Jigsaws & Insomnia

So  im skint as always and have yet another stinking head cold.  Its jigsaw season , last nights effort was a Jigmap of New Zealand , proper retro 70s jigsaw , these do sell on ebay with varied results so ive been good finished it and into the shop it has gone . http://stores.ebay.co.uk/katiesrecycle
i have a vintage jigsaw problem , i bought a big box of the jig maps from a car boot in the summer the trouble is they had all come loose into the big outer box they were packed in , they are all the same colours so it wasnt accurate separating them, so because theyre such a pain , I do one of them now and again then hunt through all the loose bits to finish them .

Waddingtons did some great vintage jigsaws , the circular ones sell well , I must have had every one of them as a kid , you always got a jigsaw at Xmas mainly because my dad wanted to do them.

Jigsaws are a seller take a look on ebay , but they sell best with a completed picture . Sealed ones do great the bigger the better . Springbox from the 60s  can really surprise you and you do find quite a few of the obscure ones in the UK, if you will ship to America they can make silly money

Tartan & Pyrex

I can vouch for the fact that it is very easy to hide Pyrex, it can be cunningly hidden in your pan cupboard because you know that Mr Bah Humbug has more chance of entering the realms of Mordor than using a pan. Blue JAJ Pyrex snowflake divided dish tucked away for a few years till i find a lid..lol

Its been posing in my lousy photographs , along with this big bit of Tartaness that needs to go into the shop , http://stores.ebay.co.uk/katiesrecycle  when I get round to it of course , vintage 60s perfect and gorgeous car blanket , pure wool , i could find a thousand uses for this , but i hid the Pyrex so I must play fair .
Meanwhile in the real world it looks like work will pick up come April , lots of bookings coming in , so then i can go out and thrift and car boot and pile it up far higher ready for the winter no work season , ebay in the summer tends to die off , if its nice who wants to sit inside ?

Army & Navy

Its back to the 1939-40 Army & Navy pricelist that im currently salivating over . Just think anywhere in the Empire you could order England by mail . Everything from a headstone to a maids uniform , groceries of a typically English nature , "tea and anchovy sandwiches anyone ?" cooked of course in Pyrex .
Everything for your wedding from the stationary to the rings and the favours ,your whole house furnished and your china pattern picked out .

 Just think, once upon a time those girls who hadnt found a husband during the London season were packed of to any relative on the other side of the world and told to find a man . I suppose it worked rather well really , the men were to busy doing their bit for the Empire to have the time for much courting and the choice was limited so if you could stand the sight of each other it worked out rather well . Many couples met on board ship . Dont forget that right up to the 50s marriages were quite often an arrangement between the two parties , divorce wasnt an option and you just laid back and thought of England . Being a spinster lady wasnt much of a choice , incomes for females were to low to support them , so it was stay at home and care for your parents or marriage.
My grandad however was one of twelve children and as he so charmingly put it "the two ugly sisters were given to God" so yes I had a pair of Great Aunty nuns , who terrorised us all as children , I rather liked them ,they didnt take any nonsense from anyone and once they retired from the nursing side spent their time on pilgrimage well into their 80s . Pilgrimage was code for church sponsored holidays all over the place. I also remember that if you fed them Guinness they did the bad Irish whining singing , which usually meant my mother driving them to Holyhead and ramming them back on the ferry to Ireland .
But its them i have to thank for my need for all things religious around the house , they used to bring me little coloured pamphlets about the Saints , I quite fancied being a martyr as a child and I quite liked the outfit, so my parents banned me from seeing them. Then the parcels started, theology textbooks and Butlers lives of the saints..lol I think they were trying to recruit me . They might have won the argument but I discovered boys and that was that.

Mary Mary

Well I still havent found spectacular , though Ive wandered all around mablethorpe, alford and Spilsby  between jobs today, it being a glorious sunny spring day .
So for today I thought id share a little garden ornament im rather fond of , ive had her for years , the boys have cut down the huge clematis that was growing over her so now shes looking sad and lonely, i have every intention of turning her into a bathtub madonna , she really needs a shrine to cover her , I did have her in my kitchen at the old house .
Purchased at Swinderby many years ago , from an Irish gentleman for next to nothing as she had fallen over and broke her hands , love her dearly, shes due a repaint this year once shes dried out , may even try to mould her some hands with a pair of gloves and resin, rhinestone gloves would look pretty awesome .

We got some funny looks belting home with her strapped in the passenger seat , so yes I have a 5ft virgin in the garden

Jumble Sale

Today i toddled off to the jumble sale , dragged my daughter and a grumbling 5 year old along as well.  It was heaving ive never seen one so busy , but this is always a good one . Didnt buy tons but very happy with what i did get . A big pile of nice sturdy xmas boxes , i thought they would do for ebay posting if nothing else , i thought they were a bit heavy , turns out theyre crammed full of red and gold themed xmas decorations, sadly not vintage but allready claimed by my daughter , 12 china knobs that may fit the missing ones on my bureau , if not off to ebay . Shell coins a whole stack of them , a couple are the rare ones so im well pleased for 10p . A huge piece of material with a beige and black screen printed design that im sure i can find a use for .

