I had to go and visit my neighbour this morning to arrange about picking up a shower unit later this week. When we were looking at her geese and new hens, I spotted she still had LOADS of rhubarb and begged some for Keith, who loves it stewed up with crystalized ginger. So I cooked that up on my return. Half to be eaten this week, and the other half in the freezer.
Lovely Dandelion puff motif on the new voile panels in the bathroom. One wasn't enough, it had to be a pair so I bought the other one today. They look lovely.
The other two Seasidey bits for the top of the cupboard.
The china wot was there. John D Wood's "Yuan" which I still love, but am having a long break from. I'll get it all washed and wrapped and put away tomorrow, and then think whether or not I offer it for sale (but no-one is really buying old china like this any more - yet it was so collectable once.) I also (get me!) removed 6 jugs from the kitchen beams so I only have them along the one beam now, my favourite ones. I'll never be minimalist, but I can be "lessist"!!
There are now a pair of these smart copper spot lights in the sitting room and it's made a big difference to the lighting. I was able to get my way and suggest that Keith no longer needed the standard lamp which I have loathed for many years and couldn't wait to see leave the room. It was surprising how it broke the room up and made it look smaller, probably because of the big shade.
New to me curtains from Fleabay. £15 including postage and packing, which I thought was good. A good bit darker than the other (now faded) curtains I made and had up there for several years. Again, the dark colour draws the eye to the end of the room and makes it look bigger (it's about 23 feet into the bay). The new terracotta paint will be darker than what is on the walls at the moment. I have bought some vintage 1980s Laura Ashley curtains too, also from Fleabay, which are on their way to me as I speak. They are "for best" - viewings only.
Above and below: after tea I finally found the time to pick most of the Golden Rod flowers. Here they are with stems, and below, mostly just flowers. 84g (I need 100g) but I may get another handful from what is left tomorrow. Then I shall boil them up, simmer for an hour, leave to cool and then strain off and freeze the liquid until I have the mordant (alum) and some more wool spun up. I just need to be "ill" long enough to "rest up" and do the spinning!
The "tops" I bought in town yesterday. I saw a machine embroidery of puffins in the Stitch magazine I brought recently and thought, that would be great done as a needle-felted piece. Banging away with the needles at the moment is probably not conducive to healing my Pleurisy, so that will have to wait until I'm fully better.
This is the book I read about when I was researching my dye project. It sounded right up my street and it IS! I've only read a few pages so far but am going down to immerse myself in it now.
FINALLY, a photo of the wallpaper I loved. I went and bought two rolls of it today which will be enough for in here. It has a little touch of the Strawberry Thief in it, along with the Moongazing hare, and also reminds me of scraperboard work from the 30s. Keith HATES it!!!
Glad you are resting up. love the curtains and the wallpaper - all of it. My friend has started needlefelting has been on a couple of courses and is managing to produce some lovely bits and bobs. There is a group of us who all used to work together in a solicitors office and we have all kept firm friends and kept in touch despite two of them being retired one through ill health the other because she is the eldest but she does not act it. And then the younger one. We all have needlework and crafting in common. These days I only get to see them once a month. I look forward with interest to see what you come up with the on the dyeing front. Just be careful to make sure that the pot is securely marked up for the freezer. Take care honey Pattypanxx
ReplyDeleteWith a normal chest infection, rest is paramount, but when it's pleurisy I just cannot get away with overdoing things. I want to be better, and it's scary when your body gets knocked sideways by things like this. Each morning I seem to have a dizzy spell when I first get up, which is Not Nice, but hopefully will pass.
DeleteLovely to have your sewing group, and all ladies you have worked with. Dawn has kindly included me in her little group which meets up once a month to chat and craft. I forgot to write about my recent meet up at Dawn's, but a lot of chatting was done, and some good crafting ideas. We are all off to a Quilt Exhibition in Bristol on 1st September and I can't wait.
Don't worry, I shall make sure to mark my freezer container with Dyestuff - inedible!!
I like the wallpaper too and the book looks interesting
ReplyDeleteHope your resting is not too energetic.
I daren't be the least bit energetic at the moment Sue. I am trying to keep the steps down, but it's difficult when we live in such a big house - it's a hundred steps just coming up to the office and going back down! I know when I've done too much as I feel like I've been hit with a barge pole. My painting arm is itching to get going though, and I have a LOT of jobs on my to do list now, so I think I am in for a very busy autumn.
