The week so far

Its been a busy bitty sort of week. Do you ever get to the end of the week and can't remember what you did at the beginning of the week? I know I was busy on Monday, but what on earth with? Ah well, it'll come to me sooner or later. Now Tuesday, I do know what I did on Tuesday, I had to drag a group of 50, FIFTY German school kids round town on a 2 hour town walk. Actually, it wasn't bad at all, they were good fun really, the weather held out ok and I always love the Old Town, however many times I take the same route. Mind you, its very much up and down, especially the climb up to the castle, and then of course the long walk back after the two hours to get back to my car. Still, its all good excercise.

Wednesday, I had to go to London to the German Embassy to get my passport renewed. I was dreading it, I don't cope with masses of people too well these days, I seem to be turning into a bit of a hermit, lol. Plus, I was told that I would have to have my fingerprints taken for the passport. WHAT? Fingerprints? I know its silly, but.............. you see, retinal printing I could cope with, anything else really, but the idea of fingerprinting just conjures up images of police stations and makes me feel vaguely like a criminal, lol. Stupid I know. Also, I couldn't get pictures of of old cop movies/tv episodes out of my head and had convinced myself that it would be an ink and paper job, lol. 5am start to get the 6something train to London, trying to find the German Embassy and then queuing to get in, and waiting to be seen, and waiting some more.................... and more. Thankfully, I came prepared with wool and crochet hook, teeheee, so I sat there in the German Embassy, amongst god knows how many people, quietly crocheting flowers -


When I was finally called, it didn't actually take all that long to get the passport sorted. Of course the passport photos I had showed my head too small, so I had to queue up to get another set done there and then. But the fingerprinting only involved the two indexfingers pressed onto a sci-fi green screen, and once I had paid the £91.80!!! I was assured my passport would be ready in 2 - 3 weeks time. Hurrah, I might yet make it to our cottage in France this summer. Late summer.

Being so close to Knightsbridge I thought I check out the posh shops. I so wish I hadn't, lol. I spent a little while strolling through a department store, and had a look at their women's clothing sales rails. Right. It went something like this - under £200, under £400, under £600........... Thats sales prices, not original prices. Sigh, how the other half lives. A few ladies were pulling out this and that from the £600 rail, and heading off to the till with 2 or 3 items at a time. Whats a grand or two when you are getting bargains, eh?

I did go into Harrods, Food Hall only, because I had never been in the Food Hall and heard such wonderful things about it. I could live in there, lol, not just because of the fabulous foods, but also because of the totally gorgeous decor. The wall tiles, the ceilings, the food displays, awesome! I didn't have my camera with me, so here are just a few pics courtesy of google images -


After that, I decided Knightsbridge really wasn't for me, and headed off to Covent Garden. OMG, the masses and masses of people! I am really a country bumpkin at heart, I found it very stressful. Passed a stall selling soaps, looked at the labels, and was totally disgusted. How the heck do these people get away with selling at such a prestigious location when their products are totally inadequately ( and thereby illegally ) labelled? And why do consciencious idiots like me bother to do the right thing? Apart from a few small craft stalls and a couple of high street chain stores, Covent Garden was so disappointing. So many of the shops were selling cheap crap that I could just as well have found in our seaside tourist shops. My sole purchases of the day consisted of a dress for granddaughter Paige from the Monsoon sale, and a dress for the very long awaited daughter of our best friends Will and Theresa, again from Monsoon.

I got so peed off with London, I went to Charing Cross Station a couple of hours before I was due to meet up with my husband, so that we could travel home together. I found myself a seat, got out my wools and crochet hook and CROCHETED some more flowers, lolol. I did get the odd look or two, but I really couldn't have cared less. Couple more flowers on the train home, and I now have a veritable garden of crochet flowers! They are going to be used on some cushions I am going to make next week.

I did make a few flowers into brooches, because they were so pretty. Yummy icecream colours, fluffety yarns, and a few beads, and there you have it, La Croix Rosion flower brooches. I am going to take just a couple with me for this weekend's fairs and see how they do. What do you think? Would you wear one of these? On a jumper/dress? On a hairband perhaps? Pinned to a fabric handbag?


