Blogging before bedtime

Am trying out the camera/new laptop combo to see how it all works.
I'm nearly over The Gazebo Incident now and although it was an ouch moment I almost made up for it by making my ipod work on my old stereo and it only cost £6.47 for a lead from Tesco. Result.
Right, photos.

We've been here before... this is the square I was trying to make.

This is what I ended up with. Do I hear sniggering at the back? I'll have you know I did a lap of honour with that little baby. Not sure I'll be creating that block again. If I get a crochet bug (and I hope I do because I have shedloads of wool) I will stick to my tried and tested square.

Also the pictures of the rusty bottle and the shelfy thing.

Rusty bottle. Edith's not keen, she is turning away from it. Snobby mare.
I love these actually and have two matching on the becoming very overcrowded mantlepiece.

Little shelf affair. Also have two of these and have been looking out for them for ages in TK Maxx and then found three sets at Lakey and had to dither about for ages deciding which ones to get. Am now dithering even more about what colour to paint them (if I do) and where they will live and what will live on them.
We'll see.
Cheery bye.
x

Dead gazebo

Help! I think the gazebo has been killed by the rain...

A few hours later.
Yes, it is stone dead and has cost me £139.99 to replace. How awfully annoying! And have no gazebo for Saturday.

Hot Stuff

Isn't it hot? I wish I'd done the duvet separatey thing now and not been such a wuss about being cold in bed.
No charity shop or boot sale finds this weekend, mainly due to not visiting any charity shops or boot sales. However, purchases were still made. (No photos, I'm using my shiny new, free (ha ha) with a mobile phone contract lappy and have to work out what to do.)
Back to the shopping, I bought two beige and white dotty towels in the Christy outlet shop in Ashford. Not a bargain at all at £21 each but I've been looking out for them for ages. Then, after meeting my cousin for coffee and a natter at Lakeside, I dragged her into TK Maxx and bought two rusty bottles that hold a candle, ( I will take a photo of these as they are hard to describe,) and two wall shelvy, things that are gold and cream but will be having an attack of the paintbrush when I get round to it.
Also bought two emergency frocks to add to the frock and reserve top already bought for my 50th (If I knew you better I would swear now) birthday party on Saturday.
Spent yesterday afternoon having a tear up with an industrial size, pop up gazebo we've borrowed for Saturday. We were only supposed to be practising but within half hour of getting it up, Teenage Daughter #2 and I had adorned it with bunting and lanterns and were lying under it, asleep on sunloungers.
Oh yes and last night I mastered a crochet square from the book whilst watching Beyonce. I will definitely be taking a photo of that, I am more proud of it than I should be.
Stay cool.
x

Early Morning Crochet

This morning, due to a fly buzzing round my head, I was up incredibly early, 6.20am to be exact. After a cup of tea I decided I would do some crochet. Now I can do this, granny squares, bring it on, making granny blankets, easy peasy, but I've never followed a pattern. My mum showed me how to do it when I were a lass and my sister gave me a quick brush up on it last year. I can crochet granny squares till the cows come home without looking at a pattern. Actually I'm not that bad at it, I have a selection of blankies (all small, I get bored easily) to prove it.
On my birthday last year, when I was in the full throes of my granny blanket obsession, my friend bought me this book for my birthday

And this morning I decided I would find one clearly marked with one crochet hook, (the easy ones) and have a go. This is the one I chose.

I was going along quite nicely for a while, even undoing the first proper round because the holes didn't seem to line up. 'Pattern, shmattern,' I thought. I had it tumbled. When I got onto round five I took a small breather and had a proper look... well deary me, I had this wavy, holey, not lining up, looking nothing like the pattern excuse for a square.
After ripping it off the hook,biting it, throwing it round the room a few times, laying it carefully on the floor then jumping on it, this is what I had left.

I ought to have jumped straight back on and tried again but instead I listened to The Clash and The Libertines on my ipod and cleaned the fridge in the garage.
Perhaps I will have another go later and find an easier one that's not so holey.
Happy Sunday!
x

Meet The Girls

Evening all.
I'd like to introduce you to my girls. They are my attempt at making my living room look like a chateau. Not easy in a 1930s bungalow in Essex.

Meet Fabienne. She was the first of my Fancy French ladies. I bought her in Comptoir De Famille in Boulogne a couple of years ago. She is quite small and dainty but my word she was heavy to carry home.

Next we have the lovely Edith. Even heavier to carry home. I bought her in Maison du Monde in Saintes last summer. I love her demure expression. I'm trying not to like her more than I like Fabienne. It's hard though.

And this is Mary. Called Mary because (don't tell her) she is a substitute for a Kaempf Maddonna that I am drooling over in the Camel and Yak online shop. But as I don't have £89.95 lying about doing nothing I bought her instead in a shop in Chatham. There is nothing remotely Maryish about her really, but I spotted her and thought she would look pretty good lined up with the others. I am on the look out for some rosary beads to hang on her to give her a more religious look. At twelve quid when I get fed up with her she can live in the garden.

Finally we have The Rusty Frock. Rather creepy with no face but I absolutely adore it/her. I look at it all the time. She comes from a much less glamorous location than Fabienne and Edith. One of my all time favourite shops of ever ever after amen. TK Maxx in Southend on Sea. (Sarfend.)
My mantlepiece is like a Miss World line up.
Laters.
x


PS Sorry about The Rusty Frock. I tried to rotate her anti clockwise but the little minx wouldn't have it. Off with her head.. oh no...

