WHO STOLE MY SLEEP

Why oh why do I have friends who insist on arranging days out with the earliest of starts on the day the clocks go forward.
No sooner had my head touched the pillow when I heard this horrible clanging sound.

My alarm clock!!

So half asleep I hurried to get ready for my lift to the Birmingham NEC for the Sewing and Hobbycraft show.

We arrived, as usual before it was open and so filled our time with tea and cake. Well what did you  expect, no time to have breakfast when you are on a mission.

Then it's into the halls to seek out inspiration and bargains. Um!!  Perhaps not then.

Although there were some fabric stalls and some interesting embroidery, I'm afraid the whole thing has become rather jaded.  It is a shame that so many shows start off with such promise and then just drag on not really progressing at all.

Don't get me wrong I enjoyed my outing and particularly my little stash of fabrics which I will have to show later on in the week as I borrowed my friends camera.

There was also an amazing display of hand embroidery which really blew me away. Wall hangings, boxes full of 3D embroidered objects, a childs chair covered in the most amazing scenes. All by a lady whose name I am ashamed to say I have forgotten, but I am sure any one of you lovely bloggers who went to the show and perhaps has a program will remind me.

There were also needlework displays by students, really inventive; and pieces entered into various competitions on show and I will also have some pictures of these later in the week.

I said when I started this blog it was to be a happy look at life with all its ups and downs, but can I have one tiny grumble...

To the caterers at the NEC .....

since when did vegetables become 'sides'. Surely a main course is meat potatoes and veg! (providing you are not vegetarian) but they have now decided that a main is meat and potatoes and you can have veg if you want to pay £1.75 for about 2 sliced carrots and 3 raw french beans.  Well call me picky but I can get about 4 pounds of carrots for that. That said the taste of the rest of the meal was excellent, it was actually a shame to spoil it by having the veg at all.

 

You will notice of course that I have only really mentioned the sewing part, well obviously thats my real interest. We did venture into the hobbycraft part but it really seemed like rows and rows of stalls selling the same thing.  Sorry if  that seems a bit unfair especially if you enjoy card making perhaps it was a bit lost on me.

Anyway disappointing or not my friend made sure I stopped to the bitter end, she was driving!....and we arrived home about 7pm shattered. So tomorrow a nice long lie in?

In my dreams!

Night folks back soon

Jenny x

QUEEN FOR THE DAY ....

Queen for the day..and why?
Well the answer is this beautiful neat parcel, courtesy of Sophie of Chez-Sophie as part of Sew Scrumptious flower swap.  I really thought I was having a second, or is that 'official' birthday.

Inside the brown paper was a box covered in pretty pink tissue..

and inside this a very stylish box

But only when I opened this did I realise what a treasure trove I had received.

It was more like a Tardis than a parcel. How Sophie managed to squeeze so many goodies into it I don't know.

And what were my lovely treasures....Well I hope you have plenty of time

pretty lavender sachets

A handbag tissue holder complete with tissues (must have heard about the scruffy packets littering all my handbags)

A piece of fabulous fabric ..Now what can I make with that?.. for me of course

A rose patterned make up bag containing.....

A great big flump (that won't last long)

A pack of pretty playing cards

Flowery cleaning cloths..too pretty to use!

3 packets of poppy seeds..absolutely love them..

And finally the most exquisite vintage scarf - again with poppies as well as cornflowers, blue tits and robins and the prettiest retro style pinny which I will wear with pride.  My daughter has already ogled it!! Not a chance!

All in all an amazing haul

So thank you Sophie for such a wonderful swap, I haven't stopped grinning yet and my family are most impressed.

I would also like to thank Louise for arranging it and for all her hard work getting us organised.

Oh and Sophie we are taking a cottage in France this year and I will be packing my scarf to go with my red,white and blue (I know such a cliche) wardrobe..

Tres chic n'est ce pas!

And now O no! I have to do it all again. Off to finish my Tilda swap, catch up again soon

Bye lovely friends

Jenny x

A HORSING AROUND KIND OF WEEKEND

Hi lovely bloggers,
Hope you all had the kind of weekend you wished for, be it energetic, productive or plain relaxing.  I know for some it was pants, but hopefully they can still keep smiling.
We decided to go out on Sunday, but our plans were quite literally dampened by the appalling weather both on Friday and Saturday night, but amazingly Sunday dawned bright and crisp so all was well.
We decided to risk looking at the first local car boot of the season and were stunned by the number of hardy sellers who braved the uncertain weather and stood for several hours gradually sinking into a river of mud.

There weren't a lot of bargains but I did manage to collect some pretty plates and another mug for my coronation collection

Hope to use one of these for my 3 tiered cake stand

No awards for the photo I'm afraid

We then set off to the East of England showground for the Shire horse show. We're not great equestrians or anything but DH used to ride one when he was a youngster on the farm and has always loved them.  I must confess they are very appealing 

There were lovely vintage tractors and old fairground rides

And a few indoor craft and vintage stalls at which I managed to pick up a couple of things for my daughters birthday in July.  She has been so in awe of the things I have done for the swaps I entered, that she has asked if I would make up a swap box for her for her birthday. Her wish list includes somethings made by me, some vintage collectibles and any other things I spot that I know she is either collecting or on her wish list.  I am happy to oblige as I have found the swaps great fun!  Can't tell you what I got her of course, that will be another post in July!

