Annie's lovely gloves....

Thank you so much for your cheery comments - I try and make my posts a bit funny from time to time so if that works it is great to hear.  No more colour guesses though...I promise. Welcome to new followers too - I hope that you find something of interest here

Good things come at unexpected times don't you think?

Dear Annie  of knitsofacto (and her beautiful photographs and delicious makes) sent these BEAUTIFULLY knitted gloves - my wrinkly old hands could not possibly do them justice so I asked Bronte (budding hand moh-dell) to wear them for these photographs.  Even so I still cannot do them justice because you also need to FEEL them and note how soft they are and warm.

I have to say Annie that Bronte and her friends are very taken indeed with these gloves - the MUST HAVE for this season (and beyond)

Dear Annie sent these some time ago but because I had photographed them against the YELLOW table I have held back in posting this until today.

I could not help but notice that a certain shop is now selling reproduction versions of these little bird brooches.  I did not check the price (which is usually my sole reason for going in to that particular establishment - so that I may huff and puff like a good 'un) but these are very easy to make and this is my current brooch for this week. Next week I will be moving on to my December brooch that I made ages ago here

Beautiful gloves

I am sorry that there is no photograph of the delicious choco that I was also given - I ate that rather quickly...

Thank you Annie

PS: Bronte painted a wonderful Dalek on her nails at the weekend in order to watch Dr Who.

PPS: I am not an earnest Dr Who 'fan' (not since Patrick Troughton left.....) but I have joined in with more recent episodes and find them cleverly written. I liked the BBC drama about it - did anyone else spot Jean Marsh in the crowd scene? I like those clever throwbacks

PPPS: I notice that a charity shop in Chichester has a great vintage Dr Who display with stacks of Tom Baker annuals.

PPPPS: A friend's neighbour has an original R2D2 or do I mean K9.  I have never seen Star Wars remember!

PPPPPS: That is all my Dr Who knowledge.

PPPPPPS: My friend Bryony had tea with Judi Dench again YESTERDAY and now tells me that the novelty has worn off....crikey..... fame is short lived nowadays.

PPPPPPPS: That is all the news from stardom for this week.

Tie a YELLOW ribbon....round the old table leg.............

It was YELLOW!

I am 'The Custards' after all!

Here are the clues:  

1. I mentioned (in blue because yellow doesn't show up against white!) that sometimes I was doubly a cross stick - this was  feeble attempt at a pun: A DOUBLE ACROSTIC.  Groan....my childhood was spent listening to 'My Word' on Radio 4...

2. This would have naturally (!)  prompted a review of the blog text and there it was: spelt out down the left hand side of the blog the word: YELLOW (in bold at that!) and again in lower case (in bold at that!) at the end of each of those same lines.  

3. Martha and Arthur offered sage words of wisdom and asked that you go back and 'See what was in front of you' too. Thank you to Martha and Arthur for their input but sorry if they then misled you into thinking that my words were all a double/treble bluff and that the table was actually the colour of the photograph!

Go back and have a gander if you can bear it....

Did you ever read Masquerade.............or tried to solve it...

Sorry again - I do feel quite bad about it all!

Phew!!! Next time I shall opt for the more straightforward approach.  However I loved the comments and each one made me chuckle.  The clever rhymes and the trying to figure out how my brain might work  I thought were creative and inventive.

Jugs are the handiest of things - if you go to your local charity shop now you will find one, for about 20-50 pence I think.  I use others for: custard, flowers, 'bits', pens, pencils, 'bobs', more custard and juice

Flower frogs are the handiest of things - if you go to your local charity shop now you will find one, for about 20-50 pence I think.  I use others for: incense, little twiggy arrangements and for pencils...not custard

£25 bought a lovely Edwardian table - complete with a drawer with purdy handles. I have got some lovely 1950s wallpaper that I might line this lovely drawer with - not quite made up my mind.  When I got it home I realised that it was a little bit, slightly more much bigger than I thought and it could barely fit up the stairs.

There was a little bit of huffing and puffing at that point in the proceedings.......Dom just laughed and said how much he loved my spontaneity and adored how I just brought things home without discussing it first....life was full of surprises with me he said....never a dull moment he said.....he just loved the fact he could now  use his Saturday lugging an old table up and down the house...he said that he could not think of a finer way of spending his time.....thank goodness he was not interested in the rugby match that day he said......how lucky he was to be with me he said......it was great that he never had any say in how things were decorated as he didn't have to think about it......at this point he just ruffled my hair and smiled: 'That's what makes you you' he said.  That was about the gist of it. How we laughed that day..............

Arthur: 'Why is there a kettle under the table?'

Martha: ' 'Tis the most obvious place for kettle keeping Arthur - please keep up'

Arthur: 'She is a bit odd isn't she...'

I am sure that most of you keep a kettle under the table - I am not alone with that one.

This room faces directly south and gets very sunny - so I have to be careful.  Just like The V&A I have to keep the sun out to protect fabricos (not really - but I have placed it on the facing wall to try and minimise the sun).

