Making Good Use

Tom & Jerry, Underpants and Rowan Wool

Yup, that was what I came back with from the charity shops in Billericay. 

Three new pairs of underpants for DN, 25p each or 5 for a £1.00 (sadly, could only find three pairs in his size).  These apparently had been donated, along with lots of other childrens underwears, socks etc, by Tesco.  Seems a bit of an odd concept to me but I'm very glad I managed to take advantage of Tesco's generosity (every little helps as they're so fond of telling us.)  I'm quite proud of the fact that I must be amongst a very small proportion of the UK population who almost never shop in Tesco.   It's not just that I feel Tesco have way too big a percentage of the UK food market, and a stranglehold on many high streets, it's also that the nearest Tesco to me is totally inaccessible by public transport.

In the same charity shop I found a 100g ball of Rowan Big Wool in a shade called 'Latte' apparently.  More prosaically I would have called it stone.  Not sure what I'll do with it but at £1.99 it was coming home with me.  I so rarely find any decent wool in charity shops these days that anything that's not a 'fun' yarn, or 100 per cent acrylic (and sometimes even bri-nylon makes an appearance - scary!!) tends to be given a good home with me.

In the only really 'rummage-able' charity shop left in Billericay, I found a video of Tom and Jerry cartoons.  For only 25p I was willing to take a gamble that they were the original 1940s cartoons (produced by Fred Quimby) and not the hugely inferior 60s versions - having watched a couple whilst having my lunch I can confirm they definitely are the real deal.  I love Tom and Jerry and always have, they still make me laugh out loud in places.  Why aren't they ever shown on telly any more? 

I was very kindly given an award by Sharie  last week - The Marie Antoinette Award - thank you Sharie.  Sharie finds some wonderful bargains at car boot sales and bazaars, check out her latest find - a beautiful red set of scales, they are, in the words of Craig Revel-Horwood, 'fab-u-lous' 

The Marie Antoinette Award- a real person, a real award

It's a Bit Heath Robinson

but I'm hoping this foil-covered piece of cardboard might help to keep the heat in the house. 

I've been meaning to do this for ages but first of all thought I'd already chucked out the humungous box that a new suitcase arrived in months ago - I hadn't it was still lurking in the shed, thankfully.  Then I kept thinking I'd need to buy the really wide turkey foil to cover the cardboard - goodness knows why, as the ordinary foil from Aldi worked just fine (albeit with some help from sellotape on the back.)

I've slipped the foil-covered cardboard down the back of the large radiator in the living room.  This radiator is on an outside wall, has got a settee in front of it (I know, not ideal for circulating the heat but there's nowhere else for said settee to go), and has to heat not only the living room but the dining room too (no radiator there or in the kitchen).  Taking all that into account I figure that if we can radiate some of the heat back into the room and not out through the wall, we might be able to keep the heat off for a bit longer.  One can but hope!!  Anyway, it hasn't cost me anything, and if it don't cure it won't kill that's for sure!

Baby, It's Cold Outside

And it's none too warm indoors either!! 

This weekend we did, indeed, get the widely-forecast snow fall (although it was all gone by mid Sunday morning), and also the biting arctic winds and sub-zero windchill temperatures.  This sudden cold snap certainly gave me renewed impetus to knit up my fingerless mittens ASAP.  They were sewn up by Sunday afternoon and have barely been off my hands since - I am wearing them as I type -  (but P is modelling them in the photo.)

The Noro Silk Garden yarn knitted up beautifully and the variegated colours are guaranteed to liven up even the drabbest winter's day.  Using 36 stitches of k2p2 rib on size 4.5 mm needles, they took just shy of one 50g ball, which means I've still got another ball of this lovely wool to make something else with.

Gnome Giveaway

This morning was the 'Grand Christmas Bazaar' at one of the local churches.  It certainly deserves to call itself 'grand' as it is always far and away the best Christmas Fair around.  There were hordes of people there - most of them swarming around the bric-a-brac table - which meant I had a fairly easy time picking up some wonderful toiletries for a song.  There were shower gels and soaps galore, a nice Body Shop Body Butter and, the piece de resistance,

a brand new, still sealed, 150g bar of Chanel Allure bath soap for 50p.  I had a quick look on Google when I got home and apparently this retails for around £18.00 (what the ??), so that was a wonderful bargain. 

