Are you a saver or a splurger?

 

I was pondering recently whether we are in the minority because we don't have any savings speak of. We have a very small disposable income and having been silly with money in our youth have never managed to save up a rainy day fund. We have a very bad habit of relying on the credit card if we need and emergency repair or other mishap sorting.

Every year we say we are going to try and accrue some but we always find it's the case that if we do manage to save a few coppers then something will break so we have to blow the savings on that.

I do wonder whether the ability to save is a genetic trait, either you can or you can't. I'm very much a splurger!! I've always found that money burns a hole in my pocket, I love shopping and always have something on my wish list - very rarely are the items on my list extravagant but there is usually something I am hankering after.

I can't remember ever managing to save up for anything unless you count selling things on eBay until have the amount I need - that's how I raised the money for my iPad.

My sister is exactly the opposite and from a young age she liked nothing more than counting her growing collection of pennies into her red cash tin - she now is very good with money, so it's my opinion that you can probably tell early on whether your children a going to be a saver or a splurger!!

However, I must confess that the advice given to me by the 101 year old lady in the pub on my birthday springs to mind - she said "Let me give you some advice, my dear. Spend your money. Don't save it. Spend it and enjoy. Don't save it like I did. It's no use to me now."

Maybe she had a point....

Hugs,


S x




 

Posted with Blogsy

Mini Makeover....

This weekend we made over a little spot in our (tiny) kitchen that had hitherto been an eyesore.

Ever since I saw Cherry Menlove's gorgeous open white shelves I have hankered after some of my own but the problem was where to put them.

I also really disliked the cooker hood and splashback we had above our range:

We used to have a stainless steel range that matched the hood and splashback, but after that finally gave up the ghost we found this fab Aga-like Leisure range on eBay for the bargain price of £150 and for well over a year I have put up with the mismatch (some kinds of mismatch are NOT good!!)

I got to thinking about what we could do to prettify this area of the kitchen - this involved laying in bed at night hatching all manner of plans - 99% of which are rubbish in the light of day - and decided we should remove the hood (we never use it as its not connected to the outdoors and just "extracts" back into the room) and build some sort of unit or shelves.

Then came the persuasion of Mr G.

It took weeks.

And in the end I had to put my foot down.

So on Saturday I marched him to the wallpaper shop, we chose paper and on our return the hood came down and the paper went up:

Already looking soooooo much better!!

The conversion of Mr G to all things floral, vintage and shabby chic was proved complete when he came up with the idea to paper the back of the plate rack.

On Sunday, off we trotted to B&Q where - following a brief hiatus for a row over fairy lights - we got the material for the shelves.

Mr G got down to one of mans most hated tasks - erecting shelves:

I was beyond excited!! I danced about waiting for the moment when I could fill them with pretty things:

I've ordered new Cath Kidston labels for the flour jars!!

We're sooooo pleased with how they have turned out - Mr G went as far as to say it's his favourite makeover to date - which is high praise indeed considering he was against doing anything in that area.

I still dislike the stainless splashback and will now work on getting Mr G to tile over it - resistance is futile.....

Hugs,

S x




 

Posted with Blogsy

Ooopsy, Vanished There For A Bit....

Hello, my lovelies!! I haven't vanished off the face of the earth, just somewhat lost my blogging mojo a bit. Like many of the other Instagram addicts I've met, the instantness (is that a word?) of IG does mean one is less inclined to blog.

But, I must not neglect my little space on the web and I pledge to post at least once a week from now on.

So, what have I been up to?

On Monday it was Mr G's (41st) birthday and so last weekend we ventured off sans children to Lyncombe Lodge Hotel in Churchill, North Somerset. I had booked it via a KGB deal an it was just £69 for two nights.

We set off on Friday after the children had gone to school and headed to Frome where we had a lovely lunch in the Garden Cafe and a mooch around the shops:

We had a walk up the pretty Catherine's Hill, home to vintage, yarn and fabric shops - I felt bit bad as it was Mr G's birthday weekend yet we kept going in all the kinds of shops I adore. He was very sweet though and insisted I look in every shop I wanted to.

