Saturday 29 January 2011

Finds




Yes I know 2 posts in 2 days,  but I just had to show you what I found in the Charity shops this morning.





I love coloured glass.





Four of these retro plates,which I might lose to eldest daughter.




Didn't I do well.

Gillx

Friday 28 January 2011

Cley.

I would like to show you what I've been doing this week but we are decorating our newly acquired guest bedroom so I'm busy making curtains. I have taken  before pictures and hopefully It won't be long before I can show you the finished room.

I did have a day out with my friend Lynn as Mr.T wanted me out of the house, apparently I distract him when he's trying to get on. I'm not complaining, Papering a ceiling is not my idea of fun. So off to Cley we went.


This used to be a harbour at one time. This is one side of the wall



 and this is the other. A bit cold to sit in a pub garden today though.



 I love the brick and flint cottages we have in Norfolk, this one is for sale as well.





 There are these little alleys all over the place.



This is Cley pottery which also sells some beautiful jewellery.


 I love this shop as it has some mouth watering food including Lavender bread and hand made pork pies which Mr .T loves but he is on a diet so no treats for him.


The view over to Wiveton Church before lunch in Holt.

A very pleasant morning in a beautiful village.

Gillx

Monday 24 January 2011

I think I'll go back to bed.





No I'm not ill I've just had one of those mornings. You know,I'm sure you've all had one--You fill the washing bowl thing with washing liquid and then drop it on the floor, so you wash the floor and the dogs walked all over it with their muddy paws, then Mr T is on nights and the builders down the road start making hell and all noise and the dogs bark at everything that moves.










They look so cute don't they, don't be deceived.

Anyway, having been reminded by reading Bobo Bun this morning of a book I have, called "the wonderful weekend book", I decided to have a bath, chill out for 10 minutes  and have a quick read. 







Virtually the first thing I see is a page saying " the ideal bath".  Well I don't think the Wine and candles in the morning are quite the thing but the paragraph about revitalising your body with a soft brush and getting rid of dead skin sounded good. No soft brush but do have a loofah, that will do. Next stage rinse off in the shower, well my shower is in a different room but I do have a handheld shower head on the taps, just as good surely.


Mistake No.1-- Check which way the shower head is facing when you turn it on. Another floor to wash and Mirror to clean, walls to wipe down and book to dry out. I must have looked like something from a carry on film with this thing wiggling about all over the place.

Mistake No2-- Having got said shower head under control, Check the water temp and remember that you have a combination boiler so it takes a short while for the hot water to come through, before turning the water on yourself. From hot to freezing cold in moments is not fun.

Mistake no 3-- Don't scream when the cold water hits you and your husband is on nights as he wakes up thinking you have had an accident then is cross because you have not.

No I should never have got out of bed.

Gillx

Saturday 22 January 2011

Monthly Makes

Well Mr.T are on our own again as my Little one has gone on her travels again, this time to Thailand and all points east for 2 and a half months.  There are 3 girls going together this time which I must admit relieves my worries a great deal as originally she was going to go on her own and that worried me silly.




Anyway on to my Monthly makes which have mostly been for the home this month.


I tried my hand at candle making and am pleased with the results.





An I-Pod bag and another little bag for little one to keep things safe whilst on her travels.


A new door stop for my spare room.


 A new plastic bag holder,


and lastly, did I mention I am about to become a Great Aunt-----Again.  So I am doing my first major crochet project, a baby blanket.  It's coming on well but is getting to the  unwieldy stage, but I promise to keep you up to date with progress.


Have a great weekend.
Gillx

Wednesday 19 January 2011

Following in Kirsties footsteps

After my few days in Somerset I carried on down to my Eldest daughters in Exeter for a couple of days.

It was her birthday recently and I bought her this book as she is a real fan.



One of the photo's in the book is a reclamation yard called "Fagin's" just outside Exeter.




So of course we had to go.





Green house anyone.




This was fabulous,  but I couldn't find a price .




I was never going to come away empty handed though. A lovely embroidered table cloth which needs an iron after being washed.



And a present for Mr. T's desk, we just need to get new stamps made up.


Luckily for Mr. T I drive a small 2 seater car so I couldn't fit much in and with so much choice I could have filled a van.



Gillx

Friday 14 January 2011

Just a quick mention...

I'm not sure how well these photo's have turned out but I went back to Shepton mallet today to buy a picture i had been thinking about all week and had decided to buy.  The shop I went into was called
"One Galley" and the lady working inside was quilting by hand so of course I had to see what she was doing and it was amazing.  She had taken dresses that she had handmade for her daughters when they were children and made them into a quilt as she couldn't bear to cut them up.
The first picture shows the handquilting from the back.


This one shows the dresses with their smocking still in place.  the lady's name is Rosalind Gregory and she had some great cushions in the shop as well.




