Of Cute Horse-y Things... and Rag Rugs ..

Hello there ...

Just a few of this weeks doings to share with you.

 I thought this fabric was just fab ... its a reclaimed piece of Vintage French cotton .. I just love the old trains and the pretty ladies... not to mention the Cowboys and Indians!

 It depicts the models of trains and the fashions throughout the 1800's ..

quite an unusual piece .. I thought it would be nice to frame a section of it... or cushions .. something that would show off the detail of the cloth.

There are more photo's of it on eBay if you want to have a bit more of a peek at it ..

And something for me ..

 We did a bit of a clearance yesterday .. and this was amongst the findings ...

do you like my stripy handmade rug. 

It needs a bit of a wash .. I'm hoping it will wash okay .. and comes up bright and funky... someone has spent a long time pegging this.

Today saw us packing the van for trading tomorrow.

 What a job .. 

I think we had it all .. rain ..hail .. and strong gusty.. bitterly cold wind .. sometimes I think we are mad!

An a flask of coffee didn't really cut it!

Still ... we have to make a living ...

and we have some nice bits and bobs this week ..

 How do you like my little horse .. 

he's only small and showing his age a little .. but he's done well to survive the traumas of toddlers for such a long time.

If you look closely this one has pedals on the front wheel so the little passenger can scoot around under their own steam (or pedal power) .. how clever.

I know I am always saying it .. 

but its amazing what Hubby P finds tucked away in dusty attics.

 How do you like my lady .. she's rather exotic isn't she?

The lady selling her said she thought the original owner had her made to his specifications ..an old flame perhaps?

She use to reside in a corner of his conservatory with a plant on her head..!

Hopefully she will find a new home .. in a warm conservatory .. 

bit nippy for the old bikini top at the moment.

Anyway .. enough waffle from me .. I'm off to make my egg butties ready for tomorrow ..

 Oh the classy life we lead..!

Bye for now x

A No Snow Day .. Playing With Fabric...

Hello there ..

Well a few flurries .. but otherwise a No Snow day here..

 I imagine a lot of you have been stuck indoors .. tis a bit grim this weather !

I haven't ventured far .. Hubby P has gone to look at some work stuff .. 

he's a sucker for the chance to root about in someones attic.

I stayed by the fire and sorted some fabric .. we cleared a lady's house the other week .. she is downsizing ..

a bit like some of us .. she liked fabric.

I now have boxes of the stuff stacked around .. I need to sort them .. price them and move them on .. before I become swamped by them.

So .. seeing we are all a bit bored and looking for diversions .. here are some pretty fabric pic's..

Oh .. and a nice blanket .. tucked amongst the fabric..

  Look ... pretty label ..

The blanket was made in Holland .. I thought that was unusual .. not had one from Holland before.

 This is a nice new .. unused length .. I thought it had a bit of a Jacobean look to it.

 And this is so pretty .. its a really fine soft cotton  .. make a lovely summery blouse.

Remember summer ?

I've got a yen to make some pretty peg bags for summer .. 

they seem to sell well .. but I darn't start sewing until I've reduced the fabric mountain ..

but its all a bit boring .. ironing fabric..

I've been good and bunged a few bits on eBay .. 

if we are not out actively selling we have to do a little something that is kinda work based .. and I sold something today .. 

so all is well.

 I will go back to the fabric mountain now .. 'dashing away with the smoothing iron'

xx

Of Dentists .. And Thrifty Cheese ...

Hello there ... 

I hope you have had a pleasant day ...

We have done very little today .. its too cold to move much out of the house.

But what we did have to do today .. was visit the dentist for a check up.

I cannot praise our dentist enough .. I have rubbish teeth .. 

they are weak .. crumbly and altogether quite .. 

well .. rubbish.

I have always tried to do my best by my teeth and visited the dentist regularly .. 

Thankfully .. Oh Thankfully !

 I have a NHS dentist .. he is excellent and he does his best by my rubbish teeth.

As you may know NHS dentists are like gold dust .. and I cling on to mine for dear life .. 

I never miss appointments and attend regularly .. 

I do not want to be struck off his list .. I have a horror of having toothache and no where to go with it.

And the icing on the cake .. it is so inexpensive!

