I could open a vintage ironmongers.....

I have been sorting out my husbands "collection" of screws, bolts, nails, gate locks, hinges, hooks, eyes, brackets, washers, nuts, glue, springs, door knobs, fuses, wire, plugs.....I could go on and on and on.  Of course there is the tools - "Oh that he says" that is something you put on the end of a chisel" (demonstrating to me what you do with this piece of what looks to me a rusty piece of metal).  "Only one problem" he says......I haven't a chisel it will fit. 

Mmmm why keep it then - it is such an old fashioned piece - I doubt in a million years the "chisel" he is talking about will ever turn up.

Thank goodness I collected the containers to put everything in.  Mind  - I only shovelled all this stuff from an old cupboard, complete with dust yesterday into six carrier bags.  You can see I have my work cut out for the next few weeks.

But why keep it all - rusty nails, rusty screws  - "Well you never know when you want one that size" he says with a grin on his face.

"Well whats this?" I say - "I don't know" was his reply.....as I take it in my closed hand and slip it in the bin. 

Six masks - were new about 20 years ago - but have disintegrated in the sealed bags - in the bin they went.  Screwdriver handles - "Sorry I haven't the other piece", he says.  "Well nothing will fit in this" I say, "its split"!

I am not allowed to throw anything away - although he is not to know that a few things - whoops - fell in the bin. 

"So whats this" I say - "Oh that", he says is a bracket to hold the scaffolding together.  Except we don't have scaffolding!  He bought it at a car boot sale years ago, just in case - but one bracket???

"What about this paint brush, looks a bit hairless".  "OK" he says you can throw that away.  No - wait a minute it will be do a dirty job - I will put it away with the other brushes".  Don't ask how many brushes he has....I haven't counted them!

I have to add -  between the two of us we do one helluva lot of DIY - but not enough to use all these bits and pieces.........

but....maybe after I finished we will have some organisation - I can't complain as I have shelves full of books that I will never get round to reading - and those need to be tidied - but not in containers....

Photo a Day Challenge - 25th May -UNUSUAL

The only thing I could think of is unusual, although others might know exactly what it is.  My Aunt gave me her brass collection to sell.   I couldn't even list this one as I had no idea what it is.  Every time I go to see her I keep forgetting to ask.

It stands just 8 cms high, or does it lay down, or have I got it upside down, I just have no idea! 

Can anyone tell me?

Photo a Day Challenge - 24th May - SOMETHING NEW

Well I have only bought one thing new in weeks and weeks.  Since I have given the link of my blog to some friends and this is a gift for one of them, I can't show it to anyone at this precise moment.  So I am going to show you the box it will arrive in.

I will be wrapping it tonight and sending it on Monday.  When I know it has been received I will reveal all!

Photo a Day Challenge - 23rd May - TECHNOLOGY

I have only ever possessed one mobile phone - and the only reason I got it, is that I thought what a wonderful piece of technology if you broke down in the middle of the night, and to call for help you just reached into your handbag for your mobile phone.

Many many years ago in the early1970s long before I even knew there was such a thing,   I did break down in my car.  I had finished a night shift in an office in a large Hotel at 12 midnight.  I was driving  along the main road, luckily it was lit, when suddenly the car stopped.  I knew what I had to do, and that was to take off the distributor cap and put it back on again for it to make contact again. We had this problem before.  But my hands weren't strong enough to undo the clips.  So I just stood there (no I did not sit in the car), I stood there and waited for someone to walk by.  I wasn't game enough to flag down a car.

As luck would have it, about half an hour later someone was walking along the path, he too must of just finished work, and I asked him could he just undo these clips, and pointed to the part under the bonnet, which he kindly did, and hey presto, the car started first time. 

Mighty scary - since there was only this one guy (and me) - not even a telephone box nor a policeman in sight. 

So I am pretty thankful for modern technology, it makes life easier and safer.  But......I don't have anything fancy, just text and talk, that is enough for me.

 

Photo a Day Challenge - 22nd May - PINK

Pink is not my favourite colour - so for my Challenge today it just has to be those slipper socks again. 

