Rattling On...

Dogs you'd like to meet...

Or...Top Names for Books. Yes, Rowland Johns really did write a whole book on that. I know this after a browse round the fantastic bookshop/bookbinders in town yesterday.

I had a good hour in there ferreting about and find it incredible that there actually are so many different titles for books, though I'm sure some have been duplicated over the years.

I also love the way an innocent (presumably) title of yesteryear has a totally different take these days. What about 'Invisible Dick', 'Queer Doings at Quantham', 'Very Private Secretary' or the magnificent 'How to make Pastry Attractive' from 1958.

On the second floor of the shop there's a little area with brewing up facilities, on an honesty basis. You can sit and read or chat. There was a couple there and I couldn't help listening in as I browsed the Enid Blyton. They were from Cambridge, he was contemplating a move to Reading but since coming here for a holiday has decided that he must live here. You see, it's not two dimensional. When you get up in the morning you feel you could write poetry or walk. He will, of course, work in a book shop (while he explores the space time continuum on his daily stroll) presumably the one he's sitting in or WH Smith's. Which really doesn't have the same atmosphere.

I imagine Academia in Cambridge will be groaning at the knowledge that they lack dimension and walking is a no-go. I used to live in Reading. It was harmless enough.

A place for the fighting irons...

 

 Here it is, my purchase of the other day- a cutlery tray. Scruffy, dusty and in need of some TLC.

On investigation, under the icky sticky back plastic, the original green baize liner was still there but incredibly mucky so it had to go. I scrubbed it down, sanded it all and gave it the beeswax polish treatment. It also needed a new nail in one corner of the base.

I decided to line it with felt and used Copydex to fix it as it's really easy to remove if it needs changing ever.

The base board was so rustic (hum) that I thought it was a home made replacement, but only two days later I saw one exactly the same on a flea market stall and the base was the same. That one had been shabby-chicified and was painted green, but I quite like the wood.

I love vintage cutlery, so much more stylish than much available today. Unless you spend a bomb and then there's some gorgeous tools out there. Mine gets used every day, I don't have a dishwasher so no need to worry too much about the knife handles coming off, just remember not to leave them in soak.

If any pieces are silver plated I give them an occasional proper polish, but otherwise wash as normal. I have loads of it, some still with the wax papers on, never having been used. Evidence that keeping stuff for best has always gone on.

I do have other cutlery, newer stuff, but I use this of choice. It's a bit like getting out an old mixing bowl or pudding basin; a sort of heritage of the everyday for me. I've been using vintage things for ever, long before it became trendy or stylish. In fact people used to think it was odd that my kitchen was from another era and that I had cake tins that were probably seventy odd years old and had been passed down the family.

We always called cutlery fighting irons at home, by the way. I've never given much thought to it really but I Googled it for you and it looks like it is an old army term.

Out of town shopping...

On Friday I went to look at a shop recommended by a lady in town. The roads are clear now but there are still banks of snow at the sides which in a lot of places are higher than the car, it's like driving down a white tunnel. Sometimes the road narrows alarmingly and you have to stop as there's nowhere to pull in and the laybys are full of snow.

The shop turned put to be very interesting, with really great displays.

There is plenty to look at and buy and the prices are ok, not cheap but not too over the top. Normally I'd name the place so you can all go and take a look, but I have a couple of points to make and so will keep it anon.

The first thing you notice on entering the shop is the smell. Joss sticks are burning everywhere and it's like a student flat. I know old stuff has a 'certain' smell but if you like old stuff you take the smell along with it. I don't smoke and am a rabid supporter of the non-smoking rules in indoor public spaces (what people do at home is up to them), joss sticks (incense) give off smoke and research has shown them to pose health risks. And I just don't like the smell. Why don't they invest in some beeswax polish and some fresh flowers instead?

Next, the service. There were two women in there behind the desk when I went in, talking about profits and business ideas. I asked for advice on stock and was told to look 'in the back room.' Obviously profits are healthy if you can't spare the time to show someone around your quite big floor space. I like good service.

I had chosen something to buy and went to pay for it, I said 'You take cards?' which I always ask if a sign isn't on the door. 'Cash only' was the reply, literally only that, no niceties. Considering there are things in the shop for sale at £650 I really think they should get the card machine ordered. The town has a lot of tourists and maybe they won't be rolling in hard cash all day or have access to a bank branch where they can withdraw enough cash.

It's a nice shop, really, and I know these may be minor points...and I still bought from there as I had cash on me for emergencies and contingencies (vintage is an emergency sometimes). But will I go back? Probably not. I'm sure me not going in won't dent them much.

