Vintage Sewing Finds and Thrifty Jars ...

Hello there ....

Busy week here ... gathering stock ... sorting it out for weekend ...

and  some little gems amongst the everyday stuff.

I found this little bundle ... wrapped in old tatty bags at the bottom of a box of old linen ...

My heart skipped a beat ... and that old excitement starts to stir ..

ya know what i mean...

anyone who goes thrifting .. booting .. treasure hunting ... whatever you want to call it .. knows the feeling well.

It had been a sort of a mundane job .. lots of good stock but nothing ... really exciting ... then I pulled out this little treasure..

Some needlewoman .. somewhere ... someone just like us .. 

had spent time making herself this little 'Blotter' .. 

with pretty sprays of flowers ... 

I don't know who she was .. I don't know when it was ..

but ... I 'know' this woman ... she is all of us.

All of us who like to make ... and save .. and sew and make do ..

an ageless .. timeless ...activity.

This little book was with it ... I love this old rustic sort of embroidery .. and I've spent a good deal of time having a read of it.... amazing what you can learn .. there is always something to learn ... how can anyone say life is boring.

The designs in the book reminded me of a piece I did years ago .. I made it into a knitting bag for my mother. 

It has returned to me ... it was just stashed in the cupboard .. now Mum is no longer with us.

I remember so well the making of this ... stitching away when I was expecting my first son .. I had to spend time in hospital and it helped pass the time.

Gosh .. twenty eight years ago .. where does the time go ..

I remember thinking I would use up all the odd skeins of silks .. all the odd colours on it .. it was ideal for mixing and matching ..

always a thrifty mind ...!

The blotter has just been made ... as a kind of simple folder .. using some stiff cardboard ... simple yet effective..

It was stuffed with a whole stack of embroidery transfers .. from the 1950's I would guess .. a lovely collection .. many of them unused.

Pretty crinoline lady with a love letter in her hand ...does he love her true?

And some pretty smart soldiers 'Trooping the Colour'....

Very nice transfers ... I could be tempted to pick up my needle again ... 

But rather than just stash them away ... I will re home them ..my 'sewing girls' will love them .. and I have tried a few on ebay.

In the middle of all this ... bags and boxes scattered throughout the house .. waiting to be sorted ..

Hubby P dumped a bagful of jars on the kitchen floor.

Now I have everyone well trained ... and a friend had saved his empties for me ... in return ... come jamming time .. he gets some returned .. filled with something nice .. 

So thrifty job for today ... I put them into some nice hot soapy water to soak.

I am determined to have a good stash of jars this next year ... mind you I can see the way things are going I shall have .. well .. maybe a few too many.

Not to worry ... I have a cunning plan .... this last year lots of people were asking me if I had any jars to sell ... and I noticed any that were for sale at the car boot sale were snapped up .... lots of folk into this grow your own ... jamming and preserving.

Of course you can't sell them for much ... but I do like to think I am helping with the recycling thing .. and any and all pennies are welcome here.

I go through the jars thoroughly .. any that look a bit dodgy .. lids a bit stained or rusty I put into the recycling bin ... but most of them wash up just fine ...

I like a nice sparkling jar ...

So that's my day .... what thrifty adventures have you had today?

xx

Thrifty Seeds ... A Quick Update..

Hello there ...

just a bit of a catch up ...

We worked today ... cold and damp .. the usual at the moment .... but I have noticed .. 

in the last few days .. longer daylight hours... Hurrah!!

As we stood ... huddled with other stall holders ... early morning mugs of hot coffee in our hands .. the sun sent tentative streaks out across a damp rainy sky ... well before 7 am ... and its well past 5pm when the darkness comes.

The cress seeds I sowed have come up ... 

nice bit of fresh green ... 

nice egg and cress on a sandwich or with a bit of salad.

And today the veggie man had some of these lovely fresh baby potatoes ... all scrubbed ... just ready to be tipped in a pan.

Ideal for tea .. with a nice pork steak and slice of black pudding ...

Bonus/bargain of the day ... this useful little tray the potatoes came in.

How super is this .. what can I use it for?

Well as it happens .. it just accommodates two egg box 'bottoms'... if you know what I mean.

Just the thing for starting off my seeds .. I will just sow a few .. I haven't the space for lots and lots of plants.

I can slide the tray into a poly bag to act as a little propagator.

