Hopeful signs......

Spring flowers are my favourite.....

Snowdrops in the garden....

Pretty primroses also in the garden....

I also love pretty china......

I was looking for vintage things for my Easter display in the shop and found this pretty

teacup which I bought last year at a boot sale.

Spring is just around the corner....there is hope in the air.....new life...changes...new directions...

Have a great weekend

Anne x 

A dilemma.....

My eldest has just been talking to me about the possibility of him moving back into my sewing room and me having the small room where he currently slobs out instead.He then said our house is very nice but 'it really is cluttered,Mum.You have stuff all over the place' Bearing mind that we have very little storage space anywhere,it isn't that bad.The clutter seems to consist of the seventy five pairs of trainers and coats that seem to rest on every available surface.

However,as I cast my eye around I do see a lot of dust catching stuff and a terrible thought strikes me that maybe I am over my granny chic phase!!

 Maybe I do need less stuff on show,maybe I don't need fifty plates on the walls or thirty jugs, and umpteen chairs.Maybe I should chuck it all out and be more minimalist in my twilight years.I am now sorely troubled.For years I have loved the pared down Scandinavian style which is light and bright and I have tried this in the bedrooms.It looks so tranquil and restful but can be hard to keep looking clean and pristine.

Then I get hungry for colour and bold prints and have to add colourful accessories and throws etc.I flit between this cool living with a predominantly  white palette to a more bohemian folky sort of look with a dollop of vintage granny-chic thrown in.Am I just a style tart?

Now I really am in a quandary.What to do?I know I have to do something but maybe I'd better wait for kinder weather and light.

Hope your weekend has been restful

Anne x

Seven things you don't know about me...

What a lovely surprise. The lovely Emma of Sylvie's garden has passed on the Stylish blogger award  and I now have to reveal seven things you didn't know about me.So thank you Emma and I am now racking my brains......

I have a french degree and spent a year living in France near Nantes, teaching English.My mentor Gurlois used to ride to school on his horse...

My eyesight is terrible but I do wear my glasses sometimes but am too squeamish to try contact lenses as I hate anything in my eyes....

Tea is my favourite drink and the first cup of the day is always the best.I prefer to drink tea from bone china and have a daily cappucino in an earthernware mug......

I love old books and collect vintage school books.The earliest is a mental maths book from 1905.I have hymn books,learn to read books and many old children's books.....

I am terrified of rats due to a close encounter with one when I was about ten and had gone outside to the coal bunker to fill the coal bucket when this huge rat slithered over my foot and I remember the sensation of it's tail as it passed over and I still feel sick. It was like something out of a James Herbert novel.

I collect quilts and eiderdowns and have far too many but I love them so much it's an addiction.

I love Brazil nuts especially as they are covered in chocolate.....

Anne x

Friends..

Just popping in to say hello and hoping all is well with you lovely girls out there.So happy that January is finally over- am snowed under with work and the shop etc and wish the light was better for taking photographs-not long now though....I really enjoy reading about all your news and your amazing creations..such a tonic..

Have a great week.

Much Love Anne x

Secret Santa...

This was last Sunday at Heidi's.There were eight of us, me. Heidi, Liv, Laura,Linda,Jules,Jilly and Rosella. We ate Mexican drank bubbly and had a perfectly lovely evening.It was our Secret Santa night.Before Christmas at the Open House we pulled names from a hat and in the spirit of present financial restraint, the idea was to buy something for a pound,something from a charity shop and make something.Well it was very interesting to see how different the interpretations were.A lot of thought and fun went into the exercise.On the handmade front there was a cushion, a corsage, a crochet hook folder,a padded heart and a keepsake box.( I wish I had taken photos)

I picked Linda and I managed to find a Caroline Gardner calendar for a pound, a pair of lovely glass water goblets for a couple of pounds and I made Linda a patchwork bag from all sorts of scraps, including a Laura Ashley skirt.It is rosy on one side and cool blues on the other side.I had real trouble parting with it and intend to make one as my new school bag.

         It is a nice thing to do and it really does let your creative muses fly.
                                     Thanks girls for a lovely evening.

Back to school.......

As part of our commitment at school we have to offer after-school activities or lunchtime clubs to all our pupils.Over the years I have done many things,ornithology,calligraphy,art & craft,model making,knitting,nature club and gardening.However,I like to have a change and far better to do something that I enjoy rather than just filling in time.So last term I started a Junior chef club,which has been so popular and is is a real pleasure to teach.I have thirteen very enthusiastic chefs(aged 8-10yrs) who have their own aprons,chopping boards and peelers etc.We have learned how to make  soup,bread,chutney,pies,crumbles and sauces and then lately we did  cakes,mince pies and then finished the term with cake decoration which was really enjoyable.I just wanted to show you some of their efforts. Children are far more conditioned to' have a go and never mind the consequences' and I let them loose with fondant icing and edible glitter etc and they had a wonderful time......I think they did really well.

My other club is on a Tuesday lunchtime and I teach sewing to twenty girls aged

(5to10 yrs}They start off with very simple things like needlecases and pincushions and then graduate onto embroidery,patchwork,cushions and bags.Some of the older girls use the machine and are learning to cut out patterns.We have made heart cushions for mothers day, mice,angels and this term we made owls out of felted woolly jumpers and stuffed them with lentils and kapok so they are like beanie owls.

Here are a few of the finished, rather quizzical looking owls.

So I am happy to be at school again. I am not a great cook or particularly skilled with a needle but I am keen to pass on the domestic arts and I think it is really important not to just teach but to inspire and enthuse children.....and sadly many of these things are no longer on offer in our schools.

Have a great weekend

Anne x

Miss Betty..................

As some of you will know I have one elderly dog and two tabby cats,Tom is nearly fifteen and Billy is nine.Over the course of twenty six years tigether John and I have had many cats- twelve in total all of whom have been waifs and strays or who have just wandered into our lives,Chalky our white cat, much beloved by both sons and nephews just appeared in our living room one morning and never left.He lived five doors down but he wasn't cared for and they would leave him out in all weathers with no shelter.I really believe that 'Six Dinner Sid 'style some cats choose their owners.Anyway to get back to the point,about a month ago my eldest son appeared at the foot of my bed early in the morning to tell me he had got me a present and then produced this little kitten.Apparently the owner was going to get rid of her as he couldn't afford to keep her. As it was six am and he had woken me up I can tell you quite honestly I was not terribly grateful.I really didn't want another cat and I really didnt feel it was fair on  Tom who is an old man and doesn't need all the hassle.Really didn't want to start with litter trays  etc.Well she is not the prettiest cat in the world but she is so affectionate  and sweet natured and the fact that she is a girl is a real plus.Ive only ever had one female and she was my best and beloved Cleo who was seventeen when she died and I miss her to this day.So I wanted to introduce you to Betty who is a naughty little cat full of mischief but very enchanting  and intelligent and I am afraid I am besotted.She is sitting on my arm as I am trying to type this and she is reading every word.So Betty is my best present not just for Christmas but for life.

She loves my vintage shopping basket which is hanging on a coat rail- yes she loves to climb.

                 There is one member of the family who is not too impressed.

                                  This is Billy sulking and giving me that look......