Time for the blues

I haven't had a huge amount of luck on the thrifting front in the last few weeks. I'm mainly on the lookout for frames to fit some of my recent embroideries, but I also need a couple of bits for around the flat. I did last week however come across a couple of really cute little finds.

I'm sure you might have picked up from various posts here that I love having candles burning in my home.  I have a whole array of tea light holders in my living room and bedroom, but there is always room for one more.

It was love at first sight when I saw this beautiful little pottery tea light holder, and in the perfect shade of blue to match my bedroom walls (when I redecorate the room I'm keeping the same wall colour).  For the grand sum of £1 it just had to come home with me.

I've added it to my little corner of blue on one of the window ledges.  Here it sits with a thrifted beaded frame that I picked up at the end of last year, my oil burner, a lovely thrifted blue and white delft money box and a couple of beautiful glass dishes handmade from recycled bottles by my friend's Mum - a gift for some house sitting I did while they were away.  I'm no interior designer but I think this little collection of trinkets look lovely together and make me smile every time I wander in to my bedroom.

Decorating chaos

I know I keep saying it lately but wow time really does fly. I can't believe it's been 7 months since I bought my flat and moved in. I can't say its been an easy 7 months though it has been a lot of fun. Financially I'm really stretched and it's taking me ages to make my home the place I really want it to be. But I don't mind living on a budget it's actually fun if you make it so. And I'm not deprived in anyway. I still do nice things and go nice places I just have to accept that I can't do it as often as I'd like and to do one nice things means sacrificing something else ....... if only I'd taught myself this lesson many moons ago I'd be in a much better position financially right now, sigh.

Get back on topic Angela, you've wandered off on a tangent.  The point of this post is to chat a bit about the transformation of my living.  Yes it's taken a while but I love being in this space in my home.

Here it is on the day i picked up my keys.  Whilst it was decorated neatly and by no means offensively it wasn't really what I wanted.

So with a little help from my brother, his fiancee Sam and my wonderful James the transformation began.

It pretty much looks like this now .... except the bookcase is full of books ;)

Apart from the TV all the furniture is thrifted or second hand.  Somehow this picture doesn't make it look as cosy as it really is (maybe that's the absence of books?)  But I love hanging out in this space, good film on TV some sort of craft project in hand. 

I'm looking forward to working on my bedroom next, I have lots of plans just need to start saving the money to get it all done :)

My week in snapshots

Have you all had a good week?

Mine was a little but up and down, for some reason I was feeling a bit low for a couple of days. Nothing I can really put my finger on but no matter,  days spent feeling a bit sad make you appreciate the things that do bring a smile when they come your way. And I still had plenty of those during the week too.

A shopping trip to the local farmers market saw me coming home with a delicious blackberry crumble tart to go with my tea and a loaf of scrummy cheese and chilli bread.

The view behind my table at the car boot last Sunday.  The sun was shining so it was a pleasure to spend a couple of hours sat in a field selling on some of my excess belongings.

Enjoying the colours of an amazing sunset.

Soaking up the last sunlight of the day.

A beautiful evening out with my man, enjoying a taste of Peru

Playing with ribbons

This coming week should be fun.  I have Friday off work to look forward to and not one but two nights out with the girls, including some hen night fun next Saturday .... lets hope I'm in a fit state to blog next Sunday ;)

Hope you all have an amazing week x

Birthday treats

Birthdays are wonderful things, the perfect excuse to ignore chores for a day and have a bit of fun I was really spoilt this year and got some fabulous gifts and was treated to a lovely meal out at my favourite restaurant.

James surprised me with a wonderful extremely decadent white chocolate covered birthday cake 

With the left over money from my Aunt's birthday cheque I treated myself to a couple of magazines and some lovely thrifting finds.  A Rick Stein cookbook, a cone of lovely yarn and a fabulous little highland cow cross stitch bookmark kit (the thrifting find cost me a grand total of £2.50)

As for the stack of birthday gifts from my wonder friends (I showed all the parcels wrapped up in their finery in 'my week in snapshots' the week before this) ......well they turned into this pile of wonderful treats.

Who says birthdays aren't any fun as you get older?

