The Girls Are Getting Their Act Together .... This Weeks Clearance...

Hello there ...

Good news here .... the Girls are getting their act together ... and as a treat they had a few chips for lunch ...
(well we had a treat last night ... we were so tired after a long full day at work we had chips)
... so the Girls had the leftovers .... 

I went to feed them this morning and spied this in their makeshift nesting box.

One very large and misshapen egg.

 

Well ... its a beginning I thought ... you often get very small or misshapen eggs when they start to lay.
As I went to pick it up it cracked in my hand ... very very fine shell.

I quickly dropped it into the empty water dish ... the chickens heads had pricked up at the smell of the fresh egg .. they love fresh raw eggs and if they get a taste of them they will peck and eat their own eggs ... to I took it away quickly.
 But look what was inside the large egg ... another complete egg (as well as the yolk and white) ...what a mix up ... lets hope Mother Nature gets things sorted out and we have one egg at a time .. and one after another.

Hubby P has had a big clearance this week so he was moving stuff all yesterday and today ...

Some of the new bits we have had in ... 

These are rather sweet ... a set of kitchen curtains ... real vintage retro...
and made of a sturdy printed plastic. 

They still had their little hooks attached. 
They seem in good condition ... I shall give them a good soak and a wash in soapy water and see how they come up.
Can't say I have ever seen any others like them ... they are really rather sweet.

And another haul of vintage curtains .... 

Yesterday I went with Hubby P to the clearance place .. just to have a good ol poke about really.
In the attic I went ... up some very rickety stairs ... it was dim and dusty up there and the floor was very iffy ... wonky floorboards with big holes ... It must be said .. I didn't feel very safe at all.

Luckily Hubby P is very good at following directions ...and I pointed at various interesting bundles and he did the fetching and carrying ..
I pulled out the above .. interesting patterns and colours.
I have yet to look at them properly .. and I will wait to see if today Hubby P can find more .. so that I can see if there are pairs of curtains ...
and if the curtains are usable as curtains .. or maybe they will have to be salvaged for their good bits and sold as reclaimed fabric.
It all takes time and work ... washing and sorting ... but I do so love giving these delightful old fabrics a new lease of life.

They must have lain in the attic room a good 40+ years ... 
I wonder what stories they could tell.

The interesting tale of this clearance (there is always an interesting aside) ... as Hubby P was sorting ... he pulled out from a cupboard .. an old haversack type bag and dropped it onto the floor ...later as he went through the papers and bags from the cupboard he found ... in the haversack ... a stash of live WW2 ammunition/bullets.
He informed the police ... can you believe this ...on his way home last night he called at our..
 'Brand Spanking New Ultra Modern ...Cost A Fortune Police Station'

There was no one there ... not a single Bobby .. doors locked and everything. 
'No one manning it tonight '.... he was told ...as he stood outside and rang the police ..
and this is in the main town of the Island ... not some little village.

The best the police could suggest was that they would send someone tonight to pick up the 'Live Ammunition'.

We are still waiting ....

Anyway enough of me .... do you like the curtains? or are these loud retro prints a bit over the top do you think?

xx  

Always Carry A Bit Of Bargain Huntin Money ....

Hello there ....

bit of a dreary damp sort of day ... 

I'm a bit tired of this rain now ... thank you!

We have so much to do outside ... so we donned hats and coats and did it anyway.

We have this awful looking tin shed ... we both agree its an awful thing .. practical ..yes .. keeps everything nice and dry ..but just not pleasing on the eye.

Its where Hubby P keeps/kept the vintage tools he collects .. ready for restoration and then selling on. 

Well we have had a bit of a sort out .. a swap around and the tools can now be stored elsewhere ... so the tin shed can go.

We've even found a friendly farmer who thinks the good dry tin shed is great .. ideal for storing his sheep feed ... and is happy to take it away ... so its a win win situation.

