Oh, Island in the sun ....

Almost a year ago I took you for a walk on the wild side to the wonderful Piel Island.  To be honest, I really didn't think it was that long ago, and as it was such a grey, miserable day, I thought it was last October, but no, it was actually in August!

Yesterday ... not last year!

My lifelong friend Anne who lives in Dorset, is visiting my little town on her annual jolly to see family and friends, and  over a nice meal out the other night, mentioned that she was going on a nostalgic boat trip to Piel Island with friends, so Millie and I invited ourselves along ...

This time we were going on the Ferry, not by foot, and the day dawned wild and windy with heavy showers, but as I always say, if we waited for sunshine we'd never get anything done. Armed with our pac-a-macs and picnics, we met up on Roa Island, and while we stood around idly chatting, missed the first ferry over!

Harry, ready for action

It only takes 10 minutes or so to do the return trip, so we didn't have long to wait before we boarded.  The sea was quite choppy, so it was a boisterous journey, but the sun was shining brightly and shimmering on the waves ... a bit different from the last time I showed you the island.

 

We approached the island after being gaily thrown about for five minutes or so, and although I have said it before, I still think that Piel Island would make a great setting for an Enid Blyton feature film as it has all the essentials ... a rugged, desolate beach; dark, brooding castle, a secretive huddle of smuggler's cottages, and an old sea dog's inn, all steeped in ancient, salty history ...

Millie, hugely excited!

We disembarked without falling in the sea, and went for a quick look around the island, as it is well over 30 years since Anne last camped here, and she needed to reacquaint herself with the landmarks.  She got a bit emotional which is very unlike her, as we looked at the little cottage that is still for sale, and had a little dream about living there, and then found a sunny spot to lay the blanket on the ground.

Replete with a Tesco meal deal (I left it too late to decide whether or not to go, so there was no time to make up the usual hamper) and several Fondant Fancies, we ambled along to the pub for a swift half of shandy ...

who needs to go abroad? 

By now the sun was really blazing it's socks off, so we all rolled up our jeans, fiddled around with tee shirts to avoid tan lines and joined in with the kids playing on the sand.  These are the best kind of days, and cost practically nothing ... the children get to play together, team build, use their imagination and are out in the fresh air, communing with nature.  Much better than trawling around a gaudy theme park eating vast amounts of chemical laden 'food' while their parents apply for a further advance on their mortgage.

This unfiltered image of the beach, sea and sky, wouldn't have looked out of place in a brochure advertising select 'off-the-beaten-track' holidays in the Aegean sea ...

eeeh! It's grim up north ...

All too soon it was time to leave, and we walked around the island, passing the castle ...

following the time-worn path beside the cliffs, eroded by the vicious tide, which will one day bring down this magnificent building and take it for its own ...

and boarded the ferry tired but happy, full of plans for next year!

Definitely A Grand Day Out of the highest order!

Sale of the Century

I know I promised to tell you all about my Vintage Sale which took place last week, BUT ...  I didn't take any photos ...  I started setting up at 6.30, and it took until 9 before I was satisfied with how it looked.  I took a little breather, had some breakfast, and made myself presentable, then everyone started arriving and didn't stop until lunchtime! By then it looked a little picked through and tatty, so I didn't bother with photographic evidence.  It was a fabulous day, the sun shone, was very well supported, I sold lots of stock, made some money to contribute to buying more of said stock, and decided that I will definitely be making Fabulous Vintage Sale an annual event! Thank you all for your support and kind words.

I'd just like to say that I was completely overwhelmed with the volume of comments for my last post. Thank you so much, they mean the world to me, and I was glad to be able to share my news with you.

Have a fabulous weekend, and hope the sun shines for you

Love, Claire xxx

All I want is a room somewhere ....

Oh, what a beautiful morning! Today, as I approached 'my' beach, I had one of those heart-swelling moments of happiness, that this is on my doorstep, free to enjoy whenever I like ... how lucky am I?

 I don't know about you, but I could sit for hours, sifting through pebbles, at first glance they look alike, but up close and personal, there are so many different colours, shapes and sizes ... I wish they could talk, what tales they could tell ...

There seems to be a lot of yellow around at the moment too ... a very welcome antidote to the greyness we've been experiencing lately! The gorse is in full bloom, and I spotted lots of sunny dandelions, wild daffodils and celandines too.

Something else that I always welcome, is my Country Living magazine popping through the front door! Always a lovely read, it never disappoints and provides me with lots of inspiration.

A lovely friend treated me to Molly Makes and Steve got me the new Reloved magazine, as I had been dropping hints.  It is a lovely magazine, very aesthetically pleasing, but when I sat down to read it properly was quite disappointed to find that a lot of the projects had already appeared elsewhere, so I have them in books which I have already paid good money for.  Felt a bit cheated, really! However, there are other ideas which were new, but I don't think I'll be a regular customer. What do you all think?

I couldn't resist this Pippi Longstocking book, when I spied it whilst out treasure hunting.  I devoured Pippi books as a child, and Pippi in the South Seas was a favourite.

This cheeky chap appealed to me too, I think I might keep him! Eyeing up the girls while dragging on a fag ... probably a Gauloise, as it definitely has a French feel to it ...