Photo a Day Challenge - 21st May - WHERE YOU ARE STANDING

Today I found an old air bed in the garage.  It belonged to my Aunt and I remembered about two years ago she asked me to take it and put on Freecycle, which of course I didn't get around to it. 

We are going away soon, for a couple days, and will be taking our dog with us to a pet friendly studio apartment, and I needed somewhere for her to sleep.  I bought a cot bed with the intention of cutting it to size, but we realised that cutting the mattress to go with it, isn't really an option, and being wood, it was rather heavy and bulky to put in the boot of the car, with everything else and putting together at our accommodation. 

This airbed (probably from the 1970s) had its own air pump, a rubbery blob with a tube - and here I am  standing on the concrete pumping away.  I have never owned an airbed so no idea how long it would take to pump up. 

Nothing much was happening after an hour of pumping and when I looked at the it I found it had perished around the edges.  I tried to stick some heavy duty tape around the edge, then the hose split. 

Not doing very well am I?  I then tried the car tyre pump and I could not clip it on.....so I gave up and this evening went out and bought a heavy duty air bed pump, so maybe success tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

I just hope when I have been to all this trouble, the dog will go to sleep on it. 

Photo a Day Challenge - 19th & 20th May

I have gotten a bit behind on my Photo Challenge - so

19th May - A Favourite Place

Well I don't stray from the house very often - hardly at all really.  I work from home and only occasionally my work takes me away.  So I would say a favourite place is my bedroom.  The door opens out onto the patio, where I often think I might have breakfast, it over looks the grass (yes I know it needs a cut), and very early in the morning I can lay awake and hear the birds chirping, the sun rise, the foxes wandering back to the den, the squirrels bouncing about on the grass and hopping through the trees. 

With the breeze blowing through the window I can imagine I am on holiday somewhere else.

20th May - Something you can't do without
I visited a friend in Australia a few years ago and she introduced me to Green Tea, I am almost addicted to it.  My usual is several half pints a day.
I am afraid it has to be this tea - most have an edge to it - but I find this one so thirst quenching.

Yes I know its a coffee mug.  I found these in a local shop for such a good price.  So I have one with green inside, one with blue and two with black inside, the outside is a creamy colour.  Lovely to drink out of too.

Red Kites......

Lots of them - flying overhead - swooping down and up again.  What a beautiful sight.  Funny I had my camera with me, and was able to take a few shots.  Unfortunately I haven't the most brilliant camera, so all you get is birds flying about.



The photos do not show how spectacular they were - I was busy clicking away and most times all I had was "sky"!! 

I was told after about 30 shots - "Give up - you would be better off taking that pigeon sitting in the tree!!!"

 So I did!  Can you see him at the top of the branch!  Success at last!

Photo a Day Challenge - 18th May - SOMETHING YOU MADE

I don't have much success in making anything.  In looks great in my mind, but the thoughts do not quite reach my hands. 

Its a shame as I come from a very creative family - certainly my two sisters are very good with the needle, they take after Mum and my three brothers are good with wood, they take after Dad.  My granmother was good at knitting and crocheting, and my grandfather who was totally blind carved animals and figures in wood, and made miniature chairs woven in wire. 

Not me though........making things just do not turn out as they should - even though I try and try.  This is one thing I did make last year - a bouquet of flowers.



You see.....the bow....that just did not go right!  I practiced and practiced making that bow in front of the computer, watching the video, pause, watch again, and I could not get the hang of it. To me it looks like a bandage rather than ribbon.......

Photo a Day Challenge - 17th May - SNACK

I am pretty boring with snacks - it's either a digestive biscuit, a bar of chocolate or a banana, and that isn't every day.  Ideally I like to stick to breakfast, lunch and dinner.

So now the banana is back again.  Only because I am too tired to take a photo today!

Photo a Day Challenge - 16th May - WHAT YOU ARE READING

Well I just finished the book I was reading about an hour ago.  Darker Domain by Val McDermid.  I have never read any of hers and so it was great that I enjoyed it so much.

