Cards and Cardigans

I don't think anyone who has been reading Jumble and Jelly over the years could be in any doubt about my love for charity shops and the bountiful bargains they have bestowed up on us.
So when I saw today was Thrift Shop Day I was thought a little outing to one was in order.

I know I mentioned not so long ago about how I try and buy most of my greeting cards from Barnardos. 
They always have a fantastic selection for both male and female birthdays and, even better, every so often they change the range and have a sale on the old stock. I managed to pick up a total of 14 for 49p each.

Another love of mine is the good old cardigan. Last September I had a sort out and tidy up and counted 50 of them. Since then a few have gone and a few have arrived. There are now another 2 new ones to add to the collection.
Couldn't resist the mustardy yellow one for £1.99 and the orangey one also had to come home with me as it was just 99p! Both of these colours will be perfect as we go into autumn. Well that's my excuse anyway.

Another Outfit and Some Shopping

They'll be having a good old knees up in Liechtenstein today celebrating their National Day with food, drink and a fun fair.

The flag was my inspiration for another outfit, nice and easy on what was supposed to be a work day.

As it turns out there was no work for me today, I needed to be at home as part of the school hols.
Up bright and early S and I took ourselves into town. We started by stopping for breakfast and then it was on to the annual task of school uniform shopping. It was completed in double quick time as just one new skirt and two new shirts were needed.

Seeing as I'm in shopping mode today I thought I'd post some photos taken on our break and mostly in Amsterdam of all things retail which caught my eye.

As sign on the outside of a shop.

A cute little saying in the window of a shop selling very smart raincoats.

I liked the splash of red.

A sign which made us smile.

This is a toy shop in Haarlem. One entrance for adults and one for children.

C&A has long since disappeared from our high street but is still to be seen in it's home country.

S wanted a break from all the walking when she spotted a Primark and I was very taken with the pretty interior decoration.

A stylish motif on the window of a vintage store.

Barbie sat inside a clog in the window of a shoe repair shop.

A huge wooden pair of glasses hanging in the window of an opticians.

We spent hardly any time going into shops as there was so much to see but there was one which I couldn't resist. Called Dille & Kamille (which translates as Dill & Chamomile) they are a homewares and gift shop. Stach are a chain of food shops and they sell the biggest and most scrumptious looking meringues. 
Having Stach meringues on display with Dill & Kamille goods made a very attractive sight.

Fruity Rainbow

On 14th August 1979 a rainbow shone for 3 hours in North Wales.
Rainbows can be so fleeting, to think one was visible for such a length of time is staggering.

Now there may be a bit of listening to Rainbow going on here later as they are one of G's fave rock groups and we may do a bit of reminiscing over that classic children's tv series with Bungle, Zippy, George and Geoffery whilst snacking on a packet of multi-coloured Rainbow Drops.

All will be good ways to mark the day along with my outfit today which marks the colours of a rainbow in a more subtle and lightly fruity way.

Here I have three of the colours represented in apple form, red in the apples on the dress, orange in the apple necklace and yellow apple earrings.
Green appears on the leaf of the necklace and also on the cherry stalks.
The final three colours of blue, indigo and violet are clustered on my bracelet.

To finish of this post I am including more photos from our trip last week. Sunday was the final day of Pride Week in Amsterdam and the LBGT rainbow flag was everywhere.

Spellbound

Our viewing this evening will be the Alfred Hitchcock movie Spellbound.

There are two reasons for this choice.

 Today, 13th August, is the birthday of Mr Hitchcock.

Secondly, one of the co-stars of this movie is Rhonda Fleming and it was her 94th birthday on 10th August.

I hope she celebrated in style. 
We were busy ourselves on Thursday as we were making the most of our final day in Amsterdam.
I was so excited to visit this city and it certainly didn't disappoint. More photos to follow.

Got it Covered

G's record collection came in very handy for vinyl record day.

Also his leather jacket and guitar.

Something a little different.........

Go here to see other photos which helped to inspire our attempts.

Birthday Picnic

If there's one thing I have in common with Enid Blyton then that's the love for a good picnic.

She was very good at writing about them and I'm very good at eating them.

To make the most of the fact it was gloriously warm I decided to deviate from my original plan for today.

With ham sandwiches, cake (alas not provided by the industrious Aunt Fanny but the wonderful local Co-op) and our glasses full of lemonade we toasted Enid.
She provided T and G with many hours of happiness as the Famous Five were a popular choice when it came to reading together at bedtime. 
T was also a Noddy fan when he was very little, he enjoyed watching the animated version on Channel 5 and the theme tune became one of those G and would recognise as soon as we heard the first note!
The books were passed along to S but she never really took them and they eventually made their way to the charity shop.

Another Pudding

It certainly doesn't look too appetising but I am assured it did taste good.
I don't recall ever making rice pudding before and so for Rice Pudding day I wanted to try something a bit different.
This recipe comes from a Co-op food magazine.

Coconut Rice Pud 
150g pudding rice
400ml coconut milk
200ml semi skimmed milk.

Put these 3 ingredients in a saucepan, bring to the boil and then simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add
2tsp vanilla extract
2tbsp light soft brown sugar
and mix well.

Serve and enjoy.