Lost treasure refound...

Whilst packing up the garage prior to moving the Best Beloved came across this lost treasure...

It's a crochet blanket his late grandmother made many years ago and had been put in a bag in the garage loft, tucked away safe and sound..... or so we thought.....  When I opened it up I discovered the mice had made a lovely nest in it all cosy and warm.  And mice being mice they had done this..

Lots of mouse house renovations I think or maybe mouse restaurant.  Either way it stank!  The Best Beloved thought that the best thing might be just to throw it away!  I know, I know but that's men for you.

So I washed it and it regained a little of its sparkle again.  As you can see it is double bed size and must have taken his grandmother ages.

But now the question is how do I repair it?  Obviously I am never going to be able to get wool to match and I would have to work out how she did each square.  I did wonder whether I make new squares to replace those that have been chewed or do I take off a whole strip of 4 squares from one side and use those to replace damaged ones? 

And then of course there is the problem with the border.  I think with that I shall undo the whole thing to be able to re-use the wool and perhaps add a new inner border before reworking the green one.  Or have the green as an inner border and then add a new outer one in another colour to maintain the proportions.

Any suggestions?

The move to Cumbria is progressing slowly and Ill tell you more another time.  Have a great weekend.

Philippa xx

Travelling at breakneck speed.....

....or trying to tame the whirlwind.  That's how it has been this last fortnight.  First our buyers wanted to bring completion forward to the end of January instead of end February or middle of March.  Then I had to find us somewhere else to live/rent for the next 6 months and finding somewhere that will take 5 pets was challenging but thankfully after much prayer I was successful (thank you Lord).  We will pick the keys up on Friday and now I am praying that the Best Beloved will approve.

This is St Barnabas Church that I attend and it is where the Best Beloved and I got married 6 years ago.  It is such a lovely little church and I shall really miss it when we move Oop Noarth.  I particularly like this view from the path, through the gate and across the field.

Last weekend we went back up to Cumbria for my sister-in-law's 60th birthday dinner and needless to say we viewed a few houses, 7 in fact.  Before we got there though we stopped at a service station and were amazed to see this.

A work in progress for someone.  A little project.

Anyway, one of the houses we saw was everything we were hoping it would be and more so Monday morning the Best Beloved was straight on the phone to the estate agent to make an offer.....which was accepted.  We are so pleased and can't wait for the summer when we will move in.  It's a really lovely house in a little village with a self-contained flat which we may rent out....and a 3 acre field so I will be able to keep bees.  I'm really thrilled.

So I've been fervently packing but still seem to be making little headway.  Some of the packing has been more enjoyable than other bits. 

 

 

This was my grandmother's china cabinet and I remember when I was a child that it was full of her precious tea sets:  one covered in roses and another with Japanese designs.  I used to spend ages looking through the glass at everything but I was never allowed to touch anything.  It also had all the little weather vanes we bought her when we went on holiday.  They were little alpine houses where the man came out if it was wet and the lady if it was dry.  My sister and I loved them but Nanny got a little fed up with them and begged my parents not to buy her any more.  Instead we bought her tea towels from wherever we went.  When she passed away we found all the tea towels in the bottom of her chest of drawers unused.  Maybe she was saving them for a special occasion.

 

Now I have the cabinet and it is filled with all my precious things; some from when I was a child, some from when my children were little.

 

 

 

I bought these glass perfume bottles whenever I visited my sister out in Egypt.  We went so often to the shop the owner began to recognise us.  I remember him charging another tourist an awful lot more money for a bottle than he was charging me.

 

 

 

The cabinet is locked with a tiny little key that has tendency to fall out and I lost it once so now it has an obvious fob bought in France:

 

 

Back to the packing...and in the spirit of my New Year's intentions for simplicity and thrift I saved the box from the cat food:

 

and using the paper from the shredder I had the perfect strong and safe box for my precious bottles.

Now where am I going to put these little chappies?

Philippa xx

 





So.....

... ..  I was at work on Thursday with just quarter of an hour to go and feeling very stressed with our new wonderful, fantastic we-can-do-anything-except-print-out-your-document printer when the estate agent phoned to say because our buyers are expecting a baby soon is there any possibility that instead of completing end-February or beginning of March could we actually bring that forward to end-January?!!!!  As a woman I am well versed in the art of compromise but to bring the end date forward 6 weeks is rather pushing it a little don't you think?  I felt my blood pressure rocket way up high.

After discussing it with the Best Beloved we have said the earliest we can do it is mid-February which sounds fine until you work out just how little time we will have to sort out alternative accommodation.  We have made the decision to sell but then move into rented accommodation for six months in this area before moving up Cumbria thereby giving No 3 Son time to finish his first year on this course at college.

So yesterday said son and I started to pack.  I've been saving the boxes that paper comes in from work as they make ideal small packing cases for all my decorative china plates and jugs, and we took all the pictures off the walls.  Everywhere looks so bare now but I am pleased we have made a start.

 

(Sorry I forgot to take a photo of the bare walls but I think you can imagine what they look like.)

 

Today we started ringing around all the local estate agents trying to find rented properties.  I admit this is an area I do not have much experience of but it was a considerably harder than I thought.  Yes there seem to be lots of places available but when you try and get one that will be in the right area for us to get to work or college the number reduces drastically.  Even harder is finding one that will accept pets.  The conversation tends to go like this:

Me:  Hello, we have sold our house and are due to complete in mid-February and wish to rent for 6 months.

Agent:  Oh yes madam where are you looking to rent and what is your budget?

Me:  Well actually I have been looking online and seen this particular property of yours.  Is it still available?

Agent:  Yes madam.