Thursday, I finally got round to doing some paperwork, sending off the giveaways, doing some shopping, and all sorts of other bits and pieces. And today was another bitty day, one of those days when you are constantly doing all sorts, but end up with very little to show for it. Grrr.

BUT, at least I had a wonderful surprise in the mail! Floss had sent me the Garden Party prize, woohoo, and it was perfect! Just look, look!

I love these old fashion magazines, I think I'll frame the cover and hang it in one of the bedrooms in the cottage

and just look at this adorable card/tag with a bunch of buttons attached


And this cross stitch flower is so beautiful! I can really appreciate the work which has gone into that, I used to do a lot of cross stitching. I might use that as the centre for a little lavender pillow for our bedroom in France, which is decorated in yellow tones


This chubby gorgeous little thing was part of the design on the front cover of the fashion magazine, did you spot it? It is so adorable, I love it, I am going to use that somewhere for sure, maybe I'll redesign the label for the "Little Angel" baby soap I make. Hmm.



Thank you so much, Floss, for the goodies, you chose so well!

Tomorrow I have a stall at a fair, and on Sunday at a different one, so its going to be a busy weekend. Without bootfairing, waaahhh. I keep meaning to catch the midweek bootfair not too far from us, maybe next week, eh?

A Village Fair

I am feeling very lazy this morning, so instead of writing about the same thing all over again, I have been very cheeky and copied it over from my soapblog. What am I on about? Saturday's Village Fair, where I had a stall offering my wares, lol. You don't mind, do you? So here goes -

It really wasn't a great start to the day, it was drizzling, there wasn't a speck of blue or ray of sunshine to be seen in the sky anywhere, just big dark clouds, sigh. I was feeling a wee bit apprehensive as we were putting the gazebo in the car, remembering Purplesparkle's adventures with her gazebo last year. Although her writings made us all laugh, it really isn't very funny, having your gazebo blown away and I was starting to have visions of my gazebo going the same way. And even if the gazebo behaved itself and stayed put, would there be any customers if the weather was going to be foul all day?

Still, as we were going to a village fair I was hopeful that people weren't going to be put off by bad weather, villagers always seem to support their local events come rain or shine. Half way to the fair, it stopped drizzling and my spirits rose. Perhaps the gods would smile on us after all, eh?

The grounds where the fair was being held were huge! And there was so much planned for the day! Dog shows, dance displays, animal displays, hog roast, bar tent, a little funfair for the kiddies and of course lots of stalls. The atmosphere was fabulous, you really can't beat village fairs for that, the stall holders were friendly, the organisers were very nice, the only criticism I have is that everything was too spread out, there were huge areas of nothing.


The morning was slow, every now and then there was a little moisture ( alright, drizzle, sigh ) in the air, and I was beginning to think that perhaps this would be the first time that I would make a loss. I was so wrong! After midday, things really started to take off, despite the lack of sunshine, and the atmosphere was just fabulous. So many happy families about, people making such lovely comments about my products, and buying, lol, and not allowing me much time to have a look at the other stalls or events which were taking place in the arena. It turned out to be the best fair yet for me. The best thing, and which made us all laugh out loud, was when I had a bunch of friends in my gazebo fighting over the last bar of hair soap, and one saying in desperation " I need it more than you do "! It is really quite worrying how many people these days suffer with skin/scalp problems. So far, the hair soap has proven to be of tremendous help in soothing the scalp, calming itching and reducing flaking and patches of psoriasis. In conjunction with the scalp oil, it certainly cleared my husband's 20+ years of scalp problems.

I really wanted to take photos of some of the events, but in the end I had to ask my DS to go and take some, as I was constantly talking with customers. Just look at these totally adorable doggies, the brown Newfoundland looks just like a huge cuddly teddy bear -

Debbie and Mike organise craft fairs as well, in Tunbridge Wells, and we also seem to be at the same fairs quite often. They are such lovely people, so I was really pleased that they were next door but one to me.


