Damp and Dreary ... With Thrifty Wood ..

Hello there...

Bit nippy here ... thankfully I have a good fire going... and Thrifty at that.

Hubby P had a good week in the 'rubbish-y furniture' collecting department ... and gathered together this heap. 

 

We have got into the habit of refusing nothing ... people give us all sorts of things ... usually they are unable or cannot be bothered to dispose of it themselves. A lot of it is good useful stuff .. Hubby P stashes it away until he has a use for it ... mending/revamping etc. 

As I said this week was a good harvest of old furniture ... good burning wood.

  

This morning he had a sawing up session.

It all burns well and bulks out the logs we burn on the woodburner... logs are expensive ... so a night or two of thrifted wood is not to be sniffed at.

Percy the woodpidgeon kept us company in the garden..

Here he is helping himself to the dog food in Uncas's dish.

Uncas was too busy 'helping' me ... getting under my feet as I tried to sweep up the soggy leaves from the paths.

 

Leaves ... leaves and more leaves ... 

 

To be honest it was only a quick rough sweep ... after all it will be as bad as ever next week .

Although they were a bit soggy ... there were pretty colours to be seen....

 

....and little gems hiding in the hedgerows... silvery pennies blowing in the breeze.

A splash of ruby red by the gate to catch the milkman's eye !

 

 The green is still very green .... if you know what I mean ..

 can't say we have had any real frost..

... and just look how pretty this moss looks ... 

... I do so love moss... 

 ...gradually cloaking the old shabby boots ..

.... boots with a tale to tell ...

..of a life well lived.

So what have you been up to ... many leaves?

xx

Vintage Velvet and Ikea ... Thrifty Snippet-y Ways ..Of Course!

Hello there .... 

Has it rained with you?

... I thought it would never stop today ...

mind you it was quite nice sat by the fire sewing ... listening to the wind in the chimney and the rain lash against the windows.

As you can see my Summer curtains are lacy and lightweight.

 I've been a bit remiss in my Winter preparations ... last Spring I decided the winter curtains had about had it ... time for new ones.

Plenty of time ... thought I .. to organise some nice new ones.... well ... where has the time gone?

In my defence I had picked up a pair of lined... wonderfully dark bottle green cotton velvet of Vintage persuasion .... but I had forgotten just where I had put them/or had I sold them? umm..

I Know ... bitten nails!

So late last night I decided to find them ... as you do ... and three cupboards and numerous boxes later ....ta da!

And what a good do ... I just had to shorten them and cut each one in half to make two pairs of curtains for the sitting room windows ... only very small cottage-y windows. 

 I sat in front of the fire and just hemmed the required bits ... I just left the header tape where it was ... and well did very little really.

The curtains were nice and clean .. they still had a dry cleaning label attached ...dated 1976.

All nice and cosy!

So nice to work with good quailty old fabric .... I can't remember where I found them.

But they will have a good home ... and I have some fabric left to make up into cushions ... if I ever get around to it. 

 On the flip side of the coin ... as it were..... Hubby P ambled in the other day with these under his arm.

Bright and cheerful!

 Now it must be said that Hubby P has been well trained in the field of ...'Fabric and Notions Acquisition'...

In that he .. 1) must never.. ever just 'bin' anything that is old/tatty/damaged etc if it is remotely fabric like.

                        
                               2) must always put aside any tins/boxes/bags etc with 
                                      'sewin-y stuff' in them.

                       and 3) just show me everything ....just in case!

So it was the other day with the cushions ... 'this anything... any good ... bit damaged'...says he.

Well what a jolly pair ... nice and bright and cheerful. 

At first I thought they had been made by someone .... you know ... new to sewing ... just learning ... not expertly made by any means.

But on closer inspection ...and discovering a label I found they were no other than Ikea ...at its best?

 Shameful really .... and I bet they would have cost a pretty penny.

Anyway the fabric was pretty although some of it was damaged ... looked like a cat or dog had had a good time with one cushion.

I unpicked the end of one thinking I would save the cushion inner and launder and save the pretty fabric. 

However Ikea don't even run to cushion inners ... it was simply stuffed with loose wadding.

 

Well ... no matter ... I will bag up the wadding and keep it for stuffing things or make some cushion inners. 

And I got a good piece of fabric and a dog chewed bit that can be used for my patchwork.

So a nice new bit of cotton for my stash .... 

That's been me today ... I'm quite pleased I got the new curtains up... whats been keeping you busy?  

xx

Catching up at home .... Mundane but Necessary Stuff ..

Hello there ...

Hope you are all okay ...

Bit of a mundane sort of day today ... just catching up with household jobs ... do they ever end....!

 

 Hubby P busy as ever out and about earning a crust ... or at least trying very hard to.

I knew it would be late before he got in tonight ... still not home as I write this .. so I but a Lamb Hotpot in the oven this morning ...

 on very low .... 

be nice and warming and tasty when he does get in.

