One a penny, two a penny, hot cross buns!

And a very happy Good Friday to you all, my lovelies! I hope that today is finding you all fit and well, it's a beautiful day here, and I am watching the world go by from my sickbed! I have once again succumbed to the dreaded lurgy, which only seems to happen to me at holiday time ... this weekend I was to have had a stall at a very big Vintage Fair, which I've been preparing for weeks ... but never mind, worse things happen!

The title of today's post comes from a bit of reminiscing ... remembering the Good Friday's of my childhood, when the only shop open was the bakers ... it was the one day a year when you bought Hot Cross Buns ... they were special then, not like now, when you can buy them practically every day of the year! And they were definitely more spicy, glossier and bigger ... don't get me started on the size of Creme Eggs!

Hope you all have a lovely Easter weekend, and will catch up soon!

Love Claire xxx

Spring will be a little late this year ...

You may have noticed that I try to incorporate song lyrics into my titles, and wanted one that was apt for March or Spring and Google suggested the above, which is very appropriate! I'm not going to bang on about the weather ... we all know about it!

March has been a lovely month so far, I've had lots to celebrate and people have been very kind to me.  On the very first day of March it was my birthday, and my little sis took me to the very posh Rothay Manor in Ambleside for afternoon tea ... very delectable! I received lovely cards, flowers and presents ....

60 golden daffodils from Jacob (that's not my age, by the way) ...

Ooh, can't wait to wear these! Thank you, Olly ...

Lovely reads ...

and plenty of prettiness!

Mother's Day followed on the 10th and I was treated like a queen for the day by my lovely brood, lunch out, lovely gifts and roast dinner made by Steve ... I could get used to being pampered ....

The lovely Lisa from Bobo Bun arranged Four Happy Things Swap, and I was lucky enough to be paired with Ellie from Jelly Jam ... if you aren't familiar with these two delightful blogs, whyever not? You're in for a real treat! I wasn't being very organised and wrapped and packed my stuff all ready to post, without photographing it, but luckily Ellie was on the ball and if you pop over to her, she'll show you what she got from me ... 

Ellie collects beautiful, vintage fabrics and makes bags, cushions and all manner of  delightful things from them ...

She made me a very pretty brooch pillow ...

and even gave me a brooch to pin upon it ...

A sweet jar full to the brim with rhubarb and custard sweets ...

 and another handmade item, this time a gorgeous, sweet-smelling lavender heart (the swap was to have a nostalgic feel, and the receiver's favourite colour was to be featured ... bet you can't guess what mine is can you?)

Four Happy Things that are making me very happy indeed ... thank you Ellie, and also a big thanks to Lisa for organising the swap.

I was going to show you lots of other things today, but unfortunately Instagram is playing up and saying I don't exist, so I can't download my latest pictures.  So I'm going to have to say sorry to shelly @ all4meggymoo, as I can't show her lovely giveaway prize which I was very lucky to win, and also Dotcomgiftshop who featured one of my cupboard makeovers on their blog and let me choose an item to review for them.  I will be showing you these things as soon as I can sort my pics out.

On Saturday I worked at Violet and the Peapod, the delicious vintage teashop which I showed you last December, once again I can't let you see the updated pictures, but will as soon as they are available (if anyone has any tips how to sort this out, I'd be very grateful).

I'm sorry that this post is only a shortened version of the vision of loveliness I'd intended ... but service will be resumed as soon as possible!

Have a fabulous week, won't you my lovelies?

Love Claire xxx

Saving the best until last ...

I've had a bit of a wallow in nostalgia this week, my lovelies! There is a little charity shop that I visit once a week or so, where the two ladies who run it treat me with great amusement and think me very odd that I like 'old' things! "Oh, we hate that sort of stuff" they say with relish ... "we've just thrown a load out, because they were ... old", when I inquire whether they have any lace doilies, old leather suitcases, eiderdowns or china teasets. I have left my phone number and given them strict instructions not to dispose of anything without first contacting me, and I will come as soon as is humanly possible, to avoid the offending items from cluttering their shop.  My perseverance paid off this time ...

The other day, they said that they had a load of stuff coming in as an old lady had died, and her son had been clearing out her house. The lady had a china cabinet, containing a complete teaset, that for as long as he could remember, had never been used, but had been his mother's pride and joy ... would I be interested?

They unpacked 39 pieces of pristine, mint condition, bone china.  Twelve teacups and saucers, twelve side plates, a sandwich plate, milk jug and sugar bowl. A complete set, with not a chip or hairline crack in sight, the gold unscratched and untarnished ... just perfect.

Imprisoned for years behind glass doors, no red-lipstick  had ever stained the cups, nor sugar-mouse-pink  Fondant Fancies been delicately placed on the plates ...

