Friday 12 December 2014

Special Seasonal Selection. Including: The Great Wall of China...Current Kitchen Clichés....what the inside of my head looks like...some bargain buys...old fabric...and getting ready...


Humble apologies all round for my lack of input in the ether world. I am now a full two posts behind with replies though I have  read and chuckled over all your deliciousness and kind words.   Not sure when this will ever be remedied - life seems to be taken over by 'other stuff' sadly.  However all of your visits are greatly appreciated - without them there is no point in having a blog in the first place.  

Such kindness is the glue which keeps us together and I thank you from the heart of my bottom. very much.

This is my great wall of china!  Ho ho.  I have been working extra, extra hard to pay to have some cupboards made just so that some  of my car boot china will have a somewhere to go without being stacked in a precarious pyramid formation.  I realise that this is a great indulgence and have spent time discussing the associated guilt with Mrs B.


This cupboard is very tall and thin (not unlike myself.......ha ha!)  previously there was just one shelf on this wall and this cupboard occupies the same footprint as that one shelf.  I did not want to have to rummage to find a particular cup...so this is a 'one-cup-deep cupboard'....I am rather partial to a nice cup.


 I appreciate that this type of cupboard is a bit:  'So last year darling'  (in fact I have been discussing this with our local carpenter for about a year! ) but I have had this cupboard love for a long time.

Here is the image from a magazine which I have kept for several years:




Five years in fact.

 We have carefully ensured that our kitchen is full of every current kitchen cliché and you know what 'I care not a fig' : we I have thought about this kitchen for many years and not been able to decide upon a particular 'style' however we live in an Edwardian house so white tiles, larder cupboard and wooden floors go a treat. The clincher was when I was in London a few weeks ago - as I stood waiting for the tube I thought: 'These tiles have stood the test of time  (1863) so if it is good enough for The Underground it is good enough for me!'.

As Ron the builder said when he finished the tiling yesterday: 'The surgery is now open'.



I have carefully placed this paper decoration over the cooker!



 Fortunately I have several old surgical instruments left over from the years I spent working in operating theatres (those were the days my friend).....I can distinguish my Rampley sponge holders (very handy for gripping all sorts of things and extracting dropped items down the plug hole.... as well as tonsils) from my Allis tissue forceps (extra bitey for holding onto little, bitty things - purse making for example!).  I feel very at home with that concept.  Whilst working in theatres I took great delight in learning all the names of the wonderful range of instruments...this is the type of sad thing I like doing.  A bit like learning the names of the boys taught by Mr Chips: OH, COME ON - WE HAVE ALL DONE THAT! '...Pettifer, Pollett, Porson, Potts, Pullman, Purvis...'

Not sure how I deviated onto those subjects : more on surgical instruments another time if needed and indeed I am very happy to debate the virtues of Mr Chips himself (I only have to read the last page to be sobbing into my 1920s hanky).I am rather partial to bit of sentimentality.

I have ordered some extra shelves so that a bit more cramming can take place.  Unfortunately the building of this cupboard has not resolved the storage of the china to be found here (not forgetting the other 'reserve china collections').



Extra cliché factor with lights around the cupboard...



The shelves shown here are about to be taken 'dahhn'.  The children don't know that I have stashed  Quality Street in the big bowl that you can see on one of the shelves.

Taking a break...............



This corner of my new cupboard is perfecto for taking photographs with some nice light coming from the left....thus:


Old milk bottle from Mr Langford...poor Mr Langford


That old step stool which I recovered a few weeks ago has come in very handy indeed. I can now reach the parts that other stools cannot reach.





I will now contrast my thinking with Dom's who kindly informs me that he doesn't have a great deal going on in his head at any one time.  Not that he is an air head but he likes to keep his mind clutter free and rested.  Unfortunately my mind has a mind of its own so it always full and has a little bit of clutter............In order to illustrate this I will show you 'Dom's room'.  This is where he likes to escape - it does not have very much in it.  This is where you might go if you want to r-e-l-a-x.


Does it remind you of an old pub?  

I'm going to buy Dom a bag of sawdust for Christmas - ho ho.  

I am rather partial to milk stout - in fact I love milk stout (room temperature only please). 


Dom's  room used to be my sewing room.


This is how this particular corner used to look some time ago now.




It is the difference between us................

That was back when I could keep things vaguely tidy and some semblance of order


This was the room when Dom started redecorating and I had to move out:



Crikey!