So that was today's job ... well done .... in the rain.

~~~~~

Sunday was a trading day ... it went well.

I had a mooch around the stalls ... not a lot to get excited about ...

but as I was passing the more market type stalls one of the chaps started shouting out ...  as they do ... 

'Sale On' ... 

'All on the table 50p'....

So of course I had to go and have a little look.

He was tipping out boxes of winter stock ... hats, gloves, socks and the like ...probably to make room for newer summer stock.

Luckily I always carry a little bit of  Bargain Hunting Money ... if you have got the ready cash there ... its amazing what you can snap up ... tis no good dithering .. often it won't be there in an hour or two.

The sock chap tipped out another box ... packs of thermal socks (12 pairs in a pack) just £3. 

Just the sort Hubby P wears .. and swears by .. they are so warm and comfy ... the only problem .. they were ladies.

Now occasionally I have borrowed Hubby P's socks ... and indeed they are warm ... a bit big and baggy ... being his socks on my much smaller feet ... but I have been disinclined to buy Ladies Thermal socks because they tend to be the same colour (as Hubby P's) ... and I could see total confusion when it came to sorting the laundry.

But 12 pairs for £3 ... that will last me ...years!

That's ... what ... 25p per pair.

So I came up with the idea of marking my socks with colourful thread ... it was going to be just a stitch .. but hey! a little flower.. much prettier.

Now the test is whether or not Hubby P ... on laundry duty (pairing socks and putting away) will actually see and note the little flower... or will he end up trying to force his size 10's into my flower bedecked .. much smaller socks.

Sock chappie's 50p table held lots of these ... pretty little gloves.

I got a few pairs to put in my Christmas box ... ready for next year. We have lots of children in the family and I like to donate bits and bobs I have picked up over the year to the Christmas Shoe box charity thingy ... 

So I always have a little Bargain Huntin money ... just in case.

It seems like I am spending .. but over the year it saves money and spreads the cost.

So ...what bargains of the week have you come across ... do share ... give us ideas.

xx

What More Could A Girl Ask For ... Fresh Air And Sunshine!

Hello there ...

what a lovely day we have had ... I do hope you have had a bit of sunshine in your little bit of the world.

Cheers a Girl up no end!

On such a Spring like day ... 

a Girls thoughts turn to her garden....

I reached it down from the shelf ... my special tin ... my seed tin ....
just to have a see what's in there ... just to kinda plan .. and daydream a bit...

Not that I can plant much just yet ... 
not being as organised as some lucky people with their heated propagators and nice warm glasshouses ... 
Oh a Girl can dream....

But I found a packet of Cress languishing at the bottom of the tin ... that will do ... it will curb the urge to plant and grow ..,
it gives a bit of fresh green stuff in no time at all ...
and its just nice to see something growing.
I didn't even need to find any compost ... just sprinkled it on a bi of damp kitchen paper ... and sat it on the windowsill.

My Christmas flowers have given up the ghost ... not bad they lasted almost three weeks in this hot room.

So as Hubby P said ... 'you've had your annual flowers ... its back to the weeds .. I see' ... and they say romance is dead!

He was commenting on the rather fetching arrangement of seasonal greenery ... or rather what I could find in the garden that didn't look dank and half dead.

It looks quite pretty with the sun on it ...
 nice and fresh and zingy green.

I spent a pleasant couple of hours sectors in hand ... and filled the green (garden waste) wheelie bin with some rather nasty .. sharp..
half dead roses ...  and I thinned the gooseberry bushes.

Not very glamorous but it had to be done.

I needed to clear and trim the shrubs away from up against this fence ... its a very old fence .. and the recent winds have done their worst with it.
Its about had it I'm afraid ... it will be used as firewood .. and keep us warm for a night or two.

The fence sits atop the wall between us and next door ... we have a lovely family next door ... its not as if we want to shut them out... but the fence was put up many many years ago when their boys were small ... and we had bouncy .. energetic dogs.

We found two little boys ... lots and lots of footballs .. and noisy dogs ... was not a good mix.
We spent a good amount of our days finding footballs lodged in the greenery of the garden and returning them over the wall...
to little shouts of 'thank youuuu'!

Not that I minded in the least we have four boys of our own ...
and children have to play .... but a fence made sense .. and made life easier.

But now sadly we have no dogs barking over the wall .. and the little boys are big boys and have other fish to fry ... football has turned into other more grown up pursuits.

So down it all comes ...
its not a very wide garden bed .. I shall just plant a few more shrubs and turn it into more of a hedge. It will give our friend next door a bit of privacy and something pretty to look at.

So all this fresh air ... what shall I feed a hungry man...

Well I rooted about in the freezer and found a very small pack of scrappy looking lamb chops ... obviously I had hotpot in mind when I bagged them up.
So I put them in the bottom of the much used roasting tin ..
pulled out what veg I had left and chopped it (I had some carrots .. a leek from the garden ... butternut squash .. swede and a little cabbage) ... put the mixed chopped veg on top of the chops .. added 2 oxo's and a spoonful of mint sauce (some water). I sliced some potatoes and layered them on top.
Pan/tin lid on and in the oven very..very low for a couple of hours.
I switched the oven up for the last hour (whilst we were out packing the van) ... took the lid off on our return and let the top brown/crisp up 
By the time we had coats off .. fire stoked and hands washed ..it was all ready. 

And very nice it was too.

I must just say .... that the butternut squash and cabbage I have were bought before Christmas from Approved Food ... I bought two of each. Just as an experiment really .. I've not had fresh food from them before. 
It was one way of me bringing the weight up (to get my moneys worth) ... buying something I would use ..yet keeping the overall cost low.
And they have lasted ... they are still good to use ...I will buy fresh again.
So what have you been up to today ... did you get the sun on your face?

xxx 

Everyday Stuff ....Everyday Finds ... And Making Every Penny Count..

Hello there ...

things seem to have calmed down a bit here ... just the normal ... hum drum ... daily stuff.

Why is it I always feel January 'has to be got through' ... 

such a dreary long month .... 

Anyway ...

Chickens are coming to a bit .... feathering up and looking a bit brighter.

Hubby P thinks they are better fed than him ... he's just whinging because I insisted they be fed before he could have his toast.

I made them some nice warm mash from the vegetable peelings (boiled up .. and nice and warm) ... to this I added a handful of oats to dry it off ... and a spoonful of the mush that is 'waste' from my juicer (fruit and veg ...so nice and sweet).

I mixed in a bit of this ... its the egg shell I have saved .. washed and baked in the oven (just when its on anyway) .. and crushed up fine. 

With the chickens being inside on deep litter (and not being able to forage) it helps give them the grit they need.

They tuck in ... I had a quiet word ... how an egg or two would be appreciated.

