Sorry for the lack of blogging and comments, and thank you to everyone who left a comment on my last post. I haven't been a good blogger lately and I apologise for my lack of commitment. I have been reading all your posts but haven't commented much recently. When things are busy (as they have been over the last few weeks) blogging unfortunately is the first thing to go. Whilst I love it and miss it when I'm not in the swing of it, I feel so guilty about using my time to browse and write blogs and not take care of jobs and chores. I did actually write 2 posts and then couldn't upload photos, then ran out of time and by the time I sorted out the photo problem the posts were out of date. Thanks to all of you who wished us luck with the dog training. I am pleased to report that there has been a significant improvement after just 3 weeks!
Anyway, some of the many jobs I've been doing at home are curtain related, and here are my efforts. Poor Ruth has had a make-shift blind ever since she moved into this room (about 5 years ago!), and I finally got round to putting up a curtain pole and hanging these Boden curtains that I got ages ago from eBay. They go perfectly with her wardrobe, and make her room much cosier. Unfortunately this is all I can show you as it is such a mess and we are currently at loggerheads over tidying, so rather than shock you all with the current stalemate I framed it very carefully so you can't see the floor! The bedside cabinet was a recent Freecycle find and I was going to paint it but Ruth likes it the way it is.
These curtains were a bargain find in an antiques shop in Hexham when I went to stay with my sister in the Summer. They were £2.50 and are perfect for the kitchen. The draining board is full of bits and bobs I bought today and have just washed.
The curtains were certainly more of a bargain thananything to be found in RE in Corbridge, which was an amazing place to visit, but the prices were a bit out of my range. It was very inspiring, and I could have comee home with pretty much everything they were selling had money been no object. They had masses of embroidered tablecloths for silly prices, unlike the PDSA shop in town, where I purchased this today for 99p. It is really crisp linen and has beautiful embroidery all over. This is just a little bit.
I also got 6 of these napkins.
And something which has really made my day. This little lot was a bargain but I would have paid 10 times more. I used to have a whole dinner service in this pattern, including serving dishes and gravy boat, all of which belonged to my Grandmother. It was lovingly packed into a box when we moved house but it never made it to the new house. I thought it was in our basement with heaps of other unpacked stuff, but when we cleared the basement to have some work done there was no sign of the china. Although this was 7 years ago I still mourn the loss of it, and I have so far found 1 soup bowl to start my new collection. So you can imagine my joy when I found this set. There are 4 tea plates, a cake plate and creamer and sugar basin. Not quite a complete dinner service, but a good start nonetheless.
I also found this jar for 95p and I think it is going to hold my flour in the cupboard. Sorry for the photo quality - I'd just wiped the worktop!
I am loving this Autumn weather we are finally having - blue skies and sun by day, and fires and blankets at night. Bliss. I had to treat myself to these Dahlias the other day too - they are just one of many reasons to love Autumn, and they go really well with my new oilcloth!
I have also found time for a few sewing project. This is a bag to hold all my work stuff, and although it looks wonky is perfectly straight - it is just full already!
This is hanging on the other side of the door and is a bag for Grace's music - handy for piano and violin books.
And finally, this is what I plumped for on the mantlepiece eventually. I am much happier with it now!
Hope you are all having a lovely start to the week. I'll try to be a better blogger this week!
Cathy XX
PS I worked out what was wrong with the photos (as you can see). It was my new web browser, so this is done on my old one, and I am very proud that I figured it out for myself!! I just have to work out how to enable photo uploads on the new one now.