March Scavenger Hunt

A collection- my bracelets. I made a this from covering a small cork board I bought in a charity shop covered with an old pillowcase I bought at a jumble. Something green- brussel sprouts in Sainsburys

Peeling paint- iron railings around a cottage in Hythe.

A shadow- the shadow of a lamp post reflected onto a white wall at Hythe marina.

A rainbow- no real life rainbows spied this month. This is taken from one the children's books about weather.

Something as old as you- I found this book last year at the local plant nursery. They are a charity and sell books to help with raising funds. It was printed in the year I was born. 1968 in case you were wondering.

A lamb- snapped in John Lewis whilst out with Clare and Diane.

An empty chair- so pleased with this one.

On the way to S's swimming lesson a couple of weeks ago she said 'mum what's that chair doing over there?'

' I have no idea but it's fantastic that is it,' I replied as I whipped out my camera.

A fancy gate- this one I am the least pleased with. Struggled to find one and this probably comes under the catergory 'was fancy once.' Another picture taken on our day out to Hythe.

A ring- love this one as it reminds me of a snail's shell.

Something sentimental- my dad ALWAYS had a hankie on him. Now I always carry one of his inside which ever bag I am using.

A lion- there's a few here to choose from!

Can't wait to see everyone else's photos for March.

paper chains

Looky look at what I found in the Cancer Research shop on Saturday. Lovely union jack paper chains. They are being sold along with other patriotic paraphenalia for the royal wedding for the princely (sorry, couldn't resist!) sum of £1.99.

Over the water

During the Easter school hols last year I took T and S on the ferry over to Hythe. We had a really lovely day out and the children wanted to go back in the summer with G. We never got to do it then but this weekend with the weather being so glorious we thought it would be an ideal place to spend a few hours out and about. Here you can see how diddy the ferry you get over to Hythe is compared to the Red Funnel ones which go over the Isle of Wight. At the docks today there something larger still, one of the huge cruise ships was in.

The view back into town of South Western House on the right and on the left is a building which featured in the film Titanic.

This is the view in front of you when you have either taken the little electric train or walked up the pier, very picturesque cottages.

We didn't get going very early today so it was lunchtime when we arrived and our first stop was in the pub for a drink and lunch.

These were something different. G had a toffee apple cider and mine was strawberry and lime. His was nicest. They are made by Brothers though not Magners.

We had some info with us to possibly do one of these healthy walks, click on the picture to see the hearts marking out the trails, as one of them led to a woodland which links up to a nature trail.

Instead we opted to stay by the waterfront and follow the path round the marina.

Obligatory photos of family on afternoon out.

Did someone say 'sit up straight?!'

There was a very interesting map of the local area showing it's connection with different aspects of WW2. Like the fact the Mulberry harbour was assembled at the docks before being towed to Normandy and where we live was the SuperMarine works where they made Spitfires.

We watched boats coming in from Southampton water and going through the lock back into the marina. T and S were very interested to see how that worked.

When it was time to make our way back to buy and ice cream before catching the ferry home we passed this fountain which had a sign prohibitng paddling. It said nothing about splashing!

Paper Garden

A couple of weeks ago S drew a picture and presented it to me with 'mum this is for you to stick your pictures on.'
I thanked her for being so thoughtful and assured her I would certainly do just that. Later on it got popped into the basket on my bedroom bookcase along which contains all my magazines and cutouts and every so often I've glimpsed it sat there waiting for me.
As I hung another load of washing out on the line this morning I decided that today I would use my picture as an inspiration board for the garden.
Here's what I chose

No 1 - beautiful sweet peas growing up willow supports

No 2 - fresh eggs collected from our chickens. We don't have any and it's not likely we will, but this is my dream garen after all!

No 3- old metal containers full of candles for the balmy summer evenings spent outside

No 4 - a bit of recycling here. Empty food cans painted and planted up or just used for pretty posies

No 5 - deckchairs, rugs, books, glasses of elderflower cordial

No 6 - assortment of chairs around a big table covered with a rosy cloth and bunting

No 7 - washing drying on a line strung between sturdy old trees, maybe in the orchard?

