I've been snooping again

I was rummaging through Grandpappy's drawers recently, when I came across two unassuming tupperware boxes, the contents of which I am sharing with you today.  

I know, I know, I'm just too good to you.  Brace yourselves, dear readers, this is going to be so exciting.

Habadashery.  Don't you just love it?  Grandpappy had three of these 1950 needlebooks in the most wonderful nick.  Between you and me, I doubt he's done a great deal of sewing in his time.

Aren't they gorgeous?  The insides are pretty wundebar too, if you ask me.  Take a look:

Glorious.  As is this folksy ribbon:

Grandpappy can't remember where the ribbon came from.  Probably Greece or Italy we think.

I love these bird scissors.  Heavily tarnished but still so pretty:

The other tupperware box contained.....keep calm, dear readers, I know what you're like when confronted by..........a whole load of.........BUTTONS:

Look at this one.  It's nearly as big as my hand:

I love these flowery ones:

OK, that's enough excitement for one post.  I'll just show you the tapestry deers and flowers made by Gladys, grandpappy's mum.  Not only was she a genius at quilt making and painting (see post here), she was obviously a dab hand at tapestry too:

One last thing.  Little Miss J and P took a secret pic of this bar of unopened bar of Knight's Castile soap in grandpappy's cupboard.  She couldn't quite get over the half pence.



Half pences were taken out of circulation in 1984

Do you have anything lurking in your house that's way past it's best?  Don't be shy, do tell........

TTFN. xx

I made me a skirt out of an apron!

Oh yes indeedy!

Mr J and P bought me a rather large apron from the charity shop the other day.  It really was far too big for little old me but he liked the fabric and so did I.  So, I sewed up the ends and tied the ties and OMG I've actually made a skirt:

Yes, a skirt!  Made (almost) by my own fair hands.

I never ever find any decent vintage clothing in charity shops anymore but, joy of joys, I did discover this lacey little number lurking in one of our local charity shops for a couple of quid.

It's a bit boxey but I'm sure with my newly acquired dress-making skills *er hem* I can sort that out.

Loving the lacey sleeves

and the Peter Pan collar *squeal*:

Back to skirts and I bought this vintage style skirt for another couple of quid recently.  It's a skirt from Topshop and reminds me of my 50s skirts and dresses that I used to wear all the time but are now languishing in my wardrobe.  The trouble is *whispers* they're all a little bit snug these days.  I'm really going to have to get to grips with them one day.

My last charity shop buy is this little number which I'm loving and adoring big time.  It reminds me of a silk head scarf my mum used to wear.

Oops, you can't see it properly can you?  Here's a close up:

It's silk (from GAP orginally) and has cute horsey worsies cavorting all over it.  What more could a girl ask for!

Going to work recently,  wearing said silk skirt,  I got on the crowded tube, shuffled inside and stood in front of a woman sitting down, who was a little younger than me.  I noticed that she was staring at my skirt.  Admiringly, so I thought.  Seconds later she offered me her seat.  I was so taken aback that I mumbled something like "No, I'm fine thanks" and buried my head in my book.  Awkward.

Mmmmm, I expect I ought to be  flattered that the woman thought I was young enough to be pregnant.  Yes, dear readers, it's always good to put a positive spin on these situations and not dwell too much on the ample stomach issue.  Dontcha think?  Besides, my jam doughnut and cup of tea are calling me (they really are).  Gotta dash.

Bye, bye and hope you all have an embarrassment-free weekend. xx

Out with the grubby pink, in with the bland white

Well hellooooooo there.  It's been a wee while has it not?

We had a lovely time on holiday in bonny but a rainy and midgey Scotland.  Since we've been  back, Mr J and P and  myself have been driving Little Miss a wee bit bonkers because we've both developed a very annoying  lovely  Scottish accent and we really cannae stop.  Remember Robin Williams in Mrs Doubtfire?  Yes, dearies, just like that.  V authentic.

We went to the Isle of Mull:

Tobermory is the capital of Mull with a population of 700



Tobermory's colourful houses line the harbour

I like this picture of a church's gate painted in the Scottish flag colours

Little Miss J and P painting her nails on one of the many gorgeous beaches we visited

This beach was on the Isle of Iona.  And it was postively hot!