 The description is:

 The superb new psychological thriller from bestselling author Val McDermid mixes fiction with one of the most symbolic and exceptional moments in recent history - the national miners' strike It seemed like an unsolvable mystery at the time: a wealthy heiress and son kidnapped in Fife, then a botched payoff, leaving her dead with no trace of the child. So when, over twenty-five years later, a possible clue is discovered by a journalist in Tuscany, cold case expert DI Karen Pirie doesn't hold much hope of unravelling the infamous enigma. She's already investigating a case from the same year. At the height of the miner's strike, Mick Prentice broke ranks to join 'scab' strike-breakers down south. But new evidence suggests Mick's disappearance may not be as straightforward as that - and Karen's investigations take her into a dark domain of secrets, betrayal and the ultimate violence! Past and present intertwine in a novel of taut psychological suspense that explores the intersection of desire and greed.

My new book is Are you Afraid of the Dark by Sidney Sheldon.  Already read 50 pages and I am hooked.  I have read two of Sidney Sheldon, so I know I won't be disappointed.

The description: 

In New York, Denver, Paris and Berlin, four people have died separately in apparent accidents. Two women - the widows of two of the dead - find themselves under ruthless attack and are drawn together in fear, confusion and for mutual protection. But are they being targeted because one of them is the prosecution witness at a famous criminal trial? Or is there a connection to the mystery behind their husband's deaths?Meanwhile, Tanner Kingsley, Chief Executive of an international Think Tank created only seven years ago, is on the cusp of an amazing discovery which could alter the future of the world. If properly handled, the outcome of this could deliver unbelievable power into the company's hands. But are the mysterious deaths connected to this volatile secret? And can it be further protected?

Photo a Day Challenge - 15th May - LOVE

Love is where the heart is.......

in a picture frame in my hall.....

Photo a Day Challenge - 14th May - GRASS

Grass???  Plenty of it this week.  We had some sunshine, then rain and more sunshine, then rain - and no time to mow the lawn.  Awful lawn this - its full of moss and some weeds amongst the tufts of grass.

Photo a Day Challenge - 13th May - MUM

Catch up time - yesterdays Photo a Day Challenge is one day late.  I also found out that it is Mother's Day in Australia, now I know why this challenge is "Mum". 

Sadly my mother died of cancer almost eight years ago.  Very sad - mainly because I didn't really get to know her through my life, and now it is too late. 

Several years ago my Nan (Mum's Mum) gave me some photos of Mum when she was young which I treasure to this day.  This one is my favourite, she is just 16 years old when she got engaged to my Dad, and they married two years later - emigrated to Australia with two children and had four more. 

Photo a Day Challenge - 12th May - SOMETHING THAT MAKES YOU HAPPY

Mmmm tough one - as I am normally a "happy person" anyway, very rare that I am unhappy.  But I do feel kinda sad sometimes during the cold months or when the day is overcast.

But when the sun is shining, the skies are blue, it really does give you a boost.....today is a bright sunny day and I am happy happy. 

Look at that sky isn't it beautiful, this was taken at 6.30 p.m. today.

Photo a Day Challenge - 11th May - KITCHEN

A corner of my kitchen - why?  Well some of it is about to be pulled apart - at least one of the units needs to be moved to fit a space heater behind the plinth.  The kitchen is worn out anyway, nearly 30 years old - time for a change.  We started to with some cheap wall units about five years ago, but they really are awful - and cheap, so this is one of our projects for this year.

What you see is my chest freezer, a larder fridge and a fridge freezer, all in use, regularly. Wait til the garden grows, if it does this year, the chest freezer will be filled to the brim with produce.



Photo a Day Challenge - 10th May - A FAVOURITE WORD

Ha Ha ...you are not going to believe this!  One favourite word of mine is "Banana".

I just got to tell you this though.....I like bananas by the case load, but this morning I got the most awful shock when I looked into the mirror!

What am I going to do..........

Photo a Day Challenge - 9th May - SOMETHING YOU DO EVERY DAY

Well, actually, I had to really think hard about this one.  There is a few things I do every day - wash and wipe up, go to bed, get up, dress, walk up the stairs and walk down the stairs, eat breakfast, dinner and tea, read (but sometimes that may not be every day so that doesn't count).  Aaah yes the computer, a complete computer addict!! But too much mess on my desk - too embarrasing to say the least - so no no to a photograph of that! 

