A Bit of a Mooch and a Small Charity Shop Haul

Today, was one of my days off and the day that I go to my usual volunteering session. I didn't feel like going on my bike for once, so I decided to take the bus.  The volunteering session was good, there were quite a few of us and we seemed to get a lot of work done.

On the way home, I decided to do a bit of a detour and have a mooch about our local town centre, so I hopped off the bus, intending to hop back on it again after I'd had a look in a couple of shops and got some cash out at the bank.

The first stop was a charity shop. I was a bit disappointed, as they didn't have hardly anything in my size and they seemed to have a lot more vintage clothing than I remembered, so I  didn't find anything to buy in here. 

I then stopped off at our local Primark. I haven't been in this store for a long while and just thought I'd take a look and see if there was anything I could take on holiday with me when we go to Lanzarote next month. I picked up a few pairs of trousers and headed to the changing room. They all fitted, but none of them blew me away. I liked a pair of khaki cargo pants the best, but didn't think they were worth the £20 price tag, so I left emptyhanded.

I then popped to the bank and then intended to get back on the bus.  When the bus didn't come, I decided to take a walk up to another charity shop, that has always been my favourite place to shop and which is on the way home. I didn't find any clothes here, but I did find some crafty bits. I spent about £6.50 in total and here's what I bought:

The first thing that caught my eye was this vintage tray with a bird print on it. I already have a similar one at home and I love it. I'm going to use this one on the kitchen table to house a candle, flowers, a crystal maybe. It only cost £1, which was a steal.

I noticed whilst I was in there that there was a heap of crafting materials that someone had donated. At first, I didn't even take a look as I have so much already, but as I worked my way around the shop, I decided to look and see what was there. There were some really lovely things, but I stuck to what I would definitely use and came away with these few items:

First was the cutest little English paper pieceing kit. It contains 150 1" paper squares, a 1" square board template and a little project book of how to make a little sleeping bag for a small teddy bear. I probably won't make this, but I can think of all sorts of lovely little projects to make using the smallest of fabric scraps.  This was right up my street and cost just £1.50.

The next item I bought was this nest of triangles quilting template. I've been meaning to attempt a triangle quilt for a while and this would be really useful if I ever did get around to it. The templates range from 1" all the way up to 12" triangles, so this could be very useful for multiple projects. Another bargain at £1.50 again.

This next item was a Mandala stencil set. It is actually for home decor, but I bought it with the idea of perhaps stencilling onto fabric using fabric paints and using them as quilt blocks. It's an idea, but I don't know if I'll ever do it.  It could be used for making pretty cards too or prints to hang on the wall. Very versatile and only £1.50 again for the two stencils.

When I opened them up, they are actually quite big and would be good to use for a cushion panel. Probably a bit large for a patchwork or cards, but they could form a centrepiece for something. There was also a lovely mandala print block that I thought about buying for £2, but I left it.  I'm tempted to go back for it now I know how big these are, as it would be the perfect size for quilt blocks.

The last thing I bought was a small 3m role of spotty ribbon for £1. This will be useful for gift wrapping or possibly other uses.

In all, I was very happy with this little haul, as I do think I might use all of the items and I enjoyed leafing through all of what must have once been someone's stash. How generous of them to donate it all for the pleasure of others and to raise funds for the charity.

Making Beaded Suncatchers

I've been meaning to make this post for probably six months now, so I am pleased that I have finally got around to it.

Last summer, I spent a bit of time visiting car boot sales on Sundays and I often picked up either loose craft beads or jewellery whose beads I could use for crafting for very little money.

I'd seen items on Pinterest and Etsy which inspired me to have a go at making a beaded suncatcher to hang in the garden in the summer.

It was so easy to do. I used plastic fishing wire, as it is very strong and strung beads onto it in different lengths, which I then tied to a lichen covered branch that I picked up on a dog walk.