Saved for best.  But best had never happened ... nothing in the life of the old lady was special enough to use the 'best' teaset. The ethos of her day was "waste not, want not" as beautifully illustrated by Hettie Brown above.

 I, as you know, am thrifty by nature and follow this to the letter.  However, I too, used to save things for 'best', as I wrongly thought it would be wasteful not to.  The children's clothes, when they were young were often passed on, practically unworn, because they had been saved for best, not enjoyed and worn just for the hell of it.  I used to squirrel away special toiletries, candles, bedding and china ... not any more! If someone has given me something as a gift, instead of putting it away and forgetting about it, I use it ... I luxuriate in rose-scented baths surrounded by beautiful, scented candles, and dry myself on pretty towels ... on a Monday!  Don't save for best, save for the wet, windy, dull, down-in-the-dumps days when a little luxury will go a long way to cheering you up. Hiding beautiful things away, that are made to be enjoyed ... now that is a waste!

These men's hankies would have been given to a husband or Dad for Christmas or a birthday ... and then dutifully packed away, never to be seen again, in his sock drawer.  These have a special poignancy for me ... my Dad used this type of handkerchief, and his name was Tommy ...

Was the little boy or girl who excitedly opened these roller skates on Christmas morning then instructed to "put them away until the next fine day" but the sun never shone and they remained on the shelf in the garden shed, until now?

What stories do these items tell? Years of being hidden away without ever having the chance to shine, to be loved, used and enjoyed? Sadly, we'll never know ...

Love, Claire xxx

Mother of Mine ...

With love on Mother's Day ...

Claire xxx

Roll up for the Magical Mystery Tour ...

When I suggest to my little sister that we go for a run in the car, and I'll do the driving, her heart leaps with glee (or trepidation, I'm not sure which) as she says we never quite know where we'll end up. Once I suggested visiting a well known, well-signposted, garden centre in Ambleside ... we ended up at Dove Cottage, William Wordsworth's cottage in Grasmere instead ... and had a lovely day.  I didn't really need any more garden gnomes anyway.

Going for a drive with me is taking your life in your hands ...not because I'm a reckless driver, in fact, quite the opposite! I'm one of those annoying people who drive as though they are taking their Driving Test for the first time (it took 3 tests for me to rip off my 'L' plates, only to be replaced by a green 'P', which I kept on for about 12 months as it gave me security, and I didn't get beeped at too often) as I don't overtake, speed or do anything untoward, and I definitely don't do motorways! That's not to say I haven't ever driven on a motorway, because I have.  Twice in fact, on one fateful day about 14 years ago, totally by accident ... a trauma I have never recovered from. No, give me a meandering, narrow country lane lined with hedgerows and blossom, and I'm totally happy ... some world famous scenery is always an added bonus.

A while ago, Maria and I went on a road trip around the Lake District.  First of all we made our way to Brantwood, the home of John Ruskin, and actually got there in one piece! After that we just trundled around, discovering places we had never been to before, and as long as there was no threatening rumble of juggernauts nearby, we were happy, just stopping here and there to replenish with refreshments.

Once, when I was learning to drive, I did actually end up on the Coniston car ferry, again completely by accident, but the children really enjoyed it, so that was ok.

Life's a bit of a mystery tour isn't it? No matter how well planned out our journey is, there will always be sideroads to distract us, roadworks up ahead to delay us, and danger at every twist and turn.  At the crossroads, do we take the easy, well-worn road or the superhighway, fraught with peril and the unknown?

google

Are you a Sunday driver, or do you live life in the fast lane? I'd love to know ...

Buckle up and enjoy the ride!

Love Claire xxx

In my castle on a cloud ...

In my castle on a cloud there are roses round the door ...

I think it's very important that we all have dreams to aspire to, and aims to move towards, but sometimes I'm guilty of not enjoying the moment I'm in, but instead looking forward to something in the future ... or living in the past and dwelling on things that should be long-forgotten.... and worse still, worrying about things that may never happen ...

When my children were little, it seemed that everyone else was urging them towards the next target ... weaning, first tooth, sitting up, crawling, walking, etc, etc ... looking back with hindsight, I feel a lot of pressure is put on us as Mums to have our children performing as is the 'norm'.  I wish I'd enjoyed each moment when it happened, instead of hurtling towards the next milestone ... before you know it, they are grown up ...

Sorry for rambling, but what I think I'm trying to say, is that I don't want to conform any more! Don't panic, I'm not going to start breaking the law or anything drastic like that, I just want to live a much simpler life.  I'm very lucky that I work from home and know that this isn't an option for everyone.

I love being at home, I've never been the career woman, even though I had a good job as a personal secretary (probably a PA nowadays!) before I had my children, but it seems that it's something we have to apologise for, not going out into the world to make a buck to enable us to buy all the material possessions, that because of the hours worked, there is no time to enjoy them. I'm rambling a bit aren't I?

