crochet trim...

Here's the crochet trim we picked up on that recent bargain hunt! I've no idea what I'll use it for yet but I know it will be £1 well spent.

vintage bargains...

Leaving the men to do manly things (involving football) *E* and I visited my old selling ground recently. A huge site with hundreds of vintage, antique, salvage and junk dealers.

It can be overwhelming and you can lose a whole day in just one building but it helps if you know where to look for what you're after.

I was looking for a small shelving rack for *J's* cricket trophies and anything cheap and cheerful. *E* likes to look at the costume jewellery.

We came home with the perfect trophy shelving for £8 (pictures to follow when Mr H has fixed it to the wall), a 3m length of natural crochet trim (£1), a vintage wooden ruler (20p) and this fabulous vintage suitcase in bright red for £1.

*E* already has this suitcase in blue but slightly bigger and not so bashed up. She uses it regularly for weekends away.

Mr H doesn't quite get the vintage thing and asked why we were bringing home more junk after spending a week chucking out junk! Killjoy! When I explained the potential for beautifying this little find with decoupage paper and using it as storage he kinda came round to my way of thinking.

A small stack of these little cases with various decoupaged lids in the corner of *E's* room would look cool methinks.

quick and easy reindeer...

I was clearly in a reindeer mood yesterday! An offcut of fleece fell out of my fabric cupboard whilst putting away some leftover ribbon and I instantly thought of making a reindeer cushion. How weird is that?

I sketched out a shape on two pieces of A3 paper taped together, pinned it to two thicknesses of fleece, cut it out and sewed it all up leaving a tummy hole for stuffing.

The blanket is a piece of old shrunken cardigan with needle felted swirls. The whole thing was done in an afternoon.

Just the thing to do after raking leaves and preparing a bonfire for the weekend. Harvey helped of course, dragging large branches up the banks of the beck for me. He really gets the whole bonfire building thing! Normally he would wait for me to throw the branch for a game of fetch but when we build bonfires he just gathers as much twig material as he can find. Clever eh?

Needless to say no-one in this household is very impressed with my reindeer. Having to put it away after Christmas was mentioned. Well yeah, the same as any other Christmas decoration then. Once upon a time he would have been named and squirrelled away to a bed full of other stuffed creations.

I like him.

the-hamster-without-a-name...

Hamster no-name is settling in well. She is loving her wheel and climbing on the roof bars commando style. After exerting herself her nose glows bright red but alas 'Rudolph' is not in the running for a name.

*E* is delighted that she is weeing in one corner and one corner only. 'See? I've house trained her already!' Um, yeah, if you say so.

14 weeks old...

We have a new baby in the house! She's a gorgeous peachy colour and sleeps all day. Yet to be named; suggestions welcome!

I finally succumbed to the hamster thing. I figured at nearly fifteen years of age *E* could manage the responsibility. We look at them every time we go to the pet shop for cat and dog food and last night we spotted this gorgeous little thing who was wide awake and doing Spiderman impressions on the roof of her cage.

She's an absolute character with no fear whatsoever. She thinks nothing of climbing on top of her wheel and then spinning off. She needs a name to suit her daredevil nature!

I must admit the cat is a worry, especially as she is a brilliant mouser. The hamster cage seems pretty secure and the bedroom door will always be firmly shut. Will I still worry? Yes. Dead animals and me just don't get on, dead headless animals require a husband or father with a good stomach.

When shall I break the news to my Mother that we'll be arriving for Christmas with a cat, a dog and a hamster?

him and I...

Whadyamean I can't dry off on the cream carpet?

He would, he really would.

P.S. this dog is usually black and 'white'.

a bit of a catch up...

I seem to have lost my blogging mojo since returning from my trip down South. The perils of leaving two children and a husband behind I guess. It's taken me quite a while to clean up the mud and dust that the dog creates when he is let through to the carpeted areas too soon. It's something Mr H and I don't see eye to eye on; literally I think because his eyes are not as good as mine when it comes to household dirt.

On the plus side it prompted a bit of an early spring clean and a dozen sacks were sorted for the next charity collection, which in our area is at least once a week.

I didn't take any photographs of autumn beaches and boarded up beach huts, it was just too cold and wet to venture down there.

Instead Grandad and I took a drive out to Surrey where I have lots of precious childhood memories. In the village Nan and Grandad used to live in we only needed to take a short walk to bump into half a dozen relatives. I used to think that was so amazing. I never quite knew whether they were Nan's sisters or Grandad's brothers back then but of course I do now.

We called in on as many as we could fit in a day. Each of us congratulating the other on a successful two way conversation after each visit only to discover that neither of us had heard much at all. We got renamed 'bluff and double bluff' when we returned to Sussex.

In fact there was some concern about the two of us setting off in a car together since we both need to lipread and one of us was behind the wheel of a car! Not a good combination but we did ok.

Mr H and I celebrated a wedding anniversary whilst I was away. Hence the photo below of my fabulous present. I'm not big on bling and I like nature and natural materials so the little wooden leaves on this necklace by Tatty Devine were right up my street. Mr H received cherry wood cuff links which he's very pleased with too. We just do small things for anniversaries.

Well we have had a very late October half term this year. The children go back to school on Monday, but not before yet another shoe buying expedition (tomorrow). *E's* turn this time. Oh joy! Boys are so much easier.

It's been a nice week actually. We've done manageable things. Yesterday we treated ourselves to the latest Trivial Pursuit family edition. I think the adult one might have been better because some of the questions were a bit too easy and the game rather short but we played it twice to make up for that. With candles lit and bowls of popcorn, the dog sleeping on his own chair and the cat sleeping on Mr H's lap it was a lovely cosy scene. Why we only ever saved that game for Christmas before I don't know!

Meanwhile I am declaring today a pj day. I'm staying in my tartan flannelette pj trousers all day so there!