Photos

Photos as promised...

The £2.50 Jubilee mug and a little trinket box that I bought for 50p.

5p enamel bowl in which my Jcloth and scourer now reside and my favourite buy, a lovely green enamel bowl with a lid that I bought for £1 in a place near Dover.

The £1 jug. I can't believe I ummed and ahhed over this. Dozy mare.

Jug from charity shop in Canterbury, cutlery from junk shop in Hythe.

Teapot from Charity shop in Leigh on Sea, condiment set from bootsale in Rayleigh and tea strainer was my nan's. (Edith Florence.) Thanks, nan. x Key from my auntie's (late auntie)bck door in Dalston.

My fingers are crossed that this came out ok. Pyrex another day.

Charity shop mentalness

On my way home from work today I spied a gorgeous painting in the charity shop window. Oh my word, my mouth went a bit dry and I had to do a circuit round my village to look at it again and then turn round again and park up in the library so I could rush in there to buy it.
En route I was checking my purse (whilst trying not to break into a run) and found a tenner which I thought would more than cover it... ha ha ha. It was £22.00. No that is not a typing error. Twenty Two of our British pounds, for a print that was hanging out of the frame. (Which wouldn't have bothered me if it had been about a fiver.)Now, I liked it, but not that much.
I had a quick swoop for Pyrex and other tat but found nothing, walked round the corner to my most favouritest old ladyish smelling charity shop and bought a George VI jubilee mug£2.50 and an off white jug with a flower transfer for £1.
£22 nicker... they're having a larf!

*Photos to follow. I promise.

Least Likely Jobs

When I were a lass at school I was absolutely pants at maths. Bright in lots of other ways, top of the class in English and pretty nifty at P.E but painfully bad at maths. I scraped by with help from my mum. I can remember her trying to help me with fractions and decimals and wondering why she had started speaking in tongues.
Upon leaving school (at 16 with one O level in Home Economics and a smattering of average CSE's) I went to work at a bank in The City of London. Not bad for a kid who could barely add up and take away. I stayed there for 15 years and did lots of different jobs including accounts.
Now I work in a school as a Learning Support Assistant and spend most of my days supporting maths or teaching children in maths.
Funny how things turn out 'aint it?
(Mind you I'm still a bit rubbish at fractions and decimals and have to listen carefully to the teacher. And I still sit there hoping she won't pick me.)
Lunch hour post... I have too much time on my hands.
x

Pretend Armoire/Dog's Bed

Afternoon.
The Ajax worked a treat on the kitchen sink, thanks very much for asking. I'd recommend it.

I am having another go at posting a picture and as I'm on Teenage Daughter #1's laptop I have either a photo of an Ikea bookcase pretending hard to be an armoire, (please note dirty sock on the floor and empty cereal bowl on the dining room table...)or many, many pictures of teenage girls out clubbing.
There was me trying to be all arty farty and French and clever, putting a quilt on the bottom shelf when the dog (Manny) decided to adopt it as his new bed. Hence the photo. I was charmed and alarmed and dreamed up all manners of torturous punishments for him if he managed to make my pretend armoire topple over causing smashage of all the charity shop lovelies upon it. So far he is safe.
I am going to recruit Teenage Daughter #2 to take some pictures of my recent purchases. Just to warn you I will not be vignetting with Pyrex. I have, however tied some vintage cutlery up into a bundle with a lump of string. Don't say I didn't try.
Laters.
x

Retro Stylee Cleaning

This evening I bought some Ajax. Now I didn't even know it was still available, but it is. It was sitting next to the Vim, yes real Vim. (I will be buying that next time.) My only complaint so far is that it is no longer in the wide cardboard tube with the pretend metal ends. Sadly I can't comment on its effectiveness as a cleaning agent, as I have been too busy hoovering, (yes really,) reading blogs and watching my old man watch The Sweeney, to try it out and to be honest I'm a tad nervous. I think I shall be rather choosy about what I let it loose on as I remember it being pretty abrasive. First up will be the kitchen sink.
I bought it in The Posh Pound Shop, my friend came up with the name, one of those shops that sells all manners of tat and toot, a lot of it fairly useful. (If you want a Mexican style pine bedside cabinet, a canvas of Marilyn Monroe or a plastic curtain rail.) None of the merchandise actually costs a pound but most of it ought to.
I was going to make my second post all about My Favourite Places, but the Ajax was too exciting to leave out and deserved a mention. I will save the My Favourite Places just in case anyone actually starts reading this. The Ajax ought to lure the readers in...
Ta Ta
x

PS I have tried very hard to upload a photo of a bottle of Ajax but I can't. Sorry. I need a tutorial.

Oooh first post...

My first post on my shiny new blog. No eye candy due to my general crapness with a camera. (At the moment; I am intending to make taking decent photos and knowing how to get them onto this blog my newest interest.)
I discovered blogs quite recently and have become addicted. I spend long hours looking at other people's houses, perusing their charity shop purchases and bogging at their photos whilst in my own house, the washing piles up, the dishwasher lies unemptied and the hoover considers reporting me to Social Services for neglect.
Anyway, I thought I would jump on the bandwagon, I like talking and I like writing and this seems a perfect combination of the two even if nobody reads it.
I think that will be enough for tonight. I don't want to overdo it on my first outing into blogland.
Ta ta.
x