And this was during the decorating process...at least Dom had used vintage sheets as dust covers..........small crumbs............




Wallpaper all gone now (they were only free samples so no cost involved....small crumbs again....

Before this it was Maille's bedroom - this is how it used to look back then:



Times change and each manifestation has been very different to the last. Before the red I had painted it yellow and green.  One day a new family will move in and it will be different all over again.




 This photograph shows my 'sewing' (dump..) room in its pure, unadulterated form - no tidying up - no staging - this is how it usually is (possibly less fabric on the floor than usual though).  What we might call a ruddy mess  an eclectic mix.  My friend Bryony visited this room recently but unfortunately had to be taken out and be given oxygen as she found it all rather suffocating.  I have no idea why she might think that.



 It would take me a while to explain all these different bits on the table - some I have no idea how they got there and their purpose in life!



I bought this shade for my light ( the light given off by the bulb remains useless to sew by).



 For reasons I cannot explain I thought Mary should wear an original wing collar.  As she didn't complain she has been wearing this for several months now.  Mary is also sporting an old 70s dress which Bronte usually wears but is currently 'in for repair' at the workshop. It might be ready for next summer.  Good old Mary - she puts up with a lot in her old age.


 As I was in dire need I bought this lovely old bowl for 50p the other week - I am rather partial to a nice old bowl (beautifully hand painted with some delicarto flowers).  Also showing are some NEW Liberty print bits which I will eventually sew into a mini-hexagon patchwork purse.....when I get round to it.  It was handy that I had a spare bowl to put those bits of fabric in...........................!



Whilst doing  some cupboard rummaging  I found that I  have more than one of these old deer tins : I left this one out to remind not to buy another one.


At the back of my wardrobe I have been keeping some bits for when I get a new kitchen. I had genuinely forgotten what I had put in there and so far I have found: old fish place mats, some old Tupperware and some storage pots. I know that there are some very nice bits in there somewhere and I may have to venture into the back of beyond (Narnia) to find them.It is not a huge wardrobe (one of the Edwardian built-in ones so rubbish for putting hangers in) but it does seem rather full for some reason.   Not too many clothes in that wardrobe.

The party poppers would take a while to explain but they were part of an teaching event I was helping run and stuffed some party poppers in my pockets in case I had to call the large crowd to attention - fortunately my raucous voice was sufficient.



Ages ago I made a stack of fabric windmills - I then made some smaller ones for brooches.  They have remained on this table ever since...sadly not blowing in the wind.


 My dear friend Bryony thought that I was in need of some saucers so gave me this pile of frilly edged ones (they are beautifully opaque and as delicarto as thin ice). Still thinking through what I might do with them but thank you for the thought dear.

I have finally  had my old Smith clock mended: you can see the pre-mended (is that a word?), pre-dusted (ok - that is not a word!)  version here.  Though the label looks like a 'for sale' sign it was just the old clock menders way of keeping track of his clocks - he buffed the bakelite surround nicely so that  it now shines like a conker.  I have one or two old Smith clocks....I like old Smith clocks.  The orange pot is a nice old china one from the 70s which was going for a pound or two in the local CS....it is my undoing.


I haven't been 'out and about' (we know what I mean here don't we) very much for several months but on those rare forays to the 'shops' (we know what I mean here don't we) I have been very lucky...(I wonder what I have missed out on in the intervening months).  Two weeks ago I thought that I would go for a cycle ride in the drizzling rain - I passed the local car boot which had a very sad looking 6 stalls.  Naturally one had to stop and have a gander round.  For £4 I bought all these bits from just the one stall (including the basket):




This is a piece of vintage cardboard


 A little bit of Googling revealed this to be German from the 1930s: it cost 50p and it looks as though it was made yesterday


Complete with a sprinkle of glittery mica






The basket was a bit of an afterthought but as my bicycle basket was already full up this basket was thrown in so that I could carry everything back home. I am going to line it with some nice old Christmassy fabric and use it to dispense Christmas present to my sisters this year.




The stall holder had lots and lots of old Christmas decorations - but I settled for these foil, glass and tinsel wreaths to hang in the hall at home.  I may have some more of these alright already..........


As it was getting chilly I thought that I had also better purchase this nice old travel rug



I have strategically placed these eggs for a 'country living' effect - I did not buy these from the stall holder.  The rug has been carefully washed and now I go round the house draped in this all the time.


