Surprise

It's been a long day. Determined to make the most of the Indian Summer we are having and use up the pot of fence paint I found yesterday clearing out the shed, I have been out the garden all day. The fences have been painted and plants cut back ready to be dug out to make room for new ones.

The main impetus for all this work started with me buying a rusty old wirewirk planter. And so the cleaning/sorting fenzy begins. It started (and ended) with the jet wash. Don't you just love them?


The wrought iron table and chairs were jet washed prior to re-painting (not today at some point in the future). Then of course I moved on to the floor. We have been in our house 7 years and it was a revelation today that the crazy paving is slate and the pointing inbetween is pale.




After that I got a but carried away and ended up jet washing anything and everything: the wooden table and chairs in the back garden, the plastic guttering and clearing out the accumulated moss inside. And last but not least the paths. I just can't believe what a difference it makes - the floor is so much cleaner.



A much more enjoyable job was to plant up the pots I already have. The stand still looks a little bare, but I shall remedy that with more pots and flowers. But right now I am off for a well earned rest and a cup of tea!

Filling Up

Remember the display cabinet that I posted about a few weeks ago? Well slowly but surely I have been finding small items to fill it with.


Nothing is valuable and nothing has cost more than £1 - which has been good new for my miniscule budget.

The fun part has been in finding the items for the cabinet - all thifted and all vintage items. Things that are too small to be put on a shelf on their own but look so much better when they are placed together.


The most recent has been a Pierrot clown that I found in a local charity shop for 50p. I initially thought that it may have been a lavender sachet but when I took about the grubby white silky "puffball" at the bottom there was only stuffing inside.


It was only a 15 minute job to use the original as a template and make a new puffball using a beautiful faded cotton pillowcase that I found a few weeks ago at the carboot sale.



She still looked rather bare after I had attached the fabric to the china head.


Out came a reel of vintage ribbon and a broken diamante earring - and doesn't she look the belle of the ball?

I thought I would show the display cabinet as it is now. A little fuller than before - but there is still come room left! Watch this space!

On Display

Well - what can I say? Where have I been? Not entirely sure of the answers. The time just seems to have flown by. Plus I lent the boys my digital camera and they lost the charger - which meant I couldn't take and upload photos.

But the charger has been found and I have finally taken some photos of my "new" display cabinet.
I had mentioned to a friend that I wanted a display cabinet (the stumbling block being Stephen's lack of enthusiasm) and about a week later she said that she had been driving home and spotted the cabinet at the side of the road with a "Free - take me if you want me" sign taped to it. How could she leave it there? It came to my house and sat out the garden for a few weeks, whilst I let Stephen come to terms with the fact that it was coming into the house. And there it sat.

Deciding to take the bull by the horns, I started painting and a few days later, the display cabinet was finished.I plumped for Farrow & Ball paint as it always looks beautiful when painted and was lucky enough to find the lilac wallpaper for a measly 50p in the Laura Ashley batch end bargain bin.

Admittedly the cabinet is still looking a little empty, but that just gives me an excuse to find some little objets d'arts to put in it. I've started with the two terriers which were a Mother's Day present from Keanan.
Stephen is less than impressed - to say the least. But I just love it. And the best part of it all for me is that it cost under £10 in total. And of course there's the ongoing fun of looking for items to put in it. I'm sure that one will be an on going saga!

Blooming Marvellous

It was busy at the car boot sale this weekend - lots of buyers and plenty of sellers too. And I managed to find something that I have been after for a while. Not actively looking at the car boot sale, but longingly looking on line and in some mail order catalogues. And I was lucky enough to see one this weekend.

A silk orchid - one that actually looks real rather than "artificial". I looked at it, walked away as it had white flowers. Had a little think, walked back, bartered a little and then popped it in my trolley to take home.


It was one of those purchases where you just know that you are going to kick yourself and regret it if you don't buy it. So I did and boy, I am glad I did.

I was also lucky enough to spot some vintage haberdashery and various bits and bobs that I can use to make corsages etc with. On their own stalls they didn't seem to add up to much, but placed together they become more useful and beautiful.