~~~~~~

I think one of the reasons January seems so long is the lack of ready cash ... 

The way we work means we have no regular weekly wage .. no monthly salary on a certain day ... no Social Security Benefits ...

its up to us to make what we can where we can....

and these cold dreary months ... well .. lets face it ... no one is buying much.

So Every Penny Counts .... 

and thank goodness for the stores we gathered in ... in the good months.

Thinking of what to make for tea ... what did I have in the cupboards ...

Well the leeks looked nice and fresh in the garden .. so I dug up a few of those.

So fresh they positively zing!

I still have half a sack of spuds ... a drizzle of cream (yes from Christmas ... just beginning to thicken and smell a little cheesy)..

And some of this lovely clean white duck fat (from the Duck we had at New Year).

So ... saute leeks and potatoes in a dollop of duck fat ... add a bit of stock ... and you have a nice leek and potato soup ... I blitzed with the magic wand and added the cream ... umm lovely.

I had a good sort out in the freezer whilst I was at it ... 

just to see what was left ...

it give me an idea of what meals we could have this week.

I pulled out some cheese ... if you remember I had a good deal on cheese just before Christmas ... I put half in the freezer ... so now when I need some good tasty protein .. its there to be had.

So tonight's tea  ... leek and potato soup.. and I made some nice 'very rustic-y' cheese scones which we can slather with butter.

Should do us nicely ... 

we had meat last night ... I'm trying to wean us off meat every night ... although I will hold my hand up and say .. we do enjoy meat.

Talking of 'every penny counting'....

the house looks like a Chinese laundry again.