Hubby P ...... just loves a Hotpot! 

I had a go at this this week.

I checked on line to see how much I had in my clubcard account ... it was quite healthy ... I do shop weekly at Tesco ...its a convienience thing, I have it delivered ....I know its maybe not the cheapest way of shopping ... but due to my circumstances it works for me.

And the points add up.

They are doing this Voucher exchange thing .... I had a go .. I exchanged £5 worth of vouchers ... so that gave be £10 to spend .. and I chose to spend it on Frozen Food.

  

 I decided to buy lots of frozen veg ... I don't usually use a lot of frozen veg but just recently, with the cost of fresh veg going up and up ... I bought a trayful.

I find a handful of various beans peas and peppers brightens up a meal no end.

Look into this Exchange thing-y if you have vouchers to spend ... I am quite impressed ... its doubling your money.

I have a confession to make ....

This is my one weakness .... I have to have Earl Grey Tea ... well of course I don't 'have' to have it ... but its my treat. 

My 'drug' 'drink' of choice. 

And how nice is this little tin!

I just ordered my teabags as usual ... and luckily they were on offer .... and they came in this sweet little tin.

Wouldn't this make a nice little useful present at just £3?

Well done Twinings. 

Having the house to myself I have managed to do a bit of this sort of thing...   

After all time is marching on and although all our boys are grown up men now ... they still have their expectations of Father Christmas!

 ....and I have to get all the stockings sent off to FC so that he has them safely stashed ready for the big day.

Off to check on the hotpot .... surely Hubby P will be home soon.

Anyone else do the Exchange thing? how did you find it?

XX

Stained Glass and Chicken Soup ... !

Hello there ...

.. just a few photos of today's goings on...

Kath asked to see some photos of the stained glass windows

Hubby P picked up last night.

So here we are ... although Uncas (the dog) was feeling rather photogenic and wouldn't get out of the way.

 These are rather pretty and we sell a lot of these to people .. they are not too big to incorporate into smaller houses ... not everyone has a large Victorian Rectory or whatever.

This is rather nice old sink ... and yes .. I have been out with a tape measure and wandered about the house ... just haven't found anywhere I can put it ....yet!

 

A really lovely brown colour and in great condition.

But these are the true beauties...

 

 Just look at these wonderful stained glass doors ...

 Bit of an awkward photo I'm afraid ... Hubby P has them 'strategically' wedged in the van ... to protect them from damage until he can wrap them and pack them properly in blankets.

Just lovely ... don't you agree?

 

I've been seeing to the serious business of the chicken soup ... I prepared my veg for tonight's tea and threw all the veg peelings and offcuts into the stock pan with the chicken carcass.

First stage of the soup ... 

And this came in the post today ....

 

..I love these little envelopes of vouchers and points ... it must be the thrifty gene in me. I can have a good old think about the best way to spend them.....a good old nose around the website ... trying to make them go as far as possible.

I suppose some people would say 'get a life' but this is my life ... and its the things that matter to me ... maybe small things...homely things ... but my things all the same.

Do you too get a thrill out of thrifting ?

 .... what is it gives you that satisfied feeling ? 

do share...

xx

Tupennypenny Houses Giveaway Winners....and Thrifty Chicken!

Hello there ... 

hope you are keeping warm .. got a nice fire going here.

Well... I said I would do the draw for the winner of the Tuppennypenny Houses .... and Yes ... most of you guessed why they are called 'Tuppneypenny Houses'....

...Whilst at the car boot sale (where I started making them) I was scratching about for something substantial to make the base... and found .. just by chance that a 2 pence piece fitted the job nicely. And .. of course it weights the base so the house stands well.

So well done all of you for keen observation ... an all that!

 

Anyway ... who has won ... who will take guardianship of these itsy bitsy fairy houses ...

I got all organised with my slips of paper ... we do things the old fashioned way here .... well... I wouldn't know where on earth to go looking for a 'random number generator' or whatever its called ... the only generator I know about belongs to Hubby P and is very noisy and smelly!

So ... back to the slips of paper and Fly (the dog) stood by as adjudicator ... 

I just caught Hubby P as he was going out the door .. off to pick up some stained glass windows of all things ...ummm could be interesting.

Anyway I asked him to pick out two winners....

And The Winners Are ... Da Da ....  

OP SHOP MAMA  at..    opshopmama.blogspot.co.uk

(all the way over in New Zealand ... how exciting is that .... I'm going 'International' !)

and

terriersintiaras  at.. lemondropsandgreenspaces.blogspot.co.uk

(who I feel is an old friend .. )

So please girls email me your address and then the little houses can wing their way to you.

Well that's the exciting bit over with... 

So whats for tea?   

I felt this was a bargain this week ... Tesco's offer ... a large fresh chicken... £2 /kg ... this one cost £3.38 and it will easily do 3or4 meals for the two of us .. I've made 'dinner'  tonight (potatoes and proper veg). 

