GIVEAWAY WINNER !!!

Just a quick post today, as I have a manic weekend ahead of me ... I've got a new Vintage Fair tomorrow, the house looks like a saleroom, with stuff spilling out of every room ... and Jacob's coming home today from his travels! As I use his room for my Vintage Fair stuff, you can imagine the chaos ... am trying to make the house look welcoming for his homecoming ... but failing dismally!

Anyway, although I said I would close the Giveaway tomorrow, I am doing it a day early in case I forget ... there are 42 entrants, and I have used a Random Number Selector ... 

Thought I had saved the image to my pictures, but when I went to put the picture on to show you which number was picked the box was blank! Sorry ... am afraid I am a complete technophobe, and should have photographed my computer screen! The number was 19 and after counting through my list (not counting  those who left a comment but didn't want to enter) the winner is:                                                                          lovely Thea from Hearts and Bluebells

Congratulations to you Thea, and please can you email me with your details and your book will be winging it's way onto you!

So sorry for the garbled post today, and hope you will understand ... but I promise I will do a post soon showing you my before and afters on the cupboards I'm taking to the Fair tomorrow ... Annie Sloan is my new BF! 

Have a lovely weekend,

Love, Claire xxx

PS: A big welcome to all my lovely new followers!

Home is where the heart is ...

A Thrifty Tale ...

Summer's Last Hurrah

Even though Autumn isn't officially here this year until 22 September, Summer seems to have run out of the door long ago, and Autumn has elbowed her way in.  As a childminder, I am lucky to work from home, and at the moment, only mind children before and after school, so I have all day to potter about at home.  (I have been doing the school run to the same school for 22 years non-stop!)

 I have noticed subtle hints around my home that it's getting to the time of year when we start to snuggle up and batten down the hatches ... I have at last found some blackberries, a bit late this year, and they're soaking ready to be turned into blackberry vodka (more about this later), and bramble jelly.

Bit of siege mentality going on in my pantry I think ... getting ready for the Big Freeze! ...

Note to self: Must organise Pantry!!

Spring bulbs, waiting to be planted (courtesy of Poundland!)

My secondhand new from car boot sale Autumn curtains ... fully lined 110" long, and all for £10 (and they'd just been dry-cleaned)

Cosy corner ...

Lots of lovely reading matter, to curl up on the sofa with ...

And a picture of H to remind us of summer days long ago ...

More lovely reads ... the Sophie Dahl hardback is in Tesco at the moment for a funny price, I think it's £4.82.

and the new Autumn magazines ... can I just say, I don't read magazines nearly as much as I used to ... I get all my lovely ideas from Blogland!

Wellies and scarves waiting by the door ... and my favourite chair left to me by the lovely lady who I got the faux leopard coat from ...

My favourite bag of all time, which I bought from lovely Sophie at fading grace, such gorgeous Autumnal colours!

The fireplace in my back room ... there is a thrifty story behind this! I spied the woodburning stove at a car boot sale for the princely sum of £15 but before I'd even had the chance to reply, the stallholder said "but you can have it for £12".  Well, you have to act fast, as there were other people hovering, so home it came with me.  It is actually a fake electric one, but we couldn't afford a real one and didn't want the fuss and mess of having one installed.  I just wanted  'the look'.

Our focal point in the back room at that point was an orange pine shelf in the middle of the chimney breast, with 4 terracotta pipes embedded into the wall below, I believe to be used to store wine bottles.  Not attractive at all, and I hasten to add, I do not wish to take the credit for this, it was our home's previous occupants who added this touch of class.  Well, I took the fire home and it just didn't look right against the wall, under the orange pine shelf (but luckily hiding the wine cellar).  So I bought a dirty, sticky, black fire surround for £15 and transformed with a slap of Farrow and Ball (I hadn't discovered Annie then!), sandpaper and wax.

It still didn't look right, so one day when I was out, Steve (bless him!) removed the plaster, and took out several bricks to make the space for the stove, and created a hearth with some old bricks.  I nearly cried when I saw it, because he had got it just right! And all for £27!!

Not a very good picture of these roses, but they are red with hints of gold underneath, they'll be lovely when they open ... from my favourite florists, Aldi!

 Vintage knitting bag with my Royal Wedding/Jubilee/Olympic/Paralympic patriotic WIP blanket poking out (what's the next Great British event? I promise I'll finish it by then!)

  Autumn asters and my little CK Stanley lookalike ...

and lovely pale pink cyclamens in my favourite Emma Bridgewater cup and saucer.

I hope you've enjoyed your little tour of my home, and if you're preparing to cosy up for the long, cold months ahead, I'd love to see!