Tuesday 11 January 2011

Visiting Friends

Hello my dears.
I made it to Somerset, eventually, having had a flat tyre on the way. Why do these things happen in the worse possible place in the freezing cold and wet?  I did try and change it myself but in the end had to call those nice people from the RAC as I couldn't even loosen the wheel nuts. So an hour and a half later off I went again with the heater going full blast to warm up.


Today my Sister-in-law and I went off to Shepton Mallet a few miles down the road from Frome. I wanted to visit Niki at her shop, Niki writes "Nostalgia at  the Stone House" if you haven't read her blog take a look she has the most beautiful stuff.



Shepton has a lovely old fashioned  High Street which they are trying to rejuvenate at present.


I love baskets.

This is Niki's Shop which sits in the town Square.

 And inside is fab.



Shelves packed full.

 I love this set.



Just down the road is Woo Hoo who has some fantastic retro clothes.






 Then over the road is "Peppers" cafe and Deli who do Carrot cake to die for.


I will be back.

Gillx

Sunday 9 January 2011

An award and a promise fulfilled.




I know that I have one member of my family who reads my blog ( Hi Sandra) but I have a suspicion that Mr T might also have a peek. I mentioned in my last post that I had been waiting for months to have a shelve put up in my work area, well guess what. Yes  it has been done without my having to ask again, so I'm wondering if he is a secret admirer.  The difference it makes to my work area is great.


All the jars of buttons used to be on my desk and it made it very cramped.


I had a wonderful surprised today, I have been given an award by Jenevieve at buttons,ribbons and other things so I have tell you 7 things about myself and pass the award on.






So hear goes:-
1, Even though I have been around the world this year, I really don't like flying and have to take tablets to cope.  It's the only way I can see the things I want to so for me the end justifies the means.
2. I am not the tidiest person in the world although I am better than I used to be, but i always seem to have something better to do than housework.
3. I love dogs and the 2 we have at the moment are numbers 5 and; 6.  My favourites are Labs and Spaniels, we have had 2 of each now.
4. I'm a real fan of costume dramas, in fact I have Downton Abbey on the DVD as I type.
5. Both my parents come from the West Country and that's where my brothers live. I love going down to see them, but I wouldn't move from beautiful Norfolk.




6. I returned to crafts to relieve the stresses and strains of work which had got the better of me and it is amazing the difference it has made.
7. It took me 3 attempts to pass my driving test at the age of 18 but I past my motor bike test first time at the age of 40. I had promised my Father I wouldn,t ride a bike and after waiting for so many years to waiting to learn I found I didn't like it.  Still at least I now know.

Now to pass it on to 10 others


So tell everyone 7 things about yourself and pass it on.  I'm off to Somerset for the week so will hopefully be posting from there.  Have a good week.

Gillx



Wednesday 5 January 2011

In with the old?

Hello to you all.

What is it they say for New Year "Out with the old and in with the New" well my Mother-in-law has certainly been doing the first part.  We went down to my in-laws in Kent for the new year and MIL says" before you go I have some fabric you can take" and out comes this large carrier bag.  As we were late for lunch at our next port of call I didn't have time to check it out until we got home the next day and it drove me mad.  My MIL is a life long knitter and I've never known her to sew so imagine my surprise when I pulled out yards and yards of retro fabric and the "vogue" patterns she obviously bought to make it up.



The blue piece is the smallest at 4 yards the rest are 5 or 6 yards long. I have no idea what I'm going to make with it , for the moment it will go into my trunk where I keep my Yardage fabric.



Whatever I make I'm not sure it will be either of these, my shoulders are broad enough without shoulder pads.



this piece is my favourite though. It's an old Sanderson fabric and would great in as a bathroom blind but I think it's too small for mine, I'll have to check that.

I have also have had a clear out of a sort. My lovely old Olympus camera became temperamental on holiday and finally gave up, so the lovely Mr T gave me a new for Christmas. A beautiful bright pink Canon which I have been playing with for a couple of days to get used to it.  I convinced my photos are better.

Something else I received was my first Tilda book.


I love these.








So I made my own Garden Angel and she will have pride of place on the new shelves in my work room  
if Mr T ever puts them up (he has to think about these things for a few months) and before you ask, no I can't do them myself, I'm not trusted with things like power tools as I have a habit of blowing them up, apparently.  I've only done that once,--or maybe twice.

Gillxx

Sunday 2 January 2011

Hats



First and foremost HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL. Hope you all had  good Christmas and New Year celebrations.  
My nephew proposed to his girlfriend on New Year's day and so it looks like I have a wedding to go to in October.  What's more I have been told I have to wear a hat.  I don't do hats as a rule but I thought i'd have a look on line to see what's about.




 They really knew how to do hats then didn't they.




 A bit big for my purposes I think.




 This is the cheapest option but I don't think I would get away with this one.




This was the sort of thing my Mother wore at my wedding, maybe not for October.



Traditional ?




or Warmth.

The choice is endless but at least I have a while to decide.


Gillxx