All was not lost though as at the top of the hill we found a model shop so we had a good mooch around that - it was literally floor to ceiling with Airfix kits and as Mr G had loved them as a child there was much tripping down memory lane.

After a lovely little potter we headed off to the hotel which was about a half hour away according to the sat nav.

It was a very scenic drive but as we approached the end of the route the surroundings were getting more and more built up and as the hotel was meant to be in the middle of nowhere I was getting confused. Soon, the sat nav man declared "you have reached your destination" whilst we were in the middle of what appeared to be a council estate!!

"This can't be right" I said and decided to double check the postcode I had entered.

Oh.

Dear.

I had put in BA5 instead of BS5 and we were in Bath!!

I entered the correct postcode and it revealed we were now 50 minutes from the hotel!! Mr G took it with very good grace - as always - one of the many things I adore about him is his laidbackness (?) I have memories of my Dad's dreadful rants when Mum cocked up the navigating - he used say "Get the map out" and we'd all cringe!!

So, after another scenic drive we arrived at our hotel, which was indeed, in the middle of woods and very rural:

We checked in and were shown to our room:

My first comment was "Wouldn't the bed look fab with a coat of Annie Sloan paint and some Cath Kidston drapes?"!! Mr G was unimpressed to discover I had packed my knitting on a "dirty weekend"!!

On Saturday we headed into Wells which is such a pretty town, and had a look around the shops. And we ate our way around the market:

We went through an archway at the end to be greeted with a beautiful cathedral:

Look at that sky!! That's with no filter - we were very lucky with the weather....

We took a moment to step inside:

And I lit a candle for my Dad:

After lunch (organic sausages in rolls with onions, yum) we headed off to call in to my dear friend Cuckoo from Tales From Cuckoo Land. I had emailed her for recommendations of places to visit because I knew she lived in the area and when it transpired how close we'd be she invited us to pop in.

I wasn't going to push it with Mr G as it was, again, something for me on his birthday weekend but he was more than happy for us to go over for a cuppa.

We were greeted with open arms - Cuckoo and her family made us feel soooooo welcome. She has the most beautiful warm, homely house and I could have literally spent the whole weekend sat in front of the real fire in Cuckoos sewing room (which is so beautiful I was open-jawed and completely forgot to take a picture).

Cuckoo is another person I have met through blogging whom I feel I have known in a previous life, and I came away with a huge girl crush:

Saturday night Mr G and I ventured out for pizza, I ate way too much and my anxiety induced nausea threatened to get the better of me but with the help of a cheeky Valium I managed to keep it at a manageable level and not spoil the whole evening. We retired to bed to watch Prison Break on Lovefilm - very rock 'n roll.

After we checked out on Snday we headed home via Shepton Mallet as it was the Antique and Collectors Fair (oops that's another thing for me - I will say I kept telling him to Google for motorbike shops or any other boy things he fancied but he said he wasn't fussed).

On Monday (Mr G's actual birthday) we had lunch in our favourite pub

The birthday boy himself....

They do the most amazing homemade pies

Thanks for reading, I've not much else to report but I will do another post shortly to show you my latest crafty doings....

Hugs,

S x

 

Posted with Blogsy

By The Sea....

Hello my lovely ladies!! How've you been?

Much of this week has been quiet and a lot of knitting (and frogging) has gone on but yesterday I ventured out to meet up with some of my good friends that I have met through the power of the www.

I went via Ashley's from Country Rose to collect her & Rose and then we headed across to Gem's (of Treasures From The Cherry Tree fame) new house.

We were given a warm welcome with tea and homemade cake and I was finally able to give Gem the housewarming gift I had made:

One of my free motion embroidery pictures of her house.

I have these for sale in my Etsy shop - I can do custom embroideries of your house or a friend or relatives, they would make great gifts!!

