Wednesday, 31 May 2017

May: Bought, Read, Watched

Let's start off with the things I bought for 30p each at the jumble sale earlier this month.
I've worn this skirt to work once already.
 It's lovely and light and summery.


This lightweight knit top is actually more of a peacock blue than the photo shows and has a shimmery thread to it which you can just about make out.
Again this was bought with work in mind has already been worn there once.


Next up is a dress from the car boot.
This was 50p.
Yet another purchase intended for work and again being cotton it's light and with the slightly drop waist really comfy.


This cardi isn't as skew-whiff as it looks hanging from the front of my wardrobe!
It's a lovely deep green and a very welcome addition to my ever expanding cardigan collection.
This was a purchase from my local branch of Barnardo's where everything cost £1.99.



As the price tag shows, this star patterned shirt also came to me via Barnardo's.
And as photo shows it was brand new, still having it's original price tag attached.


I hope it's a while before I get to wear this grey jumper. It's long and baggy and has some pretty buttons along the neck line. Originally from M&S, it was mine for 50p from the car boot.


Only two books read this month.#First up was The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets.
A quick and easy read set in London and the Wiltshire area in the 1950s and featuring some interesting characters.
Johnnie Ray is mentioned quite a lot which led me to listening to his songs on youtube for an entertaining half hour.


I can't remember where G bought this for me. It was a while ago and it was in a charity shop is all I can dredge up from my memory.
It reads like an autobiography and over 150 pages it charts the years of WW2 as experienced by a young girl and her family.


It's been a month of action movies for us.
G has been working his way through the Jack Reacher books written by Lee Child and so we have watched the two adaptations starring Tom Cruise.
To follow that we watched the first three Jason Bourne movies with Matt Damon in the lead role.
Both were chock full of car chases and fist fights, the JB ones slightly more frantic and often filmed in a way which made it harder to follow exactly what was happening.
I reckon we're due something a bit calmer for June!

Monday, 22 May 2017

P O S H

An exhibition entitled Port Out Southampton Home has been running at the Sea City museum for the past year and is due to come to an end in a couple of weeks.
With G being off with me today we thought a little jaunt into town for lunch and then a wander around the exhibition would be just the thing to make sure we caught it before it closed.
I love the old advertising posters. They are so brightly coloured and 



some are just so stylish too. The exhibition told the history of the liners from their beginnings in the 1890's through to the modern day and was really very interesting. 


I must admit the section covering the 1920s and 1930s was a bit of a draw for me as everyone and everything looked so very glamorous. 
Not sure G would blend in with the in crowd with his Alterbridge t-shirt and jeans!
We did have a game of deck quoits and I'm pleased to report I won.



My dad was in the Merchant Navy and worked with Tommy Steele. He said when he wasn't working he constantly played his guitar and sang, Dad said it drove him mad!



A large and fascinating section of the exhibition was about the food provided on board. On display were a dozen or so menus from different ships across different decades. 
There was so much choice.
Had I been a passenger on R.M.S Berengaria on April 18th 1935 I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have been choosing the fried calf's feet for dinner.


I can never resist the lure of trying on dressing up clothes when they are provided, in amongst all the reading I think it's fun when there are some parts which are a bit more interactive.
I think G looks quite good in this cap.


Where as I look fairly ridiculous in my posing!
All jolly good fun though..



On the way back to the car we had to walk past the shopping centre and discovered a new temporary art installation. Huge plastic snails. They reminded me of counters in a child's board game made super-sized. 
We need to go back for another look before they go in June.


Tuesday, 16 May 2017

Beaulieu Road

Only four photos but they sum up an incredibly relaxing day out on Saturday.
One of the nurses where I work is retiring and she had invited everyone to join her in the New Forest for a picnic and a walk.
We haven't been out for a walk for the longest time and it's been even longer since we've been out to the Forest.
Thankfully the venue was right next door to a Beaulieu Road train station so it was very easy for us to get to.








I felt happily tired on Saturday evening. Lots of fresh air, lovely countryside, good company, a gentle walk, all combined to make a great day out.
Now we know it's there we hope to go back for more.

Monday, 8 May 2017

Starting with a Fete, Ending with a Rake

S volunteered to help at her school fete on Saturday.
We were up bright and early to prepare her two contributions, cinnamon sugar popcorn and these marshmallow and white chocolate skewers which sold very well.
When S left with her goodies I toddled off round the corner to the church hall for a jumble sale.