Tomorrow I'll show you the doer-upper purchase.

Give me soup...

I was overcome with a yen for stilton and broccoli soup yesterday, so I only went and made some!

It's really easy and incredibly tasty, works just as well with cauliflower but that has a slightly pasty appearance. If you too suddenly get the urge to eat this tasty treat, here is the receipt:

2tbsp olive oil

1 onion, 1 stick of celery, 1 med potato- all chopped

1 portion of stock

1 largeish head of broccoli

Some stilton- how much is a personal thing (I love it...)

Heat the oil in a heavy based pan and cook the onions until soft and golden (mine was a red onion-works with any); add the diced veg including the broccoli stalks (but not the florets yet); sweat off this concoction for around 5 minutes (ie put the lid on the pan and lower the heat).

Now, add the stock liquid, how much depends on the consistency you want. I like soup to have body so I used maybe a pint. Cook this for 15 minutes until all the veg is as soft as you like it. If you cook it less there will be more substance to your soup. Add the broccoli florets and cook for a further 10 or so minutes.

Whizz it up. I used a stick blender but you may have a processor or liquidiser. You can add most of the stilton at this stage as well, saving some to crumble on top before serving.

Mine is served in an old Burgess and Leigh (Burleigh) breakfast cup, which has the dimensions of a small bucket. Yum.

London bus in alpine avalanche shocker!

The No76 to Victoria has been unavoidably delayed. Possibly because the 76 doesn't actually go to Victoria (I checked ), the driver must have put the wrong number up. Which is why he ended up in the Alps.

But that's not really what this post is about, tragic though it it turned out for them all. No, I just happened to pick up the die cast bus when I was buying something else. As you do. I couldn't resist, even though (or perhaps because) it's very battered, or 'playworn' as things are described these days.

No, what I was getting when the flash of red caught my eye was this...

A rather pretty little work basket. The lady in the chazzy shop said it had been made by a man for his wife some time ago but their house was being cleared and now it has come to me.

It's unlined and I thought I would have a bash at lining it in the Easter break. As the cold and snow is set to continue with us here for at least the next week I must find some indoor interests aside from eating. It also needs a little lifter-offer for the top as at the moment you have to press on one side to flip up the other.

Nice to see a bit of sun yesterday, even if the temperature was -3C at the time and another two inches had fallen previously, more followed and of course it's still coming down now. Which reminds me, better get the bbq scrubbed for the Bank Holiday.

Kitsch craft...

These were a steal in a charity shop, not literally you understand, more on the metaphorical side of things.

I don't go in for a lot of kitsch, I find it hard to co-ordinate it in the home. You either embrace it wholeheartedly or dabble, I'm a dabbler. But kitsch with a purpose is always easier, and pincushions are such an easy way to convert things such as my two swans a swimming.

The cushions are just circles of fabric filled with stuffing and secured, you can sew or just use a rubber band. There's a bit of extra stuffing in the cavity and the cushion is pushed in on top. You can glue this in place or just leave it as it is if it's firm enough.

I like velvet pincushions myself, and will look out for a nice rich pink piece for the larger swan, but the gingham is nice and fresh for now. I can see these becoming a gift idea to go to, as there are loads of kitschy small vases out there for the taking. I'm thinking the ones with woodland animals on next...

 

Cabinet reshuffle...

 

This was more the sort of picture I'd intended for the After view of the drawers. I've had time to tittivate now. I thought this would be the ideal corner to display my toy  cook ware and I'm really pleased with how it all looks.

The shelf thing was £1.50 from a charity shop, a nasty brown colour. But with the Annie Sloan treatment it looks quite modern. I think so anyway!

Everyone is battening down the hatches here as 'substantial snowfall' is expected starting tomorrow. A friend who works in M&S reports panic buying, I just like to know there's enough cat litter as it's so heavy to carry!

It was just above -8C yesterday and I took the opportunity to turn off the outside water supply, I don't want another burst. The ice on the pavements is horrendous, my car driver's door is frozen shut and the rear heated window doesn't work (the car isn't three years old yet...). It works when it's warm, just not when it's cold- as in when you actually need it. I rang the dealer last time this happened and they weren't at all surprised. Say no more. If/when it snows I won't be using the car. Problem solved.

I feel like getting the Christmas tree back in and putting the decorations up. What with all the illness I felt a bit cheated out of the festivities and this weather would just have been the business. There's still the matter of the cake and pudding as well...

Spruced up drawers...