Glass beads work best as their translucence allows the light to shine through them, but plastic beads and some opaque beads also look good to add to the mix, so anything goes. I also added on the odd charm for a bit of interest.

Here's one I made for my garden, which is currently hung in the sewing room window:

I waited for a nice sunny day to photograph this to show it off at it's best. I intend to put it outside once the weather improves. (I don't know where the face came from, if you can see it in this picture. It's not my face, nor anything in the room!!! Very strange indeed)

This one, which I strung from a mandala shaped incense stick holder, I gave to LB for her room in Halls. It included some beads from some broken jewellery that she owned.

I was pretty happy with how both turned out and I may make some more at some point as I still have lots of beads to use.

This Week - W/E 18th February 2023

I do love Sundays. It's my weekend. It's short, but I love it, especially after a busy Saturday at work.

This Sunday, I spent most of my time working on LB's quilt. Now I've reached the infilling bit between blocks, I felt motivated to make up lots of the infill rectangles to enable me start pieceing it all together. It's quite exciting.  

I enjoy all stages of English Paper Pieceing: the cutting out of the paper, the pinning and tacking of the fabric around the paper and the sewing of the pieces together and then the removal of the papers. It provides lots of variation from day to day, so I don't get too bored.

So a lazy, stitchy Sunday it was. I rang LB for a chat to see how she was doing. It was nice to talk to her rather than just message one another. You can tell so much more how things are going by actually having a proper conversation.

OH and I finished watching the Aretha Franklin film too in the evening, which was good and then it was time for bed again, ready for work the next day.

I was due in work early at 9am on Monday, which is unusual for me, as I never usually start until the afternoon. I still had enough time to do part of the weekly shop before I went in to work, which was good.

I didn't mind this particular shift, but I was alone on the till for the first couple of hours. As the morning wore on it got quite busy, partly I think because it was half term. One of the managers also gave me another job of marking down prices on some products, which I did between customers, so I was kept very busy the whole time, but it did pass quickly.

I finished the shopping on the way home and then when I got home, I decided to do some financial reckoning which was long overdue and I also paid a couple of bills. I get paid again this Friday, how quickly did that come around? I love that about this job.

LB sent me a picture tonight, as she'd received her box of treats for Valentines Day. I always give her something. She was very happy with it. It got there really fast, so a big thank you to the Post Office.

After walking the dog, the rest of the evening was the usual mixture of stitching, making supper, watching TV, etc.

On Tuesday, I woke up really early due to a having a bad dream and struggled to sleep well after that. When I got up, I came downstairs to some lovely flowers and some chocolate from OH for Valentine's Day, which perked me up.

I had time to take the dog out for a long walk, but unusually for her, she just wasn't interested and diverted me around the block for a very short morning walk. I think she just wanted to get home and sit in the garden instead.

I spent most of Tuesday stitching on LB's quilt. It's really coming along. I've stitched three rows of blocks together already, which is almost half of the blocks. After spending a full day on it, I've decided to give it a rest for a couple of days. There are a few household tasks that I need to get on with. I often get obsessed with things and then find myself needing to take a break. I'll probably be back working on it in a day or so.

As a treat for Valentine's Day, OH took me out for lunch at a local cafe, which was nice. I had a dish called Chatchouka, which was fried eggs on a bed of fried onions and peppers and was very tasty. We promised ourselves that we would do this more often, as there are lots of lovely cafe's around where we live.

I treated myself to some new trainers for work from eBay a few weeks ago and they arrived today. They came from China, so they took a while. I ordered a size 7, but they feel more like an 8 or bigger, as there is a lot of room at the toes. I added some inner soles and they are a little better, but still big.  Hopefully they'll be okay though. I needed some that were all black and my gym shoes have white soles. They were very inexpensive, so it's not a big deal.

In the evening, OH was cycling at the track, so I indulged myself by watching some romantic movies on TV as Sense and Sensibility and Four Weddings and a Funeral were both on Film 4. I've watched both of these films before, but enjoyed watching them again. It seems to be wedding season for us again at the moment, which is lovely, as several of the younger generations of both of our families are getting engaged and married over the next couple of years.