Something with rice maybe tomorrow.. and lastly I'm thinking of lovely soup from the carcass .. with pearl barley ... and possibly little dumplings ... ummm)

Anyway that's us ... as soon as Hubby P gets back from picking up his windows.

So whats your bargain of the week?

 ... we all need to share these  frugal snippets....helps us all get by.

xx  

Use it Up .... Make it Do .. and Thrifty Gifted Goodies..

Hello there ....

hope you are all well .... having a good week..

... and hope you and yours are safe if you are accross the pond.

 

All is well here ... well ... it is now ....

Don't let the peaceful homely photo above fool you ....

Things were very different this time last week ...

We had a 'Chicken Licken' incident!  

Yes ... indeed ... I thought 'the sky was falling in' ... well ... at least the soot and rubbish from the old chimney was falling in.

As you can see I sent Hubby P up the chimney to investigate .... and fix it ... luckily he's a very good 'fixer'.

He got very dirty!

I won't bore you with the details ... but top and tail of the story ... £40 for a bit of specialised boarding that goes around the top/flue of the woodburner... a lot of swearing ...and one very mucky Hubby P.

So its nice to get back to normal ... as you can imagine everything and everywhere was dusty and dirty so we painted the sitting room whist we were at it ... and the bedroom ...

Normal being of course... squeezing as much as I can out of as little as I can.

Just look at these lovely peaches .... past their best for selling but good enough for me ...

a gift from Colin the veg .. for me to 'use up'.

And very nice they were too ... in a big rustic fruit crumble with a dollop of custard.

Use it Up ...

Well .. I had a rummage around in the fridge ... and pulled out some mashed potato .. well .. mash and the remains of the veg we had for dinner the last night ... still good wholesome stuff.

  

I gave it a good old mash up and added a bit of marg and a sprinkle of strong cheese....

And ... with a bit of flour formed it into potato cakes to fry up with some sausages (value range ... it is midweek)

... Hubby P likes a nice sausage.

More gifted goodies ..

 

Just look at these wonderful grapes..

 Beautiful things ...

Given to me from a friend who is moving house and just hadn't the time to deal with them.

They are a wine variety i think .. lots of pips in them and a bit tart ... but to be honest ..

the last thing I fancied was Hubby P whipping off his socks with ideas of treading them for wine.

We have enough of a fermentation issue with the socks!

 

So I cooked um up .. put them through a jelly bag and made into jelly.

     

  

Lovely ruby red jelly .. bit on the runny side ... I should have added some pectin ...but I hadn't any so there you are ... 

A nice addition to the store cupboard.

Don't forget ... the Tuppenny Houses draw (last post) .. I will do the draw tomorrow... and find new homes for the little houses, there are two to win.

xx

 

Tuesday's Tuppenny-penny Houses .....Valley Car Boot Sale..

Hello there ..

... has that got you thinking...   

'well .. whats a tuppenny penny house then .. 

 umm?

~~~~~

It was a cold and chilly morning ... I know

 ...most mornings are now 

... but Tuesdays we are up extra early to trade at Valley car boot sale.

Its pretty dark when we get there but lots of other traders are already there setting up ... and its very friendly and jolly ... so long as you are wrapped up warm ... all's well

 

I give Hubby P a hand setting out the bits and bobs ... china is always popular.

 

The glass ware sparkles in the lamplight ... it could be an evening 'supper entertainment' not a cold damp morning at silly o'clock in the morning!

Hubby P.... 'big strong man' or 'very silly man' ... that he is... heaves all these boxes out of the van.   

These rummage boxes are full of house clearance type stuff .... all sorts of everything.... to be sold at silly pence per item .... he gets lots of this stuff every week .. so it has to go quickly ... so  its cheap and cheerful.

And so the trading day begins ....

Twas a bit slow my end ... and you know how you get that 'creative -y thing' that urge to hold a needle .. to have a mess about ..

Well I found some bits of felt ... and well ... had a bit of a mess about..

 I suppose I was thinking of the wee folk .. of fairies and imps and magical things ... 

I just let the needle wander where it would ... its a while since I played with the embroidery silks.

 

Of course all the little houses have little wood burning stoves to keep itsy bitsy fairy feet nice and toasty ... you can see they have lovely big chimneys that puff away gently ...

If... when you wander the fairy glens ...amongst the gentle mists of Autumn .... and smell the air ... 

... can you not just get a whiff of their woodsmoke ... sweet brier burning brightly ... with a cheery glow.   

So there we are .... Tuppenny penny houses ....

Ah ... but wait ...why Tuppenny penny?

I thought we would have a ... 'Bit Of A Giveaway' ... bit of fun..

So ... any ideas? 

Why do I call them Tuppenny Penny Houses?

Leave me a comment and I will do a draw next Thursday.. 1st Nov I believe (and let you into the secret)

 ... and the winner will receive their very own Tuppenny Penny House ... complete with resident fairies. 

xx  Take care  xx