The seeds I sent for have come ... again a real bargain .. just £2.49 for 7 packs.

They are only small packs .. but as i said .. I only need a few .. ideal for me.

The pack consists of three types of tomatoes (Roma ...Cherry Balconi and Moneymaker) .. two of lettuce ... Lisbon Onions and a cucumber.  

I have lots of other packs 'staples' from last year .. so I should have a good mix of veggies ... it all helps keep the cost down .. and there is nothing like fresh from the garden.

All I need now is a small bag of compost and the seeds can get a start ... 

Lets hope we have a good growing year ... have many of you got your seeds in? ... or is it still a bit early?

xx

Thrifty Chicken .. and Workaday Mirrors...

Hello there ....

Well ... it was blowing a gale and lashing down with rain .. as we set out to work this at 4.30 am ... the sky was very dark and in the beam of our torch light the rain swirled and lashed against all in its path .

As we sat outside the big market shed ... waiting for the stewards to let us drive in ... the van rocked in the high wind ... I was thankful of a flask of hot coffee ...

We must be mad....

Anyway .. the rain didn't keep people away ... and we had a good day ...

as we packed up to come home ... the wind died down ...and the sun came out to play!

I find Sunday trading hard at this time of the year ....

standing around in a cold shed ... the cold creeps into your bones.

So I was glad to have a sit in the chair .. in front of a nice warm fire.

The view out of the window was lovely ... the sun was shining.. 

The trees in the field across..well hedge really .. were full of birds ... twittering away...

These pigeons/doves ?.. had lots to say ...

 I think there was a lot of romantic 'goings on'  ...

just look at these two snuggled up together ... they spent ages just sat bobbing about on that branch.

After a nice bowl of warming soup I had to sort out the meat I had bought from the butcher van ... portion it up .. bag and freeze ... 

I got lots ... when its bad weather and he doesn't sell as much .. the deals are great.

I worked out I got about 66 meals worth of meat for £30 ... big chicken legs .. pork steaks and Cumberland sausage ... well stocked up for a while.

Whilst the butcher was pulling chicken legs out of a box (of just chicken legs) .. he pulled out a small chicken ...

 'Oh ! ' .. says he ... 'a chicken .. want a chicken?'

'Throw it in the bag' says I .... 

so we got a chicken in with the price ..

This went in the oven for tea tonight ... love a chicken ... all that stock ... and chicken soup ... yum!

Whilst the oven was on I chopped up some sunshiny veg ... the colour alone makes me smile.... carrots and butternut squash ... and an onion .. mixed in a bit of oil and easy chili ..

Quickly boiled up the veg peelings for the chickens mash ... too good to waste. 

I still have a big jar of stuffing mix from Approved Food ... lovely stuff.

So I mixed a bit and put a few stuffing balls on top of the veg ... banged it in the oven.

Meanwhile .. the ever industrious Hubby P had gone to pick up some stock.

These lovely mirrors came from an area of our local city ... Bangor is a city .. (we have a cathedral) .. an area where the lovely big houses are listed properties ... some of them were having work done and had no further use of 'big' over mantel mirrors..

All good for us .. these are real beauties ...heavy original silver plate mirrors.

He arrived back .. and I had to have a quick look before it went dark.. this is a smaller one .. and a fireplace surround...

not that you can see too well ... but he said he wasn't lifting them out of the van ... just for a photo .... and then back in again!

You can see how big it is next to Hubby P .... huge .. need a big house for this one..

Wants a clean up of course .. but once Hubby P has worked his magic it will be stunning.

So back inside to the chicken..

lots of meat on it ... to say it was more or less a freebie ...

and of course the carcass for stock .. and soup ... did I mention the soup ... soup ... the best bit even!

So that's been our day ... hope you had a good one ....

xx

Tins Of Vintage-y Loveliness ....On A Dreary Day ...!

Hello there ....

Well its been a dark and dreary day here ...

rain.. rain .. and more rain.

A Girls got a job trying to keep positive and jolly ...

I can feel the dreariness creeping up on me.

The thing is .. i tell myself ... is to look for the positives .. the loveliness .. the harbingers of spring...

They are there if we look closely enough.

Just look at this Forsythia ... I brought these bare twigs in last week ... and with a bit of warmth ... they are doing their thing..

I think its just what I need ... bit of warmth .. bit of sun...

A Girl can have a bit too much of this Winter thing!

