Where Did This Week Go?

Blimey, it's been over a week since my last post and I don't know where the time has gone!!

There's only one week left of the summer holidays and we're then into September. Four weeks today I am 40!! I still can't believe I'm a grown up, I wonder now if I ever will?

Mr G has booked some sort of surprise, I've been hinting heavily about a long weekend away but as he hardly ever arranges anything I can't imagine what it is - he told my Mum and she told me "The boy done good - you'll definitely owe him"!!

So, what have I been up to this week? Well I did a bit of Fugly-To-Fabulous-ing and finished transforming a dowdy Stag chest of drawers and dressing table:

My sister came over and we took Little E up to the stables to have a little pootle on Crofter, my old boy (he's 31):

Little E has the horsey "gene" - I think the love of horses is genetic and you're born with it and after having two boys of my own who are not interested I am delighted that E loves them. I have been nagging my sister for YEARS to get E riding lessons but will really have to insist when E turns 7 next year as that is the age that I learnt to ride.

We took Crofter for a pootle up the lane and Little E enjoyed every minute:

I have finished sewing together my sunbursts blanket but you'll have to wait until its finished now for the ta-dah, I've had to order (yet) more yarn to do the border!!

I have started an embroidery that I found in a book from the library called "More Embroidered Garden Flowers" by Diana Lampe - it's such a lovely book I've bought a copy from Amazon:

On Friday I got my nails done with Shellac - nail polish chips on me within 24hrs, regardless of the brand, base or topcoat and so when I found a local lady that does Shellac for £10 I thought I'd give it a try. So far it's holding up well:

Yesterday we went to see my Stepmum and little brother, we had a lovely lunch and borrowed one of my Dads fishing rods as W wants to have a go at beach fishing.

It was lovely to see my Stepmum and Step Granny and my little brother Jojo (he's 9) and H & W played really well together - its funny to think that Jojo is their uncle!!

So, that's all I have to report for now, hope you're all having a lovely bank holiday weekend....

Hugs,




S x

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My Etsy Shop!!

Hello!!
Mr G is out playing with his radio controlled car and while he is out I have taken the plunge and opened a little Etsy shop:

I've listed my embroidered house pictures - I've done another this weekend but as its for a friend I can't show you until she's seen it!!

If you want to order one I am offering 40% off the first two orders - please contact me for a special coupon code before placing your order via Etsy (linky to shop) ....

How are you holding up in the heat? I hope you're all having a lovely weekend!!

hugs,

S x

Bath And Bad Teeth!!

Hello my lovelies!!

The menfolk of the house are in engrossed in "Battleship" which is very definitely a Boys Movie and so I thought I would sneak in a blog post.

How's your week been? We had the third thing break (remember the toilet flush broke and then the fridge freezer) when on Tuesday while eating dinner I managed to crack my tooth in half!!

It's needed re-filling for years and I've been ignoring the dentist as I didn't like the thought of her having to dig the old filling out, so I was a bit sheepish when I had to phone her for an emergency appointment.

I took my Mum for moral support as I am a wuss and my dentist (who is just lovely) gave me lots of anaesthetic and managed to repair the tooth. Of course I was then numb for hours, hence a slightly lopsided smile:

Yesterday, Mum and I went to Bath for the day. Mum and her friend M go on lots of trips out and they had booked a coach trip to Bath as M had never been, unfortunately she couldn't make it and so Mum asked me to go with her.

I must confess, though I really fancied a day in Bath I didn't much fancy the coach part - I don't really do coaches as if anyone became travel sick I would go mental!! But with Mum's assurances that if that should happen she would stand on the side of the road with me while we rang Mr G to collect us off we set.

The weather was pretty grim as we arrived but we decided to do the truly British thing and Make The Best Of It.

And that is how we found ourselves on the top deck of an open top bus, in the rain, under a (very flimsy, Poundland) umbrella:

The bus motored round the town and we took in the beautiful buildings:

Afterwards the weather brightened up and we pottered round the shops for awhile and then stopped to have something to eat in The Pump Rooms:

Now my Mum clearly remembers a lovely day she had with my Dad years ago when he surprised her with lunch out at The Pump Room's (you'll remember my Mum and Dad were divorced, but of course that doesnt mean Mum doesnt still have very fond memories) and she became tearful.

And I was overcome with how beautiful it was, how English and how lucky I was to be there with my lovely Mum that I joined her and also burst into tears - much to the bemusement of the maitre'd!!

We sat there for a moment while we waited to be seated at our table and Mum told me about how Dad had surprised her when the pianist began playing a very familiar melody - the aria from "Madame Butterfly" which had been one of Dad's favourites and it almost felt like he was there....

