It can't be bedtime already

I don't know where the evening's gone.  I just looked at the clock and it's nearly time to retire to bed with Ken Follett. I only have about a hundred pages left to read and I'll be quite sad when I'm finished.  Every night I go into my little medieval world and hope it all turns out well for the cathedral builder and his family and the Prior, as well as hoping the evil Earl gets his just deserts!  I've always loved the medieval period but this book really brings it to life.

So, what have I been doing all evening?  Er....I don't know really!  Someone must've put the clock forward a couple of hours when I wasn't looking!  I've spent some time reading through back posts on Rhonda Jean's blog at  http://down---to---earth.blogspot.com/.  This lady talks so much sense.  I only hope I can turn my life around to achieve the same degree of happiness and contentment.  Today I went back to work after a few days off and I was anything but serene!  Still, only 15 weeks to go now :o)

It's a Complicated Business

I was gobsmacked when I came across Andrex 'Subtle and Sylish' loo roll the other day. Described as "A little touch of contemporary style" and "A little thing to make your home your own", personally  I would describe it as 'the latest con to get you to part with more of your money for a basic product'!  It's consumerism gone mad - it's only toilet paper for goodness sake! 
I had to see what else they were offering.  Buying toilet paper is a complicated business!  Do I go for the fun of 'Puppy on a Roll'?  Or 'Aloe Vera' as my skin is obviously too delicate to come into contact with un-moisturised paper?  But wait!  Maybe it would be better to go for 'Quilts' with it's "plush layers of tissue to give the softness of quilts" (easier to block the toilet up with if you ask me!)   And what is it with all these people who claim their bottoms are too sensitive to cope with 'ordinary' loo roll?  Is it some kind of status symbol I'm not aware of?!

And then there's the ultimate in luxury - 'Shea Butter', with 'enriched sheets, scented inner core and luxurious dark brown packaging, designed to give you a fabulous feeling'!!  The packaging is coming off straight away anyway!  Finally, do I sacrifice all this comfort for the satisfaction of knowing my loo roll blends in with my bathroom decor to give 'just the right finishing touch', and buy the 'Naturals' range?

Well, obviously I do none of this.  I'm just not that gullible!

Crafting

I'd just gotten myself all excited (sad person that I am) at the prospect of  knitting some creations with video tape, when I start to hear stories about stuff on the tapes that are harmful.  Cobalt and chromium mainly.  Carcinogenic apparantly. 

Well, that's my fun spoilt - I had ideas about mixing the tape with various different yarns, and all for free because no-one wants video tape any more.  Ah, well, back to the plastic bags.  I haven't even explored all the possibilities with them yet.  I'm annoyed because Iain bought round 2 turquoise plastic bags and then put rubbish in one of them! How dare he squander my craft materials!  I managed to salvage the other one though.

I've found a really cool pattern and video tutorial for a bracelet made by crocheting around ring pulls. You can find it here:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZLz62lDSck&feature=channel_video_title

Now I need to get my son to drink 12 cans of lager (that won't be difficult!)

This is one of the patterns from the Golden Hands magazine.

The woman looks like she just threw on that dogs blanket before going out, but I love the girl's short, one colour version. I might make that in black or dark purple for myself.   Velvet ribbon would be good - it might actually be velvet in the pattern. The big bunched hood makes it look so Georgian.

Close up of the fastening:

 I'll put up some more pictures as I go through them. 

Charity Shopping

Wednesdays post seems to have re-appeared so I don't know what was going on there.  Saves me doing another project update, anyway.

As I mentioned, yesterday I had a fab day going round the charity shops and the fleamarket.  This particular fleamarket is held every Friday so I don't often get the chance to go as I'm usually at work.  Iain came with me but he's never been keen on it since the time we found the second hand vibrator on one of the stalls!  He won't rummage through any boxes as he's frightened what he might put his hands on!

