WOYWW 474

I haven’t made anything new on my desk this week because I’ve been very busy with other things, but there has been some stuff on it. I make no apology for a staged desk this time because it’s just new stash really.

Last Saturday it was the village fete where we used to live, and we always go back for that. It’s fun to see old friends again, and there’s lots to see and do. I got the usual haul of second hand books and this year I got a few DVDs too. In the picture above are the things that most relate to my studio.

A lovely tin with a clear lid and a small clear box like a trunk – I’ve put a few things in that but not sure what I shall use either of these for yet. A mug tree for 10p! I think it is Margaret on WOYWW who has a mug tree for her tapes – I saw it somewhere on WOYWW and thought it was a good idea. It has a smaller footprint than the little rack I’ve been using so I’m giving it a try for a bit. A nice little black zipped bag – also don’t know what to use this for yet but couldn’t resist it – I’m a sucker for what my Scottish grandmother would call “wee baggies.” A couple of fabric jewellery bags – the large one is shot blue and purple and absolutely gorgeous – the shimmering colours really don’t show up in the photo – this will be cut up and used in embroidery projects. The ziplock baggies have junk jewellery – more later on this. The book on making things from cardboard has some great ideas in it but on closer examination I didn’t like the somewhat unfinished look of the corrugated cardboard – I’ll probably use some of the ideas and adapt them, and pass the book on again to another worthy cause.

I make a beeline for the white elephant/bric-a-brac stall at the fete, which is always the best stall in the show. – this is where I got most of the above stuff. This time it was even bigger than usual, because most of the stuff seemed to have been given by us – my hubby loaded up the car to the roof with stuff sorted out from Mum’s flat. It’s weird, but when we were clearing it out I didn’t have any particular feelings about most of it except to associate the things with Mum in a cerebral sort of way, but as soon as I saw it all on the tables at the fete I started to get all sentimental and emotional about it!! I hardened my heart and told myself you can’t keep everything, and I’ve got photos of various things that I didn’t want to forget, even if I didn’t like them all that much. It was lovely to see a lady buying Mum’s old work basket and going off with it with a smile on her face – I told her it had been Mum’s and I was glad it was going to a good home, and she was so happy to hear that.

I always make straight for the junk jewellery because there are always marvellous pickings there for pennies, that you can take apart and make art with, and sometimes there are wearable necklaces etc. Here’s my haul for this year.

I haven’t decided whether to keep and wear one or two promising pieces yet but most of it can be taken apart for other things. The daisy necklace has quite a lot of stones missing. There are lots of length of chain which are always useful and some useful jewellery findings.

The most amazing thing happened at the fete. Several months ago I was looking high and low for a beautiful little soft leather Jewish Prayer Book that had been given to me by the cantor of a local synagogue, and when I couldn’t find it, I wondered if it could have been amongst a lot of stuff I got rid of when we moved house, thinking that I already had another one and probably didn’t need it, and being ruthless, gave it away or something. I was annoyed with myself because I really wanted it. At the end of the fete everything on the bric-a-brac was going for 10p and I wandered back to look, and there on the table was a seemingly identical little book, so I picked it up and said I’d have it. I was amazed that there could be an identical one, just waiting for me to claim it, as I’d never seen another one like it. I flipped through it, and out fell a little card my hubby had written for me! It was my own book after all! I must have given it to the lady who runs the stall every year, that summer when we were clearing things ready to move. I can’t get over what has happened, and that I’ve got it back again, and in such a strange way! I could so easily have missed it.

God is good. Life is good.

Talking of jewellery, yesterday we went on an outing to Teignmouth (which you can read about here) and we found a shop selling loads of fabulous ethnic jewellery, everything at half marked price! They were so incredibly cheap that I couldn’t resist. The sale is only on till the end of the week and my hubby says he’ll take me back either later today or on Friday – we found another shop as well, selling absolutely gorgeous ethnic boho-style clothing which is definitely my style and which I haven’t been able to shop for for ages. We didn’t have enough time today because we had to go back for the car, and it as most frustrating having to walk away without even going in. I hope I’ll have some photos of further purchases to show you soon!

Here are the two necklaces I bought yesterday.

I’ve also been doing some knitting this week, working on an unfinished scarf from when I was having my chemo 3 years ago – one of my famous UFOs (UnFinished Objects) and there’s not much more to do now. Forgot to photograph it but there will be photos next time, or when it’s finished.

Our garden

This year’s sweet peas are now starting to flower, in the tubs along the garage wall where we always grow them. I adore sweet peas.

My hubby has finished painting the pedestal of the new sundial with sand and cement wash, and has also painted it with a coat of yoghurt which he says will encourage lichens etc. to grow on it and age it a bit. It’s looking lovely now, if a bit pale, and the kitties thought the yoghurt was a good idea too, and started licking it off!

I’ve turned the sundial so it now reads the correct time. Our friend yesterday said that he expected my hubby would be getting up in the night to check the time… haw haw haw!!!

Bread

I made some more sourdough bread this week, and used my new bannetons complete with their fabric liners for the final proving (which I got on Ebay this week).

Unfortunately the bread came out like two flying saucers this time. It always spreads quite a lot when I tip it onto the baking sheet, and I think the dough is too wet. More experimenting is required.

Kitties

More fun and games from Lily and Ruby.

Evidence of their first kill?