After the grand tour of Gem's new home (which is EXACTLY like the kind of house I would love, complete with Downton Abbeyesque doorbell!!) we pottered along to a lovely cafe on the seafront to meet Sarah from Annaboo's House and her little daughter for lunch.

Naturally, having already had cake I fell completely off the wagon:

Mmmmm, I could just eat it again!!

After lunch we went for a wander on the beach and Rose entertained us no end by splashing in the rock pools and more than once sitting down fully clothed in them!! Luckily, Ashley had a change of clothes so it was decided to let Rose get on with it and she and little A had a whale of a time:

We posed for silly group portraits:

Could I look anymore like Lisa Riley?!!

I prefer this one which we took whilst Ashley was fishing Rose out of another rock pool (sorry, Ashley, how rubbish are we? She was sooooo funny and cute though!!):

All too soon (after more tea and cake at Gem's) it was time to come home. We had such a lovely day and promises were made to meet up again soon.

I must add that it was one of those days where one truly marvels at the power of a blog - without which I would have never met these lovely ladies that I have so much in common with....

Hugs,

S x

Posted with Blogsy

The Instagrannies Big Day Out....

Last Saturday the lovely Ashley from Country Rose and I set out on a road trip to Alexandra Palace for The Knitting and Stitching Show and to meet up with some of the lovely ladies we have met online via our blogs and Instagram.

Ashley is now glowingly pregnant and so naturally we had to stop en route which suited me as there was a Starbucks and I got to have a huge Pumpkin Spice Latte.

Dear Ashley looking radiant....

It took a couple of hours to get to Ally Pally and then a while to find a parking space, we thought for a moment we were going to have no luck, but we eventually managed to find a spot in a side street.

We hiked up the hill, and I was glad Ashley was preggers as it meant I could have a rest now and again too - I am soooooo unfit!!

The view over London from the top is spectacular:

You could see the Gherkin and the Shard....

We all met in the foyer and there were hugs all round before we headed into the show - it was huge, really busy and hot!! I didn't take many pics inside as we kept getting split up and there was a huge urge to just stand about and natter.

We did all manage to get together at lunchtime:

And afterwards, we nabbed a passerby to take a group photo of us all:

Please ignore my Johnny Vegas-esque chin(s)....

Kate from Adventures From A City Girl Country Girl; Ashley from Country Rose; Nicki from Homebird; LissyLou from Lissy Lou & The Two Little Boys; Gemma from Little Gem's Diary; Gemma from Musings Of A Gem; Gemma from Gem's Country Life Dream; Julie from Pretty Little Jewels; Cuckoo from Tales From Cuckoo Land; Kmmms from Things Learnt The Hard Way

I couldn't miss the opportunity to join Cuckoo in one of her trademark silly face photos:

What do we look like?!!

In actual fact Cuckoo is every bit as gorgeous IRL as I knew she would be:

I, however, am not....lol....

We all parted feeling even more like old friends with plans afoot to meet up again soon for a whole day of crafting and nattering.

Naturally a few purchases were made, which I must show you:

Sock yarn and Alpaca DK that was going to be for a shawl - indeed since Saturday I have crocheted 3/4 of it, and realised that:

a. I thought it was a bit prickly (I detest prickly wool/garments as my Mum used to make us wear horrid itchy jumpers in the '70's).

b. I didn't have enough yarn.

So it's been frogged.

I also got some pretty ribbons and trimmings:

I also got some cute stitch markers:

It was a really, really good day - some of the ladies had felt a bit nervous about meeting up with people they had met over the Internet but I can honestly say it was very successful indeed - we truly all got along as though we had known each other for years - and not one of us turned out to be a 50 year old fella, eh Cuckoo?!!....

Hugs,

S x

Posted with Blogsy

A Crafty Catch Up....

As I have managed to drag the tale of my birthday weekend out over three weeks I have missed out on showing you the latest things I have been creating and so I thought a catch post was in order!!