We had such a laugh during the day, Debbie had a naughty glint in her eyes most of the time, lol, and she is quite the little daredevil. Just look at what she got up to! You wouldn't get me doing that, even if you paid me, I'd be spewing for the rest of the day, lol -

Just look at her, she is still smiling after all that, and she didn't even stagger when she got out of that contraption!

Debbie creates really lovely, elegant and classy jewellery, not your run-of-the-mill strung together cheap beads. Her beautiful necklaces feature Swarovski crystal and semi precious stones, and her designs are so imaginative. These photos, taken with my very ancient digital camera really don't do them justice -


The next few photos are for our very special friends in France, Frank and Christine. Well, mostly for Frank really, he is a bit of a tractor collector, especially the beautiful old Petit Gris tractors ( Petit Gris is the Little Grey ), the old Fergusons. I believe he has just been and got himself two more!

So here you are Frank, for you, some photos of lovely old tractors, aren't they just so handsome? Not all are Petits Gris, I know.

They are so incredibly well looked after, just look at that last one, pretty impressive, isn't it?

It really was a lovely day after all the initial worries about the weather, customers etc. Hopefully next year they will have even more stalls to fill those empty spaces, or at least group the stalls together better.

No bootfairing this weekend either, sigh, I am working both Saturday and Sunday, two different events though. Please keep your fingers crossed, I need good weather!

Game and giveaway results!

I was a little disappointed that so few people took up the challenge of the 1950s party game, so a huge thank you and well done to the few who did come out to play!

Sarah, from Red Gingham was the first one, good on ya, girl!
Cheerfulness was next, yay!
Floss from Troc, Broc & Recup' was also up for it.
And Tomolou also gave it a jolly good go.

Now I am faced with a really horrid dilemma, because, well, errmmm, nobody actually got them all correct, lol. I don't blame ya, some of the picture puzzles were really quite fiendish, especially so for non-UK people. Well, let me give you the correct answers first, and then I'll let you know what I have decided to do with the giveaway.

Here goes -

Card 1 - Spot the trees - PALMS
Card 2 - Spot the car part - BOOT
Card 3 - Spot the drink- PUNCH
Card 4 - Spot the English town - CREWE ( crew )
Card 5 - Spot the footwear - PUMP
Card 6 - Spot the car - STANDARD
Card 7 - Spot the politician - BUTLER
Card 8 - Spot the fish - PERCH
Card 9 - Spot the athlete - BANNISTER ( Banister )
Card 10 - Spot the insect - CRICKET
Card 11 - Spot the lady's woolen garment - JUMPER
Card 12 - Spot the game - BRIDGE
Card 13 - Spot the British County - CARDIGAN
Card 14 - Spot the dog - POINTER
Card 15 - Spot the gun - MORTAR
Card 16 - Spot the shopping attraction - SALES ( sails )
Card 17 - Spot the composer - HANDEL ( handle )
Card 18 - Spot the human body part - GROIN ( groyne )

You know gals, because I had looked at the game, the cards and the answers of course, when I was at the stall buying it, it didn't seem so bad, but looking at it now, I can see why it was really really difficult. I mean, who the heck is Bannister, lol, or Butler for that matter? Unless you are a history/sports/politics buff, you just wouldn't know 50 years on, would ya? Still, some answers made me giggle, teehee, and I am a really bad person for chuckling away at you poor wonderful people sitting there, probably chewing your bottom lip, scratching your head, spillling your tea, cos you were thumping the desk in frustration...........

Right, firstly, I think I have to find out who got the most answers correct, lets see......

In reverse order -

Sarah came in with 7 correct answers, and for somebody living on the other side of the world, thats a pretty darned good result, woohoo, well done Sarah!

Cheerfulness got 8 answers correct, thats a great effort, much better than a couple of my friends did!

Floss got 10 correct ( including the groyne, lolol ), way to go, girl!

And with a fabulous total of 11 correct answers, tomolou came out tops, you little star, you. Tomolou even got Roger Bannister, how brilliant is that?

