French Knots

Christmas 2011

So Mr FK got tendonitis and a foot swollen like a sausage for Christmas and I got a pinched nerve in my neck, lucky us! Thank goodness for ibuprofen :) My Little Helper got up at 4am and we manged to keep him penned in our bed till nearly 5am before he woke his sister, then downstairs for stockings and presents.  A lovely day, lots of cooking and eating repeated on Boxing Day with more family coming round. Then mainly sitting about waiting for Mr FKs foot to improve, plus a Drs visit then a quick trip to hospital for an xray - on such dark rainy days it's no trouble to snuggle up inside and play Uno, watch family films and chill out.

While rummaging around in the eaves for the Christmas decorations we came across a big blue Ikea bag, these vintage red velvet curtains were inside - we've been here nearly 11 years and they've not been used since we lived in our other house. What a find! They look fab in the kitchen over the french windows keeping the winter chills out.

Also in the bag were a pair of curtains made from some very old floral Sanderson fabric, High Summer, which I have no memory of what so ever! They are being remade and lined with old blankets for the living room as they go perfectly with the greenyblue walls. Thrifty me! What better bargain than using something you already own? I'm looking at our furniture with fresh eyes and planning some more thrifty makeovers in the New Year to cheer me up once all the decorations come down.

 

Thrifty Thursday

I've mentioned before that a local church have a Coffee & Jumble every Thursday morning, The Baby Brother and I both enjoy going. He likes smiling at people so they give him one of the biscuits and enjoys choosing a car from the toy table. I like rummaging through the curtains and table cloths and finding some cheap treasure to bring home. This week I bought this little jam or sugar jar even though it's lid is missing, it's such a lovely shade of teal I couldn't leave it behind and it was only 20p. 
A pretty Midwinter cake stand for 50p

 
and best of all a pair of jolly floral curtains for my kitchen

 
I lashed out £2 on these, they are very long but will still need a bit of something extra to make them fit my french window, I'm going to line them with a blanket so we'll be toasty warm this winter. I think they are barkcloth, the roses are such perfect autumn colours and will brighten up my kitchen perfectly.

It was my Dad's 70th last week and some of us got together in the soft autumn sunshine to help him celebrate. My Littlest Sis and I indulged in a few cheeky glasses of afternoon wine - what a treat! And the boys young and old enjoyed playing trains

 
 
Chugga chugga choo choo!!

Car Trouble

The week didn't get off to a great start. The Baby Brother and I were driving home when the brakes failed on my car. As I was trying to slow to turn right on a busy main road across the oncoming traffic. Well had the brakes worked I would, of course, have waited for a gap in the traffic.  It was awful,scary and a bit out of body. I then drove the last 2 minutes home at 2 miles an hour, thankfully the road was quiet. Then once I was home the 'what ifs' started - I was due to go to Ikea the following morning on the motorway! Luckily we have a friend who is a mechanic and he came and sorted everything out for me. Ghastly.

 
So a pretty little cup in a perfect shade of blue was just what I needed to get me back on an even keel.

 
And 2 for 99p was a perfect price too.

Have you been watching Big Fat Gypsy Wedding? Come on admit it! The compelling awfulness of it had me hooked. And look what my Sister in Law made

 
Oh yes, she's watching it too!

 

Haberdashery haul

On Sunday Amanda Makes and I went to vintage fashion and textile heaven! The Fair at the Armitage Centre in Manchester always has a brilliant selection of sellers with goodies to suit all budgets and tastes.

We were fairly restrained I think considering the goodies on offer, by the second stall we were both squeaking with excitement and the prospect of a few child free hours of browsing the wonderful array was blissful!

So what came home with me

pretty buttons, buckle and thimbles all from the 10p box- yes I know 10p each!!

Crochet thread in lovely soft colours, embroidery silks to join the box full I have upstairs

vintage bias binding - 10p!

and a small selection of the arm load of tiny lace panels and doilies I scooped up for.....yes...you guessed it 10p each! Such lacey lovliness, how I love the 10p man and his boxes of delight!

And then I picked up a few more buttons

The Baby brother likes them too! some pretty beads and sparkly broken necklaces

pardon...not many buttons....well I did get these too....

you can never have too many buttons! I have enjoyed sorting them into jars, red, blue, yellow, white, Pretty. Yes pretty, you know the most lovely ones that will only be used on the most special projects...if at all!!
 