Mr and Little Miss had this beach on Mull all to themselves.  In the distance, those mountains you can see are on the Isle of Jura.  They are called the Paps of Jura, although there are three of them, oddly!

We also visited the Grandpapster himself in the Lake District.  Here is Little Miss J and P sitting, rather precariously on a fallen tree trunk in front of a raging waterfall (I promise you, it really was raging):

The Gosforth Agricultural show suffered from a little mud this year:

We've also managed to paint Little Miss J and P's room.  Now, I've nothing against pink but the grubby pink walls were really starting to grate.  So, we've obliterated all traces of pink and now her walls are a perfect white.  A little bland, I know, but, to tell the truth, I'm quite enjoying the blandness of it all.

Ruined only by too many pics of Justin Bieber:

Btw, guess who's drawn the short straw and is going with Little Miss J and P to see Justin Bieber in concert next year?  Not me!  Mr J and P is not a happy bunny I can tell you.  *snigger*.

Oh yes, back to the room........I have offered to perk up her exceedingly boring but very cheap bedside drawers from IKEA....

with a lovely patchwork of vintage wallpaper.  But she won't have it!  Mr J and P says that he doesn't blame her.  I know, I know, *shakes head sadly* they've got no taste.

See this:

Nice isn't it? 50p from a jumble sale. Perfect for Little Miss J and P's plethora of knicknacks, don't you think? I've offered to spruce it up a little. You know, paint it white and pop some pretty papers in the cubby holes.   She's not having that either. *cross face*.   I think I'm going to spruce it up anyway and drill it onto her wall when she's out. That'll teach her.

I was fully prepared for a snort of derision and a cry of "That's disgusting, mum" (as is her want) when I showed her this mirror.  I retrieved from the ancestoral home.  In fact, I remember my dad painting it gold many moons ago.  Anyway, Little Miss actually liked it. But not the colour.  Well, that's alright.  I've been rummaging in the cellar where we keep old paints and found the aqua colour that we used in our kitchen.  That'll do nicely, methinks.   I'll let you know how I get on.

 

 

 

Love you all. xxxxx

Wallpaper Whimsy Part 2

Ages ago here, I droned on about this roll of wallpaper:

Isn't it gorgeous? A mere £1.50 in a charity shop. I decided it was "the one".

The plan was to wallpaper our downstairs loo with it.

Allelujah! I've finally done it!

My handy tip to you all is to remember to allow for the repeat in the pattern. I started off allowing for the repeat but soon forgot and ended up with two strips which were too short for the wall. Mmmmm, quel un idiot..................Remember, dear readers, only having ONE roll of wallpaper means there is no margin for error.  Fortunately, I had a teeny amount left over with which I managed to cut into shape and stick down in the relevant places. There's nothing quite like a botched job I find.

But I'm not lingering on the botched bits because they're really not that obvious and, luckily, the too-big-for-the-room-but-who-cares IKEA light does a very good job of distracting the eye. Non?

Before I go, Mr J and P emailed me a link to this William Shatner vid on YouTube with a note saying it's "unfathomably weird". By jingo, Mr J and P is actually right.  Bear with it, it's truly bonkers (especially around the 3 mins 18 secs mark).

Enjoy......xx

Literally the most gorgeous cushion ever.

My charity shopping exploits have been very limited recently.  Actually when I say "very limited recently" I really mean "completely rubbish all year long and I've barely bought a thing and it's not fair."  Cue stamping of feet and sulking.

Last week I found myself in posh, well-to-do Fulham, west London.  My old stomping ground, in fact.  Not that I'm posh and well-to-do.  Not by a long chalk.  Big, expensive houses, leafy streets, and from what I remembered, posh looking charity shops.  I wandered into one which was a charity shop even when I lived in Fulham (I left home in 1983!).  It was delightfully higgledy piggledy and stuffed with ermmm... stuff and reasonably priced AND I actually bought something.  Whoop whoop!  Cue mass hysteria.

It's literally the most gorgeous cushion ever.  I nearly fainted with joy when I saw the back with its delicious vintage/retro fabric.