My week in snapshots

I enjoyed putting together my little post last week so am thinking that I might make it a regular thing, just a few snapshots to record my week. Hopefully it'll get me back in the regular blog habit and make me think about starting to use my camera more often again!!

So this week I've been ........

Getting back to a bit of cross stitch

Enjoying some late evening candlelight

Watching the moon and clouds from my living room window

 

Snatching a few minutes on a bench for an alfreso sandwich during another super hectic week at work

Celebrating the arrival of the weekend with a pint of delicious perry at a local public house :)

Hope your week as been full of little (or big) adventures :)

My week in snapshots

 Blue skies and sunshine

Beautiful sunset as seen from my living room window

 Tasty lunches made from a few simple ingredients

 Starting a new crochet project

 A perfect afternoon in the park

 Quiet moments spent reading in bed at the end of long days at work.

This week has pretty well flown by. 

I'm feeling content.

Simple Things

Doesn't time fly?  It's been longer than I remembered since I last added something here.  I've had an amazing few weeks trips to London, the Yorkshire Days and Stockholm.  Time spent with family and friends enjoying the lovely sunshine and celebrating good news.  Stitching, reading and going to the movies.  Anniversary and significant birthday celebrations with the wonderful man in my life.  Many Happy days.

On the flip side work is still a bitch!  At the end of everyday I'm left feeling frustrated ....... frustrated that I come home feeling exhausted but never feeling as though I have achieved enough, frustrated that I don't have energy to do anything much in the evenings, frustrated that I have so much to do that I can't do anything as well as I would like to, frustrated that no matter how many times I raise the issues with management nothing ever changes, frustrated that I can't take the pressure off the staff that work for me, frustrated that there doesn't seem to be any light at the end of the tunnel, frustrated that a company that I used to really love working for now seems to value its staff less and have much more of a put up or shut up attitude.  I'm really starting to think I need to put some serious effort in to looking for a new job.  Surely not every employer out there can be like this?

While I battle on with this blogging might be a bit sporadic, but I'll try and get better.  And as draining as this situation is it's making me really appreciate the small things. I'm relearning to love the few moments of calm that pop up randomly through the week, simple things that can raise a smile.  Things like taking the time this week to sit down and have a proper breakfast one morning rather than getting up and rushing out of the house.

Eating cereal out of a well loved {fancy way of saying worn and chipped ;-)} vintage bowl I picked up from a second hand shop recently, and drinking a cup of Earl Grey {new tea obsession that I picked up in Stockholm, being able to pretend to be Captain Picard an added bonus}

I hope there are many simple pleasures brightening your lives.

Warm and Fuzzy

It's been a while since my last post and I just want to say a big thank you to those who sent me messages asking if I was ok.  I love that there is so much kindness and compassion out there in blog land from people who for the most part I haven't had the opportunity to meet in person.  Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.

I'm safe and well but have been having a tough time with work these last few weeks.  Have been feeling pretty drained and stressed and so haven't really had the energy for blogging.

Life isn't all bad though I've been up to some really lovely things outside of work which have been keeping me sane, so have plenty to tell you about.  But I'm going to ask you to bare with me for a little while longer as next week I'm off for a lovely trip away to the Yorkshire Dales, I can't tell you how excited I am as I've not really had the opportunity to explore this part of the country before.

And just because I don't like doing a picture less post here are a couple of a beautiful rainbow that appeared a couple of weeks ago. I was just sitting on my sofa minding my own business and glanced out of the window to see this ....... magical.  It's moments like that that keep the heart singing

Love at first sight

Are you all getting tired of me harping on about my thrifting finds yet?

Apologies if you are but I did warn you this is turning in to my new obsession!!  I have two things to show you today.  Check out this coffee table that I picked up.  I spotted it the week before last pay day and had to wait to see if it was still in the shop when I got paid.  It was only £15 but at the end of last month having had 6 weeks of mortage to pay out of my wages I didn't even have £5 to my name let alone £15 :)

Look at all that needlepoint goodness imagine all of the work that went in that piece of stitching.

When you flip the table over you can see that the panel is by Anchor

I hate the colour that the frame has been stained though so I was thinking I'd strip it back and then paint and distress it in maybe grey or white ...... at least that was the original plan.

