Shed-ing some junk!

For the past few years our shed has turned into a bit of a dumping ground for anything we couldn't bare to throw out but had no room for in the house, plus Mr Fig has been steadily collecting sticks and bits of wood for his new woodcraft obsession. 

It had eventually filled to the door, and the freezer was inaccessible and Mr Fig has been woodworking next to the sink by the kitchen door on a piece of bench about 20" x 8" 

His excuse for not sorting out the shed and making it into a proper work area has been;

his back

too big a project

not enough day light

it might rain

needing help

too many other things to do

well, you get the idea.

So, with his back ok, no rain in sight for the next few days, the yard being clean and tidy and full of space and the promise of help from me (well, in a supervisory capacity - involving the words "throw it away") he has finally made a start this morning! 

I cannot believe what junk we have kept hold of for so long! bike racks, sledges, old tool handles, empty paint tins, enough jam jars to restock chivers, chili sauce bottles, empty wine bottles, broken buckets, broom heads - but it has to be the kitchen machines, designed to make life simple quick and efficient that really makes me laugh, usually resigned to the shed once it becomes apparent just how much of a time consuming bore they are to clean, or store, or assemble etc.

a juice extractor, a veg steamer, a seed sprouter, coffee makers, blenders, mixers, some strange German biscuit extruder and a microwave that broke about 6 years ago.

I am determined never to buy a so called labor saving device for the kitchen again - they are just far too much trouble, and take up too much room. I have free-cycled my bread machine because making it by hand is just a simple, my doughnut maker used once and my toasty maker.

So what have I kept? 

The toaster - used almost every day and missed when it broke.

the blender - I could live without it, but it does get used a lot.

The kettle - in almost constant use.

 

Here is Mr fig (in a fine pair of socks knit by me!) in our tiny back yard - working very hard!

 

Enjoy the sunshine - this may be Summer!

the big and the small of it...

Inspired by a tiny vintage brooch at a recent fair I have been busy sewing this tiny little lady. 

She has turned out a 'little' larger than anticipated but I am quite pleased with her. I shall however be trying to make a smaller version. I have no idea why I suddenly become engrossed in these miniature adventures, possibly my life long wish to own my own dolls house I can fill with tiny treasures. I seams to be some kind of oxymoron that I need a bigger home to house a miniature house. 

Spring 'Time'

Due to lack of funds we have not been out anywhere very much lately.

The only social event has been a friends wedding, but to be honest, after rather a wild youth I am more than happy to sit in front of the telly with a pile of knitting or crocheting to keep me busy.

Baby fig and I have managed to get to the odd jumble sale and at craft and vintage fairs we are usually on our stall avoiding spending money and trying to sell our wares.

Today all three of us went to Clitheroe to a vintage fair. I had not taken a stall as it was almost double the cost of other fairs we had done, but now I wish we had! It was packed with people, and the stalls were just gorgeous! We also found out why for the past few weeks there has been a distinct lack of vintage loveliness in a couple of the charity shops in the town. Both Age UK and Cancer Research had stalls with all the goodies I would normally look for but twice the already expensive price. I know, it is for charity - but I thrive on bargains and have no money! 

There was all sorts I could have bought, mainly useless things like glove finger stretchers (I don't ware gloves) or a shoe last, wooden skittles, more sparkly jewelry, or a grammar phone that only played wax records. but in the end I paid my £1 to get in, and came out without buying a single item.

I did come out with some inspiration however. So straight up to the sewing room and 2 hours later I had listed this on etsy. 

Now I am going to hunt for some extra thick socks and snuggle up on the sofa with my latest crochet project and the 6 balls of wool purchased in another of Clitheroe's vast abundance of charity shops for the princely sum of £2. Bargain.

Reality check

This week is the week my two subscriptions arrive. Country Living that I have been an avid reader of for about 20 years and Molly Makes, a relatively new mag my mum subscribed to for my birthday last year. 

I sit ALONE with a coffee, wearing my jimmyjammers and slippers, curled up on the sofa, and look wistfully at the artistic shots of gorgeous homes, spotless sofa's with perfectly placed blankets and patchwork quilts, a farmhouse table with vintage bake ware ready to be used for high tea, mixtures of old and new furniture artfully arranged, a bowl of dust free pebbles collected on the beach, at the end of the cottage garden. 

I dream of how I can transform my little terraced ex-mill workers house into a haven of eclectic ephemera, how magazines will clamour to photograph it, how I will swoosh around my home in long silk kaftan's and hand knit cashmere socks (that never get grubby underneath), slump onto my reupholstered patchwork chesterfield sofa and admire the glorious garden through french doors softly draped with shear linen that billows in the warm air. 

This whole scene is so far removed from reality! I wonder how close to reality the magazine images really are? Has the owner of the house spent days scrubbing, polishing, dusting and tidying up? has an artist been around thoughtfully rearranging items into a perfect tableaux? Is there a huge box of plastic toys just 1 foot to the right of the shot? are the kitchen cupboards crammed full of the Ikea crockery they actually use? is the 10 foot trampoline packed away in the shed? and where do they hide the washing machine?