Since taking these photographs I have painted (NOT yellow or blue) the other Ercol chair that  I bought for £2 from'The Shop that opens more often than it used to' shop and plonked that in here too. The room is filling up nicely - just some more shelving to fit in and the embroidery flying  formation!

Too much?


Can you see that the table is getting 'full up' here.  Oh I wish I could keep things neat and tidy but I cannot.  Things just creep in.  I will take better photos but you might be able to see the old wire stationary trays on the table - back in the summer I bought three of them for TWENTY PENCE the lot.  TWENTY PENCE!!! They are ideal to keep even more bits and bobs in.  Also can you see an Easter Egg?  It is particularly old one from the 1930s I think - bought  from the same stall but they were asking FIFTY PENCE for the egg - the price hike was due to the fact that within the egg were nestled two other eggs!  A bit like a Faberge one  I think! (Arthur: 'I've always said that it is best to buy Easter eggs at Christmas time - always.')

So - in summary - we have: 'Mary' from Mr Langfords, two Ercol chairs from Rodney ('The Shop that opens ...you know the rest!'), table from next town shop, old desk from where I used to work many years ago (free), big chair bought as a teenager (decades ago then...), sample book of 50s wallpaper bought for £12 via t'internet stuck on the wall and stuff from years of not throwing out!

If you have read this blog over the years you will see that all posts  have been building towards this day!

Careful curation creates completeness.

Perfecto!

 Dom very kindly wired up one of those industrial light fittings for me to complete the scene.

  The light bulbs are pricey and - a word of warning here - the light they give off is rubbish!!!! 

However these bulbs look very  nice I think! I will do a very little post just about the light bulb another time

It took a bit of sifting to get the correct entries sorted and I am feeling quite bad that I made it so tricky (I might have to do a special embroidered purse giveaway sooner rather than later in order to make amends!). For those who guessed the right colour but not which purse they might like |I then put in both vintage hats  and hoped that I would not draw their name out twice!

Bronte selected one winner and Maille the other.   The winners are:

For the coin purse:  BoBo bun - I do hope that is ok as you had not specified which you might like but I thought that this might be your preference when you name appeared.


For giant doll purse (!):  Ada Bea from The Vintage Sheet addict was also pulled out of the vintage hat

I will call in on your blogs to let you know but if you see this beforehand please email me your contact details (bank account number, PIN number, passwords etc) and then I will post as soon as possible.

Thank you again for all of your entries - I will not make things so complex next time!  Maybe......

I love custard

And the colour is........not quite ready

Thank you for entering the giveaway competition - I will keep it open for another week so there is still time to READ the post carefully and enter! Thank you also for kind comments and emails - I will blog visit this week - I promise.

Thought I would build up colour tension and reveal table colour next time around. In the interim these are the shelves all stocked with stock......stuff....

There is something very appealing about stacks of coloured fabric isn't there.  Why is that I wonder.

I am rather partial to colour and pattern....I think that I may have mentioned this previously...

Can you see that shelf bottom left I got a bit fed up with the folding and did more 'shoving' instead.

Good to have everything in one place.....well nearly.........there may be some more......

So my old tins are still here - now they are stacked in the vertical position

Let's face it that: pared back Scandi look is not going to happen any time soon....though I have plans for the kitchen!

A tin repeat - of course this arrangement has been changed umpteen times already as with each tin use it all gets shuffled around!

These photographs show the room in its early metamorphosis - before the table purchase and before some chucking out had taken place.

I fully appreciate that this looks like Steptoe's Yard....oh dear

In the photo below I seem to have got rid of some stuff only for more to appear via the back door!

At this point I was desperately moving stuff around in order to create a bit of table space.  I have not repainted the floor (which I last painted about 10 years ago and dried with a hairdryer in order to move all the bedroom furniture at that time back in....)

This was the table back in the summer - I managed to do a bit of light sanding - that was all that was needed before I painted it a particular colour........

What could that colour be I wonder......?

I think that some of you have spotted it......well done you sleuths!

Table in  all its glory will be posted next time with the winners too


Spare kind thoughts for people in the world and give generously if you can. I appreciate all that I have

Giveaway competition for YOU. Come on in!

Thank you for previous comments - sorry for the delay.  I have merely been mulling.....it's a blog eat blog world out there!

Here I was going for the: 'pared down, back to basics, decluttered look' in this moderately revamped room -  consisting of basic transposition of shelving from one room to another, 'Cupboard of Wonders' transfer and stuff shoving............

Mary changed into a workaday outfit 'specially

Yes: I think that I have just  about pulled it off..........nearly

Phew!

For a moment there I thought that I might have gone a bit over the top and tried to cram too much stuff on to the shelves but no - pared back minimalism it is.......

What do you think so far?

 Eric.....be careful (a UK joke!)

The room is far from finished so I am being selective in the bits that I show.  There is still 'The Great Wall of Embroideries' to BUILD  around 'The Cupboard of Wonders': this will consist of  a selection of my favourites built up over the decades displayed in  splendid flying formation!!