I also bought more home made preserves - this time a Ginger Marmalade, a mixed summer fruits Jam and some home made Lemon Curd - yum - lemon curd is my absolute favourite and I don't think I've ever tried home made.  Oddly enough, I've come across a couple of recipes online this last week or so for Lemond Curd / Cheese.  I could be tempted to give it a go.

Last year at the same Christmas Bazaar I was lucky to find a Nick & Nora gnome-print toilet bag.   Today I found the matching make-up bag.  Now I don't actually need a new make-up bag but didn't want to leave it sitting there forlornly on the table, so I thought I'd offer it as a giveaway to anyone who'd fancy having it.  The gnomes are cheerful little chaps and are shown enjoying themselves all over the world, there's another little gnome as the zip pull.  If you'd like the make-up bag (and I'll add a few other bits and bobs to the giveaway as well), just leave a comment on this post.  I'll pull a name out of the virtual hat next Friday (28.11.08).  I'm happy to post anywhere in the world.

Christmas Swap

I signed up for only my second ever swap - the Christmas Swap organised by French Knots  (thank you very much FK for organising it all) - and was very lucky to be paired up with Emma as my swap partner.  We both decided that we couldn't wait until Christmas to open our parcels so yesterday I opened mine and she opened hers.  

Emma's parcel was beautifully wrapped (I managed to contain myself and grab the camera before I tore off the tissue paper.)

Inside was a gorgeous bag made from lovely Japanese fabric with the sweetest little snowmen on it, a beautiful holly brooch made from felt (that'll cheer up my winter coat), a lovely felt snowman card, and a little box of Lindor chocolates (my favourites - sadly, all now scoffed.)  Thank you so much Emma - I love it all.  Emma makes beautiful bags and felt brooches - check them out in her Etsy Shop

My parcel to Emma was a scarf knitted in Rowan pure wool in different shades of blue and one of my knitted beanie hats - also in various shades of blue with a wool felt flower and vintage button trim.  I think these might come in useful this weekend as the weather forecast is for an arctic blast to hit the country tomorrow - brrr!

Cooking Capers

I've got a very nice Nigella Lawson recipe for Beef Stroganoff but the drawback to it is she recommends fillet of beef (ha, that's alright for those married to a Saatchi but for those in the normal world - forget it!) and I've always tried to cook it with stewing steak.  Now the success rate with stewing steak has been very patchy.  First of all I tried cooking it in thin strips in the frying pan (as recommended for the fillet in the recipe) - VERY tough, then I tried slow cooking the stewing steak in the oven with a drop of water - slightly better but still pretty chewy.  Finally, I decided to actually do 'what it says on the tin' and 'stew' the stewing steak, after all, said stewing steak is gorgeous when actually in a stew.  So I chopped up the steak, sealed it in a pan, and then cooked it very slowly in beef stock.  The result was fantastic, melt-in-your-mouth meat and a much cheaper version of the Stroganoff.  I was well pleased, and can foresee Beef Stroganoff making frequent appearances over the winter.

For some very odd reason yesterday, I also had the urge to do a bit of baking.  I first thought of making a lemon cake but the only lemon left in the fruit bowl was very 'tired and emotional' looking (ie totally shrivelled up) so I had to think again.  Eventually I decided on making some Oat and Raisin Biscuits from one of Linda McCartney's cookbooks, as this was the only recipe where I actually had all the ingredients.  They were very tasty (if I say so myself) even if they do look like rock cakes, and made a nice alternative to shop-bought biscuits.

Finished & Future Projects

This little hat was knitted using some of the Colinette yarn I unpicked and rewound back in the summer.  I sort of winged the pattern, and it does fit surprisingly well, although I'm still not totally convinced with it on my head - perhaps, after all, I just don't like the colourway of the wool.

Now, I really do like the colours in this beautiful Noro Silk Garden yarn.  I bought this over 18 months ago from the Laughing Hens stand at the Country Living Fair, and have been wondering what to do with it ever since.  I think I'm going to have a go at a pair of very basic fingerless mittens - if anyone knows of a good pattern on the internet for these (not using DPNs - can't get the hang of those tricky little devils), I'd be very grateful.