No vibrators today thank goodness, intead I found these gems:

A pile of Golden Hands magazines from the 1970's!  At a cost of only £1 for 3, I wish I could have bought them all. Unfortunately, I couldn't carry them.  I'm tempted to take another days annual leave next Friday though, in the hope that the rest of them will still be there.

I found a new charity shop, which wasn't strictly speaking a charity.  It was set up to give employment to adults with learning difficulties.  They work alongside the local re-cycle centre and stock the shop with items people have thrown out as well as donations. But the best thing about this shop was that they took things just a little bit further.  Textiles that weren't good enough for resale were taken apart and used to make yarn to knit bags with. You could buy the finished bags or balls of the scrap yarn to make your own. All buttons, zips and other trimmings were taken off and resold. It's great to see stuff being recycled like this.  I had a wonderful time rummaging through all the bits and pieces and I'll definately be coming here next time I need buttons, zips, curtain tape etc. 

They had some lovely textiles and vintage clothing and accessories.  I was tempted by loads of stuff, including a 1930's pink glass dressing table set with a perfume bottle and various trinket jars on a tray and a pair of pale green embriodered satin pillowcases.

I settled for a laced up top for £3- purple and velvet, what could be nicer?! I would have pictured me wearing it, but unforunately it gapes horribly across my chest!  So, until I lose some more weight I'll have to take out the laces and use it as a cardigan.

I also bought this skinny scarf at 50p - reminiscent of the art deco era, I thought.

Some pretty vinatge hankies (although I don't think they're all that old).

And I had a good rummage through some vintage knitting patterns and came out with these:

A booklet, probably from the early 1960's, which included this dress:

I think it would look lovely knit short, in a bright colour, with a wide waist belt, to wear with thick black tights or leggings.  Maybe do 3/4 length sleeves somehow?

Also a 1980's booklet.  I've pictured the top I particularly like.  I think I'd knit it with a scoop front as well as a scoop back.

In another shop I spotted some flanelette sheets for £1.50 that would have been useful for cutting up to use for the backs or insides of the pantyliners I intend to make.  I meant to go back for them at the end of the day, but misjudged the time and unfortunately they'd shut.

Nearly forgot, I bought this piece of material (it's roughly 1.8 metres square) for £1.50:

I have no idea what I'll use it for but I'm sure I'll think of something eventually.  I thought the pink feathers were so pretty.
All in all, a good days rummaging.  And I even got 6 Galaxy eggs for a pound on the market so I had plenty of piggery for the weekend!  Won't help me fit into the purple velvet top though....

A Messy Hair Day

I was trying out a new hairstyle yesterday - messy!

The photos have turned out a bit blurry - they were much clearer on the camera.  Never mind.

As we were expecting showers I thought it was a waste of time straightening it so I just scrunched it up and let it dry naturally.  Then when the rain came I could just scrunch it up again!  It also has the added benefit of disguising any imperfections in my hair cutting technique, so I might try this more often!

Today I decided to get rid of the packet of sweet shortcrust pastry I bought for 20p and shoved in the freezer.  So I made these:

The filling is apple puree, one of the jars I bought cheap on the internet.  We ate a couple while they were still warm and they were very more-ish.

I also bunged a couple of weetabix cakes in the oven whilst I was cooking a chicken.

The patches on the top are sugar.  I sprinkle a teaspoon on to make the cake taste sweeter and that means I can cut down on the sugar actually inside the cake.  They aren't made with fat or eggs - just weetabix, flour, dried fruit, sugar, cinnamon and milk.  I sliced them and put some in the freezer to keep for later.

The chicken will make us 3 meals and a soup and Rusty will eat any scrappy bits.  Tonight we had the breast sliced, with mashed potato, mixed veg and gravy, then I pulled the rest of the meat off and froze it for later.  I also froze the carcass as I couldn't be bothered to make stock with it tonight.

Tomorrow I'm having a day off from cooking.  We'll be having fish fingers for tea!