From another stall I bought another Conran lamp (thank you to Miss Lazy Daisy for the background information on such lamps).



 Remember that this is work in progress - I don't think that we will finish this much before next Easter - we have yet to decide on other cupboards and colour of the walls.



 I think I was ripped off here as the lamp cost me £3 (I asked if it worked and he said yes and by way of 'proof' immediately put a new bulb in it!) - the other one that I have only cost me £1.  That's inflation for you!  What a sauce.  The stall holder informed me that he had sold another one for £4 earlier that morning so in fact I was getting a discount. Ha ha.

Would you have made those same purchases?  
Do you think that it was worth the money?  
Would you buy it all  even though you have a house full of very similar objet?  
What makes a bargain a bargain?  
What constitutes a 'good' purchase? 
Please define and let me know by way of return.

Next is a bit of unashamed strategic placement of chair and biscuits


I cannot explain my thinking here



Remember my £2 bargain chairs which I bought from:  'The shop which opens slightly more than it used to' shop ? This has now reverted back to' The shop which only seems to be open one afternoon a month' shop

I am now adding in pictures from last year - I promised last December that I would post these photographs - these were taken in December 2013 - sometimes it can take a while to get round to doing things...............

I have yet to get out this seasons decorations but I have one or two stored.  AHEM!  

My children adore Christmas - not because of any presents but because of the decorations and how their home looks at this time of the year. They like it because I go over the top and cram each nook and cranny with some old bits...I like old bits.

These hooks are the best - better than an old paper clip which some have been known to resort to........



Bauble selection can be a bit tricky.  I have gone on before that you should look for seasonal things out of season - I found lots more of these during the summer at the one or two car boots I went to. Don't go looking for nice old decorations at Christmas - look for them on during the height of summer.





Assemble your 1960s tinsel tree and embellish:



I did put more decorations at the top - it looks a bit weighed down at the bottom  here (not unlike myself...)


Some rogue crepe paper decorations have snuck in


Over the decades I have gathered a few old birds (steady!) and I particularly like these peacock types.


...and some old crackers (m'lud)
















These are also from last Christmas






Perhaps I posted these last year but I cannot find them on this blog if I did



Talking of things of a bargain type nature:
A charity shop has been given a huge donation of fabrics - several van loads in fact - the sort of fabric which someone (not unlike myself) will one day also have to donate back to a local charity because  I she never got round to sewing all the things that  I  she always intended to make....ahem!!  Anyway I went a bit bananas with it all - it was very cheap and I chatted, as always, with the shop assistants.  We went through all the fabrics : I was suggesting what they might make and who might like this fabric and that fabric.  I help sort the synthetics from the woollens  and we laughed about hot pants and pantaloons.


I liked this Sanderson fabric.  It is a large design though so not too sure what I will do with it.


I also bought a bin bag of  old cotton velvets  in a beautiful range of colours (£7.99 so a bit pricey but oh so lovely) .  Would you have bought this too? Someone please appease my guilt. 


I am going to make some velvet lined purses and some little velvet lavender-filled cushions - all  tied up with prettiness. Oh! I will also make some vintage velvet hot water bottle covers - essential stuff I think....I will tie them up with vintage lace and ribbon.   I might get it all done in time for Christmas....might.

I was told how I had missed out on all the really nice fabrics and that people were buying hundreds of pounds worth!  Oh my! It's a good job really.


As you can see from  the old label this top piece is embossed so has extra richness I think.

 I suggested making craft packs for Christmas presents and how people might like to buy small pieces in order to make small things.  To illustrate this very fact I went home and made a zipped purse from two of my purchases and then travelled all the way back to donate it back to the shop.


 How we laughed!


By chance I thought that this lovely tweedy fabric went very nicely with some old Vyella for the lining  Funnily enough I already had an old button  to sew on the front. The other fabrics are all from the same fabric purchase.


I tried extra hard to make my bottom neat for Christmas


 Many months ago Dom bought two old chairs from a local salvage yard (you can see one of them in the previous image of Dom's room.  Were you paying attention?).  They need recovering and we were thinking that  some old tweedy fabric might suit rather well.



 The charity shop happened to have yards and yards of old original Harris Tweed - just the sort of tweedy old  fabric two old chairs might need in fact. I bought two designs


This one is particularly delicious with a peppering of  mist, moors and heather amongst the threads


It all goes nicely with the room



I think that it will be while before we get round to it but tweedy covers these chair will have.