I was going to display something stylish on top of them...but instead you have the enamelware I got at a jumble sale on Sunday. The little tin mug is interesting as it has 'Gift of the American red Cross' printed underneath.

I'm pleased with the drawers, after some filling and sanding they came up well. I added a little effect to the picture to take the emphasis off the crappy floor. Despite it snowing all day yesterday there was still hardly any light so the definition isn't so good.

School closed to students at morning break yesterday, local staff had to stay and work. Mondays are when M and I go up to the college to check 'our' boys on the externally run courses. One week I do mornings, M afternoons, the next week we swap. This week I was on for afternoons. M went up in his four wheel drive and skidded off the road, rolling the car and writing it off. Fortunately he's ok. He had to walk to a farm to phone as there's no mobile signal up there. The joys of rural life.

After suffering from a little case of ennui for a while I now find myself with loads of projects lined up. This may, in part, be due to the iron supplements I'm on (again). A visit to the Doctor in the holidays confirmed I am 'very' anaemic but, and here's the blinder, my colesterol levels are well below average. So I must be doing something right. Hopefully my old self will be returning to a blog near you very soon.

Oops!...I Did It Again

Yesterday at work someone mentioned there was a dolls' house for sale in a second hand shop that I visit quite often. Obviously I hot footed it down there as soon as the bell went.

It was a monster of a mansion, way too big for me to accommodate and the wrong scale. Shame, as it was a bargain and had loads of furniture with it. But a bargain isn't a bargain unless you need it, right? This year's mantra.

However, in the corner was this little gem. Needs some attention (who doesn't?) but at £15 it was coming home with me.

Until recently the big old dog bed cunningly covered up that concrete mess in the corner. It was here when we moved in, a patch up of the floor when a wall was moved. I haven't the heart to cover it up as it has paw-prints and a dog's name inscribed in it 'Judy 18-11-81'. A long-ago friend immortalised. I'll have to put a rug under there or something.

It's bare as I bought a smaller bed for the small now single dog, and at the same time a new cat bed- which I put under the table by the radiator. Which the dog took to sleeping in... So I moved the smaller dog bed under the table as well. There are now three beds under the table and the dog and cats pick a different one each time they go for a nap. There's not much room to get your feet under the table but aesthetically it's pleasingly tidy!

I feel an Annie Sloan session coming on, I still have loads of paint left from the dining room paint frenzy and it'll do nicely. A bit of filling is required on the scrapes and knocks (hence the price tag) but expect an after shot, of the photo variety, soon.

I'm also getting the paint stripper on the dolls' house today, I think that'll be by far the bigger challenge. Ironic given its size.

Another doer-upper...

I drove a three hour round trip for this beauty. Or at least it's a potential beauty, as somewhere in its past it's had a really bad paint job.

Which is a shame as it's a very early Lundby Stockholm. I won't bore you with how you can tell the age but if you really are interested then you can take a look here and here for starters.

This particular model had white carpets upstairs and guess what... even they've been painted over. As has the original back with the vines and flowers, such a shame. But hey, I decided I needed something to get stuck into, and I think this will be that thing. The silver paint on the internal doors may prove hard to shift, though.

I love Lundby houses, they're so no nonsense and the furniture is all mid-century and up. No Victorian frou frou, just Scandinavian simplicity. I will admit here that this isn't my only house, but the other(s...ahem) are smaller models. One of them is also a wreck.

Thing is with certain on-line auctions you just have to buy it when it's available, reasonably priced and near enough to collect without being silly.

I couldn't resist a bit of a scrape at the paint as soon as I got it home, but I think parts of it are beyond renovating and may just have to be changed. I suppose one shouldn't be too precious over old things, there's only so far you can re-create what has been buggered up by someone else, but it's better than throwing it away. I think.

So, I have ideas for fiddling about and decorating and will be sharing this with you. Don't expect to see people in my houses; as with my photos I prefer my houses sans peeps. I may relent, you never know. And I have a distinct preference for certain furniture, don't be surprised to find very odd houses.

Lundby is a funny scale, somewhere between 1/16th and 1/18th (like Triang) so furniture can't be bought from the usual dolls house places. Another minus I suppose. Now I have a mini doer-upper to go with the one I live in!

Thank you all for the positive comments on yesterday's post. I feel so bad to have got out of the groove of commenting but hope to be back in the swing soon. I think Sarah hit the nail on the head regarding setting up a new blog, in that it'd probably end up the same as this one anyway so stick with it!

Back to work tomorrow.