No 8 - a never ending supply of soft fruits so I could make jam and cakes and ice creams and other delicious goodies because I would suddenly become a terrific cook as well as a gifted gardener

No 9 - a robin to come and visit me each day, no garden should be without one.

What would you have in yours?

In the garden today

Just nipped out to the back garden to have another look at our new bedding set. I love it to bits. Polka dots, ric rac, flowers and stripes. What's not to love?
I bought it yesterday in Primark and I want to put it on the bed at the weekend. It needed a wash through first though because like my dad would say 'you need to take the dressing out of it.'

I really should be out there doing something constructive in the sun but it is such a MESS. G has been working really hard chopping stuff down, breaking things up and generally making a dent into the tidying up that needs to be done.

This is the result of his labours.

There's still plenty of room left in it, which is just as well as there is plenty more where that lot came from.

Blog Friends

All last week the excitement levels at home were building by the day as we edged nearer to Saturday. The reason being I was going to be meeting up in town with two very lovely people, Clare from Summerfete and Diane from Heartshaped.
Clare and I have met up a couple of times in the past for tea, crochet lessons and charity shop browsing, but it was our first date with Diane who had managed to wangle a weekend away with the footballs fans in her family.

Here is Clare with T and S. She very kindly bought them a big bag of mini eggs each and instantly beame their new best friend. Although S did alternate her affections between Diane and Clare depending on whose hand she was holding at the time!

Unfortunately I didn't get a photo of us all together on my camera, you'll have to pop over to Diane's to see that, but this is Diane giving S instructions on how to fly with your coat on a windy day!

My camera stayed in my bag for most of the day, although I did manage to snap something for the scavenger hunt in John Lewis quite late in the day.

We played tourist in your own city (something Diane is exceptionally good at) taking in lots of the historic parts of the City and for the first time ever I walked over this foot bridge and got close up to John Le Fleming, a 14th Century mayor of Southampton, who has been in situ for 20 years!

We walked and talked and ate lunch and talked, we walked and talked some more and then had tea and talked and finally walked and talked round the shopping centre before it was time to say our goodbyes.

A huge thank you to both of my wonderful blog friends for a fabulous day out.

Not forgetting another huge thank you for your gifts.

The prettiest piece of patchwork from Clare, all handsewn

and these were just some of the gifts from Diane.

Talented, generous and brilliant blog friends.

Sleepy Sunday

Just how comfy cosy does Malcolm look?


Guess what I've been doing this afternoon Claire?!
Thanks for mentioning picnik. xx

Florist Window

Whilst on the way back from S's swimming lesson this evening we passed a florist and the window display caught my eye.
A garden of real flowers complete with lots of mini beasts made from craft materials.
I loved this snail with it's shell made from yarn wound round and round

and just look at these toadstools made with lampbases and papier mache tops

I got very excited at the sight of these sandwiches and cakes made from painted sponges.

I may get S to make a couple of these flowers from the cut up inners of kitchen rolls as little gifts on Mother's day for mine and G's mum. One reason being I think they'll like them and another reason I want to have a go and making them too!

Supersize me

Well not actually me.
Just this dress.
I found this in the charity shop I volunteer in on a Wednesday morning.
Isn't it just the cutest little dress?
I want one in this style and in this fabric and I want it now thank you very much.


Look at this lovely close up of the pattern.
How beautiful are those roses?
If I could swoon, I would.

I'm not sure how old it is.

The dress has a stain on it and has a smell about it too, like it's been stored for a long time. It needs a soak in some gentle non-bio washing powder.

The label has yellowed over time and I can't read the make properly as it's a bit torn, something like Prava or Proma?

It states it's for a 7-8 year old but I think S would struggle to get it to fit her at 6.

The instructions on the back read

WASH IN WARM SUDS

DO NOT WRING

IRON WITH A MODERATE IRON

WHILE SLIGHTLY AND EVENLY DAMP.

I love the suds bit and the very precise state it needs to be in for ironing.

