Happily still being green!

Afternoon

Funny how so much from my old life has seamlessly joined with my new life. I've always been a bit of a green/hippy/eco-friendly sort of a girl.

If you follow some of the labels in my sidebar you can see mention of recycling etc going back to the beginning of this blog - and before that to be honest. 

As a teenager I spent many a happy afternoon at a jumble sale with my friends - buying clothes which we'd alter to suit our tastes - making jeans skinny before the invention of lycra and turning old mans shirts into trendy collarless ones.

My first home certainly contained many old and upcycled things - a book case made from wine boxes - a Christmas gift in 1969 for my ex-husband. I delivered it back to him the other week when furniture came out of storage - whilst I loved it there is no room for it here so it needed to be back with its original owner.

This house is certainly full of recycle and upcycled things - along with those collected from charity shops, car boot sales and junk shops. Both S & I can't resist a good rummage through others peoples old junk - our little town contains 11 charity shops and we often do a full tour when we have the time.

The latest upcycling project - our old wooden bed into a garden bench!!

Made from about 95% recycled wood - the old bed and some pallets - only the front posts are from new wood!

It's almost built now - and partially painted - just need summer to return so we can get it finished!

Another project this week has been getting my bike roadworthy again. It spent 18 months in an outbuilding as we had no space at the flat. S has repaired the brakes and checked it all over. I have tidied the basket up - the wicker has got caught on stuff on many occasions and it was looking a bit sorry for itself - I decided to repair rather than replace;

I need to use my bike tomorrow - most days I can get to where I want on foot but I need to drop something off a couple of miles away. Am a bit apprehensive as the roads are busy here and my cycling skills a bit rusty!!

With the house we inherited two greenhouses (one full of tomatoes) and 3 raised veg beds - 2 of which were planted!! We have ended up with a glut of tomatoes and courgettes - time for inventive cooking!!

A rummage in the freezer for some mince and hey presto - the base for a lasagne!

We also inherited some squash plants - these were really quite tiny and seemed to struggle at first - however a bit of rain and some attentive watering and boom they grew like crazy. It was only after a veg gardening book was acquired on a recent charity shop trawl we discovered they like to climb!! Fortunately when the large bamboo plant was removed our friend saved the canes - more upcycling!! These now are supporting the ever growing squashes - come the autumn I will need some new recipes I think!!

Another step to becoming a proper blogger again is taking place as I type - my little camera is being charged!! Going to try to use this as well as my phone to get photos as it does take rather lovely pics.

Right I had best go and hunt down our camping gear - we are off to FolkEast later this week - to celebrate one year of being married!!!

See you soon with plenty of festival photos!

xxx Vicki xxx

House and garden

Good evening

Thanks to those who've visited since I dipped my toe back into blogging this month :)

Still getting the hang of taking pictures on a camera and especially for here. Had a crash course at the weekend on how to upload them onto my new toy and also how to use a programme to edit/resize - the one I used before was very very old and not compatible with this new lappie of mine.

In recent weeks its been very domestic here at times at No6 - my dining room was looking shabby, overstuffed and the radiator had sprung a leak :( Time to give it a makeover. Coats of fresh paint in a neutral cream, new curtains that actual fit, a new non leaking radiator and tomorrow a new carpet in a colour I like and that won't show every mark, thread or crumb.

Here's what we've done so far - very happy with it and also the fact I've not gone over my limited budget :)

 The room had felt overstuffed so when big son was home at Easter we sorted out the two bookcases that were in there and condensed them into one - bookcase was sold and I sold lots of the books at a boot sale this weekend.

New tablecloth from Aldi which the boys actually quite like - they were worried it would be a very floral room but so far they approve.

 The two huge paintings were done by one of my sister for her GCSE and A levels exams many years ago - I love both of them and they will always feature somewhere wherever I live.

One of the first things we bought for this house - now rehung and filled again with clean china - still have the stuff from my dresser to do tomorrow so once the carpet is down that too can be refilled.