So I chose something that we all should do at least once a day - and thats clean our teeth....

Do you remember that first time you went to the dentist - I do!  In those days as a child you never got a sticker for being good - this was in the 1950s.  Found this picture of a dental surgery in the 40s/50s on someone's blog.  Very much like the one I used to go to. 

I religiously went to the dentist for a check up every six months from as far back as I can remember - around 4 years old until recently and yet I have the worst teeth on this planet.  They have broken and chipped, full of fillings  and some have been taken out (not through choice though). 

Unfortunately I am allergic to the acrylic they use for the roof of the dentures, so there is really no hope for me.  My smile has to come from within - no dentist will be able to put a smile on my face.....so I just continue to brush what I have left every day.

Crochet dishcloth

As I mentioned the very start of my Blog that I intend to do  and even to try new hobbies on my road to retirement. 

I had bought dish cloth cotton some time ago and had knitted a couple of dishcloths.  But this week I decided to crochet one - from my head rather than a pattern - so the finished product is not that professional - but then it is only a dish cloth.

If I added any more rows it would prove too "heavy" for the job, so I stopped at that.

My next item was one of the dishcloths I knitted.  With all the hot water it suddenly lost its shape and ended up being long and skinny, so I unpicked that and crocheted it up and added some new cotton to finish the item.  OK it looks two tone (old and new), but lets face again, its only a dish cloth, but I have a few more months of wear from it.

Given time I will get better - but first I have to find some patience.  Yes I am very impatient with anything like this - I got to learn that it doesn't matter how long it takes.

Now.......with no more wool or cotton to play with.....it will give me time to think what to do next and purchase some more materials.

Photo a Day Challenge - 8th May - SMELL YOU ADORE

Not sure if I could say it was a smell that I adore....but it is one I like - is chips cooking in the oven.  But I hate the taste.  But the photo comes compliments of our son who is holding the tray for my photo today - his lunch - with eggs and bacon!

The only smell I adore is fresh air.  I sleep like a lamb if the window is open full in winter or summer.

Photo a Day Challenge - 7th May - SOMEONE THAT INSPIRES YOU

My Guardian Angel!  - My Nan - She has been with me all my life.  In Body and in Spirit.  I love her dearly and she has been an inspiration of what I am today.

My parents immigrated to Australia in the early 1950s with me and my brother.  We both had our favourite Nans, he favouring the other one most of his life, and I this one.  As a young child I did not write many letters to her, other than to thank her for the books she religiously sent every birthday, but when I reached my teens and lived away from home, I wrote to her every day and sent the letter by airmail to UK.  We had a special bond - one that may have even been kept secret from my parents.  I was away for school, and they had no knowledge on how often I wrote to Nan. 

Way back in my teens we plotted for me to fly to UK on my 21st Birthday. Twenty one I had to be before I got the key to the door, and that meant leaving home too.  I had only returned to live at home at 18, so the next three years seemed very long to wait, but at the same time I squirrelled away my wages until I had raised enough money for the return fare - but I only bought a one way ticket. 

I told my parents I would be back in three months time,  but three months with my Nan, I felt I was in heaven, we lived in a small one bed flat together (the three of us - Nan got married again soon after, although they only had about five years together before he died) and we were a happy threesome.  Life could not be different.  I never returned home!

During the next three years of living in cramped but happy conditions, the house where Nan's flat was was put up for sale, which meant that she needed to be re-housed.  She turned down two places, because she insisted I go with her.  But no this was her life, and I must move on.  So I rented a bedsit nearby, so that I could visit her everyday. 

Nan had a new granddaughter who she looked after every single day from the day the baby was born, while my Aunt went to work.  Very hard work for a woman who was already in her 70s.    But she did, until my cousin went to school at five years old and Nan continued to look after her after school each day.  .She also looked after her ill husband til the day he died. 

Nan was very creative - she crocheted hundreds of garments for friends, family and strangers.  I remember she had one pattern of a cardigan, that everybody loved, and during a period of time she had crocheted 65 orders.  Then there was the couple who were getting married - she crocheted a top, pair of hot pants and a cape in white for the Bride, seems odd now but that was the fashion.  She also crocheted me many things including three dresses, and rather than throw them out many years later, I unpicked them all and Nan crocheted them into her blanket, which I have on my bed to this day.

