I'll thcream and thcream until I'm thick ...

... I get so-o-o frustrated sometimes with computy stuff. I thought I'd try and change the look of my blog to make it a little more interesting but am having the most dreadful problems [nothing new there then].

I thought [not even sure about this now because it keeps changing back] I have altered the look of the log in page but when it came to trying to sort out my background, I can't seem to get rid of my old one - and I really have tried [and I may be thick but might even really be sick if I keep on trying].

If anyone has any simple but effective tips and help for me - as ever - I'd love to hear it and probably so would other bloggers who might just be a little too proud to ask [but I'm not].

Thanks for visiting ...

And the answer is ...

... Monk's House at Rodmell, Sussex. I took the picture [see previous post] from the allotment gardens which they've recently made there, and over the wall is a really pretty church. Bit of a cheat really because you'd more likely be looking at the house itself or the garden not over walls to see what's lurking on the other side, but it would prove [if you'd known where it was] that you were taking notice of your surroundings!



This is another picture taken at Monk's House but is actually the allotment gardens - I wonder what the gardener would think if he saw the resident cat sitting in the midst of his carefully tended veg!

Thanks for visiting ...

I'm late, I'm late ...

... to say bloggiferous thanks to Victoria Plum for my generous and yummy gift which I won as a giveaway prize.

It actually arrived a week or so ago but the camera, computer and I have never been together in the same place at the same time in order to get the photographs downloaded and saved but now, we have been and are. This is what I got:




I know that there's fruit in there [lots] and it's really delicious [with or without butter] and it goes well with the Earl Grey tea which was also included with my prize. I have also discovered that Victoria is sharing the recipe, so if you go to her blog you can also make one although of course it will be nowhere near as delicious as the original as I have this [well nearly not any more]. I have therefore found out that there's no fat in it which makes it much less calorific than I thought so can now add a thicker layer of butter to it than I did to start which I didn't need in the first place as my body is already over-percentaged with fat in the first place.

Anyway, I made a comment on her blog to say what my favourite tipple is and you can never beat a cup of tea [unless of course you have two cups of tea and then it's twice as nice]. And that's all I had to do, and in return received the lovely gift.

Thank you so-o-o much Victoria Plum.

The other thing I want to tell you about so that you get the chance to share it before the end of the current season is the following picture:




You may recognise it? This is actually a view taken from where I'm trying to persuade you to go. Perhaps you might like to make a guess and I'll let you know if you were right or not?

Thanks for visiting ....

I'm there ...

For years, out of necessity, having come from what would be called a poor family [but I thought everybody lived like this] I lived with the 'make-do-and-mend' lifestyle. When I left the family home, money was still an issue and so the need to watch the pennies was always upmost in my mind. Then of course, children came along and you're never rich in money when you go in for this kind of luxury as they will always come first - even when they grow up and leave home!

Necessity is the Mother of Invention and it's amazing what you can come up with when needs must.

It's funny therefore that buying second-hand is now known as being thrifty. To get that vintage look your things need to look aged. Hand-knitting and sewing are right up there in the fashion stakes and the more original the better. Cooking too is something that should be done from scratch [chuck the microwave and get out the pressure cooker] and of course, you'll grow your own veg and if fortunate to be able to do so, keep a few chicken. For new Bohemian, I read ex-hippy!


But on the other hand, this is a great way to be environmentally friendly and 'save the planet'. That can never be a bad idea. In that frame, I often look at Pomona's blog and would strongly urge you to do the same - it's really well-written, has fantastic photos and she has an ethical challenge for the next 365 days.



This idea has been taken via another blog, Dottie Angel - another place to go and see wonderful pictures and writing.


You will have to enlarge that [if you know how] to actually read what she says - sorry. If I were cleverer I would show you her logo via a sidebar [yeah, right - like I know what that means] and if anyone wants to enlighten me how, I could still try to do it.

I'm not going to challenge myself because I think I'm that way inclined anyway without having to declare it nationally but you might like to use some of the ideas - they're good ones.

If you'd like to make a comment on this post, I would be very keen to know what YOU do personally to live ethically and what your views are. Whatever you'd like to say about it really - I'd be interested.

Thanks for visiting ...

Billy Doo ...

... that's meant to be a joke - billet doux you see - love note.