Feathers all over the lawn… Lily had a distinctly wild and furtive look, tinged with guilt. Ruby looked her usual sunny self. So we think we know who the culprit was. No evidence indoors, thank goodness.

They’ve been trying out new places to sleep, most of which look pretty uncomfortable to me. After the microwave in the flat, which is now out of favour, came my hubby’s desk.

Waking up?

Noooo… back to sleep again. (Lily really is a little dormouse…) Ruby on top of her as usual.

Ruby says, “I do love my sister!” She often washes Lily, who rarely repays the compliment. Lily is definitely Alpha Cat.

Relaxing again. Ruby says, “These lumpy things are really quite comfortable to lie on.” Really?

The favourite place of the moment is definitely my upstairs trolley. My hubby has christened them the Trolley Dollies. Here they are again.

When they really go off to sleep, bits start to hang over the edge – various legs and tails etc. I wonder if anyone is old enough to remember that Esso petrol advert in the 1960s, “I’ve got a tiger in my tank”? There was a craze at school for the free tiger tails you could get at the petrol station, and we all hung them on our school bags. They hung down limply, and our kitties’ tails are just like that – lift them up and drop them, and they are completely lifeless! We’ve never had such laid back and relaxed kitties. “I’ve got two tigers on my trolley.”

I have to disturb them every night when I go up because I need my trolley to push my stuff along to the bedroom. I get squeaks of protest, but a little cuddle always elicits a purr, however grudgingly. They are very forgiving!

Finally, they were out all day again the other day (as usual) and it rained. Ruby managed to get her back half really wet but the front was completely dry – I can’t imagine what she was doing! I wonder if she fell in the fountain.

Their fur is almost white underneath. The stripes are all on the surface.

Today it is wet. We’ve left the back door open (although they do know how to use the cat flap) to give them the option to come in if they want. They are both sitting outside the back door – it’s as if they don’t like being wet, but on the other hand they can’t bear to come in because they love the garden so much!

Have a great week everybody. I’m hoping this frenetic busy-ness will end soon because I’m desperate to get back in the studio and start playing again.

WOYWW 117

Thanks again to Julia for organising another blog hop around our messy desks midweek (some more messy than others, I have to say!) – link on my sidebar for anyone who doesn’t know what this is all about and who’d like to join in the fun.

Not much of interest on my table this week, I’m afraid. We had our village fete on Bank Holiday Monday and I bought a few bits and pieces for my ARTHaven (I may post about those another time as there’s some fun stuff!) and included was the little fabric caddy thing on my table that I’ve started putting my tools in. It’s a lot better, and a lot prettier, than my old jam jar!

The rest of the stuff on the table is as a result of my having a clear-out today. Now I’ve finished my painted ATC cards I want to start some new projects, and I’ve got a parcel of goodies arriving in the next day or two and will have to find homes for some new things, so today I started to tidy up a bit. Why is it that when one starts tidying, it always goes through a phase of being even more UNtidy?

I labelled quite a few boxes today and sorted things into them – I get my face creams mail order and they come in 2 sizes of small, strong cardboard boxes with a hinged lid, a bit like the open one on the table but deeper, and they are ideal for putting bits and pieces in. They are dark blue so can’t be easily written on, so I’ve temporarily stuck white labels on them and written on them, but eventually I am hoping to paint them and make them look more pretty.

I also sorted out my hand-made paper flowers and leaves and put them into the little jars on my pegboard over the table. You can’t see those in the photo unfortunately. I spent ages winding up all my florist’s ribbon so that it would take up less room and all go in one of my small boxes with the flower-making tools, and while I was winding and getting sore thumbs doing it, I thought of all those nurses in the hospitals in World War I (my grandmother was one of them) who spent so many hours rolling bandages. I wonder they didn’t get RSIs doing that!

So – nothing terribly productive this week apart from my nappy liner experiments which you can read about in a previous post.

Before I go, could I please ask you all to read my post of today, entitled “Help for Crafty Karen”? I’d be most grateful!

Happy WOYWW everybody!

Village Fete

I haven't posted for a few days because I've been really busy, and in between, really tired! We had our annual village fete on Saturday, and after a terrible start to the day, the whole thing was a resounding success. My hubby got a phone call at 8.30 a.m. to say that someone had set fire to the marquee, which ended up being totally destroyed, along with all the tables and chairs in it, which had been set up ready. A young man on a motorbike was seen heading away at great speed. Nobody knows who it was yet.

It was a scorching day, but fortunately there was a slight breeze. We had all the usual traditional English fete things like hoopla, coconut shy, dog show... There were also lots of stalls - bric-a-brac (I always find bargains there lol!), book stall, cake stall etc. and the tea was served in the open air since the marquee was gone.

The entertainments this year included the usual children's fancy dress competition, and we had a Scottish pipe band which was great! We also had Elphick the juggler, who we've had several times before. He was trained as an industrial chemist, but now he does juggling full time! He said to me "There's nothing I'd rather be doing." That's so nice to hear, in an age where so many people are unhappy in their jobs.

Some friends from the Brainfog M.E. forum were down in Devon for the weekend, so they joined us for the afternoon - it was such fun spending the time together!

Here are some photos of the day.

This one is of the children enjoying Elphick:

Here are my friends from Brainfog:

and finally, one of the four of us together:

As you can see, we all had a lovely day!