I can thank Nan for what I am today. She is definitely my Guardian Angel, and even now when I am in a spot of bother, I only have to think of her and things go right again.  Thank you Nan.  Love you always.

Baby Squirrels

I used to think squirrels were adorable, but no more, since they ate through the electric cables in the loft a couple years ago which meant I had to have the house re-wired.  No idea how they got in the roof, had it checked and there does not seem an opening.  A friend told me that squirrels can collapse their heads and squeeze into a very small gap - not sure if this is true or not.

Anyway this morning I was looking out the window and there scampering up and down the branches of our huge apple tree were two baby squirrels.  I rushed outside with the intention of chasing them off the tree and into the neighbours garden, but no, they thought I was playing games, and continued running up and down the branches and one was just above my head, I feared he may just jump down onto my shoulder, so I walked away. 

I had my camera with me and here is one that found something to eat.  Immediately after taking the photograph, the squirrel had dropped his food and there was loud clang on the wooden fence below.  He promptly swung from the apple tree branch across the fence and grabbed a pine tree branch on the other side and was swinging there for a few seconds before he dropped to the ground.  Little does he know that the food item actually fell on my side of the fence.  The other one had already swung from the apple tree across to the silver birch and into the neighbours garden.  Oh well at least he has gone - for now at least.

Photo a Day Challenge - 6th May - YOU

Me - on my Wedding Day almost 39 years ago.  I kept the wedding dress which was just an "A" line long white dress with flared long sleeves and lots of victorian thick lace and a stand up neck line almost to the chin of Victorian lace.  I bought the dress for £15 in Selfridges, London.

Soon after the wedding I sent the dress to a dye company in London for a colour change to mauve (the lace turned out to a darker mauve) and I wore this dress to all the dinner dances I could up to the mid 1970s - really so that I got my monies worth.  At least my dress was different from everyone else.

Soon after the wedding, I gave away the long veil and headress (artificial lily of the valley) to a young girl who lived up the road from me. She did so want a white wedding but could not afford the outfit, so a friend lent her the dress and the veil and headress from me.

Sadly a few years later I put on weight and I can only recall ever being able to fit into the dress again on one occasion only, but I kept it for the memory anyway, packed carefully in a suitcase in the loft. 

Photo a Day Challenge - 5th May - BIRD

I am never prepared for the next day's photo challenge.  I awoke this morning and saw a huge black and white bird on the lawn - but did I have the camera ready? ....No!  And since most birds are active in the morning - I haven't seen one close enough since.

So.....I went through a big box of photographs - ones that I "inherited", and I found this one of my Nan (mum's mum) taken at Burrinjuck (I presume Burrinjuck Waters State Park in Australia) in 1986.  Here she is with a few parakeets.  Nan would have been in her 80s - she is the one on the left in the maroon anorak.  Always laughed or smiled.......Nan visited Australia many times since my parents immigrated to Australia in the 1950s, this may even been her last visit. 

Photo a Day Challenge - 4th May - FUN

Chocolate Yum!  Whenever we visit the Post Office a short drive away I often buy a bar of plain chocolate for me, and a fruit and nut for him.  Our special treat - and when I walk back to the car, we always just sit there and munch through the chocolate and watch the world go by.  Just for a bit of quiet fun - to unwind and to spend a little time together without work getting in the way. 

Rain, hail or shine, we sit there, and then we drive home.......and put the kettle on for a cuppa tea. 

Photo a Day Challenge - 3rd May - SOMETHING YOU WORE TODAY

My slipper socks!  I assume thats what they are called.  Pink fleece with a fabric stitched on sole and two white bobbles on the side.  But looking at these socks it looks like I have two left feet, as the bobbles are on the same side. Mind you I never know whether they are on the right foot or not.

A Christmas present from my grandson - how thoughtful, when he knows his Nan gets cold ankles winter or summer.  So light and so loose, not like a sock that grabs you at the ankle and can be soooo painful.

Great for in doors!