Today we both went for a check up which entailed xrays ..

one each side of the mouth .. lots of poking about with his mirror and poke-y stick thing-y .. a polish up with his whizzy/ scrubby brush and a dab of something around my gums for good measure.

It was £13.

Hubby P had the same .. plus a couple of fillings which came under last times 'treatment' so it wasn't charged for.

Its so nice to be pleasantly surprised by the cost of something.

Just a case of doing all we can to look after the old gnashes now.

~~~~~ # ~~~~~

A bit of a Thrifty Snippet .. well sort of ... I know you like a good bit of thrifty

Nosing around the market on Sunday I noticed the butchers van had some huge blocks of cheese for sale.

He had half rounds of fancy stuff .. you know the kind of thing cranberry whatsit and herby and garlic something or other ..

 well I didn't really want that ... 

I just wanted bog standard cheddar or similar ..

 something I could either have ... on crackers .. or to cook with.

At the back of the stall I noticed these huge blocks of double Gloucester cheese a kg in weight .. made at our local creamery.

I asked the price and of course he said  .. 'to you .. £12'

Well ... I kind of pulled a face and shook my head .. too expensive ... and I said to him that really I had wanted cheddar. 

Well he said .. in a whisper ..'how about £10' .. so I brought hope a huge lump of cheese.

As you know cheese is not cheap and so I treat it like I would meat or eggs for that matter .. a major part of the meal .. a good rich source of protein.

 The trick is .. because you have huge lumps of it in your fridge .. 

not to get carried away and use it willy nilly!

(unlike some ... umm Husbands .. who get carried away with a butter knife .. trying to hack off great lumps of cheese to nibble away at like a demented mouse)

I forgot to take a pic of the whole thing .. but here it is roughly chopped into four...

I shall pop two in the freezer and keep two in the cheese box in the fridge.

  Do you like my cheese box ... well .. its an enamel tin really .. a lovely green colour...

 I have two of them .. they fit just nicely in the fridge.

One holds the cheese .. the other cold meats and the like.

So for tea ?

A portion of the cheese used in some thrifty cheese scones  (with lashings of butter) and a nice warming celery soup.

 So that's been my sort  of Thrifty buy ... I think maybe if I had shopped about I could have found it a bit cheaper .. but it is buying local .. locally made produce etc .. and all I did really was invest in cheese rather than meat .. and it will go a lot further than a few lamb chops.

How about you .. any Thrifty Snippets to share ?

Bye for now x

Brr .. Cold Grey Day .. Looking To Summer Makes... and A Cat!

Hello there ..

Brrrrr.. its been a cold grey day today ..

I think my mood has kinda matched the day ...

 It must be pie kinda weather .. and putting the oven on helps warm up the house.

I made a simple veg and meat pie .. 

mostly what veg I had (that needed using up) and a little bit of mince to give it a semblance of a meat pie.

I think any kind a pie is good .. its the pastry isn't it!

Naughty but nice...

The other ..not so glamorous .. peculiar looking thing is a bit of leftover pastry .. spread with the last of the cranberry jelly (so that I could free the fridge of another half used thing .. and wash the jar)

.. sprinkle of brown  sugar and a handful of sultanas ..

and folded over.

Usual thing .. what I had to hand.

Hubby P has bagged it for his 'snap' tomorrow at work.

Who else calls lunch/work snacks 'snap' ..

 I wonder is a northern thing?

So tea was sorted .. what else .. 

I needed to do some kind of work thing .. but wanted to be warm and cosy ..

Hubby P went outside in the workshop ..

 but blow that .. too cold.

 A big box of these dressmaking patterns came in yesterday ... so I had a sort through them .. lots of the 'easy and quick' ones too.

Ideal for the sewing novice .. and I noticed .. good realistic sizes (as in not for stick thin people). 

I sell a lot on the stall quite cheap and cheerful  .. they are so expensive to buy new from the shops

 .. I sorted out a good mixed bunch and thought I would try them on eBay.

I thought people might be looking to summer and easy sewing makes .. little tops ..

 and pretty summery skirts and dresses..

I for one am beginning to miss the warmth of the sun .... and I am wearing so many layers I feel like an onion..

 So that has been me today ...

   

Oh .... and the cat .. with that 'what you up to then' look!

Take care .. keep warm  xx

A Sunshiny Day Of Pretty Growing Things ..

Hello there ..