We were soon guided to our table and giggled about how we should have been dressed in empire line gowns in the manner of Jane Austen (who of course lived in Bath):

Love this photo of my Mum!!

Naturally, as it was mid-afternoon we ordered afternoon tea:

I admired the beautiful chandelier:

Afterwards we had a peep at the Roman Baths (but didn't pay to look around properly as everything was so expensive!!):

Soon it was time to meet the coach but not before I picked my way through the streets barefoot because my shoes were rubbing and my Mum managed to fall over!!

The coach was a bit of a drag on the way back as the seats were so uncomfortable but we returned home tired, happy and with lots of new memories of Bath....

Hugs,

S x

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Monday Musings....

Hello all!! Have you had a nice weekend?

On Thursday, just after the engineer delivered his verdict on our fridge freezer (more about that in a mo) I got a surprise package in the post:

Isn't it wrapped beautifully?

Inside was this:

It's from the lovely Cuckoo over at Tales From Cuckoo Land (I've tried to do a linky but Blogsy is being a pain, Google it, it's a lovely blog, written by a lovely lady) - she had seen the book and remembered how I was excited to be getting a meerkat from Compare The Meerkat. How thoughtful is that? I was so chuffed, it really made my day.

We spent yesterday clearing the side of the house which had become a dumping ground for umpteen bikes and stuff that was waiting to go to the tip.


It needed to be done as today we had our new fridge freezer delivered - this is a really dull purchase because up until 11 days ago we had a perfectly good American style fridge freezer. Then we awoke to find it not working. It's four years old and cost a small fortune (Mr G's Mum and Dad had treated us when we had the kitchen done) so we were not best pleased.

I called Samsung and they said it had a five year guarantee on this, that and the other but naturally after waiting a week for the engineer it was none of those things that had gone and they wanted £325 to fix it. The engineer said as it also seemed "low on gas" it wasn't worth it.


So we have had to fork out £550 for a new fridge freezer and are actually worse off as this one is a basic model whereas the old one was all singing and dancing. We had to get another American style one as the wall to the side is not plastered and so had we got a (much cheaper) regular freezer the bodged up wall would have been on display.

We've just switched it on and I must confess, dull as it it, I am delighted to have a fridge again!! How people managed before they were a common household feature is beyond me. We have had to buy meals just a couple of hours before cooking them (I won't leave anything out of the fridge for more than a couple of hours due to my vomit phobia!!) and haven't had a cold drink in over a week!!

This weekend I've also been working on my sunburst blanket:

It's a pattern from "The Gentle Art Of Knitting" by Jane Brocket (though it's crochet obviously!!) in Debbie Bliss Amalfi. The little squares are soooooo therapeutic to do, in fact I think it may well be the first blanket I actually finish ( and don't just get bored with and turn into a cushion!!)

I also recently finished a machine embroidery of MIL & FIL's little bungalow for MIL's birthday:

If anyone would like an embroidery doing of their home, I am thinking of taking commissions - initially I'll just charge a nominal amount for materials as I want to practice. If you fancy one then leave a comment or click on "Contact Me" in the header bar to email.

Finally, a reminder to come and play at Shabby Chic Sarah's own forum/message board - we have 10 members and a few conversations on the go, but the more the merrier!!

The URL is: www.shabbychicsarah.forumotion.com - come and join us!!

Hugs,

S x




 

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Young Love and Shabby Chic Sarah Gets A Forum!!

Hiya my sweeties!!

24 years ago today I sent my friend Dawn to ask Mr G out for me, I was 15 and he was 16:

I know you've seen this before but I couldn't resist!!

*gush alert* I awoke early this morning, for a while I watched Mr G sleep and marvelled how blessed I was to have found my soul mate so quickly.

In other news, I've created a forum/message board so we can all get to know each other better:

Please click here to come and join us, there are just a handful of people at the moment but don't let that put you off, it'll be a lovely intimate place we can chat and you can show me your projects....

My current WIP is the lovely sunburst blanket - these squares are so therapeutic to make and after doing just one you don't even need to look at the pattern:

I've run out of yarn now after 39 squares so have ordered more - maybe this will be my first ever completed blanket?

Hope you have a lovely weekend....

Hugs,




Sarah x

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Instant Gratification

Instant Gratification?

I don't know about you but I am the type who when I want something, I want it now.

I have never been a patient sort. When I get the wanties I have to resist the terrible urge to pop the said item (be it fabric, craft goodies or homeware) on the credit cards. And sometimes that's what I do. And of course when shopping online it's a good idea to use a credit because of the extra protection it provides.

However, an advantage of becoming a lover of all things vintage is that the majority of places where you find little gems - car boot sales, antique fairs and charity shops - just don't take cards. And so a side effect is that as well as the house becoming a warm, welcoming place full of things we love is that our finances have benefitted.