The light shown here was one of the very first old things which Dom and I bought together 30 years ago (from a junk shop in Weedon if my memory serves me right) - it is from the 1930s I think and has served us very well over the intervening years.

In case you were wondering that we just decorate all the time and never leave the homestead : we do get out and about but I don't think that is particularly interesting for you to read about ('....and she thinks that this is?......')

I had lots more to show and tell but I had better leave it there.

Work beckons and am going to try and deck the halls this very day......that would be quite a few decos to put up I think if you remember this.


"And they called it cupboard l-u-u-vv........


Someone help me...help me......help me............p-l-u-eeeee-eeee-zzzz"

(Join in at the back)

PS: This is a delightful little deer which Bronte made from felt last year

Complete with little tail


An emergency  sub PS: I cannot now remember the context but last night I had occasion to say to Bronte: 'Well, that's your pigeon" (it might have been in relation to her not really wishing for anything for Christmas).  Bronte then exclaimed that she had never heard me use that expression before and what on earth did it mean!!! WHAT!  Well I'm sorry if you are not aware of such phrases but that's your pigeon...ho ho!  I have since found out that it is used in Australia, New Zealand as well as the UK so could we please start a: 'That's your pigeon' fan club'? Please place the emphasis on 'your' rather than pigeon - it changes the whole meaning without that.  Just sayin'



Proper, full PPS: I also recently bought this delicious old vase from the CS.  



The birds have eaten the little bit of holly which I had carefully cultivated in the garden (from a cutting of a cutting of a holly tree which was growing outside the maternity wing of the hospital where I was born (January) - PHEW!!!) 



However  there is an abundance of old plastic holly in this house and I think that works rather well (plus one of my old tatty robins)






PPPS: This is the Christmas display from 'The shop which used to open slightly more often than it used which now never opens again' dating December 2012!!   It really has taken me a while to posting some of these photographs.



I remember that I very much wished to buy this table but of course the shop was never open......



Final PPPPS: Ending with a mosaic of some of my favourite Christmas bits from the past few years

Festive cheer all round.



'Tis the season to be jolly 

X
Tra
La, la, la
la, la, la, la, la
la.

Better go : those mince pies don't make themselves you know!



37 comments:

  1. Gosh, what an amazing post .... I don't know where to start. I love your new cupboards. I can totally empathise with the usefulness of your old theatre clamps. I have one or two left over from my nursing days too, that I still put to good use. Love the old fashioned glass baubles too!
    Jacqui xx

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  2. Blimey - what an epic post! Loved every minute of it. ("I laughed, I cried." - The Daily Blunder). Lovely to hear from you after your hiatus. Very envious of your cupboards and the contents, and your ridiculous car boot sale luck. How do you do it? Now I must get my decs out....

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  3. What an amazing post, and so lengthy and interestingly! I had to have a lie down half way through. I wish, I wish that we had the charity shops/boot fairs that you have near you - I do visit many round here, but don't very often find proper vintage stuff. Your glass tree decorations remind me of my lost youth, especially those with the dimpled sides. I had forgotten about crepe paper decorations too - do you remember fancy dress costumes made of crepe paper? It always rained! Ha :) I do enjoy your blog!

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  4. Wow Jenny - more of the same please!!
    I love all of your fabric purchases - your CS are obviously far superior to mine!
    Your new cupboard is gorgeous!

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  5. Jenny,
    Thanks so much...I have been checking on you since your last post, so hoping that you would do a Christmas post. I get so much inspiration from you and my daughter Mali and I are planning to go over your past December posts...just so she can see what I get so excited about. Thanks again:)

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  6. The wool felt deer, so clever! I would indeed have brought it all too, those rolls of crepe paper put a particular smile on my face and that velvet! lovely. Trouble is I do want to be a minimilist too. The cupboard is a grand masterpiece, shall we have a party? all those cups....X

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  7. wow, what a post, thanks for sharing .

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  8. I'm not sure what to say...where to start...honestly I feel giddy.
    I'm going back in, I may be gone some time, but I will be back!
    Nicky
    x

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  9. My phone pinged and it read New post from 'The Custards'YAY!! I left your post until bed time so I could sit back and relax whilst I read it. And I'm glad I did! I do love your ramblings and unashamed hoarding! The new cupboard is smashing (no pun intended) and the HARRIS TWEED....my dad is always going on about how marvellous Harris Tweed is! Wishing you all a colourful and wonderful Christmas.