My husband has a good job that enables us to get by ... and I earn money as a child minder which covers extras and my stock for vintage fairs ... we grow our own vegetables, keep chickens, furnish our home from second-hand warehouses, cook from scratch and a Chinese take-away is a rare treat. We no longer have family holidays abroad, (there have only been 3 in the whole of our married life, and we had to scrimp and save so much for them, they hardly seemed worth it!) as we are going through the 'uni years' ... and with 4 children, this is expensive. This is our choice, and we are lucky to be able to do this ... it's not for everyone, and I'm not trying to push my lifestyle onto anyone else.

We don't waste anything.  Food left on plates goes in the dog ... other kitchen scraps go in the chickens or compost bin.  Leftover food is made into something else and if we renew anything, the old item is recycled.  Some people would view this as tight ... I know differently ... How can we justify throwing away last weeks food, just to overfill our fridges and cupboards with food that will be thrown away next week, when there are starving children, not only in the world,  but also in our own home towns, where food banks are springing up regularly?

Just up the road from me a new Tesco has arrived.  Oh the excitement! I'm  not going to be so hypocritical to say that I won't ever darken its doors,because I will, but even more small, local businesses are going to suffer or even worse, close down.  When I was first married, I could shop at a butchers, bakers, greengrocers, hardware shop, post office, chemist, florists, woolshop and more ... mostly these have gone, but I would far prefer this way of shopping than pushing a wonky trolley around a soulless supermarket.

What I'm trying to say is, I'm happy with what I've got, a lovely family, good health, roof over our heads and food in the cupboards.  I don't hanker after the latest car or tv, I have my dreams, and if they come true that's fantastic, but if they don't, well that's ok too.

I don't want to come across as smug, and there are lots of people who will recoil in horror at my way of life, but it's my life and I like it! I also know that there are people who will think I'm extremely lucky and I do try to count my blessings every day.

What do you think? Would you like to opt out of the rat race on a small scale like me, or move it up a notch and be completely self-sufficient, or would that be your idea of a nightmare? Lets have a bit of a debate to get the cogs whirring ...

Have a lovely week,

Love, Claire xxx

It's good to be alive ...

I woke up bright and early today, the sun was shining, the frost was glistening in the sunlight, and I knew it was going to be one of those days that make you feel glad to be alive.  As a childminder, I'm lucky to work from home, and this morning we walked to school with Ruby, and everybody we saw just seemed happier and more lively than usual. 

 Even though spring is not officially here for another month, the sunny weather seems to bring out the best in everyone.  Freezing conditions are forecast so we'd better make the most of it!

Come on in, the kettle's always on!

Signs of life are springing up everywhere in the garden ...

and the flowers are turning their faces to the sun, after their long, cold hibernation.

Another thing that makes me really happy, is being able to hang my washing out in the garden ... I love the smell of fresh, clean line-dried bedding ... no scented fabric conditioner can match that!

Sorry, these pictures are a bit dark, the sun comes round to my back garden a bit later in the day!

I'd just like to show you this little vintage peg bag I found in a charity shop for 50p ... complete with old, worn wooden pegs! I absolutely love it, and wonder who made it with love, and did they use the old curtains that were a bit worse for wear, or buy a piece of fabric specially for the purpose? I think it was probably the first, as it probably originates from the 'make do and mend' era ... if anyone recognises the fabric I'd be interested in knowing about it ...

(Not the Primarni towel behind .. I know all about that!)

This little owl came to live at our house this week, by very kind courtesy of Gilly.  She had blogged about some other owls that she had made, and I admired them and asked if they were for sale, as my Millie loves owls.  Lovely Gilly replied by email, insisting that she make me one as a present for my upcoming birthday! Thank you so much Gilly, once again I am swept away by the kindness of fellow bloggers.

I'm going to do my chores now, as I'm not at work until after school, then I'm going to get my crochet bag out (another 50p find) and carry on with the flowers I'm currently addicted to making, from this months Mollie Makes.

As the sun's shining, I think I'll have a little potter in the garden, and see if I can salvage anything from the destruction that my feathered friends have wreaked upon it!

A big hello to all my new followers ... you're always welcome here!

Recently I've been nominated for some awards.  The most recent one was from Ali for the Super Sweet Bloggin Award, and earlier this year I was nominated for the Liebster Award by Gillian and Hazel.  I'm always very flattered to receive nominations as I can't quite believe that anyone actually reads my ramblings, never mind award me for them, and I always have very good intentions to follow them up like a good blogger should ... but in reality, I'm sorry, I haven't organised myself yet, and I'm always worried in case I upset anyone by leaving them out, when they've been nice to me.  I really need to get a grip, but once again, thank you!

Have a lovely week, and I hope the sun shines for you!

Love Claire xxx