Oh! and don't forget, my Giveaway is still open to Followers, old and new, home and away ... please click on the link on my sidebar and add your name to the list to be in with a chance to win a lovely vintage, crafty book.

Have a fabulous week ...

Love, Claire xxx

I must go down to the sea again ...

Yesterday when I woke, the sun was shining and it looked like a midsummer day when I looked out of my bedroom window.  Dogwalkers were wearing shorts and tee-shirts, families were heading to the beach to enjoy the late summer sun, and the sea beckoned ...

Unusually, all the family were gallivanting elsewhere, so after lunch Steve and I decided to go for a run out to find driftwood and perhaps pick some blackberries.  We headed not to the beach nearby, as we knew it would be very busy, but instead to the Coast Road, about five miles away ...

We parked the car outside a lovely country church, and made our way down the steep path to the deserted beach.  This lovely pebble heart welcomed us as we stepped onto the sand ...

The colours of the beach were beautifully muted in the late summer sunshine ...

The picturesque Morecambe Bay ...

I love the way nature blends and contrasts colours so perfectly!

Deserted sands ...

Age old structures, withstanding the ravages of the elements ...

And vegetation, growing in the unlikeliest of places!

Sand, shingle and stone ...

Man made wall, built long ago ... I didn't really understand what the plaque was commemorating, and the wording has been worn away over time, but it is dated 1816, I think ...

Flora and fauna ...

The end of the road ...

Late summer flowers and foliage ...

We were empty handed on the driftwood front, and the blackberry hunt proved fruitless too ... I've seen lots of blackberry picking going on in Blogland, but unfortunately in this part of the country have not found a good spot yet! I saw lots of flowers earlier on in the season, but they seem to have rotted with all the rain we've had, I hope I do find some soon though, as I have plans for Blackberry Vodka and Bramble Jelly!

After tea, we watched Countryfile as it was featuring the Furness Peninsular where I live, and they visited Piel Island, where I took you to a couple of weeks ago here

Don't forget, my Giveaway is open for a couple more weeks, if you haven't entered yet and would like to please click on the link on my sidebar, then the entrants will all be in the same place and won't confuse me ... which isn't hard, believe me! I've noticed that a few followers already have this book, so if you have, leave a comment saying so, and I'll have a second surprise Giveaway so nobody misses out.

Good Luck!

Enjoy your week, won't you?

Love, Claire xxx

*** GIVEAWAY ***

As promised, I would like to host a Giveaway, as a thank-you to all my lovely followers who have helped me to achieve the magic 100!  It is open to all followers, old (mean longstanding, not agewise!) and new, (everyone is welcome here!), at home and away (anywhere in the whole wide world!) ... and all you need to do is leave a comment letting me know if you want to join in!

This book is the prize ... Homemade Gifts Vintage Style ... one of my favourite books which I bought last year, and have bought more copies as gifts for friends ... always very well received!

Full of beautiful pictures, lots of quick makes, as well as more time-consuming ones for the clever ones among you (that's just about everyone!) ...

 Seasonal projects ...

 Lots of lovely vintageness ...

Just a lovely book to keep on your coffee table and flick through when you've got a bit of spare time, accompanied by a nice cup of tea and piece of cake (this is essential!)

So, lovely followers, please join in and share the love by adding the top picture to your sidebar!

Just had to show you the pictures of my 'girls' ... it's their favourite time of year, when they are first let loose among the vegetable plot ... it hasn't been a good year for veggies really ... all the rain made the plants bolt and go to seed really quickly, that's if their roots weren't rotted first!

The chucks are let loose to clear the weeds, and have a good scratch around ...

As you can see, they've got their work cut out for them!

They love having their pictures taken, and come running when they see me with a camera ...

And probably last little bunch of flowers of the year picked from my garden ... all right, there are some weeds in there too, but I like to think of them as wildflowers!

 

Harry went back to College today, (it's his 18th birthday on Wednesday) and Millie's back to school on Wednesday (her final year, eek, how's that happened?) so really need to get my behind into gear organised and sort my house and garden out.  I may have mentioned it before, and much as I love the colours and look of Autumn, it makes me feel very melancholy.  I can't explain it really, but perhaps it's a hangover from my own schooldays ... back to school after weeks of freedom, endless hot days (or so it seemed!) and lie-ins.

Before we know it ... it will be Christmas!!!

Enjoy this week, whatever you're doing ...

Love, Claire xxx

PS: Forgot to say ... will draw the winner on Sunday 30 September ... we'll definitely be into Autumn by then! xx