    PS I would have absolutely paid the pennies for your bargains....

    Okay enough sucking up! Good night x

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  10. ....just ONE more thing. The fish placemats.....total and utter divine(ness)!

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  11. Thank you for the bumper blog post! I am very jealous of your cardboard decoration. I have a couple myself, but they are not nearly as fine as yours. Best Christmas wishes.

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  12. Lovely dollop of festive Custard...the Morecambe and Wise of blogging. Happy Christmas from Eco Ethel xx

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  13. Hugely enjoyable post.

    "Some blogs may not cut the mustard, but this one definitely cuts the custard !"

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  14. Dear Jenny, I have been waiting AGES for this Christmas post and how super duper it is.I looked back at Christmas 2013 and saw my name !! re. changing of the cloths! Super proud I was!! I just LOVE and ADORE this post (Yes I don't get out much you know!) (Cheeky Pam) Your new cupboard,yes new! is delightful,everything can be seen so clearly.Unlike the horror of my cupboards where things lurk in the dark! I could go on with praise for this post but wouldn't want to take up space from other commentators!! Finally YES I WOULD have bought the velvet and sold some of my soul for that lovely collection!! (Pamela that's going a bit far dear!!) Wishing you the merriest of Christmases(!) and am just going back to the top to read and see all the goodies again!! TTFN Pam.

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  15. P.S Just adore the charming little deer that Bronte made,your children are talented too, how lovely.

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  16. Can hardly type I'm so envious of your lovely cupboard... is that a touch of orange tester in the kitchen? fantastic, I love colour in homes, though very subdued in my own, a friend painted her kitchen Schiaparelli pink and it was gorgeous. And It's lovely to see your real 'messy' workroom, it's un posed, makes me feel better about the stuff on the floor in my room at the moment. Hope you post again before Christmas. x

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  17. 1. I would definitely have made the purchase of fabric and other stuff.
    2. These purchases are well worth the money. The velvets alone are saving you a fortune.
    3. It is always a wise decision to buy stuff, whether or not you have it already. As I say to my husband when he asks what I want for Christmas, I JUST WANT EVERYTHING
    4. A bargain is a purchase which gives you a tingly feeling.
    5. A good purchase also gives you a tingly feeling, though it might cost more than a bargain. See number 4 above.

    So great to see you back, Jenny. We have been waiting for ages to see the New Kitchen and it is brilliant to see it. The Great Wall of China is a triumph. The fabrics and purses, and vase and Christmas decorations are all fabuloso. And I recognise the stylish peacock Christmas tree ornament from my own childhood; I think ours was a hummingbird though.

    Love,

    Shelley

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  18. My oh my! Your blog is just wonderful and really worth waiting for, full of good cheer and lots of visual goodies. I'm at that age when your purchases hold special memories for me too, things that I had forgotten come rolling back. I think your cupboard is just perfect! I hope you have many hours admiring, arranging and just opening and shutting the doors. Merry Christmas to you and your family.

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  19. Once again, you are the most entertaining blog in the blogiverse, especially when you get your "bottom neat for Christmas" LOLOLOLOL!! Your new cupboard is a wonder of practicality and beauty, but I couldn't help thinking it is well that you live in an earthquake-free zone of the globe, unlike us. (I thought the same thing when you revealed your fabric stash ;) Your kitchen Underground tiles look lovely, and are quite the rage for kitchens here in the States, where they're called subway tiles. We have diminutive sized ones (2x4") for our bathroom and kitchen backspashes, and never once thought of surgery.... Unfortunately I cannot give you any solace in the compulsive bargain collecting department, as my husband has strictly forbidden me to buy any more toys (yes, they are my downfall) since we are moving from Hawaii to California in the next 45 days and he wants to make sure our home essentials fit in the shipping container first. I think that Bronte's deer is just doll-darling, and an inspiration! And your flounder place mats are graphic stunners. Your ongoing relationship with the store that "isn't but might be open perhaps one day" continues to tickle me funny bone. Oh, and I too have some of those vintage German cardboard cutouts - my children and geese/deer say "frohe Weihnachten" to your Santa. Thank you for the views of your decorated 60s tinsel tree. My parents bought one then too, and the colored lights to go with it. Merry Happy Christmas Holidays and a New Year full of car boots stocked with treasures to you! Aloha with hugs, Ann

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  20. Just when I'd decided I'd go minimal with the decorations this year - maybe just a few things found in the woods - I see your blog and decide I might have to think again. You have so much stuff but it doesn't look cluttered and that's a very difficult thing to achieve. Your kitchen cupboard is fabulous and does justice to your collections.

