Monday 23 November 2009

things I'm liking at work today...

Thankyou so much for all your encouraging words and emails,it's really scary for us at the moment..you forget about it all for a minute and then your tummy flips over like you have driven over a hump-backed bridge and reality creeps back in, yuk.. but I'm sure things will work out ok...they have to. It's the law and I wont have it any other way, but yes, thankyou you lovely bunch, it means ever such a lot, it really does. xx

Anyway I thought you may like to see some nice jolly things that have come in at work recently. It 's great to unpack parcels when they are filled with lovely exciting things like these and it is currently filling the void of my (now banned) eBay obsession!
You can buy some of these things online too as the gift shop I work in for two days a week has now got a little website, this is just a bit of stuff..there's tons more!

We sell goodies for;


Cath fans...This is one of the best hand creams I have ever tried! (and that's something coming from a gardener with hands as rough as a badgers backside!)MASSIVE mugs of prettiness.

Lovely cute things for babies...

I so love this little velvety soft owl .He looks like someone has just pinched his bottom!

For girlies...

you can't beat a bit of posh soap! oooh which is my favourite?
This one?
or this one?
polka dots?


hmmmm... eeny meeny miny mo

I'll decide whilst I'm soaking in a bath of these..
For that weekend away...

I love this quirky bag, (just need the weekend away now..ooh and Bruce Willis to whisk me away there!)

For ladies that need to save their pennies

err-hum moving swiftly along...

for stinky boys....

Fab cartoon mugs for hot chocolate...

nail through the finger joke? or maybe a fly in an ice cube..boys, now you can get back at that annoying auntie who always wants a kiss at Christmas

then she can get you back at a game of cards!

For playing tricks on grandma...

ok she may have her own inbuilt whoopee cushion but it's still highly amusing..

Hope you liked this little selection of jolly stuff, there's always new things being added to the website (or we could add it especially if you ask nicely!)
x

Friday 20 November 2009

tits up

It's all gone a bit tits up here I'm afraid.
Pete and I went away to Northumberland recently all by ourselves for the first time in 13 years (no stinky boys or creatures) BLISS I tell you... antique fairs, girlie shopping time with my sister,silliness with my mad nieces who really make me laugh, Fantastic fireworks,visits to RE (I LOVE that place and it's just down the road from my sisters house!) walks in the misty woods to visit secret tucked away(immaculate) alloments, too many biscuits and copious amounts of tea..or in Pete's case, pear cider, it was a really lovely five days away..only thing is when we came back to normality we came back with an almighty bump.

Pete has just been made redundant.
Is it me or our life getting a bit like Groundhog day? crikey that film bugs me..watching the same thing happen over and over again. It doesn't seem five minutes since we were worrying about the same thing last year.

Good job we are both optimists and believe in things happening for a reason. Hopefully there is something better out there,waiting to be discovered.
I saw a beautiful rainbow yesterday and it made me think of Josie. I wore my dragonfly bracelet to work so that her wise words were with me all day. Strength, courage and happiness.
It made me think things could be a lot, lot worse.

I made this little flower brooch the other evening too..a bit of whimsy and prettiness in between the ranting and raving and rather blue language beginning with b.
Back soon... hopefully with some jolly stuff! x

Tuesday 3 November 2009

20 quid

You don't seem to able to get a whole lot for twenty quid these days but never the less, that was my budget for the massive flea market held not far from us.
I do begrudge paying an entrance fee to enter what is basically, a car boot sale without the cars, but alas,we've had no time for boot sales this year and no time for charity shops either , so Pete and I thought we would give it a go.
Off we went, scouring for objects and trinkets and pretties.
First potential purchase I found was a lovely spotty topped stool (I do love my polka dots as you know) but lately I have been questioning my purchases as to;

A. Whether I really need the item
B. Whether I really love the item and it's on my 'wishlist' or whether its just because I've seen it on a blog or in a book that has convinced me I really need it.(hmmmm that's the hardest one)
and
C. whether it really is worth the money asked.

Some things I would pay a lot of money for if I know I really, really can't live my life without it, I'll probably never see one again and I'll regret it forever if I dont get it but other times I just think, no, that's my limit..walk away.