 
  

End of term feeling

And breathe.....! The pell mell rush to the end of term is over, school fete went well ( it rained on us from 8am till 3pm but people still came) leavers disco, Year 6 production, Infant production, Infant sports day, two birthday parties, two birthday teas, visiting the new secondary school.......all we need now is the sun to return so we can relax and enjoy the hols. The day they imposed a hose pipe ban it started raining and hasn't stopped in the intervening three weeks.

This little rascal is growing fast, has just moved on from open mouth style kisses to squeezed and pursed lips, happily delivering kisses left right and centre. Of course you can never have too many snuggly buggly kisses.

He is sitting on my £2 charity shop find

Random flower shot, wonderful colour and papery petals.

Pre rain I grabbed a few minutes with wine and crochet in the garden, enjoying the table that Mr FK renovated. The top was a bit warped and wonky so he replaced it with an old school bench which, cut in half, was the perfect fit.

So now the summer hols stretch before us, no mad morning rush to find pe kits or a recorder, no school pick up or homework. We are off to Cornwall, near Looe, where I hope we will find some sunshine. Or at least no rain. It's about 25 years since we holidayed in Cornwall, I'm not sure why as it is such a wonderful part of the world and I'm really looking forward to it. I've made miles of bunting to decorate the caravan awning and got the picnic blanket at the ready! Happy summer!   

Pretty Nifty and Thrifty

What do you get if you mix together a pleasing but boring charity shop skirt, a length of bargainous Clothkits ribbon, (on offer last week) and about 10 minutes at the sewing machine..............

a cheery new skirt that looks jolly good with my cherry red shoes!

ps, thank you for the phone stealing sympathy, it is Infant Sports Day tomorrow and my new 'old phone from the drawer of things we think we don't need any more' will be safely tucked up my knicker leg! 

May weddings

It was our 22nd wedding anniversay a couple of weeks ago and it was also the day some friends chose to get married. We left Mr FKs Mum looking after the children and headed off for a night away at the wedding. It was at a lovely country church, nestling in the village in the sunshine. Their first hymn was  Morning has Broken which we had sung 22 years earlier almost to the minute. I had a lump in my throat thinking of our day and the innocent optimism with which we started married life. We spent the day enjoying good company, champagne and the wonderful countryside surround the marquee where the recpetion was held and the evening dancing, drinking seabreezes and nibbling minatue portions of fish and chips which were served just as we were feeling peckish. The perfect way to celebrate our anniversary.

Look at my latest jumble find, I was planning to cut it up but love it's Germolene colour and woolly snuggliness so I think it's got a reprieve from the scissors.

Look at this little fellow, we went to our local museum and spotted him watching over the display of Mummies. I think he would make a cute softie with his quirky face and ferocious eyebrows! Yes I do still make things from time to time despite this blog becoming a wafflefest about family life with never a stitch  sewn or knitted! I've just started a new crochet project, risking the little finger pain again, to make some granny  goodness. As the sun is shining I'll take some pictures to show you.....

Thrifty finds

Thank you for all the blanket love!

The new ball of wool has arrived so hopefully next week it will be finished, if I can bear the tedium of sewing in all those blummin ends! It took 18 balls of Rowan handknit cotton, plus the extra one. I planned a random pattern, trying to use all the colours evenly but as I have about a quarter of a ball of bright pink left and ran out of the green the planning can't have been that good! I am hugely pleased with the blanket, it is cosy and just the right size for snuggling under on chilly evenings.

Look what I picked up the other day

a lovely old satchel, slightly battered and loved. I can just imagine it bumping along to school on someone's back, reading book inside, Janet and John no doubt!

 

20p each in the charity shop! Wonderful old Ladybird books, such facinating subjects  
 

My Little Helper thinks the swimming book looks interesting and is going to take some of the nature books with him when we go away, to add to his collection in the caravan. He has bird spotting books, trees and sealife guides and enjoys keeping a nature journal of the things he sees. No doubt the lure of the DS will soon take over but for now I am keen to feed his hobby, especially when such super books are only 20p each!

Have a wonderful weekend!