I currently have the wanties for this bag!!

I'm even angling for Mr G to get me a lovely piece of vintage jewellery or a 1940's watch for my 40th birthday pressie (I'm 40 in September!! 40!! How did that happen?!!) so that's something he is saving for.

Mr G was 40 last year and we got him a Tag Heuer watch (something he had always wanted) so I had to save for that which I found h-a-r-d!! He was delighted though so it was well worth it.I think we are all either a saver or a splurger and we are most definitely the latter - ideally you need one or two savers in a relationship or else your finances are doomed, unfortunately Mr G and I both splurgers!!

My Sis is definitely a saver, as kids I remember she had a little red cash tin and she'd count her pennies over and over whilst mine are long since spent - you must just be born one way or another.

Which means my hopelessness with money must be genetic!!

What are you? A saver or a splurger? Come on, 'fess up!!

Hugs,

S x

This is a sponsored post but all opinions are my own.

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Zakynthos 2012 Part Four - Out & About, Cont'd....

I managed to nab Mr G's laptop so I can continue to tell you about our trips out whilst on our hols.


We ventured out one day to visit Porto Vromi - the most difficult beach on the island to reach - it was doable by car but it was pretty hair-raising up and down hair pin bends and across some pretty desolate, almost lunar landscape.


The island although small, had distinct areas of very different scenery - the north where we were was very lush and green with lots of olive groves, across the west side was barren and volcanic looking and the middle was very rural with countryside, hay fields and farms.


Porto Vromi is famed for its clear waters, the picture in the guide book made it look as though the boats were floating in mid-air it was so clear.


It was also tiny, with no sun umbrellas, so we just stayed long enough to take a swim:

One evening towards the end of our holiday we set out in search of the lookout point for the famous Navagio Beach - home to a shipwrecked smugglers boat. The beach is only accessible by boat so the only other way to see it is via the lookout point:

We took the opportunity to get a passer-by to take a group photo:

Even though it was about 7.00pm in the evening when we visited it was sooooo hot!! We're glad we went "out of hours" as the viewing platform was only tiny and had it been crowded there would have been queueing:

Nannie with the boys....

I took advantage of the beautiful backdrop to take some pics of H and W:

The view was indeed breathtaking:

The visit to the shipwreck was one of my favourites, it really was sooooo beautiful and on the way back we came around a corner to see this:

Wonderful!!

hugs,

S x

Zakynthos 2012 Part Three - Out and About....

Hello my lovelies!! I've given up waiting for Mr G's laptop to be free to finish my holiday posts so I'm on my iPad and will just have to use the pics I have on here.

Whilst we were in Zakynthos they had something of a heat wave - the temperature topped 39 degrees for much of our stay and we were told by the locals that they rarely had more than day or so of temperatures that hot and then usually in August!!


Due to the heat we perhaps didn't take as many day trips as we might as even thought the car had air con, all we really wanted to do was stay by the pool and sea.

We did make a few trips though, we made our way a little further north, braving the hairpin mountain roads to Makris Gialos, a picturesque little cove:

This beach was completely different to the one near to our caravan which was gently shelving and you had to wade out for ages before it got deep enough to swim (great for little ones) - at the cove you went out about three feet and were neck deep!! It was much colder too, but that was kinda nice as the heat meant you could only sit on your sun bed (even under the brolly) for half hour before you needed to take a dip.

We did a bit of snorkelling, but although crystal clear there were surprisingly few fish. You could swim into some little caves but as I went in Mr G decided he didn't like the idea so wasn't coming in - I thought he was a bid wuss until he put the idea in my head that the roof might collapse!!

Another evening Mr G, W and I took a trip out to explore a bit further (Nannie and H stayed behind) - we aimed to check out a few of the other little coves, like this one:

W doing his Wallace and Grommit smile again!!

Mr G nearly put the three of us and the car over the cliff edge and into the cove as the car shot forward and he went "Ooops,mthat wasn't reverse"!!

The next stop along the cove was Xigia beach which has underwater springs rich in sulphur - its beautiful but a bit smelly!! We did stop and brave the steep steps down so we could take a dip:

The water was very cold and kind of milky, it's full of sulphur and collagen and supposed to be very good for your skin. W wasn't impressed with the smell though!!

On the way back be stopped at a lovely cafe bar for some dessert and a cocktail:

Another evening we took a trip to the lookout point to see the famous shipwreck beach, I'll have to pop that in another post though as I have no pics on the iPad of it and you must see them!!

Stayed tuned for the final installments of our hols, and then normal service will resume - going to try and blog more even if it is here on my iPad as I've leith things slide!!

Hugs,

S x

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