Making Good Use

Well, At Least I've Kept Awake Today

Still feeling really bunged-up in my nose, and somewhat spaced-out in my head, but at least I've managed to stay awake today (so far, at least.)  Of course, I haven't managed to actually do anything except the absolute necessities - washing up, bed making, cooking etc., and I had such great plans for these past couple of days, including getting out the sewing machine again.  Never mind, I did make a couple of Easter cards at the end of last week which I haven't shown yet.

A candy-pink Easter bunny.

And the same in baby-blue. 

These were done using vintage iron-on transfers on pure linen fabric.  I'm pleased how these have turned out and plan to do a few more in 'spring' colours of yellow and green.  I'm trying the pink bunny card on ebay as a buy-it-now listing and I'll be interested to see how that goes.  Perhaps I'm too early for Easter at the moment, or perhaps it will just get lost amongst the hundreds of other handmade Easter card listings.  Oh well, you've got to try these things.

Lurgy

I've succumbed to the dreaded lurgy and have a bunged-up / runny nose (it seems to alternate every half hour or so!), absolutely no energy - I've spent most of the day asleep or dozing in bed - and am feeling totally spaced. 

I've no idea where I picked this little beauty up, but my money is on the bus journey to Basildon last Friday - there were some very ominous sniffles, snorts, coughing and wheezing going on amongst the other passengers. 

The only good thing about having a cold is I get to drink loads of freshly-squeezed orange juice with copious amounts of organic honey - yum.  (Luckily, my taste buds don't seem to have been affected yet.)

Pyrex

At the regular Monday morning 'Coffee and Jumble' today I managed to double my Pyrex collection for the princely sum of £1.  Admittedly, I only had two Pyrex casserole dishes anyway, but now I've got four.

I don't know if this pattern has a name, but it's very cheerful and very 1950's, and features lobsters, fish, onions, tomatoes and what I think are tea-towels in lovely bright red, air-force blue and chartreuse colours.

The second casserole I picked up today is in the classic Snowflake pattern.  Both these casseroles are a smallish size and will go very nicely with the two I already had.

This rose-patterned casserole dish is a bit larger than the others and was the first Pyrex bowl I acquired.  I got it about 20 or so years ago when a friend of mine's parents had died and she was clearing out their house.  I'd gone along to give her a hand and she didn't want this dish so I said I could make use of it.  And make use of it I certainly did, goodness knows how many oven-cooked meals have been baked in this dish since then. 

I picked up this nice little casserole a few years ago in a charity shop in Billericay, it was in the 10p box along with quite a few other Pyrex bowls.  For some very strange reason I left the others behind and only bought this one - what aberration had overcome me that day I have no idea, but I've often wished I'd bought the lot!!  This dish has also seen a lot of use.  It's been a salad bowl, a storage bowl, a casserole dish, and a serving bowl many many times.

That's what I particularly like about Pyrex bowls - they are so versatile.  You can store them in the fridge, or cook in them in the oven, and they also look great when they are on the table as serving dishes.  Plus with their wonderfully diverse patterns they are such a great piece of vintage kitchenalia.

Fun With Felt

I came across this nice little book in a charity shop this morning.  It's just the thing for me as I've got quite a stash of delicious pure wool felt which is just crying out to be used.  Some of the designs are a bit 1970's for my taste but there are one or two gems in the book.

I rather like 'Seraphina' the cat, although I think I'd lose the lace if I made her.

Then there is 'Mozart' the owl - who apparently is a pin-cushion / paperweight combined, very versatile.

And I do love these blackbird shapes on the oven mitt, I think they'd look very nice on a card.

Information Superhighway - Pah!

I've recently heard the internet being called the 'Information Superhighway' - hmm, well my connection today has been more like the 'Information Bridle Path' - rutted, barely passable, and with puddles and overgrown hedges.  I seem to have spent the entire day trying V E R Y  S L O W L Y to list things on ebay.  I've finally finished now but am totally boss-eyed from staring at a computer screen for so long.  I tell you, this bl**dy computer doesn't know how close it came to being hurled through the French windows this afternoon!!!!

Anyway, deep breaths and a few Tai Chi moves, and calm will be restored.  Hope you all have a lovely Valentine's Day.

Can You Tell What It Is Yet?*

It's a finally finished pile of HUGE dishcloths -  ten of them, each measuring 12 x 14 inches.  Phew, I'm mighty glad that particular order is finished.  When I started off I thought I had made a terrible mistake in agreeing to knit them at all - I could imagine myself being bogged down with dishcloth knitting for the foreseeable future - but, in actual fact, they were quite quick to knit up and so mindless to do that I could easily watch TV and knit at the same time - which is not always the case with me!  When I finished sewing in the loose ends and ironed them over yesterday, I was surprised how pleasing they looked piled one on top of the other.