The arrival of spring and sunny weather made me look at the garden and realise it needed work doing on it. I spent hours weeding, cutting back and sorting out. Then when S was over we went to a local garden centre and I chose things to fill gaps, tubs and new tiny veggie plot. Here's just a snapshot of what I've been doing;

 Just a few strawberry plants - this year in pots but hopefully next year in a proper bed.

 Tiny tomatoes appearing - we chose varieties which crop heavily.

 Trying to disguise the less pretty bits with tubs of geraniums.

 Waiting for this one to flower - it's called Apple Blossom and the petals look beautiful.

 Bargain hanging baskets filled with car boot find bedding plants.

 It was so sunny when I took these pics you can't see this one too well - must get the hang of my camera again - anyhow its full of pink, blue and purple and a as one lot finish another should burst into colour.

A practical bit - storage with strawberries and a few leftover geraniums on top.

Just realised I forgot to take pics of the little veg bed and the raspberries behind it - they are looking very promising this year - handy really as we've run out of raspberry jam!!

Right that's probably enough for today - there's dinner to cook, washing to get in and of course things to water later too.

See you soon - we've been productive this weekend and there's the first foraged make of 2015 to share with you.

xxx Vintage Vicki xxx

You don't remember me - do you?

Good afternoon

Long time no see - entirely my fault, life got busy and I stopped blogging. Also my old desktop PC died and its taken a while to save to get a new shiny laptop and learn how to work it - even now I am unsure if this blogging lark will even work and if it does whether I can get back into the swing of it.

Lets see if I have learnt how to save photos and also if I can get them on here!

The easiest way to catch up is a photo mosaic from each month I have been missing.

So November - a smallest giant treat an afternoon of archery, Remembrance Parade, my other half took up Molly dancing my initial role to make a Molly style raggy for a Christmas display, a birthday cake for S and a treat night out - a Bellowhead gig.

December - so much stuff I got roped into Molly dancing, big son came home from Uni for a month, little son played his last brass engagement, we went to the panto (twice - 2 different ones) and we celebrated Christmas in style.

January - more dancing both Molly and Border, little son turned 17 and he gained a title!

Feb - we visited big son at Uni for his 19th birthday, there was Valentines day and Shrove Tuesday to celebrate.

March - more dancing, my birthday, mothers day, little nephews birthday, the eclipse and we bought a little caravan (more on that another time).

April - we danced for St George, celebrated Easter, had a very sunny day out at Southwold and spring began to appear in the garden.

May - more dancing and little stumble!, visiting big son again, decorating my dining room, garden sorting time and my first ever trip crabbing.

Ok so that's the past 7 months in brief - I will be back with proper posts soon and I want to catch up with bloggy friends and their lives.

Sorry its been so long

xxx Vintage Vicki xxx

Just everyday stuff

Good evening

Another weekend has gone by, month begun and busy family week has started.

Thank goodness for a relatively quiet weekend. A family Saturday gardening session - the rain and occasional bursts of sunshine has meant the weeds were winning again - a few hours later and a few nettle stings and we were winning. A huge trailer load of weeds, cuttings and grass headed to the recycling centre.

More domestic stuff Sunday morning and then in the afternoon  MrVV & I headed out to one of our favourite places;

The usual drill - park one end of town, walk along the beach and prom to the Pier for ice-cream and a quick play on the amusements and then back through the narrrow back streets and town to the car. A lovely walk - slightly blustery but time for us to have a good natter.

Today has been very domestic - it seems once again the house was suffering with the burglar chic look coupled with a fine layer of dust everywhere. Time to get on the pinny and scrub/polish till it all looked a bit better. Fortunately its been windy but dry here today - so time to make the washing machine work overtime - one of my favourite domestic things is seeing a line full of washing in drying outside.

Whilst out in the garden I noticed that finally there are signs of life on some of my plants;

 Slightly blurry but the 2nd batch of strawberries are flowering - hoping these one don't get pinched by the mice - seem the netting prevents birds getting them but not mice :(

 I was late planting tomatoes this year - coupled with the weather then its hardly surprising they are only just flowering. 

