What do you get when you take….

... One little boy with a plaintive face,

One devoted Granny,

  And a motley collection of feathers, leather and beads?

Then after you've spent several hours contemplating, stitching, pricking your fingers and swearing .  
Oh b]c#g@!*

It's finally finished - well almost.

Result….One very happy Big Chief Oscar!

 
 I know, the buffalo horns in the first picture gave it away! And I couldn’t even use them as they’re too heavy.

Now he wants a tepee and a totem pole! 

So I gave him these….

…and told him to get on with it.

Clever little Goldcrest!

It may be tiny, but Britain's smallest bird, the Goldcrest, is no bird brain! 

In the spring of last year, whilst trimming a topiarised golden cypress and tottering on the top of my stepladder, straining to reach the last "ball",  a small bird flew out at top speed within inches of my face.  Well I nearly fell backwards with shock, as it was obvious I'd disturbed its nest, and it was a goldcrest, it had to be, it was so small. 

After recovering my composure, a quick delve into the thicket of branches revealed a tiny nest, complete with seven equally tiny eggs.  So I did the decent thing and retreated in haste and resolved to leave it undisturbed.  Several months later, the nest was empty and my conscience was salved!  The birds did not reappear this year so I've taken the nest down for my grandson's nature table.  Here it is, completely flattened now, but it was ball shaped originally.

It's made of tiny twigs, lichen, moss and weeny feathers and bound together with cobwebs.

But the reason for the goldcrest's intelligence?  Not that it had the sense not to come back to my tree, not that it can construct a beautiful nest in miniature, but the tree is called - Cuppressus macrocarpa "Goldcrest"!!

All the fun of the Kitsch and Stitch Fair!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Yesterday, Saturday 3^rd September dawned full of promise of a lovely day out in glorious weather, to the ancient and historic town of Cranbrook, Kent.

And I wasn’t disappointed!

This is the setting - the Vestry Hall in the town centre

This is Maygreen Fairies, and the lovely Amanda, who makes deliciously whimsical items centred around fairies.  Her cards in particular are to die for.

And here are some more of the stalls

 

And a close up of the previous stall

I hope this charming lady approves of her photo!

Sorry there are so few photos, but it was very busy and impossible not to get a lot of heads and arms instead of the goodies!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Cranbrook is worth a visit just for the delightful place it is, full of Kentish cottages, (or should that be "cottages of Kent"), white painted weather-boarding, and even its own working windmill.  The High Street boasts lots of independant shops and positively buzzes!

On the walk back to my car, I passed Cranbrook allotments – they were worthy of a blog post all of their own!

To finish the day, I drove to Sissinghurst Castle, the National Trust’s most visited garden, as it’s less than 2 miles away. This is part of the White Garden.

And finally I dropped in to Merriments Garden Centre, as I can’t just pass by all that temptation!

  All in all, a very pleasant day out and I can’t wait for the next Fair, which is December 3^rd, in good time for Christmas. 

TTFN

The amazing Cranbrook Allotments

I had to walk past this site on my way to the Kitsch and Stitch Fair, and on my return I popped in and found this little gem in a delightful setting.

The central and dividing paths were all closely mown grass

The standard of cultivation was very professional and worthy of inclusion in Gardener’s World!

   

Lots of quirky touches that made you smile!

Some of the squashes and pumpkins ripening in the sun.

The allotment holders are very friendly!

But on my way out, when I closed the gate (which was open when I came in) I saw this …

Oh Lordy - I'd been trespassing!

Lest we forget....

Please wear your poppy with pride on Armistice Day

It's Remembrance Day on November 11th, which happens to be my birthday too, so I'm not likely to forget what to me is an important occasion.  There has been talk recently of this tribute falling into oblivion, given that survivors of World War 2 are growing very elderly. I very much hope that this will not be the case, and doubt that family and friends of dead and injured military will allow it to.  On a purely personal basis, my father was a Desert Rat with the 8th Army and was badly injured in the forehead by shrapnel in North Africa.  Although he survived physically he has been affected by it ever since.  He is still going strong at 91 and considers himself very lucky.  I also lost my Uncle Freddy, who was hit by a German submarine torpedo while serving on HMS Voltaire.  He was only 19.  Just a few months later, my Auntie Gladys was killed in Marks and Spencer in Eastbourne when it was hit by a bomb.  The plane then turned round and strafed the survivors with machine gun fire.  I never had the pleasure of knowing my father's siblings, and the effect on my grandparents must have been dreadful.

 

Many, many innocent people the world over have been affected by wars and have similar tales to tell.  Will we ever know true peace?

 

If you would like to show support for British soldiers injured whilst serving in Afghanistan and Iraq, you can make a contribution to the worthwhile charity Help for Heroes.  Here is a link to a fund raising site where my wonderful son-in-law Stuart Cooke and his friends recently completed the tortuous 3 Peaks Challenge.   http://www.justgiving.com/3peakers2010

Within a 24 hour period, they climbed the highest mountains of Scotland, England and Wales. This time limit included sleeping and travelling from one mountain to the next.  Apparently one of the worst aspects (apart from pouring rain on Mt. Snowdon and thick fog on Sca Fell Pike) was the rickety, uncomfortable and noisy minivan!

Sca Fell Pike

Snowdon

Ben Nevis

We will remember them.

A woman's work is never done.

Part 1 

Monday morning blues

Such a lot of washing to do every Monday, it's no wonder my hands are so dry and sore.

I shall rub some Snowfire in - that should do the trick.  My mother used to swear by it.

And once the clothes are dry, there's still all that starching, ironing and goffering to do!

Is it my imagination, or is it only me and Mrs. Tiggywinkle who goffer these days?

Do YOU goffer? 

If only I could fast forward a few decades, they're bound to have a lot more choice in the 1950s!

#

Ah, that will make life easier!

Wearing these will save my hands too.

And to make everything so much quicker, what I really, really want is......

One of those new fangled washing machines with a combined mangle!  Bliss! 

Oh, and her pinny, and her curtains.

I hope your wash days are a lot less stressful!

The perfect accessory - antique lavatory paper!

Evening all!

I've been sorting through numerous boxes of crap vintage clutter today and found an authentic accompaniment for my Edwardian loo! It's a full box of 600 sheets of toilet paper, circa 1920/30. (No, I haven't counted them - the box just feels full)

Mind you, if the dreaded D & V virus strikes again, I'll get through the whole packet in under a week.

Why do they call it Bronco do you suppose?  Is it because your bum feels as though you've been riding one after you've used it?

My latest purchase!

You can be forgiven for thinking I’ve gone loo....py!

But I’m flushed with joy and have gone quite potty over my newest acquisition!

Would you like to be privy to this wondrous thing?

OK, I’ll stop talking crap and get to the point!

It’s going in here….

And will stand close to this…

Tiddle dee dee!

It’s an Edwardian loo complete with wondrous floral decorations that are the perfect colour match for my bathroom! I’ve been looking out for one of these for several years, but they don’t come up very often and are usually blue and white. Which I love of course, but they’re very expensive and obviously not the right colour.

So this had to be snapped up at the bargain price of £41! Oh, and petrol to Gillingham and back. A packet of Milliput will take care of the chips, and my friendly handyman, who is quite used to my eccentricities, will plumb it in. And if it doesn't work then it becomes an eye catching plant pot in the garden!

All I need now is a basin to match! Watch this space in another 5 years.

P.S. I don’t usually stoop to lavatory humour.