Now, at last, I'm free to knit other things, maybe a pull-on hat for P's upcoming birthday, or, perhaps for a change, a bit of embroidery.

*For anyone too young to remember Rolf Harris's Saturday evening TV show (yes, Rolfie was once prime-time viewing), this was what he always said when he was about half-way through one of his ginormous paintings.

5:15 pm

When I used to work this was the time of year I longed for from the time the clocks went back at the end of October - daylight at the end of the working day.  These last few glorious spring-like days have really lifted my spirits (and everybody else's I'm sure), and it is so wonderful to find that daylight is now lasting past 5.00 pm.  In six weeks time it will be light until 8.00 pm (helped immensely by the fact that the clocks will go forward an hour at the end of March), and I can't wait.  Then full steam ahead to mid-summer and daylight lasting until 10.30 in the evening.  I can already picture sitting outside and enjoying the summer twilights with a cold drink and a barbecue (if this summer is anything like the last one that probably won't happen - but it's nice to dream.)

Everything in the garden is now coming into bud, and today, whilst walking back from the station (had to accompany poor P to the dentist in Billericay - a root canal filling, very nasty!!) I spotted daffodils in full flower, what I think was a hawthorn bush covered in creamy white blossom with the leaves just waiting to pop open, and a clump of beautiful little violets on a grass verge.  As my Dad used to say "spring is sprung, the grass is riz, I wonder where the birdies is?"  Actually, I do know where they are, flying about and twittering like mad things in the garden trees.

An Eclectic Mix

Today was the 'Coffee and Jumble' at the local church again.  I didn't get anything as brilliant as the Cath Kidston / Ikea duvet set I picked up last week, but I did get one or two useful bits.

A very nice (small) piece of raspberry-pink velvet.  Not sure what I'll do with it but for 20p it was definitely coming home with me.  A box of 12 unused white Chinagraph pencils - wasn't sure why I picked these up but I'm glad I did as they seem to sell very well on ebay, 25p.  A 40w screw-in small lightbulb, also 25p, which should be the right size for my bedside light.  The two packs of tiny cards with a black cat on the front (Mum, not sure if you can see from the photo but the cat is just like Tammy) were from one of the charity shops and were 20p per pack.  These wil be just the ticket as a small 'thank you' card when I sell any of my hand-made items.  I always like to nicely wrap any hand-made items I sell in tissue paper and string, and usually decorate the parcel with a vintage button and a small thank you note.  There are at least 20 cards in each pack so these will last me for ages.

Also in the charity shop I picked up these four silk ties for 25p each.  Three of them are by TM Lewin and the other is a Thomas Pink tie - so all really good makes.  I'm not sure if P will like them as he usually wears Liberty ties, but he'll get first refusal and any he doesn't want will be listed on ebay.

All in all, an odd combination of bargains, but a good haul and an excellent way to start the week.

Oddments

Because most of the wool I purchase comes from charity shops, I tend to only have small amounts of any one yarn - usually too small to know quite what to do with.  The same is true of material, I pick up odd bits and pieces here and there even if I don't know quite what I'll do with them.  Today I found a couple of useful little booklets that could be very handy when it comes to using up some of my thrifted wool and material. 

One of them was a vintage Patons Bazaar booklet, I remember these well as my Mum always seemed to have a few of these useful little booklets about (in fact, I think she still has them), and the other a vintage King Cole booklet.  There were some useful ideas in both of them.

From the King Cole booklet was this knitted pencil pencil case - I rather like this one.

And some unusual hat-shaped pin cushions - my favourite is the little clown hat.

From the Patons booklet are these teapot or cup-shaped pot holders.

And, again on the tea-cup theme, a nice pattern for a gingham apron.

And I do like this sweet little kitten hot-water-bottle cover.

Of course, there are the usual 'dodgy' bazaar (or should that be bizarre) items also featured.

The 'spawn of satan' knitted cat, guaranteed to give any small child nightmares.

The court jester type fireside slippers.  With the added bonus of a trip to A&E when you slip whilst trying to wear them on any floor surface that's not shag pile.

And the 'why on earth would anyone want one of these' embroidered Radio Times cover!!

I Won

A couple of weeks ago Ali, of Domesticali fame, had a prize draw on her blog, and I was the lucky winner!!  The parcel arrived this morning.

There was a copy of Selvedge magazine.

I've heard a lot about this magazine in blog-land, but have never got my paws on a copy - until now.  I shall look forward to having a good read of this later on.

And also a bundle of fabric pieces all neatly folded and tied with a button decorated ribbon.

There are some lovely fabrics here, I'm especially taken with the two on the left.  I've got some plans for these little beauties - but for the time being it's a bit hush, hush, as it will be a present.

Thank you so much Ali, it's all gorgeous, and it was really kind of you to be so generous.