After having the frames for ages, I got around to displaying the boys very first baby grows:

I can't hardly believe they were ever that small!!

I also framed the embroidery I did whilst we were in Zakynthos this summer:

One afternoon I made a little sign using my Annie Sloan paints and a quote from our wedding song (which was "Endless Love"):

With some of my birthday money I bought two lovely lamps for the bedroom, but they came with really dull shades and so I made some patchwork fabric to cover them then I added some crochet trim:

A little fabric bird:

A little machine embroidery for the kitchen:

And a little birds nest made with beads and silver wire:

You may wonder how I get the time for all this crafting it I am very lucky in that I don't work and H and W are usually glued to their various electronic devices when they get home from school!! So that means in an afternoon, when all the chores and errands are done I often retreat into my girl cave to play for a couple of hours....

I'm off tomorrow to The Knit and Stitch Show at Ally Pally so I hoping next week I will have some bargains to show you!!

Hope you all have a lovely weekend....

Hugs,

S x

Posted with Blogsy

The GIFTS!!

Hello my sweeties!!

Well I have managed to drag out the story of my birthday for a good couple of weeks now, so congratulations if you are still with me!!

My actual birthday was on a Monday, so Mr G got up and took the boys to school before bringing me tea, cards and presents.

My main gift from Mr G was a vintage (1890) gold watch:

I absolutely love it, of course being over 120 years old (that blows my mind a bit!!) it has to be wound, and it makes the loveliest tick-tocking. It also keeps very good time, being exactly in synch with Mr G's modern designer watch.

Mr G also got me some winter boots. I chickened out of the DM's in the end having tried them on in a shoe shop - they were a wee bit chunky for me and it took literally 10 minutes to lace them after which I needed a lay down!! These boots have a zip as well as laces (which I shall swap for ribbons) and so are much easier:

H and W bought me two metres of fabric which they chose themselves, very sweet!!

My sister and brother-in-law also spoiled me with something that has been on my wanties list ever since I saw Nicki's from Homebird's some months ago:

Swoon!! It's a red polka dot Zatchel and I love it!! Sis had not only chose the exact size I wanted but also added the grab handle to the top (which is optional) so she got it spot on!!

MIL & FIL also got me a Pressie I had wanted for ages - it was probably a couple of years ago that Nigella Lawson did a show and in the titles you saw her switching on a bunny lamp:

He gives off a lovely relaxing glow and I just love him!! He is by Heico and from Petit Home.

My Stepmum gave me a lovely canvas with vintage teacups on that goes perfectly in the kitchen - very me!! Haven't got a piccie to show you of that though.

After present opening I got ready leisurely and we headed to Chichester - there is a Feather and Black outlet store and as we needed a new bed I thought we could pop in there, which (coincidentally) is just along from The Eternal Maker - a lovely quilting shop.

There was nothing to tempt us in the bed shop but of course purchases were made in the fabric shop:

After mooching round the shops we headed back homewards to our favourite pub which is very near to where I keep my horses. It was all candlelit inside as it was a gloomy day and we got a nice spot by the wood burner:

The pub has the most fantastic pies and we both enjoyed a sausage and chorizo pie with thick cut crispy chips - I was too greedy to take a picture!!

I did take one of my new bag on its maiden outing:

After we finished our meal an chap left his old Mum near to where we were sat so he could fetch the car - she began to chat to us and told she was 101!! I told her it was my 40th birthday and she said "Let me give you some advice, my dear. Spend your money. Don't save it. Spend it and enjoy. Don't save it like I did. It's no use to me now." I found that very poignant....

After all the excitement (and expense!!) of the weekend we had a quiet night in - we were both stuffed until quite late when we shared baked Camembert, roasted tomatoes and crusty bread in front of the telly.

I had been thoroughly spoiled - I am very lucky to have such a lovely family that did all they could to make my 40th birthday very special indeed - thank you I love you all....

Hugs,

S x











 

Posted with Blogsy