Me:  I would love to come and see it but can I just check a point that I could not see mentioned in the details.  Are pets allowed?

Agent:  hesitatingly Perhaps.  How many and what pets do you have?

Me:  Two dogs and three cats but they are all house trained.

Agent:  No.  I'm sorry madam - one might be acceptable but not five.

Me:  Even if we pay for professional cleaners to come in at the end of the term?

Agent:  We would expect that but not even then.

So there you go, the choice narrows even further.  I can see the next few weeks are going to be very, very stressful. 

On a brighter note, did you see the moon last night?  I took my new camera (courtesy of the Best Beloved) up to the upper bedroom to try and get a clear view.  My eye could see a tree silhouetted but I don't know how to get that in a photo yet.  I could have done with Catherine Drea instructing me.

I love looking at the moon although stars tend to frighten me a bit.  It stems back to when I was a child and imagined the stars all being a box, ie the universe, but then worried what was outside the box.  It's all a bit too big for my mind.

Some years ago I walked past a gallery in Bath and hanging on the back wall was a painting by Helen Garrett.  I stood outside looking through the window for ages and that night I saw the picture in my dreams, and the next morning I could still see it.  At lunch time I went back to the gallery all the while repeating in my head "£150 or £200, £150 or £200" as the price I could afford to pay.  I looked at the other paintings being exhibited but kept going back to this one.  After a sensitive wait the gallery assistant approached and I tried to quietly enquire as to the price.......and then tried to keep my face relaxed when she told me it was 5 times what I had said myself...but by that stage mentally the picture was already mine.  So I bought it and since that day it has hung on the wall above my bed and I still absolutely love it.  It's called "At a small hour of the night" and I apologise for the slight blurriness - I was trying to balance on the bed!



I imagine myself having been on a long walk in the countryside and now I am heading up the path back home to light the candles, have hot buttered crumpets and a cup of tea in front of an open fire.  The moon is casting just enough light to show me the way...

and the last smidgeon of sunset can be seen sinking over the hilltop.

I think I'll go and put the kettle on.

Philippa xx

Rain, rain go away.....

Thanks to the jet stream we have been having some really awful weather.  From the tip of Cornwall, right up the western coast of the UK everyone has been getting soaked.  High winds, high tides and lots and lots of rain.  My heart goes out to all those that had their Christmas and New Year ruined because of these freak weather conditions.

Yesterday I went out with my camera and took a few snaps of some of the local floods.

These are taken in the Melksham area of Wiltshire where the River Avon has burst its banks:

And these are the same river but taken from the A350 at Beanacre:

These fields are right by one of the busiest roads in Wiltshire and are allowed to flood in the hope of saving Bath which is a few miles further down the river - it didn't work this year.  We have had so much rain the fields were already sodden and could not cope with any more.

Beyond Bath is Bristol and because of the high winds and high tides pushing water up the River Severn when these waters met the River Avon even Bristol flooded.

(On the plus side - we are going to look Oop Noarth at the end of the week for a new home.  At least we will be able to see those liable to flooding!)

Philippa xx

Simplifying and Thrifting.....

......are two of my intentions for this year.  In common with many others Christmas saw me spend far too much money and put a lot of that spend on my credit card.  There was a time when I refused to have such a piece of plastic and indeed my father who was my bank manager (yes seriously he was a bank manager) brought me up to only spend the money that was in my bank account.  When I did get such a card I deliberately chose one that had a picture of a pig on it to make me question my reasons for using it, however, when that one expired I didn't get to choose a similar picture and only got sent a plain one.

I have set myself the target of clearing the card before we relocate Oop Noarth (the Best Beloved corrected my previous spelling).  I hope thereafter to demonstrate a greater restraint in its use.

When I was a lot younger and money was very much in short supply I used to keep a notebook/ledger of every penny I spent and budgeted for every bill.  I may not have had much left over at the end of each week but I never went hungry, failed to pay a bill or even was at risk of losing my home...and I always had all the money I needed for Christmas.  How is it that I have got so lazy and lax just because money is not quite so tight?  I think it is about time I gave myself a good talking to and got back into line.  As part of my thrifting intention I am going to rein in my frivolous spending and buy more in line with what I need rather than what I would like.

Christmas is over now, the tree is undecorated and packed away, and the mantelpiece is dusted.  I spent a very happy hour or so cutting up the Christmas cards and making them into next Christmas gift tags.  I've thought about doing this for years but never seem to get around to it and end up just throwing away the cards.  But I decided this would be a good thrifting exercise and a great way to use yet more of the red and white string I bought last spring.

Now all I have got to do is make sure I put them away with the wrapping paper so they don't get lost and I end up buying brand new ones again.

Philippa xx

Happy New Year

I've had a really wonderful Christmas and I know how lucky I am to be able to say that.  It was lovely to spend a few days with all my family and their partners.  We shared gifts, smiles and laughs, but most of all love.

I feel so relaxed now....and I am not the only one!

 

Timmy in his favourite spot.

 

 

2013 has all been about preparing for our relocation Ooop North.  Hopefully next week we will go and have a look at what may be our future home.

 

 

A day or so ago there was an overnight frost and the ground was all sparkly.  I couldn't wait to go out and have a look.

 

First there was the twinkling texture of the crossing

 

Next there was the carpeted park....

and Ruby decided she would rather stay and play.

Later in the day the Best Beloved and I took a walk in the late sun.

 

 

 

 

So here's to 2014...onwards and upwards.

 

Thank you also to everyone who reads my little blog.  Thank you for all your best wishes.  I hope 2014 brings you all lots of joy.....and I raise my glass to toast you all.  Slante!

 

Philippa xxx