I couldn't get the glass panel out as it has been nailed in tight and I'm afraid of breaking the glass or the frame of the table so I'm just working on it as is.  Now I'm sanding it back though the wood underneath is looking lovely.  I think I will hold off on the painting and wait until my living room is decorated and then see whether it fits in.

I also bought this lovely mirror. 

I was wandering along in town and one of the charity shops that I like to visit had a big sign saying it was last day of trading :(  Second hand shopping was not on the agenda that day but I went in and the mirror caught my eye.  It was priced up at just £10 so I knew it was coming home with me, when I got to the till to pay the lady behind the desk said 'I'm going to give you that for £5'  she said 'you're the first person that has taken money out of your purse to pay without asking whether things are on discount as we're closing so I'd like to take some money off for you'.  Wow super bargain ... though I did also empty all the change out of my purse into the collection box so I probably gave about £8 in the end. 

The mirror is now hanging in my hallway, which is the darkest space in my flat.  I'm going to paint the surround orange (once I've finished working on the coffee table) I'm hoping that a nice lovely orange flower hanging up just inside the door will brighten the hallway up a bit :)

Preparing for a lazy day

The clocks changed last night so we're now in British Summertime and actually the sun is shining out there for a change, though it is still bitterly cold. I had a nice lovely lie in this morning so I'm only just up and functioning, but I'm not planning on doing a lot just settling down for a lovely lazy day.

There will be chocolate consumption a plenty. I showed you the little Easter treat that I put together for James in my post on Friday, this is the lovely chocolateness that I received in return.

Some chocolate romance

And I love the beautiful decoration on the egg, it's going to be a shame to break that up and eat it .... but I'm sure I'll manage.

James is going to make me a nice roast dinner too, so you'll mostly find me snuggled on the sofa watching some TV, catching up on some blog reading and there will be some crochet thrown in there for good measure too.

Hope you all have a wonderful, peaceful Sunday xx

A hint of handmade luxury

A couple of years ago I was lucky enough to meet up with my good blogging friend Vicki.  If you haven't visited Vicki's blog you really should, she makes the most beautiful dyed fabrics, and posts about quilting and other crafts.

On her visit Vicki gifted me with a couple of her lovely hand made soaps, and I have to confess a new love affair began.  Ever since I have been treating myself to handmade when it comes time to replace the soap bar.  Granted mass produced soaps are a whole lot cheaper but the variety of fabulous fragrances and colours that handmade soap makers come up with is just wonderful.

Every other Sunday there is a little market held just round the corner from my home.  There are only a few stalls and I wouldn't say that the market is worth a special trip but as it's only a minutes walk from my front door I usually end up there and more often than not come away with something, usually one of these lovely apricot danishes

At the last market there was a lovely lady selling some of her handmade soap so I just had to indulge.  She had some really cute little bags full of some of the end cuts of her bars, which I thought would be a great way of sampling a range without having to spend a small fortune :)

Here they are nestled in a lovely bowl that was another thrifting find.  Don't these little yummies look good enough to eat?

Who doesn't love a good bargain?

In recent months I've become ever so addicted to second hand shopping. Thrifting, I think our lovely American cousins like to call it and I think that is a pretty cute term for it. It's actually becoming a bit of an obsession, so I'm sure there will be more thrifting posts to come.

Of a weekend you can mostly find me out hunting around the second hand and charity shops in the local area. I've been finding some real treasures recently which is helping as I try and kit my new flat out on a very small budget. It's amazing what you can find and a lot of things are brand spanking new. It's nice to pick up a few treats here and there and know you're not breaking the bank

I thought I'd share with you a little snapshot of last weekend's haul.

A bag, a cute little vintage crochet book, a brand new chopping board for the kitchen labels still on, a set of good quality salad servers, from Habitat originally again brand new and with the label on, a suede effect photo frame originally from Next (I've been collecting quite a few photo frames recently so I might just do a little post dedicate to those soon) and a cute little wooden organiser/display box.

All of these lovely things cost me the princely sum of £10. Amazing! They make me and my bank balance very happy :)

Have you found any bargains recently?