Well that sort of rounded up the weekend, but my good humour has continued as tonight I finished the 3 pairs of slippers requested for Easter and they will be in the post tomorrow, What a relief, I can now concentrate on my Tilda swap which I am really enjoying.

Have a good week and if you can't be good, really enjoy yourself, no point in doing anything by halves. Life's too short, live it! Back soon,

Love Jenny x

A BIT OF SPRING NONSENSE

A froggy once sat in a pink striped hat

 upon a lily leaf.

He'd soon have flown if he had known

 what was lurking underneath.

A gruesome pike had parked his bike

against a wall close by,

His evil desire was to acquire

 a piece of froggy pie.

On spotting a bubble the frog scented trouble

 and realised he was the goal

Of a villainous beast who fancied a feast,

 he was truly a toad in a hole.

He had to be quick with his vanishing trick

 he knew there could be no delay.

So he took off his hat and in it he sat

 and promptly he sailed away.

Then he opened his eyes for to his surprise

 the ultimate end to his plight

A fisherman's gear was laid out quite near

 and the owner was nowhere insight.

When pike came upon the leaf frog sat on,

 he leapt up to swallow him whole

But his sly look of glee changed to pure agony

when he hung from that fisherman's pole.

So that night instead of the frog lying dead,

T'was the pike that lay battered and beaten.

Frog was heard to rejoice, in a baritone voice,

Tis better to eat than be eaten.

 

So if you are small dont worry at all

 If your foes look too big to repel

The frog though minute was still very astute

 And proved brains could win battles as well.

Jenny Bowman 1979

This was written as a bed time story for my children and they still remember it word for word.  I used to love nonsense and story poems and wrote loads at one time or another, most of them more rubbish than nonsense, but it kept me amused!

Ah Well back to the slippers have some which are to be delivered by the Easter Bunny so better crack on.
Have a great weekend.

Jenny x

A GOOD SPRING CLEAN REQUIRED

What is it about springtime that suddenly makes the cosy home you had at Christmas seem so tired. As I've been trying to find homes for my latest CS finds I have been noticing a distinct Shabby without the Chic here and would so love to start a real blitz on the old homestead. However time is not on my side at the moment and since I will definitely need a skip when I start, I will have to bide my time until the weather really picks up.

The kitchen's not too bad, still need to finish the window valances which have been waiting since about last September, but at least it had a fresh coat of paint.

The snug, my favourite room, looks straight down the garden to the summer house and on summer days when the french doors are open is so tranquil. Again its not too bad just needs a freshen up, but I desperately want to make cream loose covers for the 2 settees, and when that will happen I have no idea!!

The real culprits are the hall and landing, which need some replastering before they're decorated and the dining room. The latter is the most used room in the house and I'm afraid you can tell. There are pretty things in it but they are not helped by their surroundings. I think I need a decorating fairy to magic it all beautiful!!

So if you by any chance know of one with a very strong wand, just point them in my direction. Can't pay much but do a nice line in chocolate cake and of course wine!

Some of the pretties

Cheers!!!

Jenny x

WHAT A GLORIOUS WEEKEND.....

Hello lovely readers
Well we've just got back from a most glorious weekend in Chester. Haven't been before but can highly recommend it. We arrived in the early afternoon on Saturday and took a walk into the town, or is that city, sorry for my ignorance!  We wanted to see what there was to do and to plan out our itinerary for Sunday.

Needless to say our first priority was to hit the CS, knowing that these would be closed on Sunday. Although there was not a great variety of treasures on offer I did manage to find some little bargains. I have been looking for some plates to drill to create a 3 tiered cake stand as I have purchased a handle and the drill bit for the job from Ebay.  I wasn't disappointed although I still have to find the right plate for the top tier.

This was my complete haul

The bottom tier

The middle, got 6 of these so can practice the drilling!

Was thinking of the small plate for the top but as these are a perfect set of 3 will keep just to use for tea with my other mismatched beautiful pottery, but you get the idea...

A super little dish

And finally a crisp linen drawn thread tablecloth.

On Sunday we decided to walk the whole of the city wall and it was well worth the aching feet

The views were stunning and the architecture amazing

The stunning cathedral

And the river views

Finally today we headed off to Ellesmere Port for some real retail therapy and returned home via the Snake Pass.. wow!

Well as you can see we managed to fill our time and the beautiful destination together with our lovely company made it a real weekend to remember and Oh no, we've got to do it all again in four weeks time .... in Bath.

Well I hope you have enjoyed sharing our journey. Back soon with more places and finds.

By the way we did manage a few bottles of wine as well. Cheers!

Love Jenny x