Lest further shelf building be also needed...............LOL

Logistically it is all a bit tricky - not least to spell

I know...too much stuff but I am slowly working my way through it all.  

I wonder if you can help me?

 Can you please tell me  the colour that I  have painted my table.....(I have forgotten now that I only see in sepia....)?

Only if the correct colour is stated (I will check pre-sepia memory bank) will your name will be put into a very nice (circa 1950) straw hat for a follower giveaway prize. Ho ho

When I draw the names from the hat I will let you know

 I am not after the EXACT colour name mind  ('Saddleback Brown', 'New Bottom Pink' or 'Nose contents Green'...) just the broad colour will suffice (hint - it is  not black!!).

If you would like to be entered into the Giveaway Competition just let me know what colour you think the table is and which one of these two items you would like.


 I might have to turn on the colouriser on for these!

Purse Number One: Made from some lovely 1950s botanical print fabric that I thought showed  nice seasonal colours.

Ah - that's better...

Just the right size for taking your coppers to the Co-op and making a milk purchase perhaps ('Is she of this century....?')

Both sides are the same fabric

Showing bottom as usual....

Sorry that the conkers are a bit dried up by now!

Lined with plain off-white linen

Number Two: Zipped number - suitable for a range of purposes as demonstrated below.

Made from original Swedish fabric - dating from the ?70s (maybe someone can enlighten me) and possibly designed  by Laukkanen - who designed for Almedahls and Rorstrand

I thought perhaps a large pencil case - for large pencils!

I have used my old little doll here to show the scale - now they look like GIANTS!!

If you would rather the 'straightforward' giveaway please let me know - I will understand - honest I will.

Eco Ethel I have NOT forgotten the Limerick competition - I am not sure how much interest there might be globally for it though....if you think that it is a 'go'er' I will revive it.

'There once was an old woman from Wantage,
Who loved all that was vintage,
She bought too much stuff, husband got into a huff,
 That silly old woman from Wantage'.

You try rhyming vintage (mintage, spillage, village....)!

'There once was a woman who loved vintaajh,
Whose collection became rather large,
One day it burst through, right to next door's loo,
So then she had to charge' (for viewing...oh dear I am not very good at this)

Arthur: 'Could do better'
Martha: 'Could do a lot better!'

There once was a young woman from Wold, who adored all that was old,

There once was a young man who did knit, but nothing ever did fit....

'There once  was a 'middle aged' (!) hoarder,
Whose house got into disorder,
She got into a pickle, became very fickle
and then found she had to re-order'

Oh dear...again

 I had actually penned a post with several  limericks but must have deleted it in errata!


PS: I will tell the tale of my lovely £25 Edwardian table when we do the 'REVEAL' of the winners! I won't be posting so much anymore so it will be a few weeks I think.

PPS: Did you notice the tub of PVA glue in the grate - letting the side down.....shocking lack of standards. One day I intend to open up this fireplace again, light a fire, turn on the old radio and snooze beside it....We are fortunate in that all the bedrooms and indeed all the rooms in the house still have their original fireplaces - that is a lot of grates to keep clean!

PPPS: No 'bet hedging' by suggesting colours such as 'reddy blue' or 'greeny pink' or 'blackie white' (I SAID THAT IS WASN'T BLACK!  Did you read the ruddy post?) !!!

PPPPS: I am not colour blind!!!

PPPPPS: Only one entry per follower and no trying the old 'beard and glasses' trick that you tried last time

PPPPPPS: Ejection can be a humiliating experience...sorry that I am sometimes doubly a cross stick (hint, hint)

PPPPPPPS:

Ahem.....

Pear drops on fabrics and fabric with kittens
Bright shiny china and old knitted mittens
Second hand wallpaper tied up with strings
These are a few of my favourite things

Stacks of old linens and mint vintage poodles
Baked cake with chocco and cream that just oodles
Doorknobs and old bells and fairies with wings
These are a few of my favourite things

Girls in old dresses with embroidered  big sashes
Doilies like snowflakes and glued on eye lashes
Em-broidered cloths that then morph into things
These are a few of my favourite things

When the machine bites
When the scissors snip
When I'm feeling sad
I simply remember my favourite things
And then I don't feel so baaa-aa-a-hh-d

PPPPPPPPPPPPPS: I hope that you sang along

PPPPPPPPPPPPPPS: Pat Pending

PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPS: That was me on the flying trapeze in case you were wondering...

PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPS: 'She'd fly through air with the greatest of ease....'

PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPS: I have never been a great fan of bare back riding myself - no - I shall stick with the trapeze if that's ok


Tra La La........................................








Arthur: 'Does anyone know what she is going on about........?'

Martha: 'Some will see what is in front of them I think'


THANK YOU FOR ALL OF YOUR ENTRIES - THE GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED AND YOUR ENTRIES ARE BEING COUNTED AND DOUBLE CHECKED AND VERIFIED AND RE-CHECKED!