The front is the most darling patchwork combo consisting of cutesy folksy fabric featuring traditionally dressed Dutch girls (I think) and apples and pears - swoooooon:

a geometric vintage/retro fabric square:

and cute little owls.  But no ordinary cute little owls.  Hell, no!  Cute little TAPESTRY owls:

OMG, look at the whole cushion in all its cute cushion glory *squeals*:

What did I tell you?  I was right,wasn't I?  The most gorgeous cushion ever.  And all for the princely sum of £4.50.  Which I thought was quite reasonable seeing as inside the cushion cover is a brand new John Lewis duck filled cushion pad which alone costs £8.

I love thee oh wondrous cushion.  Thou art perfect in every way (despite the lack of pompom trimming or ric-rac embellishment).  *Buries head in cushion, sighing contentedly*........

Umm, yes, where was I?  Oh yes, a WHOLE post about ONE cushion cover....What am I like?  Careful what you say, you cheeky readers!

I'll love you and leave you and hand you over to Mr J and P who'd like to do a little piece.  If you've got a couple of quid spare, we'd love it if you could please donate........but, really no pressure......

Mr J and P:

There's nothing small or insignificant about my piece, missus (phnarr, phnarr!). Anyway, I'll be putting my best foot forward with my friends, Paul and Karen, to take part in the CRY Heart of London Bridges Walk on 15th July to raise awareness and funding for the Cardiac Research in the Young (CRY) charity.

Paul and Karen, whom I've known since schooldays, were devastated when their son, Tom, died suddenly last June, aged just 25. Tom, who had recently become a father, had learned just months before that he had a heart condition but it was hoped it wasn't likely to have a huge impact on his life. Sadly, Tom collapsed and died without warning. Following Tom's death, doctors have found other family members also have the condition and they are now being monitored and tested.

Paul and Karen became aware of CRY's work which helps support bereaved families, partners and carers and also drives medical research on cardiac conditions in young people. Please help prevent further tragedies by supporting this great charity and sponsoring me in the CRY Heart of London Bridges sponsored walk.


Please give as much or as little as you can.  Here's a link to my giving page


Further information about CTR can be found here

Thank you.

Hay Ho, It's a furry dead thing.

So, one morning recently, Little Miss J and P went to feed the guinea pigs as per usual.  Seconds later I hear hysterical screaming.  Oh God, I thought, please don't say that another guinea pig has popped its clogs.  She comes running out of the room shouting "There's a dead foot in the hay.   And I've touched it!".  Puzzled, I had a nightmarish vision of one of our guinea pigs limping around the cage with only three legs and the fourth nestling in the hay bedding. 

Fortunately, Mr J and P was on hand to investigate further.  He reappeared clutching, in one hand, the bag of hay bought from the local supermarket which we keep by the guinea pigs' cage and, in the other, a dried and still partly furry leg of a ....deer - compelete with black cloven hoof!

Yes, a DEER LEG.  Cue more hysterical screaming - this time from me.

Wanna see a picture?  Of course you do.  Here we go:

A close-up *shudder*:

Nestling in the hay:

What horrified and at the same time amused me was the branding: ‘My Little Friend Meadow Hay’, complete with a cutesy image of  a little bunny, hamster and some other small rodent, together with the promise:"hygienic and easy to use".

What's worrying  are the whereabouts of the the rest of the poor creature's grisly remains?  Are we likely to hear of a flurry of similar scarey finds up and down the country?  Perhaps some other junior pet lover will discover wee Bambi's head, or worse, in another bag.  Maybe another family has hit the jackpot and found a brace of venison steaks.  I dread to think!

Mr J and P, the shameless publicity seeking media whore that he is, contacted our local paper and a day later, we were emblazened across their website.  A day after that and we were featured in the Mail online.  And, this week, Mr J and P and Little Miss were front page news in the local paper and on bill boards outside every newsagents.  They were even featured in the revered publication that is Guinea Pig Today.

Yup, it's all happening here. 

We had to laugh at the Daily Mail readers who accused us of being greedy because we "wanted compensation" and that we should "get a life" (yes, I'm talking to you Bunty of Ipswich).  What a cheek!  Er yes, a bag of hay, preferably without a rotting deer leg, would be nice!

Hay ho, gotta go, deer readers! (that was rubbish, sorry; feel free to come up with better puns in your comments).

BREAKING NEWS: The nice Mr Supermarket man has just sent us some vouchers as compo. Hoorah!