On Wednesday, I woke early and decided to have a read of my current book, for the first time in a couple of weeks. As mentioned in a previous post, I'm reading Georgette Heyer's The Nonesuch, which is part of the Comfort Book Club on Miranda Mills YouTube channel. I quite enjoyed reading another few chapters. It's a nice easy read and I like some of the characters. 

In the car on my way to and from work, I'm currently listening to William Makepeace Thackeray's Vanity Fair, which is great. I loved the TV dramatisations of this novel and I'm thoroughly enjoying the audio book. There are over 25 discs, so it should take me months to complete.

I also managed to take the dog for a long walk this morning which was nice.  When I got back I did a few chores about the house and then got ready for work. I was due in at 5, but as usual I went a bit early to miss the traffic and picked up a few things we needed from Home bargains en route.     

Work was quite quiet on Wednesday, so I enjoyed stocking up shelves in the till area and later went to do some recovery work in various sections of the store that had been assigned to me. I enjoyed it and it made for a stress free shift.

OH took the dog to stay overnight with a new dog sitter tonight, to get her used to staying with him before we leave her with him when we go on holiday next month.

On Thursday, I was off to my voluntary work. They had a photographer there to take photos of volunteers, but I wasn't happy to participate, as I don't like having my photo taken at the best of times. It was a busy shift, with a new young volunteer who was fun.

When I got home, the dog was back from the dog sitter. She was a little disgruntled for an hour or so, but soon settled back in. I did a little job in LB's room that I've been meaning to do for a while. Her bedside cabinet is all stained on the top and looks unsightly, so I bought some sticky vinyl in a marble effect and covered it.  Here's a before and after:

It's not a perfect job, but I think it looks better than it did and will prolong the life of this little piece of furniture. I've got plenty left and may use it elsewhere too.

Later, I ended up retiring to bed for a few hours, to read and nap a little after getting up so early. I made good progress on the book club book and had just a few chapters left to read by the end of the day.

OH booked us a villa for our forthcoming holiday in Lanzarote today. I'm so looking forward to the break. It's the first time we've all been abroad together since before Lockdown.

I was at work for 10 am again on Friday, so had a bit more time to get ready. It was busy for most of the shift, with quite a lot of customers. The new Store Manager visited for the first time, so we were on our best behaviour, which we are for most of the time anyway, but I didn't actually get to meet him. He starts work proper in a couple of weeks.

I was tired when I got home from work and had a nap and did a bit of reading before spending most of the evening watching TV with OH.

On Saturday I was working in the afternoon. It was quite a quiet day at work for a Saturday, which was unusual. Possibly because of half term or maybe the cost of living crisis is starting to bite. Anyway, I quite enjoyed the day, as the atmosphere was positive and it made it an enjoyable shift. It was nice to finish the working week on a positive note.

I hope your week was a positive one.

Quilt Progress

Lately, I've been spending a lot of time working on a quilt for LB's room. I posted about this quilt quite a while back when I first started work on it, but then I set it aside and didn't do much more on it for quite a few months.

Once the festive and sale season was over and things started to get back to normal, I found I had time to pick it up again and I've been doing quite a lot of work on it in the last couple of weeks, so I thought I'd do a bit of an update.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I decided to change the colour scheme a little. I was originally trying to use up various blue fabrics from my stash, but once I'd actually pieced a few, it became obvious that using fabrics with more than a couple of colours made the quilt look a bit busy and I wanted a calm kind of look to it.

As a consequence, I decided on a blue/white or blue/cream theme to keep things simple. Having said this there are lots of different blue tones and lots of different shades of cream or white, but I think that using this colour scheme does work well.