Well today's job ... why is it there's always 'todays job' ..?

Well anyway ... yesterday Hubby P brought me this old tin ...

Someones ... friends mother .... its always a long complicated story ... was clearing their mothers attic ...

Along with some furniture Hubby P ...bought the old tin ... he thought it looked interesting.

It looks like it has been part of 'Mothers' sewing stash .. it was full of dressmaking patterns from the 1950's or thereabout. 

Just imagine .. its been sat up there all this time .. like a little time capsule.

So interesting to delve into the tin ... the designs were so glamorous.

Just imagine wearing dresses like this everyday ...  well I couldn't .. it would feel so uncomfortable I'm sure .. and I'd probably need 'sturdy undergarments' to boot.

Mind you .. you would look just fab hopping on a train to the seaside ... or greeting the milkman with a duster in your hand ... of course you would need a suitably frilly .. pretty apron to wear over said fab dress..

And how about this for cocktails ... would this be suitably sleek enough to contain your 'wiggle'?

After much 'faffing around' with them ... I decided to list some on ebay ... Oh how I hate listing on ebay .... boring!

But I thought all the vintage-y girls the Rockabilly's and those young enough to have a 'wiggle' would be able to use them.

And I just had to show you this ...

Lovely 50's floral-y cotton .. it came in the lot from the clearance last week ... a single curtain still with its hooks... but a crumpled dirty rag.

Well ... its washed up well.

It has a lovely softness .. gently faded .. that only years of 'living' can achieve.... being washed .. blown on the washing line .. grubby children's hands .. more washing ... and nightly drawn against the moon and stars ... as the years turned.

Well I have saved three good pieces from it ... I shall have to try and sell some of it .. that 'making a living' thing.

But of course I have a bit for me .. and last week I picked up an old Observers Book of Garden Flowers ... and today I thought this old fabric would look lovely as a jacket for the old book.

Ahhhh a new project .. 

something to keep me amused.. 

So whats keeping you amused at the moment ...?

 I know I am an impatient kinda Girl ... but my seeds I sent for.. Still Haven't Come ... !

I want seeds .. and sun ...

 and seedlings ... and garden ... 

surely it cant be far off!

I will leave you with this little flower ... 
blazing its little socks off ....such a super sunshiny yellow!

xx

Its Got To Be A Pudding Sort Of Day .....

Hello there ...

well ... what a cold and miserable day ...

the sort of day you need a good pudding...

What nicer than a syrup sponge pudding and a dollop of custard.

A friend had kindly given us some duck eggs ... now I can't eat them as eggs ... as it were .. you know what i mean... fried .. scrambled etc .. somehow they don't agree with my tummy.

Gran use to say they were too 'strong'...?

But they are ideal for baking with.

So today when we got home ... after we had stood working all morning at the car boot sale .... I put a pheasant casserole in the oven ... and scoured the cupboards for the making of a nice sponge pudding. 

I just used a single duck egg and its weight in butter.. sugar.. and 

S R flour.  Trying to use up oddments from the cupboard I used some soft brown sugar ... very sticky.

I simply greased a pudding bowl .. put a good spoonful of syrup in the bottom and the sponge mixture on top ..

it joined the pheasant in the oven.

As you can see .. the pudding looks a bit sorry for itself ... drooping in the middle .. something has gone a bit awry..

But turned out with a dollop of custard ....

It will taste just fine.

And it did ... it was delightfully soft sweet and sticky

As the wind ... yet again... whistled around the cottage ..

 and the rain lashed the windows ...

we sat around a nice warm fire  .. well i did ...

 Hubby P sat catching up with the news online ....

and tucked into a nice warming pudding.

Lovely ...

I have some duck eggs to use up .. any ideas? 

xx

Thrifty Snippets .. Wallpaper On A Shoestring...

Hello there ....

I wasn't going to post tonight ... I thought I had little to share with you ... we've just been working .. a bit 'same old'.

But I had a comment on the last post from Rosieposie asking to see more of my quirky wallpaper/wall covering/decoration.

So I grabbed the camera ... whilst the sausages were cooking ...

 not the best pic's but you too may want a peek at the weird and wacky walls... 

The story goes ... when I was very young I was brought up in a family who thought it was just fine to be yourself .. express yourself .. and of course all the Make Do and Mend ... Thrifty Living .. etc was par for the course.