DeleteI am glad the wallpaper is meeting with approval (I love it). The book is going to be one of those hard to put down sort.
I've never had rhubarb in any form but would love to try it. I am waiting for someone that I have confidence in before I do.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the dandelion puffs are darling. Where did you find those?
Rhubarb is lovely, especially with ginger. The Dandelion puffs are just my thing, as I love nature and wild flowers. I found the panels in Dunelm. It's tucked away on a small trading estate the far side of a busy roundabout and we don't often go over that way any more now. However, I like the stuff they sell and they have a really good selection of bedding, towels, curtains etc, and I have my eye on a few more improvements in the curtain department . . . I've always made my own in the past, to save money, but tbh, I can buy some ready-made ones cheaper than I can make them up.
DeleteI think the wallpaper is rather elegant--in a mystical woodland sort of way! Now, if Keith were not taken with it, that would be one thing--but to HATE IT, Oh Dear!
ReplyDeleteA Copy of "Out of the Saltbox" is on its way to me--will let you know if it evokes the sense of Vermont.
I do think you could have managed to 'accidentally' knock over the standard lamp, although objects that we despise have a way of being very sturdy!
There is a LOT I have put up with down the years Sharon, but loathe that lamp I did! Keith has NO IDEA about interior design but I buy magazines (the occasional Country Living, Homes & Antiques etc) and must have viewed (on line) 15,000 houses in the last 10 or a dozen years, so I know what looks right and what I LIKE. I think the current Laura Ashley styles are fairly me. Oh, and I do love William Morris fabrics and wallpapers, and Sanderson. Keith hates ALL wallpaper. I think he thinks he will get lumbered with putting it up, but I am quite good at it - though I've not done much in all the time we've been here, needless to say! Just a lumpy ceiling going up the stairs.
DeleteI have always loathed the kitchen cupboard doors too (bought for about £3 each from a car boot sale on the way back from seeing his mum when she was still in Manchester.) They have the ogee top on them and were dated when he bought them!
Oh yes, the worm has turned now. Next job is to break the news to him that the blue room needs to be . . . unblued.
P.S. Sharon - glad that the book is now on its way to you. You will LOVE it.
ReplyDeleteDo I detect a tiny glimmer of glee in that capital HATES?
ReplyDeleteJust a tad Pat! TBH, whatever I had chosen he wouldn't have liked as he just doesn't like wallpaper. Mind you, I still think he doesn't like it because he hates hanging it and thinks I will get stuck and land him with the job (wrong).
DeleteMy rhubarb has been growing like Topsy since the rain came. I love your blue and white china It reminds me of "Old Chelsea" which you always find in Landmark Trust holiday cottages and looks just right in old scrubbed farmhouse kitchens. I have a lidless tureen in this pattern which holds all my husband's gubbins on the Victorian pine chest of drawers. Fashion in interiors change so rapidly I just stick to what I like. I like your taste in furniture very much but I can see that less is more and certainly means less housework!
ReplyDeleteI am very fond of it too. I know I "should" sell it, but then think, once we have moved I can do what I like and would love to have my entire haul of it on display - probably in the kitchen - so will just wash and wrap it and put it away for now. I am trying to modernize here without losing the farmhouse look which attracts folk and which this house has in bucketloads.
DeleteLess housework is ALWAYS good and I should be pleased to have a few less dust-collectors around!
I really like your new spotlights. I need some in my kitchen. I have been suffering with bare bulbs ever since we had the kitchen done..... 10 years ago.
ReplyDeleteYours are gorgeous.
I am also a fan of your wallpaper. Think it looks great. My husband wpuldnt like it either, he has no taste.
Glad you like them Shari. They are a great improvement on the (dated!) ones we had up there. My husband likes the Victorian look still - I have grown out of it! - and I was quite surprised when he chose these in the shop. We have some similar (smaller) ones in what is called an antique brass finish - sort of slightly yellowy pewter colour) to go down in the kitchen of what was my mum's flat.
DeleteGlad I have another fan of the wallpaper. Had a quiet snigger at your final remark about your husband's taste! I think that also applies to my husband!
I think the wallpaper is rather elegant--in a mystical woodland sort of way! Now, if Keith were not taken with it, that would be one thing--but to HATE IT, Oh Dear!
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