A lovely sunshiny morning here ..

 just thought I would share it with you..

I had a wander along the front of the house ...

 peeping out of the bottom of the hedge ..

 a row of old boots.

These are the symbols of a life lived with work to provide and feed us ... a good little place..

a little graveyard .. a resting place for our old friends.

 

 Nature has garland them with pretty swathes of moss and flowers bedeck their tops ..

they rest in a pretty place.

 You may ask what I was doing wandering around in the freezing cold .. sunny Yes.. but still cold.

 Well I was doing my everyday jobs ...

 fetching in the milk from the gate ..

 yes we still have a Milkman deliver .. and I treasure him!

 There is nothing like  milk out of a glass milk bottle. Who still has a milkman?

I think they are becoming a rare breed .. such a shame.

And of course the Girls have to have their tit bits .. 

just a bit of old bread today .. and a handful of oats.

The big jug contains fresh water for the Girls.

 So cold the water in the bird bath was frozen hard.

 I filled up the wild bird feeding places ..

 poor little things .. its cold for them.

Mind you yesterday there was a lot of 'Hot Action' going on in the hedge .. as the Gents were pursuing the Ladies ready for spring .. and nests full of babies.

And I found these ... just look how pretty .. 

hiding away in the corner of the garden.

I just had to pick a few for the table ...

 doesn't that pink just brighten your day!

Hope you have had a good day ... any snippets of spring in your garden yet?

xx

Just A Quick Hello ... And Pretty Snowdrops ... To Cheer ..!

Hello there ... 

Just a quick post tonight..

 I just had to share these .. they are so pretty

 Bobbing away in the breeze. 

They are on top of a wall amongst the rough twiggy stems of the brambles ..

Every year they pop up .. without fail ... a little brightness against the grey of the cold landscape.

No snow here ..

Its very cold though ... 

and the log pile is getting smaller by the week ...

 We find what we can .. 

scrounge and forage any .. and all timber ..

 to supplement the logs and keep the wood burner going.

 Too cold to do much out doors .. 

we had to load the van for tomorrow's trading .. and I fished about for some bits to put on eBay.

Just look at this pretty lady..

 

She is one of a collection of Vintage Welsh Lady dollies .. all in need of a bit of TLC .. 

but lovely all the same .

Funny what we find stashed away in tins and boxes.

And who remembers these .. 

I clearly remember having them fastened in my hair .. and being warned 'not to loose them'.

Well that's all for now .. 

Take care  xx

Thrifty Soups And A Bridal Bouquet ..

Hello there .. just a quick catch up

 ... hope you are all well..

 Well its blowing a gale here .. and blimey its cold! 

No snow .. yet.

Buts its the 'Land of The Thrifty Soup' here at Anglesey Allsorts ...

I swear its what keeps me ticking.

I must eat gallons of the stuff... 

Hubby P's .. 

well .. not just that keen .. 

But he knows ....'ITS GOOD FOR HIM' !

Currently .. in the pan .. 

we have a Thrifty Soup made from the veggie leftovers from last nights tea (carrots, parsnips and cauliflower) ...  a sprinkle of dried onion flakes, the water the veg was cooked in (veg stock) and the last bit of gravy. 

All was mixed up with a bit more water... 

and a couple of handfuls of lentils added .. 

twas simmered for a good while

 (whilst I washed up)

 .. I had a taste .. it was a bit insipid ... 

so I added a good two tablespoonfuls of powdered Oxtail soup.

Gave it a bit of a wiz with the stick blender .. 

and there we have it .. a tasty warming soup.

 At the moment I am working my way through this huge tub of Oxtail soup mix .. 

its a catering size tub.

Bought from Approved Foods last winter ... 

a great buy .. I just use it as above to thicken and add a bit of oomph to my rather random soups.

I've just finished a catering pack of 

'Vegetable Vending Soup'

 .. that was great for .. well .. obviously .. veggie soups.

Approved Foods are great for this sort of thing .. I've just spent an hour or so perusing their site to replenish my cupboards. 

I haven't been there for a while .. and when I checked .. I had a free delivery code (on the side bar/basket bit) ... maybe  its because I hadn't ordered for a bit .. don't know .. but I'm not complaining.

I put an order in for soups, gravies etc ..
 and Basmati rice ..99p for 5kgs .. !

There are some real bargains there if you look carefully.. and buy wisely .. 
I am careful not to be led astray into the sweets and biscuits!

Now .. just look at this lovely lot of glitzy .. glittery stuff...

