Friday 29 April 2016

Prancing around in my Pinny

Lucienne Day design fabric


I took some time out from the frantic de-cluttering/packing this week to go to a pinny making workshop.  A friend was saying how she would like to have an old fashioned crossover pinny when we walked into the fabric shop a saw a pinny making workshop advertised.  Well it was fate so we immediately signed up.  I found this fabulous retro fabric which cost more than any sensible person would pay for a pinny, it just means that it will never be allowed anywhere near any type of cooking of course.  I will just prance around in my pinny, glass of wine in hand pretending to be a 50's housewife.  It is not quite finished of course........yet another unfinished project........but it will look nice hanging up in the kitchen even if I never finish it.  I hope to get around to it before it is packed for the (fingers, toes, legs and eyes crossed) house move.  I just need to finish the shoulders and top sew around the neck and armholes.





Crossover back


I am chuffed to bits that I actually made something I would wear, unlike my other dressmaking disasters.  I'm even tempted to make one in linen to wear over a top and leggings.  What do you think, would anyone notice it's a pinny?

In other news, things are moving slowly on the house front, it doesn't help that the buyers solicitor sent the paperwork to our old solicitors despite being informed that we had changed to another.  Two weeks wasted!  Oh well gives me more time to plough through 15 years of clutter in the attic.

Chickpea xx

Wednesday 13 April 2016

Send out a search party








I am lost in the hell that is my attic.  I cannot believe how much stuff is crammed into every corner, it is a nightmare!  I think attics should be banned, if I had to look at all our old stuff everyday, move it to clean, constantly trip over it etc, I'm sure I would decide that I really don't need to keep every bit of paper that my children draw on, all of their old school books, toys and clothes.  The drum kit and surf boards would have been ditched years ago, but while they are hiding in the attic they avoid the grim reaper.  I am drowning under a sea of boxes, if you don't hear from me for a while send out a search party, seriously I need help, I have fooled myself that I'm not that bad at hoarding but I confess......I am a hoarder.  Is there a cure?  I hate the thought of things going to landfill so have been trying to come up with creative ideas to divert a lot of the stuff elsewhere.  Old c.d.'s will make bird scarers, old clothes for quilts and rugs, a huge amount is going to a friends mother who raises funds for a wheelchair football group at car boots.  There is still an awful lot of stuff that unfortunately has to be taken to the dump, it is a timely reminder not to buy anything that cannot be disposed of in a 'green' way.

I am also in a flurry of chasing up solicitors, estate agents etc. to try to keep things moving.  What a palaver!  The house buying/selling business being as it is in England, there is nothing stopping someone coming along and offering more money on the house we hope to be buying, or our buyers pulling out.  It is a nerve wracking business and the further I can push the process along hopefully the less likelihood of this happening, though I get told horror stories of people pulling out within days of exchanging contracts.  Aaarrrgghhh!!!

I am so stressed that I am grinding my teeth even more than usual in my sleep (when I do manage to sleep) and have broken bits off two teeth.  I have been told that wearing a shield when I sleep would help but I'm worried that this would affect my already terrible sleep patterns.  Has anyone ever tried one?  Any advice would be most welcome, I don't want to shell out a load of money only to find I can't use it.  It hasn't helped that I have had redundancy looming over me....yes good timing hey....but was relieved to be told today that my job is safe.  I feel desperately sad for all the people who have lost their jobs.  Working in the Public Sector used to be a relatively safe profession, not any more!

Apologies that my blog is so boring at the moment, life seems to shrunk to work, housework and packing at the moment.  Hopefully in a few months I will have lots to share as I turn my hand to the country life.......I will be needing a lot of advice as I stumble my way through growing my own, looking after chickens and learning about the country that I will be surrounded by.  I will be getting used to strange sounds, smells and the dark again.  It is been a long time since we lived so close to nature, no streetlights, no local shops or walking into the city for a meal.  How our urban cat will cope with it I'm not sure.  I will also be exploring a whole new coastline, I have always headed to the north coast, in our new home (fingers, toes, legs and eyes crossed) the south coast will be nearer so lots of new beaches to walk.

I will leave you with some photos of a natural phenomenon that looks like something out of Dr Who.  Every now and then, conditions come together to form sea foam, it looks very weird, but is harmless.






                 





Love the wobble, it's a bit like jelly :)


Chickpea xx