These ladies caught my eye too, as they looked so cheerful! Must say though that inflation has reached an all-time high, as when this was published pre-decimalisation, it was priced as 6d, which is 2.5p in new money.  I was charged a whole ten bob (50p ... for you youngsters who don't know what I'm blathering on about) ... I could have bought 20 patterns for that in the old days (correct me if I'm wrong ... Maths never was my strong point).

Remember my workroom renovations ... I'm ready for the big reveal! I found a roll of wallpaper which was just enough to cover one wall (it looks a bit much, but it's over the workbench, so only half a wall really).

It features all my favourite flowers in one go! Roses, tulips, hyacinths, primroses and lots of other UFO's (unidentified flower others)

The focal point as you entered the room was a radiator, so decided I needed a radiator cover ... the one I wanted was £75!! I wasn't paying that, being thrifty (not tight, thrifty) but on closer inspection, if I bought an identical, unpainted one, it was £24! That was more like it, as I was painting it anyway.

On my travels I found this very old, warped, broken and splintered cupboard, but I knew it would be perfect to go over the radiator ... for £10, including delivery, I couldn't not, could I?

This is a rubbish picture as the sun was so bright, but this is another cupboard which was filthy and had been there for over a year ... £20!

This is the cupboard and radiator, after painting with Annie Sloan Antoinette ...

and lined with my favourite 'vintage' London wallpaper!

The corner cupboard is painted in AS Country Grey, and again lined with the London paper. I'm very pleased with how they've turned out ...

A home for some of my craft books ....

 I had great fun 'titivating' with all my sewing bits and bobs.  I really need to learn to sew ... I can't even thread a needle, but I'm determined and hoping to start lessons soon.

Old Sylkos ... reminds me of my lovely Mam, who sat at her sewing machine ever day, making curtains for a department store ...

Packets of press studs and hooks and eyes.

My little window, with a table to sit at and gaze at the view! I'm really pleased with my workroom, especially as it has cost less than £50, because everything other than the furniture, I already had.

Need to love you and leave you now my lovelies, just going treasure hunting for a high stool to sit at my bench, and a cupboard for my fabric stash and wool! 

Whatever you do this week, have fun!

Love Claire xxx

Listen ... do you want to know a secret?

Hello everyone! After the torrent of wonderful comments on my previous post, the one where I told you how I set my timer to do my housework, I thought I'd share a few other little tips with you ...

Instead of throwing away old wellies (large or small) use them as plant pots! These look lovely and welcoming at the front door ... make a few holes with a darning needle to allow water to drain through, and put a few pebbles in the foot too, otherwise the stagnant water will get a bit whiffy! If you don't have any yourself they can usually be picked up very cheaply at car boot sales or charity shops.  These little darlings were 50p ... bootiful!

Whenever you use a lemon, don't just throw it away, instead put the shells into your dishwasher. The lemons will help to cut through grease, make your dishwasher smell citrus fresh, and sparkle your glassware!

When you return from your holidays, nothing brings you back to earth more quickly than emptying 4 or 5 large suitcases on to the kitchen floor and sorting and separating the washing.  To save yourself this heartache, take a few bin bags or large carriers with you and sort the washing on a daily basis.  It doesn't really take any longer than just slinging it in the suitcase! Have a bag for whites, one for coloureds and a dark one.  When you return it's much less daunting to just select and deal with one bag at a time than to sift through a mountain of dirty, smelly washing.

If you're of a sensitive disposition, or eating your breakfast, you might want to skip this one! If your daft dog, or indeed, your child, has an accident on your precious vintage rug, remove the excess whilst gagging and wearing a protective mask wipe with a wrung out, barely damp, cloth without rubbing too hard, and then sprinkle the area with good old bicarbonate of soda and leave for a few hours.  Then simply hoover the area,  and the stain will have disappeared, along with the smell.

Courtesy of Google

To avoid the torture of finding a matching set of bedding, simply fold the duvet cover, bed sheets, and pillowcases (saving one) and place into the saved one and fold ... your airing/linen cupboard will be transformed by the neat stacks of sweet-smelling, orderly bedding! All you need to do is select the set you want and remove from the pile, instead of all that flinging everything around to find a matching pillowcase! I've done this all my life and am amazed when I pass on this tip to others, as I just thought everyone knew about this one ... By the way, I really, really, have bedroom envy for the picture above!

Now I really must apologise for the next image ... not that it isn't beautiful ... but the 'C' word in October isn't always acceptable!

Courtesy of Google

In my defence, I can't do a post sharing my top tips without adding my 2 favourite Christmas ones!  If you have more than one child, I know what a nightmare it can be to wrap and label all their presents.  I pick a different roll of paper for each child, writing in a notebook which is which, as between one marathon wrapping session and the next I'm bound to you may forget.  This dispenses with any need for labelling as each present is colour-coded and on Christmas Eve (when the elves bring pyjamas, miraculously wrapped in the right paper), Father Christmas puts the wooden heart with the name of the child on the relevant pile so there is no mix-up on The Big Day.

Courtesy of Google

Just before (about 45 minutes) serving up the most important meal of the year, put all your plates and serving dishes into the dishwasher and put on a quick, hot wash.  When they are dry, but still very hot, put the food in the serving dishes and immediately wrap in tinfoil.  Leave the plates in the hot dishwasher until required.  This frees up valuable space in an already overloaded oven.

And remember, if all else fails, flowers will ALWAYS make it better!

Hope you all 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