Impulse buying and a dilemma solved. I think.

This time it's the real thing, Ercol, though I wasnt 100% sure when I bought it. Bit of a bargain but it's not perfect. I think with a bit of TLC it'll be fine.

The cushions are in the washing machine, one by one, to get rid of the aroma. They're new, custom made cushions as well, good material. But a horrible pattern. Thank goodness we're well endowed with throws. One may say overflowing with them.

I was going to have a re-shuffle of the existing seating and get rid of a sofa which has collapsed in the spring department. The seat where everybody sits, and which has already had umpteen repairs. Then I was going to move a small sofa into its place and put this one in the window where the small one currently is. You following? (Sounds like a lot of sofas but we don't have any armchairs.)

Anyway, then I realised that if I did that then the dog wouldn't have anywhere to sit and watch the world go by/sunbathe on the rare days it's possible. I know, I'm a soft touch.

So now I have brain ache but have hit upon a plan where the done-in one will go, the good one will stay in the window and the second best will go into the best spot in the house. All so the tiny dog can curtain twitch.

It feels like Shakespeare's will, only with sofas not beds. And I'm not dead.

Things to do with a jelly mould...

Why, put a candle in it of course. These are vintage glass moulds; quarter, half and a full pint. They cast lovely shadows as well. If the gloom here is anything to go by we all need as much illumination as possible.

I have been very busy lately, both at work and at home. I have been doing more de-cluttering, ruthlessly. I feel like I have more breathing space, but there's a long way to go. I never used to hang onto stuff and it's a relatively recent thing, but the charity shop is benefitting and happy to keep helping me unload the car at the back doors!

I won't be getting rid of much kitchenalia, although it may be time to say goodbye to the Tupperware. It takes up too much room. The jelly moulds will certainly be staying.

Look how this one shows off the wood chip to best advantage. Irresistible, nay? And I love the way it appears to be floating above the table, an optical illusion caused by the bubbles on its base. Or magic.

Project...after

Finished, sort of, for now at least. There's still the walls to paint, the floor to get its annual refresher coat, the doors and skirting to do. Need I go on.

But my revamp is well and truly underway and I'm quite pleased with the results. The mirror, by the way, isn't dirty, it's just very old and I think someone has cleaned it with an abrasive. It only shows when the sun's out- so no worries there!

I decided to take the top part off the sideboard and use it as an overmantel mirror...

...and asked my Dad to saw off the struts that held it against the body part. He did sort of mention his sawing wasn't too great. And some. In the end we took it to the wood yard and they very kindly sawed it level (ahem, Dad) on their table saw.

I'm thinking firescreen on the hearth and artwork, as yet unowned, over the sideboard.

This was a low-spend project, so the mis-matched rugs will be staying for now. The cost has been £9.99 for the surround (Ebay), £10 for the MDF for the hearth and fire back (sawn to size, other sawing free!) and around £40 for all the paint and wax. Which has gone a very long way and there's still over half a pot left. I bought two pots and have done three or four coats on everything as it was very dark or new wood. The four chairs were £15 from a local charity shop. So around £75, not including labour, which would be extortionate.

I've also painted a vintage clothes horse and the back of the old pine wall cabinet that's in the same room.

This has lightened it up no end, I was going to line it with wallpaper but I had the brush in my hand and it does get a bit addictive.

It may have been relatively inexpensive but it certainly wasn't a quick fix, there's hours of painting in there. But the paint does what it says on the tin and the waxing bit is actually very quick. I have painted over varnish, wax and new MDF without any prep or undercoat.

So, there you go...

Pretty little things

If you're stuck for an idea, if you have lots of odd china with no use or a saucer missing a cup, if you can get your hands on some pretty soap and a bit of ribbon...

I also made some cotton facecloths, one knitted one crocheted, which are really easy. You could even make a jute one, I've used mine a lot and it's very effective-not quite as attractive though!

In other news: I have bagged myself a bargain on Ebay, a fire surround to put in the dining room where there's just a blank wall at the moment. I also got four chairs in a charity shop for£15. I shall paint them, along with the nice but very brown sideboard. I have the paint I just need to find the time and the energy. I will take before photos so you can judge the outcome, when it does eventually get done.

Sometimes things just don't turn out...

... quite literally!

That's what you get from a commercial jelly these days. A flop. And it's supposed to be blackcurrant, very anaemic if you factor out the red tea towel.

So, in the next holiday (which is at the end of the month) I shall be having a go at concocting my own jelly from scratch.

Let's face it, it couldn't be more disastrous than this effort could it?