This little area by the shed is one of my favourites - lots growing in my collection of old enamel pails & pots. Hoping one day all this will be upcycled enamelware.

Lots of good things to look forward to this week - BigSon has his Prom tomorrow night (photos next time), the Olympic Torch relay passes by on Thursday (going to Aldeburgh to watch that) and on Saturday LittleSon has his Grade 4 Euphonium exam.

Right off now - the hall appears to be suffering from an ant invasion - time for chemical warfare to commence!!

xxx Vicki xxx

PS - Yet again - no spell check - sorry

Sorting out the nursery & other weekend stuff!

Good evening

Oh blimey is it Monday again? Where did the weekend go?

Saturday was spent sorting out the nursery & the garden - no not that sort of nursery, those days are long gone. The nursery aka the conservatory - home during the non-winter months to plants & seedlings. Less seed planting than other years - we've come to the conclusion that as much as having a veggie patch is lovely - the time spent looking after it properly isn't always there and the current space isn't right - soil to clay like and not enough light. Ideally raised beds in a different part of the garden would be better but not this year. Instead just things in pots - so far just tomatoes, chillis, basil and for some colour - sweet peas.

Little son helped me during the wetter bits of Saturday to give the space a big spring clean - he was on body removal - amazing how many insects have chosen there to end their days!! When the rain stopped we all decamped to the garden. Operation garden tidy commenced - oops our poor garden - it got rather neglected at the end of last summer (can't think why!!) - the weeds were winning but after many hours we are starting to fight back. Certainly the birds were grateful and there were many happily following us around as we uncovered soil and worms - just a shame they are all so camera shy!

When it was sunny on Saturday it was lovely. Blue skies and fluffy clouds - its just the rain laden ones that tried to scupper things!

More blossom - this time against the blue sky - so pretty.

No carbooting on Sunday - MrVV & the boys went off to work together. Oh those boys of mine worked hard - today they've struggled to lift their arms - must be something to do with the 100's of boxes they moved yesterday - not heavy just repetitive!

Today has been the last day of the Easter hols - once all the bags were packed and kit for the coming week sorted, I left the boys to their own devices - some online time and headed into town. Monday's are good days for charity shopping - lots of weekend donations. I visited a few of the shops and found a couple of things. 

I love old style maps - this one is of Essex and is destined for the walls of the summerhouse once that has had its spring clean - just need a dry & spare hour or two hopefully this week though having seen the forecast our little drought ridden county might be getting rather wet!! 

I also found something for one of my sisters - No3 aka Minibreakfast @ Car Boot Vinyl Diaries - I can't show you yet though as I want to give it to her first - let just say it is vinyl and something that reminded me of my teenage years ;) (Dawn if you guess don't say).

Talking of charity shops, I've signed up for Lakota's latest Faith,Hope & Charity Shopping Swap - this time a jubilee one. I hummed and harred to long on LaaLaa's one and missed that so signed up pretty quickly when this one came along;

Right, I think that's all - if I've handed over the record then I'll share that with you next time.

I think we're already for back-to-school tomorrow - just the dreaded alarm bit which we all hate.

One final thought - big son tomorrow enters his last term of compulsory education - he can leave school on June 30th - his last exam is just 10 weeks away - the first is next Wednesday!! Doesn't seem that long since he started school and was bringing home his first reading books - I feel old!!

See you soon

xxx Vicki xxx

Parcels and Parties

Good evening

I hope everyone has had a good weekend? Its been a pretty full on one here but in a nice way.

The boys made it to the end of term and despite minor blip on little sons theme park trip (someone who isn't a good traveller should never have gone on a ride called Wipeout - it did ;) - his teacher will have a lovely lasting memory of him!) it ended well.

Big son arrived home from school mid-afternoon after a final footie game with his friends and the treat of buying junk for his lunch! He needed to get sorted as he was off to an Explorer end of term party and sleepover. It sounds rather fun and I've seen some of the photos. Am sure the boys who well enrolled on the beach at 2am will remember that for a while and the drunk they disturbed really will think there are aliens about!!