It went from the beautiful to practical: two large new and unused spools of thread. Just £1 each. Which is less than half the price I have paid in the past.


All in all, a rather good boot sale.

Faking it

I needed to buy some hollowfibre at the weekend and popped in to Dunelm which is where I usually buy it from. They had a sale on, so before I bought the stuffing, I had a look round the shop.

As a person who isn't into knick knacks. I came out with my basket full. They had beautiful silk flowers, which were realistic as well as reasonably priced. I bought several. Here's the first. A silk magonolia which is now in the bathroom in a corner where an orchid failed to thrive.


I spent ages debating whether to get the red or cream - but in the end the cream won. I must have had such a look of concentration on my face (not to mention being stood there for such a long time) that another customer came up to ask my advice about silk flowers and their arrangements. She said I looked as though I knew all about silk flowers!


I also succumned and bought this charming ceramic rose - the perfect size to sit next to the magnolia.

And yes, there is more. I bought two silk orchids. To combat the fact that the orchids always look very bare when the flowers have died. I usually pop them on a windowsil out of sight until they flower again - but not more.

No more looking dowm my nose at silk flowers for me. In fact I keep popping into the bathroom to have a look at the magolia. I am now a covert and they really do add some much needed colour to the house.

Shabby yet chic

During Christmas and New Year and with some Christmas money burning a hole in my pocket, I spent an afternoon trawling Etsy. Not looking for anything specific, but I wanted a drawing/painting or a print.

Sometime later, I found what I was looking for and a minute or two later, she was mine.


How could I resist? Even befor the painting arrived, I started thinking about what frame would be the best. And luckily I already had the frame. It was bought from the car boot sale (where else?) in the summer. In a strange coincidence I bought this one and a smaller frame from our old health visitor. She said that she had found them in her attic. I bought them both, brought them home and gave them a lick of paint.


So as soon as the painting arrived, I knew that this would be the perfect frame for it. The very same day I was in the framers choosing a mount. I was in the shop for about half an hour, umming and aahing. Cream was too bland, as was white. The cobalt blue that the lady suggested was lovely, but a bit too bright. Finally I settled on grey - but did I want a white stripe cut around the mount. Decisions decisions. After deciding I left the shop, not too sure whether I made the right choice.


I collected the painting yesterday and thankfully the grey was the right colour. I tried to keep the arrival as low key as possible and just placed it casually (!) on the plinth in the place of the painting that used to be there before. Only difference this is about three times the size of the old one. I don't think Stephen was too impressed as he said it was too big. Too big - are these objets d'art ever TOO big?

Anyway, she's here to stay now. I think this calls for more knitting, so that I can sit on the sofa and gaze lovingly over at her.

New Year Bargains

Although I am not what you would call a big consumer of material items, there is one shop that is guaranteed to lure me in: Laura Ashley. Only when they have a sale of course. So it's no surprise that I succumbed and came out with a few purchases. Only small purchases though.


I was very good and looked through all the sale fabrics, but none caught my eye. Only this jacquard fabric which wasn't in the sale - but I knew that it would be perfect for the study chair. I was very mean and only bought half a metre. Thankfully it was JUST enough. And I do mean just. I may be lucky to squeeze a fabric lavender heart out of what's left. But I am pleased, it brightens the chair up fits in with my other Laura Ashley purchase which was wallpaper.

I am not a wallpaper person and all the walls in the house are painted off white and cream shades. I prefer to add colour with my vintage bits and pieces. The idea of papering a feature wall appealed to me, and this was the reason behind my visit to Laura Ashley.

After spending about 30minutes in the shop looking through the wallpapers, I decided against paying £25 for one roll and just as I was waiting for the fabric to be cut, spotted a batch end roll in the remnants box. It was reduced from £1.50 to 50p. Well how could I resist?

Now please bear with me as it is VERY difficult to photograph paper which has a pearlised sheen in our bad winter light.
You may not be able to see it, but the wallpaper is gold and has a prealised finish with a floral and bird pattern. It was my very first attempt at wallpapering and although it isn't perfect I am pleased with the end result. The walls and woodwork were also painted and with the addition of some new plants, voila. A "new" study.

On that note, I will with you all a belated Happy New Year!