Painting, Pottering and Pancakes

Just a very quick post as tea is on and almost ready.  Yesterday was such a lovely day it definately gave me a spring in my step.  After I had cleaned the bathroom I thought that looks better - urm then I looked at the yellowy white doors and the far from white ceiling.  I got out the paint that had been bought for the job previously and gave it a quick lick of fresh white paint - it looks so much better.  I then went on to paint 4 of the doors on the landing and the skirting board.  I didnt do any prep at all - i'm a rebel - I just splashed it on and it looks so much better.   I'm sure it was quicker than washing all the doors and woodwork down.  After that I had a potter around the garden - in my slippers - and dug out some weeds and generally tidied up.  Much more needs doing though.  I did start to take photos but it all looked so bare and bland that I didn't bother in the end.  Then it was time to get Nephew H from school and have a pancake party. 

Table at the ready, cornish ice cream, syrup, nutella, squirty cream, jam, bananas and sprinkles.  Yum. Not very well presented but delicious all the same.  H thought it was great and declared that he was going to have three. 

Nom, nom nutella with banana, squirty cream and sprinkles.  I had one just the same.  Delicious.

Nellie had the same.

H pancake with syrup and nutella this time.  Did he manage three - not quite he did manage two and a half though.  It was declared a successful pancake party and after two I felt positively stuffed. 

Best Made Plans

Today I had planned to go to Southwell Minster to the craft fair.  Then to visit Nellie in the Shed to get some more Annie Sloan to do the top of my dresser and then on for afternoon tea at Reg Taylor's Garden Centre.  Betty and Nellie had expressed an interest in joining us so it was going to be a lovely day.   Unfortunately the dreaded lurgy had other plans for me.  Nellie had been off school on Friday feeling a little sickly and sleepy but she wasn't actually sick.  Late afternoon I thought um feel a tiny bit grotty but not a lot.  K came in from work, we cooked tea together, ate tea together then I began to feel worse.  Yuk, tummy gripes, sweating followed by full blown dreaded lurgy.  I am a real baby when it comes to sicky bugs they make me want to cry and shout 'I want my Mummy' - like Percy, Sarah and Bill in the Owl Babies.  I didn't actually need to get my mum - she would have come quick as a flash - but I wouldn't want to pass on my germs.  I just soldiered on spending time on the bathroom floor - don't like to be far away from the toilet - and groaning away in bed with K just quietly muttering 'you ok' whilst still asleep.  So today I have had a pyjama day - it was enforced though so not so much fun.  I have done a bit of sewing, bit of blog reading, some sleeping, shed a few tears (I know i'm a baby) drunk tea with sugar in - only have sugar in when suffering lurgy of the sicky kind - and a tiny bit of reading.  I couldn't concentrate though so put it down.  So not the day I planned but what can one do.  I must remind Nellie though that although I have always told her since she was tiny that it is 'kind to share' as I have told all my girls and lots of other children too I really, really, really don't mind NOT SHARING when it is the lurgy of the sicky kind.  To all you Marmite haters out there - no it was not the marmite that made me sick. 

Love It or Hate It

I love it - not so much that I eat it everyday or even every week but sometimes I just need a Marmite fix.  Today is one of those days.  I have been a busy bee this morning, washing in, washing out, washing pots, hoovering, toilet cleaning duties- you get it.  I have also used the very last scrapings of my Annie Sloan paint - very watered down - to lime wash my kitchen cupboards.  They look much better.  I have also been to  Mum's and cleaned out my nephew H's guinea pigs - they  live at his Nannies and we all take care of them.  Now its time for this:-

Yum, tomato soup - tinned not homemade - and marmite on toast (with flora) to dip in - oh my goodness it is delicious.  Anyone else tried this combination?

Now I am going to do this:-

Soup, marmite on toast, feet up - ohhh yeah!

and then some more of this:-

My new hexie basket - its so cute and cost 20p

Hexing and blogging and watching Horton Hears a Who

Dyl and Betty have chosen to do this

Snuggling time 

And last but not least photographic evidence of myself hexing in public - John Lewis cafe Wednesday evening whilst waiting for Nellie and Belle.

Going now back soon got an interesting weekend coming up so more blogging to follow.

A bit of Stitching

Tonight I have mostly been making these:-

 

Lots  of  hexagons



 Hexies all in a row

All lined up

I am still not sure what I am  going to do with them I know I want to use a different fabric for each one but not sure if to make a few cushions or a small lap quilt.  I have used some of  my feedsack from America (via ebay), some vintage fabric I have picked up here and there, some from old clothing from CS and CB.  This is for my next batch  - I have admired it for long enough now - it's time for it to be used up - well only a tiny bit for this project.  

CK fat quarters bought from York

I'm going to sign off now - blogger is being a bit naughty and won't play nicely - then again it may be just me.

Good night

Oh my goodness I have no idea what's gone wrong but I don't know how to put it right - any ideas? - sorted thank you Sally.





