I like that someone else 'makes good use' of the things I find for my boy once he has finished with them.

Another Freebie

The cull of books listed for sale on Amazon continues unabated.  Amongst the tomes that have been relegated to the charity bag I came across this vintage knitting book which I thought I'd offer as another freebie - hopefully someone out there might find it useful.

The Structure of Knitted Fabrics, printed sometime in the 1950s I would guess, published by the International Wool Secretariat. (There is a bit of damage to the spine but the body of the book is in excellent condition - just thought I'd better point that out!)

It has a fantastic directory of stitches from the basic garter stitch right through to complicated feather and shell patterns, with instructions for knitting fair isle, bobbles, cables, embroidery on knitting, and beaded knitting, and a whole lot more.

There are also patterns for socks, jumpers, cardigans (beware the sizes are rather small - 36 inch chest being the largest ladies size), baby bootees and matinee coat.

There are even picture instructions for blocking knitted pieces, and how to wash your woollens.  Plus a page about adding button holes and zips.

It's only a slim book so I'm happy to post anywhere in the world.  Just leave a comment and I'll pick a name from the virtual hat and announce the winner on Wednesday (17.12.08)

Anything to Avoid the Housework Again

I don't know what it is about Fridays that prompts me to get out the sewing machine to avoid doing the housework.

Today it was another vintage pillowcase tote bag instead of the ironing, tidying, dusting etc that I should have been doing.  (Many apologies for the terrible photo - it was the best I could manage in the half-light that passes for daylight here in December.)

I've had a pair of these unused vintage pillowcases stashed away for ages.  As they were totally plain I didn't know quite what to do with them.  Last week, whilst looking for scraps to make some cards, I came across the leftover bits of a lovely vintage piece of linen fabric with these birds as part of the pattern.  I immediately thought they'd go nicely on one of the pillowcase bags - and I'm quite pleasantly surprised by the result.

This pillowcase is 50 per cent cotton and 50 per cent terylene - not a fabric I'd particularly want to lay my head on at night, but it makes a bag with a nice bit of substance.  Again, the 'old gold' colour wouldn't be my idea of a good look for the bedroom, but it does make a great colour for the bag.

If anyone is interested in this bag, or this one from last week's housework avoiding session

drop me an e-mail - elizabethyule(at)hotmail(dot)co(dot)uk. The bags are £4.95 each with £1.00 P&P in the UK (a tad more for P&P if you're outside of the UK.)  The bags are approx. 17 inches tall and approx. 19 inches wide, the handles are approx. 24 inches long.

I'd Like to Meet the Muppet

Who thought that the Initial Teaching Alphabet (ITA) was a good way to teach children to read.

ITA was a very popular 'modern' teaching tool when I started infant school (in 1965), although, thankfully, my school taught in the old fashioned way.  My grandfather, who had been a teacher, strongly cautioned my mother against the ITA - and thank heavens he did.

I knew that the ITA was a now-discredited blip in the history of teaching children to read, but I had no idea how crazy it was until I came across this book yesterday.

In order to make sense of the text you have to read it out loud (presumably that was the whole idea) and there are characters in there that bear no relation to the alphabet in English at all.  Oddly enough, there is just the faintest hint of 'text speak' in the shortening of words - which just goes to show that nothing is really new.

Can you imagine how confused the children were who learnt to read this way and then had to start all over again and learn to read 'proper' English.

Having totally rubbished ITA, I must say that the illustrations in this book are lovely and take me right back to my days learning to read with good old Janet and John books.

Was anyone out there taught to read using the Initial Teaching Alphabet - did it actually work or was it the total nightmare it seems to be?