Even though it looked like the traders had stripped the place bare at dawn like a swarm of locusts, there were still a few treasures to be found....
I won't bore you with the prices of everything but £20 was my budget and I still bought home some change even after the £5 to get in and a cup of tea (or 2)...

So,the spotty stool... lovely? yes. Cheap? yes. Place for it? no...I have to admit, I walked away.There are only so many stools you can cram into a little house with a teeny kitchen.

The very first purchase was this vintage enamel splashback stamped to look like metro tiles in a rather lovely shade of blue, you know the one,just like the colour of CornishwareSlightly shabby and The PERFECT size to sit above our range cooker! (check..no more pasta sauce splashes on the white walls, yes it's a need/never find again..only thing is though, this will have to wait for the proper kitchen as the temporary plug sockets are in the way..arggh!

second thing.. the large paper oriental lampshade you have seen already (check..on the wish list..was planning on pink but I'm so glad now I found a yellow) perfect to hang above the computer table.(turned down the other two as I didn't believe the 'they'll dry out' . Will that 'drying out' mend the large tear in the paper then? hmm no, didn't think so!)

Third thing; pretty, pretty roses on an original Barbola mirror, not on the wish list, as I do have a couple already but just too pretty and too much of a bargain to pass by..five quid and even prettier and far less chipped than mine at home.

Fourth thing, vintage wooden creatures stacked on top of each other..don't ask why I homed in on this but I love cartoon-like graphics and I love animals, I think it's from the 1940's ..maybe earlier, not on the list but a 'never see again'. A bit indulgent really but lovely, lovely drawings.

lastly there was this: I really don't know why these things appeal to me, they just do.
I love old toys.They are scattered about our house in random places for no apparent reason. This was on my wish list, I've seen them on eBay and they seem to go for a fair bit, the first one we encountered at the flea market was £25 so straight away it was a 'walk away'.
The second one was a bit worse for wear, just spotted as the chap was packing away..'a quid to you love'
I'm really not keen on the term 'love' but a quid is a quid and I can put up with being called 'love' for a quid.
I'm easily bought.

Stupidly I didn't take a before photo, but it is pretty amazing what a good clean and little bit of Hammerite paint can do.Half the rust fell off on the way home.. in the car..on my clothes..I even managed to get some on my face..you get the picture, it got just about everywhere.
Now, I wouldn't normally paint something like this,as you know, I do like original and shabby but it really did need doing, I think the rust would have just eaten it away and it would have been gone forever. I luckily managed to match up the silver hammered paint the rest was left in it's original state. When I prized the rusted lock open and the little bell gave a clear 'ding' there was a whole drawer full of vintage play money too, including a ten shilling note-ooh mega bucks pre 1971!And the ones that got away..
A fab 3' high plaster 1980's cartoon Superman torso, probably an old advertising film promo thing. I went back four times to that one and each time the seller dropped it a bit without me even asking but it was just tooooooo much money.
And the biggest regret?
THE most beautiful small patchwork throw. Ginghams, polka dots and decades of florals in the best colours. Greens ,blues,pinks and faded reds all backed with a vintage blanket. It was just too fragile and had lots of holes that I wouldn't have had time to repair. I didn't even ask the price and I now wished I had.
The lady stall holder was lovely..she liked my bag, made from vintage 1950s fabric, not made by me, I hastened to add, but a treat to myself from this lady after spotting one in Country Living..most definitely a one off 'never to be seen again' purchase. We shared a moment of vintage fabric appreciation.I do so love fifties fabrics. I love the 1950's period and bitterly regret selling off most of our stuff from the first house .I've even recently managed to convince the eldest stinky boy to have some 50s stuff in his room and he actually likes it..I sneaked in a fab sci-fi 1950s B movie film poster amongst the Banksy's (I think the half clad gorgeous girlie being carried swung it)and some atomic print cushions hmmm..I'm now wondering how far I can push it..the granny blanket appeared again on his bed and it has stayed in there for one whole week but I'm not holding up much hope, the landing floor will be wearing it sometime soon no doubt..

Anyway, back to the flea fair, the patchwork throw was gorgeous and I now I just can't stop thinking about it. I'm kicking myself.
Never mind, maybe I'll spot it again next fleamarket time and if I don't, then it wasn't meant to be mine.

ps..Claire, does Prince Charles really walk like a runner duck???
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