To test out how the quilt might look once on the bed, I laid out the blocks that I've already made. Here's a picture:

A bit of imagination is needed, as I will be infilling between blocks with a darkish blue chambrey shirting fabric, that I bought in Yorkshire. I've placed it behind the blocks in the photo below and I think it will make the individual blocks and fabrics stand out and show them off to their best advantage, it's just a question of whether I have enough of it as I only bought a remnant. So long as I have enough to piece between the blocks, I can always get creative around the edges with a border in a different fabric if necessary.

There is one block (third from the bottom), that I'm not sure about, as the colour doesn't match tonally very well with the rest, but I do like the fabric, so I'm going to stick with it and keep it in. I think it looks okay where I've placed it towards the bottom of the quilt. I could mix them all up, but I kind of like the rows of the same fabric.

I'm currently working on the last block, but I'm happy that this project has helped to use up some fabrics that I've had for a long time, but not really used. It's very satisfying in that respect.

It's slowly coming together and I'm quite excited about it. It's quite a lot of work, as there are 25 individual rectangle pieces in each block and I have discovered in the process, that some fabrics are definitely easier to sew together than others and I have the scars on my fingers to prove it. 

Never the less, I'm enjoying the process and looking forward to seeing it take shape.  All of the quilts I make mark a point in time. This one will always remind me of LB going off to university and my finding things to fill my time while she's away.  Empty nest syndrome is real, but I'm coping with it and getting on with my life.

I'll keep you posted on further progress.

A Short Week - W/E 11th February 2023

It's felt like a very short week this week. It's been the normal 7 days, of course, but not working on Monday and going up to visit family in Yorkshire, made a big difference. I felt very relaxed when we came back. It felt like we'd been away for longer, which is a good thing.

Normal life resumed on Wednesday, with a weekly shop and a late shift at work.  Work was very quiet though, so I ended up spending some time marking down some seasonal items that were being reduced in price. There also wasn't too much stuff to put back in the shop at the end of the day, so it ended up being quite a relaxed shift.

On Thursday, I was off to my voluntary work again as usual. For once, I'd slept well, so getting up early wasn't as difficult as it is some weeks. The shift went okay and we seemed to get quite a lot of work done, which is always satisfying.

OH took the dog to a new dog sitter on Thursday for a few hours, to get her used to staying with him.  We're hoping that he'll be able to look after her, to enable us to get away on holiday in a few weeks time. She seemed to be happy enough to go, but was also very happy to come home too. She must have been a bit confused about why she was there though.

Anyway, after lunch, I felt really tired and popped up to bed for an hour's nap.  Three hours later, I had to drag myself out of bed. I must have fallen into a really deep sleep. It felt good though and I must have needed it.

The remainder of the afternoon/evening, I spent doing some patchwork and watching TV with OH. I've just got to stitch one more block on my current quilt and I'll be moving on to stitching the pieces between blocks. It will be exciting to see the quilt come together, as it's taken quite a few months to get to this point. I'll be making a separate post about this soon.

On Friday, I was due at work for 10am, so I had a little more time in the morning to get ready which was nice. I got an email from my sister in Australia, to tell me that her son has got engaged and will be getting married next year, which is good news. Work was okay, but there were a couple of unpleasant encounters with customers. It went by quickly though.

When I got home, I didn't do too much, just walked the dog, stitched and chilled. Fridays we always have pizza, which OH always makes. We started to watch a movie on Netflix about Aretha Franklin which was good. We'll finish it another evening.

Saturday morning I had to myself, as OH was out cycling. I took the dog for a walk, posted some parcels at the post office and then spent an hour stitching before getting ready for work.  The traffic going to work was really bad, so I was a few minutes late, which was annoying as I never like to be late and always leave a good amount of time for the journey.

It was a really busy afternoon at work, a constant stream of customers, but no rude ones thankfully, so it passed quite quickly and uneventfully. There was quite a bit of work to get the shop tidy at the end of the shift though, but I always find this part of the shift the most enjoyable, as I can kind of wind down as I'm doing it.