A jealous part of me hopes it is all an illusion - but the romantic in me hopes they really do live in these serene surroundings.

Here are 2 photo's taken in my tiny sewing room today. The first is the arty shot. The second is the reality check!

Selling a little bit of me...

I have been making patchwork quilts since my legs were long enough to reach the treadle on my Grandma's old sewing machine. I LOVE patchwork quilts, I love old ones, new ones, plain simple ones, fancy intricate ones, bright ones, subtle ones, I love looking at them, touching them, and most of all sleeping underneath them which is why it always makes me sad when I put them up for sale. It is such a long and intimate relationship you often have with them from conception to completion it really is like selling a little bit of yourself.

I have just put 4 onto ETSY in the hope I can make a little money and that someone will really appreciate them for a very long time. Sometimes I secretly hope they won't sell so I can be excused for keeping them. 

- and sad though it sounds, my favourite one was wrapped around my shoulders as I listed it. It has been stored with some Vintage Rose scented hearts and smells delicious. 

Oh well. Sighhhhhhhhh

Baby Fig bought me these to cheer me up - and they have! 

The Weather.

What is going on with the weather?

I have been so cold for the past 2 days, and we have a gale blowing at the moment, rattling the tiles on the back of the house, and whipping ivy against my sewing room window in a hammer horror style! I read on the BBC news web site some months back about a woman who had been knitting, crocheting and sewing nose warmers and selling loads of them, I wish I had bought one now - my nose always seams to suffer from the cold more than any other part of me - even my newly crocheted slippers needed the help of a blanket last night, and I am determined not to put the heating back on as much as it was in the winter - it's supposed to be spring goddammit! 

Here is picture taken a couple of 'spring's ago that at least looks warmer! 

For the past 12 months I have had a 'spare' computer sat doing very little in my sewing room. My Dad gave it to me when he was upgrading his own. While trying to sort out cheaper Internet we ended going wireless and one dongle later I am all connected in the privacy of my own room - although I am a little worried I may get distracted reading blogs all day and not sewing! I have been very good so far and used the time to upload new items to my ETSY shop, and of course do a little bit of blogging....

I did think it would be easier to blog, more creative, quieter, less distractions - I somehow don't think it is going to work out quite like that though! 

I am off to our local knit n natter soon. I hope they have the heating on in the cafe rather than the air conditioning. I think a warm pair of woolly socks and a big jumper may be in order. Last week I was sampling there delicious Frape's this week might just be the hot chocolate. 

 

Warm Tootsies...

If we didn't have so much weather, what would we find to talk about!

After a glorious week, today is grey and drizzly and cold! I have been a busy little bee for the past few weeks though, and this week finally finished (or should I say "gave up on") my crochet blanket. It started off as a cushion cover, then grew a bit, and a bit more, then turned into an excuse to use up oddments of DK wool, then I had to buy some DK wool to get round the blanket in one colour - but then I became incredibly bored - sick of going round and round and round and finished the damn thing. However, the second it was finished my fingers were itching to start something new and as my feet have been very cold lately I decided to make a pair of slippers. 

These are so easy to make, just make yourself 12 granny squares and hook them together! They took me 3 evenings, and used up 2 of the colours I had bought for the blanket! 

This year I have been determined to get a head start on gifts for family. I ALWAYS leave everything to the last minute, and then end up having to go out and spend more than I have. As I currently have less than no money I have been through my stash and decided on what I can make for people - and I have actually finished one gift with MONTHS to spare!

(drum roll please) Tada!!!!!

A pair of socks for my wonderful Dad for Fathers Day! how about that for early?

And I have made a start on Mr Figs Christmas pressie - yes, that's right, his Christmas pressie! As his birthday is on New Years Eve I must also soon make a start on that - but for Christmas I wanted to really challenge myself and am knitting him an Aran sweater. I have done a couple of very small simple projects in the past using a simple cable, but decided if I didn't make a start and have a go I might never get around to it, no time like the present and all that.

The pattern for this is over 30 rows, and I can only knit it when I am alone and in silence such is the concentration needed, but I am really enjoying it! It is a little bit slower but so much more interesting than just doing stocking stitch. It is a good job he is the smallest size on the pattern though!

Here is is so far...

If I don't get back here before Easter, have a good one. I hope the sun comes out wherever you are, and whatever meaning Easter has for you, I wish you Joy.

x

Frugal days ~ and sunshine

My well intentioned daily blogging was rudely interrupted by life some time ago, and since then has struggled to return. To be honest, the only reason I am blogging now is because everyone in the house is still in bed asleep and not needing my attention! It is nice to have a moment to myself - plus the sun is shining and the nights are getting lighter thanks to our wonderful 'British Summer Time' (long may it continue, controversial though it is!) 

Over a month ago I decided to run a little experiment after getting yet another huge electricity bill after we had tried all last year to reduce it. As we now read the meter every month and are billed just for what we use I declaired we would not use the dryer for 1 whole month and just see what, if any difference it made. I would not say we were excessive users, I always used the line if the conditions were right and the radiators were used etc if needed, and people always told me driers were expensive to run - but I had no idea just HOW expensive! 