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  21. You have been busy with Dom' s retreat and your lovely cupboard. It was worth the five years of dreaming and waiting. I love the colour of it too! Your stash of material would make a great coat for Little Jeff. Those Christmas decorations take me back to my childhood they don't make them like that anymore! Have a wonderful Christmas. Sarah x

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  22. Helloweee! Jenny, I'm in awe of those divine cupboards, DEEE-VINE they are. I too have a long time hankering for narrow glazed grey cupboards to fill with my stuff in the kitchen but alas our kitchen is a teeny one. We did buy a naff white ikea one, painted it dark grey with annie Sloan paint (total disaster!) to try and get that look but ikea melamine just doesn't cut the mustard.
    I do so love all your stuff and you get such bargains! Have you seen what those lamps go on Fleabay for? A darn site more than 3 squidlies I can tell you!
    Happy Christmas to you! x

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  23. Jenny, I first did a quick spin through the beautiful photos in this post when it first appeared. I loved all of them, but had not a spare moment of time to stop to read your witty commentary (I've done that now and am so very glad) nor the time to leave a comment.

    Gosh the second and third weeks of December can be very hectic if you are like me and have to go out to work for even a few days per week, while trying to enjoy (and complete) Christmas preparations.

    This evening I think that I might just got my various Christmas preparations in good shape. I have only one work day to perform for my employer before Christmas, and so...I am now taking lovely leisurely return visits to posts I knew I would love to revisit.

    This one's fabulous. Every tangent grasped my interest, and as I scrolled along, I found myself smiling, even laughing, and enjoying every minute.

    May I now wish you and yours a very Happy Christmas.! xo

    p.s. Tomorrow I may find where I've stored my own colored glass baubles, and distribute them about my apartment...sort of like an off season Easter egg hunt.

    I may also need to acquire a few more branches with red berries, or even go and get some holly. And make come pomanders. If I stop and think about this upcoming free time, I may actually realize that I still have a Christmas gift to create. It will be a pleasure.

    xo

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  24. Wow ... umm ... EPIC! Fantastic cupboard and I would have snapped up all those fabrics too.
    Have a great Christmas ...
    M x

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  25. What an amazing house you have!!!! And that cupboard!! I thought I had a large collection, but I can see that I have found my equal :-) It looks like vintage heaven to me. I like the way you redecorated the house. It's totally different, but magazine worthy and very much my style too.

    Wishing you and your family a Merry Christmas and a Happy, Healthy and Magical New Year!

    Madelief x

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  26. Wishing you a wonderful chinaful (that so should be a word!) 2015

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  27. A wonderful read - so glad your'e back.
    I hope you had a fantastic Christmas :) x

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  28. P.S dear Jenny I know that you don't watch too much T.V but you simply must catch Mapp and Lucia on BBC1 at 9pm.It,s a comedy very up your street, I may venture to say, full of loveliness from a super bygone age. Cheerio for now Pam.

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  29. Very late to the party, but can I just say that I ROARED at your post? And please, please, please tell me where you live so I can come and rummage at the car boots and CS (and fight you for the £4 Conran lamps). Where on earth can you be to have such wondrous places?!

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  31. Happy New Year Jenny..
    Fab Post as ever... love the lamp... I had one once but no longer able to get in the loft... is it still there or lost?? I too bought a small piece of tweed from the same CS but they wouldn't let me out back and to be fair with my spine as it is now my rummaging days seem sadly over... the pieces were huge I couldn't lift them! Loving the velvet... splashes of revealed colour sounds splendid... And that Cupboard... Smiles Cass x

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  32. I picked up an old copy of Homes and Antiques , It directed me to your blog with the Article about your home , Which is beautiful and i love you sewing room and all that vintage fabric , I have a passion for vintage fabric Just wish i could sew as well , My problem is patience but i am trying really hard xxx

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  33. A perfect post and I deeply covert your beautiful velvets... love Jane xx

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  34. knock knock Jenny,I know you must be lying down in a darkened room after that marathon post,but I'm just checking that you are ok as we haven't heard from you recently.Best regards Pam.(10th March)

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  35. I keep popping back hoping for one of your cheery posts, I do hope all is OK.

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  36. I keep popping in too Jenny and hope alls well, take care love julie xxx

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