A short and pretty uneventful week since we got back from Yorkshire, just getting back into our normal routines after a short break. I hope you've had a good week.

A Few Days Away

This week, I had Monday off work, so I had three consecutive days off to enjoy. We had booked a luxury apartment in Yorkshire to stay for a couple of nights, so we packed up on Sunday morning and headed off in the car.  I was really looking forward to the break after a really intense period at work.

We dropped in at OH's mum's on the way to the apartment and caught up on all the family news, then went on to get settled into the apartment for the night.

Unfortunately, when we got there, we realised that no-one had sent us the key code to get into the apartment, and as it was Sunday night, we couldn't get hold of the owners to provide it. We tried contacting the rental platform that we use regularly, and they couldn't provide it either, so after a drink in a nearby pub, we ended up booking another room for the night, sadly in far less luxurious accommodation, as it was the only place available that would take a dog. We then struggled to find anywhere still serving food, that would allow our dog into the restaurant/bar, despite being in quite a large market town, so settled for some takeaway food eaten in.

It was a very disappointing start to our break and we almost felt like packing up and going home the next day. Anyway, after sleeping on it (or not in my case, as I had a terrible night's sleep) and having breakfast, we arranged with the apartment owners to return to the apartment. 

It was a beautiful apartment and the disappointment fell away. We could resume our relaxing break and put the disaster of the previous night behind us. We were grateful how things turned out, as things could always have been a lot worse, we could have had trouble finding anywhere at all in the vicinity to stay.

Once settled in, OH took the dog out for a lovely walk at a local beauty spot. LB messaged us, to let us know that she was heading to Manchester to stay with some friends for a couple of days, so we chatted online for a while about various things.

After OH had walked the dog, I dropped him off at his parent's house to help them with a few tasks, whilst I headed to my favourite Yorkshire store Boyes, to shop for a few bits that I needed. I browsed a couple of charity shops too, as I was looking for some fabric to complete the current quilt I'm working on.

I had a lovely mooch around the Boyes store and picked up a remnant that will hopefully be big enough to complete my quilt. It's a thickish denim chambray shirting material, that is 100% cotton. It cost £9. It is not what I originally intended to use, but I'm hoping it will work well with all the different blue fabrics that the blocks I've made so far are made from.  Here's a picture:

I have to admit that I did also pick up half a metre of this lovely deco print cotton fabric too, which cost me £2.50.  I don't need it for anything specific, but I just liked it and couldn't resist. There were only 1.5 metres left, but I resisted the urge to buy it all and just bought 1/2 metre for small projects.  I love it.

The only thing I picked up in the charity shops was this Liberty Fat Quarter bundle, which was a steal at £2. I just couldn't not buy it. I paid a little bit more, as I made an additional donation.  It is made up of some very pretty yellow and blue Liberty floral cotton fabrics.

The only other things I bought whilst out and about, were household, toiletry and make up items that I/we needed, so I felt I was quite careful and considered in my spending on the whole.

Once I'd finished shopping, I went back to OH's parent's house. Strangely, whilst there, I received a call from a volunteer who used to work in the charity shop where I previously worked. I hadn't heard from him literally since just after I left back in June last year, so it was a surprise to receive the call.  It was nice to talk to him and catch up with his news. There had been quite a few events in his life since I left, some of them good, some not.  It was good to hear he was doing okay though and had found a new job. 

Later in the evening, we went to OH's sister's house for supper, which was nice, as we hadn't seen them since last summer. We had a pleasant evening catching up with family news and events. There is a family wedding coming up later this year, so we should all meet up again for that.

We then finally returned to the apartment and spent a couple of hours chilling on our first and last night there. We'd had a nice day, but it was good to have some time to ourselves at the end of it, before we headed back to London.

The next morning, we had a lovely relaxing morning chilling in the apartment. It was nice to use the facilities properly before we left and just enjoy the last little bit of our stay.