So now what do I do? I had said that I would pick the winner from the ones who got all answers correct, but nobody did, so here's what I think I'll do. At the moment there are 7 little bits in the giveaway, I'll add another bit, a length of this really sweet vintage French dotty ribbon


to make it 8 bits altogether. So now we have

embroidered cloth
vintage French glass buttons
fashion tea cards
length of lace trim
green polka dot ribbon
country chicken ribbon
vintage grey button set
vintage French pink dotty ribbon

Tomolou, as the person with the most correct answers can pick 2 items from the lot of 8. Once tomolou has picked, Floss can pick 2, then cheerfulness, then Sarah. Do you all think thats fair? I hope tomolou is around to start it off, so the rest of you don't have to wait too long, lol.

Now my brain hurts, and I need a cup of tea. Big thank you again to you wonderful people for playing the game, you are real good sports! And I promise, I make the next giveaway much easier........... probably................ unless....................

xx

A few bits and pieces

Before I start the post proper, let me remind you of the fun game and giveaway! I would love to see you ( well, you know what I mean ) sitting there with a cup of tea or coffee, and taking a few mins to play this fun 1950's game. I loved it, even though it is not as easy as you might think. Go on, give it a go, it is open until Saturday, and I will post the answers on Sunday and announce the winner.



Last weekend I finally managed to get to a couple of bootfairs, and also had a quick rummage through a couple of charity shops on the way to the post office last Friday.

Alrighty, didnt get much in the shops, but a couple of little things were too adorable to leave. At the first shop, I immediately spotted competition in the shape of two women taking up all the space in front of the knicknack shelves and picking up bits and debating, while I was itching to get in there as well, but short of being rude and pushing them aside, I just had to bide my time. My heart sank though when I saw them with this gorgeous piece of 1930s amber glass, which they kept turning over and round, and hmming over for ages. I would have loved it. Darn, why couldn't I have gotten to the shop just a few mins earlier? And then, good lord, they put it down and picked something else up, and wandered off with that! I couldn't believe my luck. I picked it up rather quickly, and then relaxed, lol, woohoo, it was mine, all mine! At least after that I was able to have a nice slow lookaround.


I don't usually go gaga over teddies, but this cute little fella caught my eye, I just loved his expression, so serious and intense, yet with a teeny twinkle in his eyes as well. How could somebody not love him and just give him away? Ah well, now he is living with me -


And all good things come in threes, of course, so it was no surprise that I also found this gorgeous tray in the same shop. I have quite a few of these, both here and in the cottage in France, in all sorts of shapes and sizes, and with all sorts of beautiful flowers -


Only one other shop yielded anything at all, just this little crocheted bag, which I am going to embellish with crocheted flowers etc -


That was Friday, and on Saturday, we went to a lunchtime bootfair. On the way, we stopped off to see our bestest friends W & T, who were at a school fair, and I may just have had a quick look at the, hmm, what would one call it, white elephant ( in the good old days, lol ), bricabrac stall.
And I may just have had to get this pretty pink bag for my almost-daughter-in-law, because she loves pink -


and I might also just had to get this fabulous black and while Rayware bowls set -


You just gotta love school fairs, the bag was all of 20p and the bowls set, which apparently retails around £9-£10, was 50p. And my son and almost-daughter-in-law love black and white bits and pieces, so hopefully they will also like this set.

The bootfair was in full swing by the time we got there, and there were masses and masses and masses of people, sigh. Sometimes when I see it that busy I think, I am never gonna find anything interesting, everything will have been snapped up already, but there are always a few little bits and pieces to be had.

Ok, the first purchase you may think a bit odd, lol, 3 reels of fishing line, but I make jewellery for myself and friends and fishing line is great for stringing, its so fine and yet so tough and strong!
I didn't take a photo, lol, quite frankly, I forgot, and I am not going downstairs again and taking pics again, and uploading again, just for a bit of fishing line, I am sure you all know what it looks like.