At the end of the month I submitted my reading. My bill came in....£88.00 cheaper! 

so over 12 months I could be saving £800 - £1000! 

The day after the bill Mr Fig dragged the dryer out of the shed and dismantled it - salvaging parts for his projects, taking the rest to the recycling center and replanting our pyrocantha that had eaten the wooden barrel it stood in - into the huge drum! 

I know there are going to be times when the house is full of damp washing and we struggle to get it dry, but that is hardly a true hardship - and I am willing to live with it gladly now I know just how much money I have wasted just to 'make life easy'

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A few weeks ago I signed up to a local 'Arts on Prescription' course. It is free, with a suggested donation, and runs every Thursday afternoon for 16 weeks. For me it is a gorgeous drive to Nelson on the other side of Pendle Hill to our village - and every week we have done a different craft - PERFECT!

So far we have done Iris paper folding, Bonding Fibers, Batik and my new favorite hobby, BOOK BINDING - we learned 2 simple techniques, Pamphlet binding and Japanese Stab stitching. I came home incredibly enthused and decided to incorporate my love of knitting, need to use up bits of yarn and new found skills to create lots of - BOOKS! - I love it! 

These are a couple of tiny books I finished from a yarn sample pack I bought about 10 years ago!

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Finally (before the household awakes) I made it into the CRAFT SELLER magazine - If yo have a copy of issue 9 I am at the top of page 89 - but even better than that, as I was setting up my stall at a local fair on Saturday, the lady at the next stall recognized me from the mag - how cool is that!

White Rabbits, White Rabbits, White Rabbits

Every year on the first of March, before you say anything else - you are supposed to say "White Rabbits, White Rabbits, White Rabbits" - or so my mother informed me when I was very young. I have always said it on the 1st March, but it has NEVER been the first thing I said. 

She told me it was to bring good luck for the rest of the year. Since telling me this I have heard people say that you are supposed to say it on the first of every month, you can say "white rabbits" or "White Rabbits, White Rabbits, White Rabbits" - all pretty vague, and I cannot find anything that states it's origin, and although I am not what I would consider to be superstitious, well, there's no harm in saying it

The sun is out today, seams a long time since that happened! So washing is out on the line - I have banned the use of our dryer in an effort to cut our electricity bill - hopefully in half! 

While we still have the heating on (not MY choice, I would employ extra jumpers and socks etc) I have them all covered in washing. But I can't wait for warmer days to freshen the sheets and clothes and let them dry in the air.

I have been watching Superscrimpers lately, have you? It has amazed me how many people seam to think making meals from scratch is a novel concept. A lot of these people are around the same age as I am - did their schools not have home economics?  I do know a couple of people who don't do cooking, always eat from takeaways and moan they are always skint! I think I have been lucky to be brought up by a mother and grandmother who would never have dreamed of buying a ready meal or takeaway, and an Irish Aunty who believes no meal is complete without a potato! 

I do however think I have failed somewhat as a mother. My Daughter can cook perfectly well, but is obsessed with sell by dates, clearing out the fridge and cupboards of anything remotely near this date. No matter how many times I tell her the sell by date has nothing to do with weather the food is edible or not! I think padlocks on the cupboard may be needed.

This morning I have been making cranberry cordial. Just after Christmas, sainsburys had bags of cranberry's reduced from £3.99 to 50p! I bought 4 bags, used one and put the other 3 in the freezer. We are having a freezer clear out at the moment, so thought I may as well use them.  

I popped them in the old brass jam pan with plenty of water and boiled them for about 30 minuets - they popped of their own accord! but gave them a good mash as well, then into the jelly bag over night to strain. this morning there was over 2 pints of liquid. Back into the jam pan with 1 kg of sugar and the juice of a lemon - warmed until all the sugar had dissolved then into sterilised bottles - it should keep for some weeks in the fridge (if it isn't drunk first!)

Does ANYTHING ever go to plan???

well as you have probably noticed my thrifty day's till Christmas came to an abrupt end a few weeks ago.

Everything had been going swimmingly, then I had a really crappy couple of weeks - and none of it was my own fault! Family stuff...I am still dreaming of winning the lottery and have had a tiny cottage that is away from it all and ready for my escapes, earmarked for the winnings for years now! lol - one day.

The thrifting is continuing, I can't wait for the Jumble sale season to start again as I have a list of things we need, can't afford but could quite likely find at a jumble sale (hubby is after a pressure cooker!) and Baby Fig and I have signed up to have a stall at a new local 'Crafty Vintage' fair on 11th Feb. 

I have been busy making more up-cycled items for both folksy and etsy - I am very pleased with these scented hearts for valentines day   filled with a divine vintage rose scent.

I have had some nice news to sweeten all the poo! I was asked to write a little 300 word sales story for Craft Seller magazine! It has been submitted and I should be in there in issue 9 - on sale on the 14th March, so if you get it look out for me! if you don't, take a sneaky peaky in the supermarket/news stand.

I shall be trying my best to get back on track with the thrifty tips and stories as soon as I can!