Stitchy reads

This week seems to be passing by in a blur. Work is so busy I don't really have any energy or enthusiasm for much when I get home, which is a shame when there is so much unpacking and decorating still to do!! 

Mostly I've been reading.  I go through phases with my reading, one minute I'm a total book worm and then all of a sudden it can be months between reads.  I'll read just about anything but my preference is for Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Horror and Historical.  Every now and then though I pick something off the shelf 'just because'.

The book below was one of those choices.  I picked it up in a local charity shop for the bargain price of 30p.  With the tag line 'when life unravels ..... start stitching' I couldn't resist.

I'm not quite finished the book yet, but it's quite an entertaining read.  Nothing too deep or taxing on the brain, but something that's good enough to pick up and distract you for a while when you're too tired to do much else.  But it has got me thinking ..... Do any of you out there know of any other reads that have stitch or craft woven in to the storyline?  I'd love to read some more.

As well as reading I've been enjoying these lovely flowers and lots of cards from my wonderful family and friends wishing me well in my new home.  Totally feeling the love.  I'm grateful everyday to have so many thoughtful and caring people in my life.  It's not hard to make sure that you show people you care about that they are valued and appreciated and not taken for granted.  We should all really do more of it  :)

Weekend Snapshot

Phew, I'm pretty exhausted it's been a full on weekend. I'm still full of cold and feeling very tired, but also very, very content. Life is made for weekends like this......

Big smiles, and goofy photos

Time with my fabulous family

Cocktails and candles

Visits to tall buildings

And a little bit of stitching.

I'll be back soon to share some more pictures and detail, but for now this is my weekend in snapshots.  Whatever you've been up to I hope you've had a good one xx

Slow and steady wins the race....

... at least that's what I keep telling myself. Most things have ground to a halt round here at the moment as I have picked up a really nasty cold virus. Aching head, running nose, scratchy throat the works. I think it happens sometimes when you've been on the go for a while and you suddenly take time to breath deep, its at that moment that all the nasty germs attack, lol.

So not much of anything is really going on round here. There are still boxes being unpacked and furniture being put together.

 My gorgeous geek guy has been helping me with the furniture, though when I say he doesn't have the patience of a saint when it comes to flat pack furniture and the air was blue that is an understatement!!  I must tell you more about him one day soon, I'm totally besotted.

I've probably mentioned before that I've decided to try and kit out my place with a combination of second hand and hand made with the exception of a few bits here and there.  I've only bought one piece of flat pack and that was the TV cabinet, and even that I bought from the British Heart Foundation shop so even though it's new it's made from stripped back pine recycled from other unwanted furniture.

In other news, slow and steady is also the motto for the baby blanket.  I have two thirds of it joined and so it looks like this right now.

Sorry just noticed I didn't do a great job of laying it out for the photo, lots of curly edges ... I'm going to blame my germ addled head for that one.  Anyhow I'm really please with how this is coming along and am aiming to get it done by the end of the month.  Though with a busy weekend ahead that might be a bit ambitious.  I'm off to London for the day on Saturday and my baby brother is coming over on Sunday to see my new place and help me put up some shelves .... what a darling he is :)

Small pleasures

Thank you all for the lovely comments of support on my last post they really meant a lot.  Did you all have a nice weekend? For the most part mine looked like this..

... a whole jumble of boxes and bags waiting to be sorted and unpacked.

The room underneath all this mess is my bedroom!! At one stage you could barely get in the room but as the weekend went on I managed to clear a path through it all and there is now some room to move.

It's been a pretty stressful weekend and there are still boxes everywhere and a million and one jobs to do, and my thoughts on how to use the space I have keep changing by the minute but things are feeling a lot more manageable now.

Amidst the chaos I managed to carve out a few moments of calm.  A few small pleasures here and there are what got me through. Like this ... the very first cup of tea at my new home

What's not to enjoy about a nice cuppa and a danish? Do you like my lovely retro floral plate? I found them at a charity shop a couple of weeks ago and fell in love. They only had four but at 25p each they were a bargain that I couldn't pass up, as soon as I saw them I knew they'd be the perfect thing for those cup of tea and a slice of cake moments.