On to the next item, yes? Not exactly vintage, but vintage style and so very pretty. My mother-in-law had given me a larger version of this one a few years ago as a birthday present, and I was really pleased to find this slightly smaller one with the same design -


I love costume jewellery, can't beat a bit of bling bling, its cheap and cheerful, and you don't need a second mortgage on your house to get a great looking piece. I especially like old brooches. It took me a while to find these three at a reasonable price, but aren't they just gorgeous?


And have a hooky-looky at this -


yep, I found a granny square cushion, perfect for the garden in France, and best of all, NO WORK involved, lol. I can concentrate on other crochet projects.

Now I know this cookie jar isn't decorated with roses, but the hand painted flowers were so beautiful, I couldn't resist buying it. Hmm, it might not be a cookie jar, but I really don't mind what it is, lol. I love the shape of the jar as well, immensely tactile -



Oh, and this pretty vintage wool blanket with its pink stripes came in very handy for protecting the cooky jar, lol -


I think that was it on Saturday, but because I only wrote down what I spent, and not WHEN I spent it, I can't be absolutely sure whether I bought these things on Saturday or Sunday. Does it matter? Not a bit, lol, I really don't care, and I shouldn't think you do either, as long as I show you all the pics from the weekend.

I THINK the next lot is from the Sunday late bootfair. First item bought was this teeny little milk/cream jug, so prettily decorated -


Then I found some more fluffety mohair wool for my fluffety granny square lanky -


Errm, this poor copper planter is very ugly at the moment from decades of neglect, but there is hope for it. I started cleaning a little patch, and yes, look! Under all that grime is definitely some shiny copper -


Anything with flowers will always catch my eye, and although the glaze on this is very crackled, I adore the shape of it and the dainty flower decorations and gilded rim -


On the theme of flowers, isn't this the prettiest little plate? Such a shame they only had one, but I had to get it anyway, it called to me! I have been buying a few rose plates whenever I have come across them in charity shops as well, as I am about to make a batch of rose soap. I have been sniffing various rose FOs ( I would need a second mortgage for the real thing ), and have decided on one now. The soaps will look so pretty on these plates, decorated with little dried rose buds etc.


To keep it safe whilst I was wombling about, I wrapped it in this -


And yes, you have guessed it, it will be embellished with something, probably some beaded fabric flowers, or something along those lines.

Ok, you will probably think I am completely nuts for buying this next item, a VERY battered old suitcase, but............ it is absolutely gorgeous inside, completely lined with this fabulous deep orangy fabric, it closes properly, the handle isn't broken, it has gilt initials on the top and a great label ( war economy label ) underneath, and it was only £1.50. Ok, so it needs a lot of cleaning, and I am still debating whether I should rub it down and paint it carefully ( around the label and the initials, of course ), or whether I should just leave it in its battered state. Hmm, what do you think?


From a distance, I spotted some things on a stall which suspiciously looked like French button cards.... ooh, and whats all that other stuff? Oh my, this guy had been to France and bought up some old haberdashery stuff, and I was so very tempted, waahh. I had to stop myself from buying more button cards, I have so many already, and there were all sorts of other things I could have filled my bags with, but I was a good girl, this is all I came away with -

a bundle of the prettiest tiniest pink and aqua braid

a bunch of beaded flowers, which came in a great big lump, but it was fun reshaping them all

and god knows how many meters of this adorable polka dot ribbon

I was a huge messy, knotted pile and it took me ages to get it sorted out, but it was so worth it!

And this was my most expensive buy of the weekend, sigh. Now you all know I am 50p or £1 girl at bootfairs, so you would probably have kittens if you knew how much I paid for these things, and I bet you don't even know what they are, right? Well, I'll tell ya, they are lathe chisels, for my son and my husband, who both love woodworking. Son No.3 ( my craft fair helper ) is really getting into lathe work, and needed some heavy duty chisels, I couldn't believe my luck when I found these -


just look at these handles, I adore old tools with their totally tactile handles, they just scream, stroke me, stroke me, lolol -

And there you have it, a week's worth of goodies from charity shops, school fairs and bootsales. What on earth I am going to do with it all, where am I going to put it? When will it all end??? xx