When we cleared the caravan the other day (and the van broke down)...

there were lots of clothes and bedding to take away ... the owners of the van had taken what they wanted ... I suppose if you have a holiday home ... all set up so that you don't need to pack anything when you want to slip away for a weekend ... you have two lots of everything ...

Anyway ... bags and bags of good quality clothes and bed linen ... and all damp because the roof blew off... and it was raining ... a bit!

So I have been drying it around the fire ...

and bagging it up again.

We will put it all out for sale on Sunday ... as you know people are always looking for good quality clothes at reasonable prices ... ours will be super cheap .. we need to move stock on. 

And that's partly how .. hopefully this week we will make some money.

Do you find all this stuff boring?

~~~~~~

Find of the week .... 

This linen panel was found wrapped around an old piece of machinery .. all greasy and yucky.

I very nearly binned it as an old rag ... well i suppose it is an old rag really. 

My eye was drawn to the nice vintage-y blue colour and I spotted the sailing ships.

I gave it a bit of a soak and a wash ... it was Hubby P that noticed ... it was/is in fact a whaling scene. The men in the little boats have harpoons and are hunting the whales.

What an unusual piece ... I don't know what it was used for ... maybe it was part of a table covering ... its un hemmed.

Interesting as a piece of social history ... nowadays we are quite rightly appalled at the hunting of such lovely creatures .. but in the Victorian era it was this industry that kept the pretty oil lamps lit throughout England.

Well ... I was unsure what to do with it ... so its on ebay ... hopefully someone somewhere will know exactly what to do with it... and it will raise a few pennies.

Anyway enough !

 ... a long post again ... gosh I can chat on .. and on!

~~~

Back To Work ... and If It Can Go Wrong ...It Will ...

Hello there .... 

Yes .. its been a busy few days ..

Flowers are lasting well ...

 Back to work with a vengeance ... mind you we were glad to start trading again its been two weeks ... nice holiday ... nice rest ... but no work no pay.

So Friday we were all organised .. we would get up early on Saturday ( as usual on a work day) ... there were just some 'bits' to finish off ... and get the van packed for Sunday trading. 

It would be a nice gentle start back ... probably quiet due to the weather .. we could be home in front of the fire just after lunch .. hopefully with a few pennies in our pocket.

So Hubby P set the alarm clock ... it went off in good time ... the cat was stalking about the bedroom wanting to be let out ... 'For Goodness Sake' ... says I .. (or something similar)...

 'let that cat out!' .

So Hubby P rolled over to get out of bed ... it must be said .. with a bit of a Huff!

Bang ! Crash ! .... the bed collapses .. (on His side!)

So guess what the first job was.

Serves me right for banging on about Make Do and Mend.

We had to mend it ... we couldn't afford a new one .... 

luckily Hubby P has a stash of bed fixing wood ... 

I did mention that in other households ... the ladies would be taken to salubrious places such as Argos to look at shiny new beds...

Hubby P said he certainly would not be taking me there ..  because I would come home with a Greenhouse!

That's my next 'in the pipeline' project ... the ideal one resides amongst the pages of an Argos catalogue .. watch this space.

So after bed fixing ... and it is always mucky under there isn't it ... no matter how much you try climbing under with the hoover...

We were all behind with our plans...

Quick pic's of the sewing machine tables Hubby P made ... before the were put in the van .. 

Lovely things ... these still had their treadle plates ... they will make a lovely feature table in someones home.

He made the table tops from pieces of nice old pine ... and they 'polished up lovely'.

And they sold quickly on Sunday ... which was nice.

Knobs ... lovely old knobs....

I was given the job of cleaning them up then they could go back on the large Victorian chest of drawers.

Hubby P bought this the other day .. in a rough condition .. and after considering the best way of giving it a new lease of life ...

it was repaired and painted a nice soft grey.. and waxed to give it a fine shine and protective finish.

You can see how far behind we are ... its almost dark.

Hubby P was just giving it a final polish ... 

In between jobs I managed to run up some tea towels from the last piece of vintage linen ... I have made lots of these and they sell well ... and people keep asking me for more ... well this really is the last of the fabric. 