As I grew older I began to find other people had similar interests and were living lifestyles similar to those of my parents.. 

In those days all information was in print...books and magazines .. my father never lived to see the advent of the World Wide Web .. he would have loved it .. always a man before his time .. a man with an enquiring mind.

So I have a collection of books .. Seymour ... Patrick Rivers ..On Next To Nothing ... many of you will have similar.

In amongst one of these books I read about someone decorating their study with old maps and newspapers ... because its all they had.

We too had very little when we first had the house .. the walls were rough and uneven .. 

What I did have .. from years of thriftiness was a collection of bits of old newspapers (I just loved their aged colour and texture)... vintage wallpaper (the odd roll might come in for present wrapping .. or something) .. old music ... wartime magazines ...and sundry bits and bobs ... I had rather a lot.

Its just the hallway and kitchen I have papered like this ... as you can see ... the hall leads into the sitting room ...who's that then ... having a peek at us? ... he doesn't miss a trick does he!

The ceiling was the most difficult ... the whole process took a long time .. I did it over months really .. as and when the inspiration flowed.

I would search through my stash of materials and rough tear 'patches' .. using watered down pva glue I would paste them onto the wall ... overlapping ... and give a good paste over the whole thing. A bit like the process of papier mache really.

Its nice to take a moment now and then and read some of the little quotes I have amongst the papers ... just a little something to muse over..

The whole thing has an old .. vintagey .. faded look ... its well sealed with the pva .. so its wipe-able ... and its lasted years. Maybe one day I will get tired of it and I will just paint over it .. the walls are so uneven it would be difficult to paper with a modern print...

and anyway ... 

this is more me ...

And back to tea ... what are we having ...

well .. nice fat sausages .. black pudding ... potato cake-y things (yesterdays leftover mash mixed with a little bit of stuffing and a handful of flour .. mixed and patted into cakes)...

 And a couple of our very own eggs ... 

we are getting one egg a day ... the Girls are looking good .. and Rocky is as perky as ever.

Hope wall paper is not too mundane a topic for you ...

hope you have had a good day ..

Has anyone any thrifty decorating tips ... it can be such an expensive thing.

xxx

The Junk That Greets Me Daily....

Hello there ....

just a bit of a random ... kinda off the wall post tonight ...

I've been waiting .. and waiting ... for a break in the rain to get some bright outside pic's of bits and bobs for ebay..

Well as you know ... if you are living in the UK .. there's been no chance of that ... very soggy wet here ...

So I gave up and decided I would have to photograph them in doors ... I had a play about to see what would work .... how could the item be best displayed .. I like to try and give a 'true' picture and description of the item.

I rolled out my 1950's hospital screen.

We have had a few of these ...so handy to screen off areas ... and we often take one to the car boot to use as a display stand .. and hang clothes for sale on it.

As an aside .... I thought the fabric on the screen looked a bit like a pineapple ... my healthy treat this week.

Anyway back to the 'Carry On Matron' screen ... this one has its original blue fabric covering .. I saw the very same ones being used in the 'Call The Midwife' programme ... exciting!

So I rolled out the screen ... Hubby P of course makes some silly comment ....'Ooooo Matron'....

so I quickly wrapped him up it the screen and made some silly suggestions myself ... he fled out of the door pronto ...!

It seems he didn't want to play Doctors and Nurses ... 

shame ...

 but it got him out of the way.

Free to wield the camera now ...

I scanned the hallway ... come dumping ground ... I'm sure most people have them ... its the bit we always hide when taking photos.

I espied some feet ... try and ignore the dust and muck ....

I'm afraid the top of the lady hasn't a head  ... I just pop my hat on top ...

 The mannequin is another unfortunate soul who has come to live with us ... I have draped her nakedness in an old 40's housecoat ... and she looks after my warm car boot coat between outings ...

I know it just looks like I have just thrown it around her ...

and I have ...

Like I said ... no frills today.

 Back to the Hello Matron theme ....

I also have this old bathroom cabinet ... love its 'batteredness' ...is that a word?

and it is filled with all kinds of old medical supplies ... nothing lethal of course...

I just love all the old containers ... 

just look at the Fullers Earth tin .... 

they just don't make anything like it today .. its all horrible plastic.

And the lovely bottles ....

just love it all ....

not that any of it is 'useful' ...

But it makes me smile ...

What daily clutter greets you  ... what makes you smile?

xxx