Finally, yesterday, for the first time in aaaaages, I came across some rather nice vintage fabric in the charity shop.  Both pieces were 75p each, and both were originally tablecloths.  Somehow I suspect they came from the same person.  I would have been tempted to use the white with orange / pink flowers as a tablecloth myself as it is circular, but when I got it home a lot of the central portion was quite badly stained, plus someone had cut a crude hole in the middle, presumably to use it with a parasol on a garden table.  Never mind, the fabulously 1970s floral border is stain-free, and that's the bit I really wanted anyway.  I foresee a couple of cosmetic bags being made in the near future.

'Tis the Season ....

.... for Christmas Fairs, tra la la la la la la!

I love Christmas Fairs, they are sort of the last hurrah for the thrifting year (and we all know how looooong it will be before the car boot season starts up again, sniff.)  Years ago the many many jumble sales made the winter season just about bearable.  Now, sans even a sniff of a jumble, the only highlight left between October and Easter is the Christmas Fair.

Saturday morning saw two Christmas Fairs, both starting at the same time, in our little town.  Somehow I would have thought a bit of co-ordination between the organisers might have been helpful but there you go.  I already knew that I would be heading for the Salvation Army Christmas Fair first anyway.  And mighty glad I was too as the other Fair turned out to be, not to put too fine a point on it, utter rubbish.  I was very pleased with the bits and pieces I got. 

Two jars of homemade marmalade - one orange, one lemon - 50p each. One jar of homemade raspberry jam - 75p.   I love homemade jams and marmalades but have never attempted to make my own so getting them at Christmas Fairs is always a bonus.

The ubiquitous toiletries.  Nice quality bars of soap (especially the Fenjal) for 20p each, and a 50ml tub of Body Shop Strawberry Body Butter for 50p.

Two boxes of hand-blown glass baubles for 95p.  I would imagine there's no great age to these but they are rather splendid for that price.

This Friday and Saturday is the 'Grand' Christmas Bazaar at one of the local churches, and 'Grand' it most certainly is as they always have loads and loads of great bargains.  I'll be there when the doors open at 10.00 am Friday morning, I can't wait.

Reasons to be Cheerful ....

The most bea-u-tiful warm sunny day - quite exceptional for mid-November.  The washing is blowing nicely on the line, I was able to go out and about this morning without the need for a coat (indeed, it was so warm, I wished I'd left off my vest too!)  There isn't a cloud in the sky (only the vapour trails of jets en route to somewhere more exotic), and the wisteria has now turned to the colour of autumn sunshine.

Coming home to find my 'free' organic moisturiser from The Telegraph offer has arrived (I had to pay for P&P).  Jolly nice it looks too, as, indeed, it should as the RRP is £19.95.  The Spiezia website (www.spieziaorganics.com) has some wonderful looking organic creams, ungents and soaps but, sadly, at £7.50 for a bar of soap their prices are waaaaaaaaay beyond my budget.

Having a homemade wrap for lunch.  I'm really into wraps at the moment - they never seem to go stale and can be filled with all sorts of leftover bits and pieces to make a really tasty lunch.  Today's wrap had salad leaves with some shredded cooked chicken breast (leftover from last night's meal) and parmesan shavings with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar and olive oil - delicious.

Having had a reasonable night's sleep after trying out the warm milk and honey 'cough cure'.  It didn't exatly 'cure' the cough but it did help me to sleep much better.  (Wendy, did you try it?  Did you find it any help?)

Having not one but two Christmas Fairs to look forward to tomorrow.  Sadly, they're both on at the same time but, hey, beggars can't be choosers, and I know which one I'm heading for first.

Fix It, Clean It, and Make It Last

This book seemed a useful investment of 75p in the charity shop - 'Fix It Clean It, and Make It Last - The Ultimate Guide to Making Your Household Items Last Forever.'

I've only had a quick flick through it so far - it's one of those 'flick-through-it' sort of books - but have already found a useful tip should any of Maurice the Mouse's little cohorts decide to move in again. Apparently mice can't resist pumpkin seeds and if you set a trap with the seeds in you're guaranteed to catch the little blighter.  I'm hoping I won't have to put this particular tip to the test but it would be worth a try if necessary.

I've found some other useful tips as well - such as, grate too cold butter with a cheese grater to make it go softer quicker.  That's something I'm always doing - forgetting to take the butter out of the fridge when making a cake so it's too cold to mix.  And here's one I might try tonight - cheap cough cure - a cup of warm milk with two teaspoons of honey.  Apparently it will soothe the throat, stop the cough, and help with sleep.  I do hope so.  I'll let you know if it works tomorrow.