So, today I'm writing about notes. Do you make notes? I have had the most best, bad memory over the past few years and was given the advice that I should write things down relating to absolutely anything that I would want to remember. I started putting these little reminders on pieces of paper, but then I'd forget where I'd put them and consequently the jobs never got done. I don't live in a castle or even a large mansion, it's more of a doll's house - in fact, matchbox would be a better description actually but at least a matchbox might have some order in it whereas my house is a complete and utter disaster - obviously why I can't find the notes - it's tiny-wee but I'm extremely creative [read disorganised, untidy].


So, I was given further advice to get a notebook to put it in and so off I went and got myself a bargain pack of 4 notebooks [obviously expecting to write a lot of stuff down]. I've made a few entries but none of it seems really THAT important if I look at it later although it must have been important at the time I wrote it. However and I am slowly ticking things off as and when I do them; I'm also transferring stuff from the page I've come to the end of to the new one.

Today's page is a beautiful shade of pink - it wasn't meant to be, but the beetroot attacked me when it fell out of the fridge and as it isn't a colour I ever wear I had to fight it off and beat it to the table, whereupon was my book - hence the pink tinge. I also have a pink tea-towel too now because I used that to mop up the seepage [now that's a good word even if it's not a real one] and that's OK being pink because I don't actually wear tea-towels. Possible idea for future fashion designers who might be reading.

Less of tea-towels and beetroot, and more of notes: I found one of the pieces of paper in the night [because I didn't sleep well so got up and found it where it shouldn't have been] and wondered what I'd originally meant when I wrote it, so looked it up on the internet to find another type of note.



I don't remember why I wrote it down it the first place now but am glad I did because it was all about this young lady and her fairly unusual choice of instrument. I hope that you enjoy it.

Thanks for visiting ...

The postman always rings twice ...

... but I can't say for certain that's this is what happened today, because I wasn't here when he came. However, the lovely man was, and took delivery of TWO parcels for ME. One from Amazon - a book I've been wanting; it's called Stones Spells for Magic Feasts which is the second book by the people who founded the Stones Restaurant in Avebury many years ago.



The original 'Stones' people gave up the business eventually and went back to their former professions [I believe one was an archaeologist]. The recipes they produced were fabulous and very special, as is the area of Avebury.


Anyway, I'm prevaricating, because that's not the whole point of the entry. I wanted to show you this:



and this:















and this:















and this:















and this:















and this:















which all fits very nicely in here:



What a GIFT! I'm just so delighted with it all! It was a bit like Christmas on a Summer's day. Lovely man had some VERY worrying thoughts about my sanity [he once thought I'd got some] - I was oooh-ing and aaah-ing and taking photos and then taking more things out of the parcel with yet more oooh-s and aaaah-s! I'm very fortunate that I know Donna [that it itself is a brilliant gift] because she put in lots of things that seem to be particularly for ME - there's purple, and cats and knitting and buttons and fabric and boxes and thread and oooh and aaah ....

Thank you GREAT BIG to Donna for my lovely giveaway gifts and also thank you to the postman for delivering it,













oh yes, and thank YOU for visiting! ...

Are you knits ...

OK - it probably might not be that special to you, but you try and get hold of one! I've been searching for this Rowan pattern book for years since borrowing it from a friend and it's only just proved possible. I got it from e-bay. I'd already decided that no way did I want to spend more than £7.50 on it and also didn't want the postage to be extortionate. I do find that postage, whether it be e-bay, Amazon, or anywhere else is much too expensive for what you get in return. And having said that, my 'own' postie is fabulous and I think deserves a lot more money than he probably earns.


This is one of the inside pages from the book [sorry it's a bit blurry - not that clever at taking 'close-up' pics yet - any advice?]. There are a number of patterns I'd like to make and some extremely good articles - one in particular relating to Brandon Mably - might make his sweater for the lovely man.



In case you're expecting me to post about the lovely Donna, the p-r-i-z-e hasn't arrived yet but I went over to get her address for you to visit and see she's had a haircut - doesn't it suit her? I am not brave when I do go to the hairdresser and will not allow her ever to do anything that vaguely smacks of different with her scissors - although I did have it traffic-light red once for a dare [and not that long ago either].

Must get on - I have a Rowan book to read from cover to cover, again and again before I get the needles and wool out.

Thanks for visiting ...