Simple Pleasures

Well that's weird - the post I wrote on Wednesday night has disappeared from my blog.  I noticed others have been having trouble with their posts as well.  If I remember right it was a project update, so I'll just do another late. It'll be useful for me to see how on-track I am with things.

Today I went to the flea market and round the charity shops. I spent a bit more money than I wanted to, but have bought some lovely stuff, including some craft magazines from the 1970's.  I'm going to spend the rest of the evening flicking through them - heaven!  I'll do some photos of everything tomorrow.

When I got home I went in the shower and I noticed how much better it felt now I no longer jump in every day.  I just seem to appreciate it more.  That started me off thinking about simple pleasures and I wrote a little list in my notebook  I find thats serves as a useful reminder of all the things we do have, instead of  dwelling on what we don't have.

Anyway, these are a few of my simple pleasures - the stuff that makes me feel happy inside.

• A hot shower (when it's not an every day occurance)
• Lying in the bath reading a good book
• A converstaion with Karly, my 4 year old granddaughter
• Playing chase with Rusty, my dog
• Watching the antics of the blackbirds through the kitchen window
• Eating raspberries straight from the bush
• Seeing my seeds germinate
• A pot of Lapsang tea in my vintage crockery
• Afternoon tea with home made scones or cake
• A leisurely Sunday afternoon spent lying on the sofa reading a book or watching an old film
• A walk down to the lake to feed the ducks and swans
• Mint tea from the garden on a hot day
• Looking through old photos and reliving some happy memories
• An evening spent watching back-to-back episodes of a favourite TV series on DVD
• An evening spent watching Patrick Swayze 'dirty dancing'
• Walking in the rain when I know I don't have to
• Experimenting with making something new from stuff that would otherwise have been thrown out
• Writing - a few notes in my diary or gratitude book or a few paragraphs of a short story

If we can slow down and appreciate the little things we'll realise how rich we actually are.

Projects update

This is where I want to be, all snuggled up and fast asleep.

Alas, it's 2.30am and sleep alludes me.  The dog is having a kip on my bed instead.

So I thought I'd have a cup of tea and do an update on my projects.  I've finished all my dishcloths and washcloths.  The dishcloths in particular are fabulous.  They seem to have a scrubbing action that you don't get with the ones you buy (not the cheap ones, anyway).  I did 5, which seemed the right amount.  Now to see how long they last.

I've knitted one sock and started on the second.  I just made ankle socks because I prefer them (and it saves on yarn!).  The yarn comes with a 10 year guarantee and I've been very good at cutting my toenails lately.

I've hemmed a few wee cloths (but if I keep on drinking all this tea I'm gonna be needing an awful lot more!).  I was wondering if I had any other material in the house to use for the cloths,instead of buying it. and then I thought about my kitchen towels.  A while back I replaced the handtowels I use in the bathroom and relegated the old ones to the kitchen for hand drying.  I had the idea that these would be more useful if I cut them in half to make smaller ones.  Then I'd have more than I needed and the excess could be cut up for the wee cloths and face cleaning cloths.  So I've spend a little time this week cutting and hemming them.  A good reminder of my new 'frugal mantra' - "always have a good think about what you aleady have in the house before you go out and buy something new".

One good idea leads to another and I thought "I could do the same with my hand towels in the bathroom, put half of them away, and they'd last me longer"!  Much easier to wash too. A future project.

This is one of a pair of legwarmers I've knit.

I haven't yet got round to sewing the buttons on the other one but no hurry as legwarmers aren't exactly summer clothing!  In the winter I love to wear long jumpers or short sweater dresses with warm thick tights - they're so comfy.  So I knit the legwarmers as an extra layer to keep my legs even toastier.  They're done in an acrylic yarn as I had some to use up but would have been warmer in a wool mix.

So, currently I'm prioritising knitting the socks and hemming the cloths.  Small steps I suppose.