Photo a Day Challenge - 2nd May - SKYLINE

This one is not actually a skyline- well I suppose it is.  It was taken on our holiday looking from the cottage window.  You can see the reflection in the glass.

This was 2010 when we went for a short break.  The cottage was lovely set in a valley.  This picture is actually looking up the hill, which is very steep, but it doesn't really show you that from the upstairs window.   Seems like we are the only ones here!  The owner lives next door, so it isn't that isolated.  I took this photo just after the sun came up.  No sheep in the fields - perhaps they are still asleep somewhere!

At the top of the hill is a farm which sells meat and eggs, and in the opposite direction is another farm that sells eggs.  The latter had a wooden box set on the side of the road, where you helped yourself to the eggs and put some money in a bowl. 

Jottings for April - and where has that time gone!

Yet another busy month for me.  No time to do the things I want to do though.  I have found so many blogs of people doing so many crafts and reading books, I wonder where they find the time! 

I had a little stroll round the garden today - not that we have much to look at - mostly trees, bushes and the vege garden.   Not much happening except the grass is growing and getting greener, and it has been too cold to put out the plants, or seeds into the vege garden.  Too much bad luck, so waiting for the warmer weather.  Well my strawberries are surviving, lots of flowers (and weeds - must pick them out soon).

For Christmas I was given a small rosemary bush which I planted out in a pot - but it was struggling - not surprised as I am hopeless at plants.  I bought some herb seeds with the intention of planting these, but someone planted the parsley in a pot for me, and after several weeks it began to shoot, and this has now been put outside in an old Butler Sink together with the rosemary.  There is still space to plant some chives, corriander, and goodness knows what else I have in the seed box.  This is the first time I have had a herb garden, I just got to get used to cooking with herbs.

And a good many days in April was taken up planning the new heating system.  I had to measure each room and take into account the insulation (double glazed windows and wall insulation) to work out the correct output on the radiators, measure them and finally ordering the lot! 

The next job was the worse, and still continues into this month, is to move the furniture, the accummulated everything and find a home for it temporarily whilst that room had some of its floorboards up and the pipework and radiators put in.

Absolute nightmare!  But now its started I think I can cope to the end.  Here is our first radiator.

I know its just a radiator!  But to me it is more than a radiator - hopefully it will be a warmer house.

Oh and forgot to say this, is that when I measured the radiators I decided to get them all 600 cms deep, not realising that my two front rooms would not accommodate 600 cm radiators - which meant another trip to the plumbing centre to exchange the radiators.  Whee I was glad I had not unwrapped them!

I read just two books - Unhallowed Ground by Gillian White and Remote Control by Andy McNab.

Now the latter surprised me - I don't like books that is military of any sort, but something on the back of this one attracted my attention.  Nick Stone, the character, was "running" to safety with his friend's young seven year old daughter - and I have to admit I thoroughly enjoyed the read!  Also it was the first of the series of Nick Stone - so just maybe I will try another one........  

Of course I accumulated more books for my never ending pile - 884 books on my shelves!  I keep threatening to give them all away and start again, but I know if I saw one that I like I would just add it to the shelf.  Well I did pick up six at the weekend!  Shhhhh......

I wanted to add another photo, but it would mean travelling back to the spot where I found a "sign", but at the time did not have my camera.  It was a "No Through Road" sign, but had an arrow going to the left.  Well that reminded me of me.....I had intended to carry on to the road to retirement, but I have made a slight detour.  I have upped the hours I work!  Not decreased, but increased....now how mad is that. 

Hopefully this month now the weather is warmer and the nights are longer, I might just achieve some of the things I set out to do.  My first job is to get out those summer clothes and get in the mood......

Photo a Day Challenge - 1st May - PEACE

I really enjoyed the challenge last month, but things got in the way and I could not even think about the Blog or the Challenge.  But Fat Mum Slim of Australia has a another month of challenges, and I really must get going again.  She has many people getting involved, but not being familiar with the technology I am off on the challenge all by myself (sorry one other, a friend in Australia, who I pinched the idea off, is also doing her own personal challenge). Its fun and thats what life is all about - having a bit of fun.

Well today is "Peace".  We are experiencing a bright sunny evening and the first thing that came into my head was how peaceful it felt.  So here we are.