Round up

Last week was a bit of a strange one.
S had her birthday party at a soft play centre yesterday and so there was stuff to sort for that. Although I didn't do goody bags as such. There's nothing good about them really is there? Each little girl went home with a little named wrapped package containing a small bar of chocolate and a Disney Princess door hanger/sticker craft pack which cost me 70p for each child. Much better than the £1.50 ones offered by the centre which had a couple of chewy sweets and not a lot else rattling around inside.
G moved office for his job. Not a move he wanted to make, but one he had to make if he wanted to keep his job. All in the name of centralisation and saving money. He now has a short train journey to work.
I went into work on Friday to find that my job is being moved to another office. All in the name of centralisation and saving money. If I go with my job I'll now have to make a short train journey to work.
We are thankful to have jobs, but the restrictions these changes put on us and our family are such a pain.
Chuck in the fact that T didn't get the first preference choice we wanted for his secondary school and so we are working on an appeal, it was an odd week.

Saturday morning I drove up to Salisbury, we had lunch out with G's parents and before we made the journey home again, with G's mum coming back with us, we grabbed an hour to ourselves and went for a wander over to Old Castle.
As you can see from the photos the weather was a bit overcast, but when the sun did come out it was a completely different day.


The low building just right of centre is G's primary school. He feels extremely lucky to have gone to school in such a fabulous location.


This tree has grown this way over the years following the shape of the old moat.

I wonder what this week will bring?

Box of memories part 3

Nearly finished showing the treasures from the box found in my sister's loft.

Among the photos of me as a baby was this one.
These 2 chaps are my Grandad's.
Sat down is my mum's dad and stood up is my dad's dad.
This was taken on my parent's wedding day back in 1967.
I can remember the day my dad told us his dad had died. It was the first time I had ever seen him cry. We didn't see him very often and I don't have very many memories of him. One very clear one though is of him doing the 'two little dickie birds sitting on a wall' trick with tiny pieces of paper stuck to his fingers. It totally captivated me.


During the couple of days after he passed away I hardly moved from a chair in our lounge and read this book from cover to cover. I can remember telling my mum how upset I was as she was hoovering and she replied with 'he's ok, he's with the angels now' as she heaved the furniture around. It didn't give me one ounce of comfort. I desperately wanted to go to his funeral but wasn't allowed.

The other book I have saved is Baby Island.

I'm not sure how old I was when I read it but I thought it was so wonderful.

Two young girls find themselves on a desert island alone with 4 toddlers to care for.

I thought it all sounded very exciting.

Sounds like a flaming nightmare now!

I wonder what S will make of it when I share it with her?

A bit of a jumble

Saturday morning saw me, my mum and my sister at what was billed as a Bumper Jumble. It attracted a bumper number of people and it was packed out. My sister co-ordinated our strategy. I was to do clothes, my mum went to footwear and my sister did household linens and bric a brac. I ended up with a very cute miniature glass vase (which I have forgotten to photograph) and 6 new items of clothing. I'm not entirely sure what their pricing policy was as I paid for these my sister's 2 items and 3 my mum's 3 items (one of which was a coat) and I was charged £1.80. I very happily passed over two one pound coins and said 'please keep the change' as I wasn't sure I could stand being squashed in between eager bargain hunters anymore and who minds shelling out £2.00 for that amount of clothing?
As well as these 3 very ordinary tops I managed to get a lovely Fat Face one with green and blue stripes but try as I might I could not get a decent photo of it. The grey one is going to be worn with the skirt from a couple of posts ago.

These 2 are my favourite buys.
Now I know the skirt looks like a fabric which may have been used to make curatins for a caravan in the 1970's but I happen to like that look, which is just as well.

It was then off to Southsea as a friend had text me first thing to see if I fancied joining her for a nosy round Southsea boutique market.
It was their first fair at this particular venue and she had heard about it from a work colleague who had a stall selling her own jewellery.

The advert said it would be part market, part vintage, part car boot and it described the mish mash that was there perfectly. We enjoyed a wander round then had a cup of tea from vintage mis-matched china along with a huge slice of Victoria sponge.

They only thing I felt needed to come home with me was another piece of polka dot cuteness.

Yesterday G wanted to go to a car boot as he is rediscovering his love of vinyl and wanted to browse for records. I really wanted to go for a walk because the sun was out and the sky was blue but seeing as I had done as I wanted on Saturday it seemed only fair he got to do what he wanted Sunday.

I bought these tulips on the way home from work on Friday and they looked so beautiful today catching the sun as it shone in through the dining room window.

Spring is definitely in the air.