We packed up and headed off to walk the dog and make a last visit to OH's parents. While OH was walking the dog, I did a little bit of charity shopping. I managed to find a dress for the family wedding and a fascinator. The dress is new and cost £15. It's quite a formal wedding, so I needed something new, as I don't have anything suitable. Hopefully this will look okay. I'm not really someone who enjoys dressing up for occasions. It's not really my thing, but you have to make an effort for other people on these occasions.

We're now back in London.  When I read this back, it sounds like I spent the entire time shopping, but I don't really shop much when I'm in London, except for groceries. I do feel like I've had a longer break than just one day off work. I think getting out of London was good for us.

This Week - W/E 4th February 2023

I had a super long lie in on Sunday morning. I really didn't want to get out of bed, and I didn't need to as OH was doing the morning dog walk.  I did eventually get up and get dressed.

I decided that today was the day that I wanted the Xmas stuff to go back into the loft. It had been kicking around on the landing and in the sewing room for weeks, getting in the way. I just needed to iron a few bits of Xmas linen before it could be packed away for another year.

This gave me the motivation to tackle the ironing pile of doom. It was full of towels, bedding, kitchen linen and a few items of clothing, so I got to grips with that and spent most of the afternoon getting it down to a reasonable level. This felt very satisfying once it was done. I just haven't had the energy or motivation this January, partly because work has been so busy, but now the sales have finished, I find I've got a little more energy on some of my days off.

I put the laundry away and OH put the Xmas boxes and bags back in the loft and I felt that I was actually making some sort of progress in the house for once.

On Monday, I was due at work for 4pm. I spent the morning doing the weekly shop locally again and then finishing it off before heading into work. 

My shift at work started off quite quiet but did get a bit busy, mainly because I was working the tills on my own for a while. It wasn't the best shift I've worked, put it that way, for reasons that I won't go into here.

I was happy to have my day off on Tuesday, and quite tired from working until 10 the night before. I ended up waking up at 5.30 am though, so I was tired later in the day and took myself off to the sofa to have a nap. 

Whilst there, I also read a couple of chapters of the Georgette Heyer book that had arrived by post that morning and then spent the rest of the afternoon on the sofa watching Netflix. Sometimes you just have to have a duvet day on the sofa, and this day was mine. I did pot up a plant cutting, water my houseplants and move my pots of daffodils closer to the back door today though too, so it wasn't a complete write off.

On Wednesday, I was at work for 1pm, so I walked the dog before heading off. It was a lovely morning with blue skies and sunshine.  So different to many of the days we had in January. It would have been a perfect day to spend in the garden, but I wasn't able to unfortunately. I was, however, very happy to move forward into February this year.

Work went okay. It was reasonably busy, but I had time to do other jobs between customers, which mixed it up a bit. We were notified that our Store Manager is leaving today, which came as a big surprise. I think he will be missed, as he is very well regarded by the staff.

For once, I wasn't working late on a Wednesday, which I hoped meant that I wasn't going to be quite so tired getting up to go to my volunteering the next day. It didn't quite work out that way, as I didn't sleep well, but the volunteering on Thursday morning went okay and I had a good chat to a new volunteer after the session, which was nice.

I didn't do a whole lot in the afternoon, a bit of sewing, laundry, the usual.

Friday morning at work was pretty steady and calm really. I enjoyed the shift. I didn't do a lot for the rest of the day, a bit of stitching, watching TV, walking the dog.

Saturday, I woke up to another small win on the Premium Bonds, which I was very grateful for. I was due at work for 1pm, so I took the dog out, had some lunch, got ready and headed off.

Work was okay for once, which has not been the case on many recent Saturdays. It wasn't quite as intense as it has been recently and there seemed more till staff this week for a change, which made a big difference. I stayed an extra half hour, to serve the last of the customers and help to tidy up a little. I was glad to get to the end of the work week.  I've got Monday off next week, so for the first time in three months, I've got three consequetive days off. I can't wait.