New Chairs from Old

,Here are some before and after photos of my dining room chairs. I'm rather pleased in fact I am chuffed.  Want to have a peak - here goes

Please adjust your head  to view photo or rotate your laptop if using one - i'm still learning remember! A cherry coloured chair with yukky fabric seat.  Not very appealing.  See the bottom of the dresser in the photo - its not quite ready yet.

A chair being painted in the kitchen - see the roses in the background £1.79 from Aldi one climbing and one fragrant tea rose - just waiting for a little bit of sunshine so I can get planting. 

A pair of beauties. I am soooooooo pleased with the new look so much brighter.  After I had painted them I gave them a coat of clear beeswax to protect them a little. The fabric is some I have had about 5 years I bought it in the sale at John Lewis and its perfect.  I do have a few pieces of vintage Sanderson and fancied making them all different but the girl's general opinion was a strong NO and actually I agreed -  they made the right choice. 

Close up of fabric

All in all very pleased - a good job and a cheap one.  Paint free from Annie Sloan and fabric about £9 in sale.  Excellent 4 new chairs for next to nowt.

We had  curry for tea tonight and I did warn everyone if they got any on the chairs there would be trouble with a capital T.

Before I say night night I must tell you a funny that Belle came out with at the tea table.  She saw a man on the road in a small white van carrying a brown book. He visited my immediate neighbour and then a house further down the road. Is that man a preacher she said I asked her why she thought that and she said well  I think that brown book is a bible and well he just looks like a preacher.  I pointed out that he came around once every week.  I know he calls a lot she said.  Belle I explained that is the milkman and he is collecting his money. Oh my goodness I howled with laughter, you know, tears, snorting, struggling to breathe laughter.  As you may  imagine we had a very grand discussion around our tea table pointing out the differences between a preacher and a milkman. Think she watches too many American movies as we don't have preachers in our village just Vicar Margaret, a Methodist Minister oh and a Milkman.  Now have tears rolling down my face. 

Must just show you my hexagon progress before I retire for the night.

All different

Whoops two photos the same

Close up each hex is a different fabric

I can't make my mind up if to make it into a cushion or to carry on to make a small quilt.  Maybe I should stick to a cushion as I have already started (a year ago) a granny flower small quilt but that's hibernating. 

Good night really must go now.

Good night all.



Bake, Chat, Sew

I arose early yesterday morning to make these:-

Yum

I packed my basket

As I was going here:-

Picture from http://www.hopeandelvis.com/

Louise had invited me over for a making day and she had invited others too.  Amongst them was Sally from Red Robin  who I  had chatted  to via Bloggy Land but not in real life.  It was lovely to meet her and we had a super day chatting, sewing, making, sticking and eating CAKE.  Have I told you I love cake and eat it far too often resulting in my body being too big for lots of my clothes.  I also met Louise's mum and we had a wonderful time chatting away as if we had known each other ages.  We also had 'things' in common.  She was from the same area in Sheffield as my Dad, she had my Aunty Ann's book which her friend was in and she even knew K's mum and dad. Isn't it strange how you sometimes have common threads with people you haven't met before.  I didn't take anything with me but I did have it in mind to make some hexagons to make into a cushion and that is what I did.

Hexies in a row

I hexed all morning (to Louise's surprise) and in the afternoon I  decided to undertake some cutting and sticking to make cards using just a small portion of the vast array of vintage bills, letters, wallpaper, books and lots of other scrumptious stuff in the workshop.  This is how they started

Background finished

Lot of papers to choose from

The finished article

Little dollies - one on left just a tadge scary

 A toadstool and a vintage child's shoe from an old catalogue

A lovely relaxing day. Thanks Lou.



Sunshine On My Shoulder Makes Me Happy

Had a lovely day today.  Been to Chesterfield for a potter around with K and then went on to the antiques centre in Bolsover.  A gentle pootling day which was welcome as today would have been Dad's 75th birthday so I had approached it with very mixed feelings - sad that he is not here and happy in that I had a good day which he would have liked.  I bought some pretty spring flowers from the market - cheap as chips - and from the Antiques Centre I got a blue and white striped pudding bowl and a pretty pink rabbit - very spring like. 

Pretty pink bunny

Pretty pink primula

A trio of loveliness - oh and a painted dresser

I am saving the dresser reveal for another day as it needs a bit more attention.  It's looking good though and has already made the room look brighter. 

After I got back from our little outing I donned my black and white starry pj bottoms, my scruffy purple hoodie and my green crocs - why you may ask - well the sun was shining and it was the ideal opportunity to paint OUTSIDE.  I was looking good - um thats debatable - well its not I looked a state.  Yeah I opened the patio doors and dragged out two of our dining room chairs.  With a splish and splash of Annie Sloan they are looking much better.  Two more to go and then the seats to recover.  It felt really good to be outside and I had a look around the garden and there are lots of signs of new growth.  My clematis Dad gave me is sprouting. honeysuckle growing, ladies mantle poking through and lots more.  There's lots of tidying up to be done - weeds to pull out, dead plants to remove and brambles and nettles to clear.  Hopefully a little more sunshine will inspire me to get going.  Going to watch Marchlands now pips going on Radio 4 for 9 o'clock gonna run through to other room grab remote from Nellie and enjoy.