I picked up a few items of clothing for me and my mum and a couple of bits and bobs for my sister's birthday present.
DVD's were being sold at three for £1.00 and I had no problem finding some I thought we would enjoy.
I have never read or seen an adaptation of Macbeth and so I thought I would give the version with Michael Fassbender a go.
I remember seeing a trailer for The Dressmaker featuring a very stylish Kate Winslet when it first came out, I hope it lives up to expectations.
The last one I chose was A Long Way Down, the film adapation of a Nick Hornby book which G had read recently and thoroughly enjoyed.
Something certainly a bit different it's about four people from very different backgrounds who find themselves on the top of a very tall building on New Year's Eve, each wanting to end their life. I suspect this was very much the case of the book being better than the movie. 



Sunday morning G and I headed out to the car boot. It was cold and overcast and it seemed like every other person was selling baby clothes and toys and I got a bit fed up half way round. G always scoots on ahead and so was happy to leave once I'd had enough. My best purchase was for my sister. 20p on this robin sweater which I know she's going to love.



How different the weather was in the afternoon to how it had been all morning. Out came the sun and the temperature shot up. G and I pottered about in the garden and got a few things sorted. 
Our next door neighbour has a garage at the bottom of their garden which makes a great border with ours. Until recently this area was where we had the children's trampoline, but they had decided the time had come for it to go. We hope, in time, to make a little seating area down there of some sort.
Anyway we have various bits and bobs we wanted to hang on the plain brick wall, mostly inspired by things I have seen on Pinterest and Sunday afternoon was the time to get out the drill and get them up. 
We have had the old garden sieve for ages and when our rake fell apart last year I knew exactly what I was going to keep that for. I picked up the ladles for pennies at car boot sales and now these are going to become tea light holders for when we get those warm summer evenings. That's the plan anyway.



Wednesday, 3 May 2017

Slow Work

In our house there is an itsy bitsy space between the kitchen and the bathroom that we refer to grandly as our utility room.
Walking into it, from the aforementioned kitchen, you will find on your right our freezer and some shelving as shown below.
For a few years the whole space has been painted this sagey green.
Well some of it is still that colour but now most of it is Dulux Jasmine White.


Opposite the wall shown above is the back door and to the left of that is a wall mounted shoe rack. 
I can't seem to find the post I did at the time but a while back I took an old blue polka dot tablecloth and stuck it to the wall behind the shoe rack to stop it getting covered in dirty marks from both the rack and the shoes. This served it's purpose well but it was starting to look a bit tired and I wanted a lighter feel to the space. 
Plus I had seen this glittery PVC cloth and decided it needed to be used somewhere in our home.
It's really difficult to get a good photo of but I hope you can get the idea from this one below.



This little alcove was originally a window before we had our bathroom extension built on. I used some of the paint we had left over from decorating S's bedroom a few years ago and am really pleased with how it looks.


See that blue tray on the left. It originally looked like this. One Sunday at the car boot I bought a tray of cherries and kept the tray because I thought 'oh I'm sure it'll come in handy at some point.' 
And now it has.



It's now home to my bottles of laundry stain remover and soda crystals. My, how glamourous!



I lined the shelf with a small strip of the glitter PVC to stop the paintwork from becoming scuffed, you may be able to make out the glitter from this photo.


It's taken a good few weeks to get this far, which let's face it isn't that far, but I'm not in any hurry and I'm enjoying the little extras I can faff over as I go. There is a key box which needs a makeover and I need to decide whether or not I'm going to line the shelves. 
Nothing mind blowing but it keeps me busy and makes me happy.

Monday, 1 May 2017

April Purchases



Here are my buys for April.
I am a day late with this round up due to being busy with an ongoing painting project here at home, some of which I hope to share in my next post.

Pretty daisy print dress, perfect for the summer, needs to be worn with leggings or capri pants as too short to be worn on it's own, 50p from the car boot.


This dress was from a charity shop. As you can see it was brand new with it's tags still attached. The tag shows it was originally selling for £16. Mine for £4.


Love the caramel colour of this cardi. And it's super soft to the touch too. Also like the stitching on the pocket. Another 50p car boot buy.


Back to the charity shop for these black shoes. No wear to speak of looking at the soles and my oh my are the comfy. I paid for £4.00 for these.


I was instantly drawn to this necklace because it's the same flower design as the Mary Quant logo. Another 50p spent and it was mine.



Pink rose patterned china plate, always room on the dresser for another and at 20p who could resist.



A bag of ABC blocks for 50p which I will use to spell out phrases or sayings when I decorate the mantelpiece each month. Already in use displaying 'the darling buds of may'.


Finally two very different movies. Twelfth Night was 25p and To Catch a Thief was £1.00. Both feature great casts and I'm looking forward to watching them both.