That's the thing in this job ... the way we find things furniture/fabric and what not ... there is often just one piece.. or one bag full ... or whatever ... there is no going back to the shop for more.

Makes everything more special in a way.

Oh .. and amongst everything else ... we had to clear an old shed (of useful ...wood and manly stuff ... including a 'spare' shower I noticed) ...

Because we said we would re home this little gang.

Their previous home was getting a bit waterlogged .. and their owner finding it difficult to care for them ... and he was worried what would happen when he goes into hospital ... so of course we made room at the inn.

I had so missed having a few chickens.

Again ... their home is a bit 'make do' ... and needs some work ..

when we have a spare few minutes ... they need proper perches and a wire ventilation door .. but they are on clean bedding .. with good food and water for now.

The little white cockerel is called Rocky ... he is very old but still a dapper chap.

He was once ours ... he and another cockerel came to us as youngsters and did nothing but fight .. one day Rocky escaped the pen ... we could not find him. He had run up the hill and joined a bunch of 'Girls' living around the ancient windmill.

We left him there ... he seemed happy enough .. and there he stayed for nearly eight years ... I know ... really knocking on ... we are amazed he's still strutting his stuff.

Sundays trading went well .... quiet but okay.

A chap hurried over to us and asked if we could possibly help him out ... the roof had been ripped off a static caravan with the wind .. and it needed clearing of all the contents .. before the wind cleared them for him ... all across the fields.

So we dashed home ... changed into our grubby work clothes and dashed off to the desolate windswept caravan site.

A lovely place in summer ... a happy family place ...children up and down on their bikes .. laughter ... BBQ's ... all good fun.

Early January ... a cold bleak place ...all the caravans shut up .. all looks cold and uninviting.

Anyway we did the job ... packed everything up ... the van was packed with stuff by now ...

climb in the van to go home ... no gears ... van wont move!

Just what we need ... we've been up since 4am. 

We called a kindly body ... my sister .. and she brought me home (luckily we were not far from home)

 .. to get the fire lit and a meal ready .. Hubby P sat four and a half hours waiting for RAC.

As the light faded the caravans appeared ghostly in the semi light ... the windows looking spookily like hollow eyes ....

I didn't dare mention to him ... before I left for hearth and home ... that it was like a scene from Zombie Apocalypse ... or some such film....

Enough for now .. I have gone on and on ....

xxx

Here We Go Again ....Make Do And Mend .. Use It Up ... Wear It Out ...

Hello there ...

Yes indeed a cold .. windy.. wet.. and dark sort of day to welcome in 2014.

A day to sit by the fire and start seriously thinking of the 'ways and means' of making it through this year.

 

 More .. Make Do and Mending ... Thrifty Snippity Ways .. 

Use It Up....Wear It Out ...

We will all have to help one another ... share our experiences and useful thrifty tips.

 One of my most useful tips .... I asked Hubby P to put rails over the wood burner .. I then use wooden coat hangers to hang my washing to dry.

Not the prettiest thing to look at but it saves a fortune .. I use to have a tumble dryer when the children were young .. cost a bomb to run.

We are lucky and have an inglenook (in which our wood burner sits).. but just say one or two hooks in the ceiling could hold hangers .. that would catch the rising heat and dry some clothes (especially school shirts and the like ... I never seemed to have enough to keep up).

Our Grandparents did this with racks on pulley's that they could stack with wet washing and pull up to the ceiling out of the way ... nothing is ever a new way.

 Of course it all looks very cottage-y .. very cosy ...

 with all the pretty logs stacked ... but to be honest .. 

those pretty logs are pretty expensive!

You see the rough cut random stuff at the front .. that is what we  mostly try to burn ... free wood ... old furniture Hubby P has cut up in between the showers.

And today's Use it Up ... 

well of course it had to be Duck soup.

 All the left overs from yesterdays dinner piled into the soup pan and 'souped'.

And very nice it was too on this cold wet day.....

very Duck-yyyy!

So .. have you anything to share? ... where will you make your savings? ... do share...

xxx