 A young woman approached me a while ago ..  and whilst admiring the vintage brooches I was selling .. she asked me if I could make her a Brooch Bouquet for her Wedding.

Now I can honestly say I hadn't heard of them until she mentioned it.

But I thought it would be an interesting project ..
 so we worked together on sourcing the jewels, ribbons and flowers .. all the colours of her themed wedding.

 I think this idea may have come from America ... tradition being that the Bride asks her friends and family to give her a piece of jewelry .. brooches .. odd earrings .. odd beads .. broken necklaces even... to make up the bouquet.

Some may be expensive items (she will have some financial security/she could sell them if need be) ..or some may be old family pieces .. passed through the family ..

you get the idea.

Of course the bouquet will not wilt ..it can be kept .. treasured .. and when the Bride looks at it down the years ..  she sees the love and support of her friends and family.

 A nice idea ..

Anyway I got my trusty glue gun out and made a start .. I just hope she likes it.

I wont show you pics of the bouquet until after the wedding .. it all has to be under wraps until the big day ... but of course .. that's how it should be.

A nice little project .. for someones special day.

And this made my day today ... 

Three eggs ... the days must be lengthening ... three out of the four Girls are laying.

I must say George is keeping them very happy !

Anyway enough of me .. do take care .. 
the wind and rain is just dreadful here .. 
I think I will go hide under the bedclothes.

Bye for now.

Gosh .. Awful Rainy Day .. It Must Be January ..

Hello there ....

Gosh its wet out there ...

This is where I have spent the day ... in my little work corner ... looking out at the never ending rain...

Just don't look at the grimy windows .. and I've just noticed a cobweb or two ...

well .. I don't have any pretentious ideas of a Country Living house ...

I'm afraid you get it as it comes here .. all in the rough .. all very real... ha ha!

So this is what I have been doing.. bit of eBay .... trying to earn a few pennies ..

I think we are all finding it a bit of a pinch at this time of the year...

The days seem long dark and often dismal .. and the bills start falling on the mat.

But its no good going into a decline ... there are always ways of making a few extra pennies.. or trading for goods ..in my time I have done allsorts to swell the coffers ..

Little jobs like ironing for people.. baking/making meals ..cleaning.. sewing/repairs ..dog walking..gardening ... even milking goats..

And of course there are lots of on line sale sites nowadays ... but in the old days cards in shop windows were a good way of moving on your outgrown prams, clothes etc .. or newspapers for sale ads.

I had a spell making up Christmas cards .. and sewing slippers as an outworker/homeworker for factories..

hard work but I could do it when the children were in bed and it helped bring in some extra money.

So eBay it was today .. no real hardship .. it was warm and dry .. and I had some music to sing along to. 

What did I list?

well a few vintage-y bits .. and some useful everyday things.

 Thought you might like to see the vintage-y bits and bobs .. 

of course there are more on the eBay site .. too much to put on here

(there is an eBay link on my side bar just below the pic of me ( if you fancy a look).

These are from a bag full of 1930's millinery flowers we found last summer .. I had kept them for me ... to do 'something' with ... they are so pretty.

But I have to be realistic .. they are just sat in a box collecting dust .. so off they go ..

 These were found just last week .. so very pretty .. the colours don't show up too well on the photos .. 
but they are truly lovely ... feather corsage type trimming-y things.

They are made up of layers of different feathers which are wired together ... I think they were used to brighten up the hat bands of Trilby's and whatnot.

They could be used for allsorts of crafty things .. or just nice to display ..

of course I want to KEEP EVERYTHING ...! 

  (but Hubby P ... well .. 'feels' that's not being 'Grown up' ... and we do need money to buy.. stuff!)

Today I pulled this piece of fabric out of a case  .. 

I thought it might sell .. quite retro looking ... well it is vintage .. the real thing .. I think I reclaimed it from some curtains.

I've had enough eBay for today .. I will list it tomorrow .. and find some more likely items ...

Onwards and Upwards as they say.

So what have you been doing ... any good Thrifty money making tips?

Bye for now x