My special Friday thing was a parcel - from Miss Magpie part of the Guilt Free Shopping swap organised by Lakota at Faith, Hope and Charity Shopping;

 

Pretty parcels in chicken paper - see those pink flowers on 2 of the parcels? Well they are hairclips and are utterly gorgeous and something I have meant to buy for a while!

 Inside - lots of pretties - someone has definately been reading my blog :) I can see bears, a Stanley, pretty china and lots of flowers :)

In slightly more detail;

 A pretty floral trinket dish - now keeping my everyday jewellery safe at night :)

 A silky, pink & flowery scarf - very glam :)

A Stanley heart and a teddy bear tissue holder with a hint of Cath inside.

 Some flowery coasters and those pretty pink clips

Part of the swap brief was a piece of jewellery and this 3 strand beaded necklace is perfect :)

If you pop over to Miss Magpie's blog - you can see what I sent to her.

Yesterday evening we went out as a family of 4! A bbq and camp-over at a brass banding friends house. Armed with a bootful of camping gear and also some beer/cider that MrVV had brewed for the occasion we set off deep into the Suffolk countryside.  First job whilst it was still light was to put the tents up - one for the boys and one for MrVV & I. We managed to get 2 tents up in the time it took other friends to build their little one! It was a wonderful evening - great company, great food and plenty of laughs - no photos from me - our friends homemade wine put paid to that! I think things would have very much been out of focus ;)

What a lovely camping spot we had - surrounds by flowers, veggies and chickens!!

 That rather handsome fella at the back did briefly wake me at 4am but I'm made of tougher stuff and was soon back to sleep!

The swing was very popular with the children last night - some loud giggly games were being played. Great to see them all getting on so well - big age range too - from 4 to 21!

 The garden was gorgeous - a proper cottage one with so many lovely plants and also places to sit and watch the wildlife and to enjoy a mug or two of coffee this morning.

BTW I bet I'm the only person who enjoyed their breakfast accompanied by a cowboy singing folk songs accompanied by a blind blues guitarist??

See you soon - I need to hand my Scavenger Hunt efforts in early this month - another camping trip, this time  to the West Country is looming next weekend!

xxx Vicki xxx

Beeing kind

Good evening

Yep me again - well I am a creature of habit - its Monday so it must be a blogging night!

Thanks for all the comments on the crochet - yes it is addictive - I am just glad I've cracked it - means I'll be able to take it to Dorset with me next month and probably to Latitude too!Am hoping to have a completed blanket by winter time.

Today has been so hot here even with a sea breeze, all the windows open and the ceiling fans in the kitchen working overtime. I hated those fans when we moved in but every summer they come into their own and make the kitchen the best place to be on a hot day.

Everyone knows about the dwindling bee population in this county - well I think I've found where lots are living - my Hebes in the front garden;

 They move so fast, it took me ages to get a photo!

Despite a severe trimming in the autumn, both Hebes are massive again.

Now I'm not much of a garden but I do like plants that attract wildlife. The lavender hedge we planted last summer has taken off and will soon be in full flower;

I must find something to put into that chimney pot.

When it was my Mum's birthday a few weeks ago I bought her several lavender plants for her garden - I couldn't resist adding an extra for me - I knew there was a perfect empty spot.

So next time you're wondering where all the bees are - don't worry, lots of them are in my garden. I must find an identification book - apart from big fat bumble, normal bumble and honey I couldn't tell you what types there were!!

Right I ought to go for a bloggy wander and then try and do some of the jobs it was just to hot today to attempt - most importantly putting sheets onto our bed - failing that it will be the camping mattresses in the garden for us tonight - you just know that would make it rain!

Another beeing kind thing - I've volunteered to have my little nieces and nephew here on Thursday when their school is closed due to strikes  - by Thursday evening I might regret that!

See you soon.

xxx Vicki xxx