  

My daughter managed to find some ancient text book that is desirable to a politics student the most expensive item of the day at 40p , a pile of games for the small monster have also come home..lol
Now if id had a booth somewhere i would have picked up the pyrex tealight stands with pyrex , the huge enamel 70s stewpot with big daisies and the vast tupperware cake savers , they were a stunning 50p each, but realisticaly they are to big for me to post . Ive found that buyers get very annoyed when you cant courier stuff to them , they think youre making it up when you say your that rural nobody will touch you , plenty of companies advertise pickups anywhere but believe me out here its at a price and the nearest depot is a 30 mile round trip . Even when you put buyer collect they still buy stuff then give you negative feedback for not doing courier deliveries , then youve all the trouble of gettng the feedback removed , just because theyre muppets who dont read the listing properly

Technically challenged

Ok.....so mr bah humbug is letting me play with his iPad. Probably not one of his better ideas, first thoughts . Why is this thing so heavy? Why can't Safari go a bit faster! Maybe because I live in the back of beyond!
Now as a spring has sprung kind of person it's the first jumble sale of the year locally and I'm getting overexcited, will bag lady have tripped over a trailing vintage tablecloth during the winter , will I find lots of spectacular stuff. I've even altered my work schedule so I can attend.
I've left a couple of minuscule bids at the local auction, with the improvement in weather maybe  I will be luck
Meanwhile in the world of eBay, the chapel chairs finally sold locally and we have lots of groceries. Lol
so much to list and so little time but at least next week I've 3 days off
BUM....now I can't figure out how to find my pictures, I will go away until such time as I have something spectacular to show and tell

Auctions

Well today being my day off, I thought a whole day of domestic servitude was called for , so ive washed and polished and cooked all day .
Now for the truth , found an email this morning for the chuckout auction  for Unique Auctions in Lincoln , thought i'd pop along , they have a big "antique" sale at the weekend https://www.easyliveauction.com/auction_catalogue.cfm?d&auction=17824BFCCD4942D7F702   and this was all the stuff not quite good enough for that.  Didnt buy anything today its 2 days before payday  so as usual im broke ,but I think i will make the effort to go again. Furniture was so cheap it was embarrassing , there was also some quite good boxed rubbish lots .
Plus the auctioneer was a decent easy to follow bloke , not one of the selling cattle type who you can get in out of the city auctions.
If you were young and furnishing a home on the cheap this is the one to go to, for a £100 you could get most of your white goods , wardrobes and other wooden stuff . theres a lot of repaint items as well .
Theres a lot of stuff on my wish list for the weekend sale  , but as it would be buy to keep , im banned

Monday Lust Objects

In a bid to cheer myself up .. ive a severe case of the winter blues prompted by poverty , lack of ebay stock  and life in general at the moment . Even the cat has turned into a ginger Eeyore , but it cant be much fun being a cat in the weather weve been having , after all i can chuck everything covered in mud in the washer he has to lick the stuff off his fur .
A single day of sunshine and http://www.bigfashionista.co.uk/ are to blame for me looking around the internet for my spring lust objects , of the man flesh variety .
Well first up it had to be a werewolf didnt it , spot the obvious downside of this one . Thats right a werewolf should be furry doh...so not quite perfect .

Please explain why bruce willis even bald old and wrinkly , still does it for me he just has to smirk and this old bird melts , i managed to stay awake after 9pm just to watch him last night

But the weirdest of all is why have i developed a crush on the chubby beardy in the Cadburys advert , is it subliminal, chocolate sex? chocolate sex ? the menopause? or am i just weird ?
 So girlies or boysies who is your weird crush ? do tell

An Unromantic Valentines Day

Oh well Mr Bah Humbug has once again delivered his usual rant , "Commercialism gone mad , men trying to buy a sex life...etc etc etc .
There are days when you should be able to lock your partner in a closet it and not get done for spousal abuse , this is one of them .
Though the herds of blokes with the startled in the headlamps look running round Sainsburys was worth a chuckle , they dont get it do they ? Put some thought into it you muppets!!
Meanwhile in the corner of my kitchen , im enjoying  http://jannolson.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/valentine-swap.html.  My goody box from Jann is amazing shes a far better crafter than me , plus im not sure how the edibles made it through customs , but they smell gorgeous . Theres so much in a little box . I hope my box of tricks makes it to her

Mini Thrift Haul

I went looking for the Nomad Trust Charity Shop today , they had hid themselves in an empty unit on Sincil Street , at least they hadnt put their prices up and they have tons of space so their now selling furniture dirt cheap as well , on the downside theres nowhere to park its in the pedestrian precinct and the parking charges mean i wont be a frequent visitor .
But look i found a few bits of something of a miracle in todays wonderful blow you off our feet weather , Horrocks single flat sheet so  70s groovy it hits you in the face, to sell or not to sell undecided, yet more pillowcases for the collectionin the pink im currently hexi quilting. Meanwhile in the world of Pyrex this small casserole , design and maker unknown  it does have a brown lid that fits , thought my daughter might like it for her collection , she informs me shes starting a bottom drawer..lol

On another plus front I have a Valentines package from the States which i will reveal on Valentines Day , its the only valentines gift ive ever received , Mr Bah Humbug doesnt do that sort of thing , but he does a good Valentines rant so were not encouraging him out to go shopping at the moment . It makes him sound a right misery but hes not as bad as my ex , who sent me a Valentines addressed to someone else. That was a man with style..lol

Spam Sunday

Have you ever been so bored that youve sat and read your spam bin?  The vile weather is still keeping me housebound , yes I know all you motivated people will all be out there yomping through whatever nature has decided to chuck at you , getting fit so you can pay the nursing home fees for a few years longer than me . No chance , im paid to go out in all weathers during the week , the weekend is for huddled in my blanket with my hot water bottle, my hexie patchwork and a good book . 

So what does my spam bin have to say to me , errrrr good grief theyve noticed im a fat bird , I must instantly send these strange people loads of money so that i can become the ultimate lust object a skinny bird !! doesnt say how theyre going to achieve that one , maybe they plan to come round chop off my limbs and sew up my mouth . Its all that would work..lol

Nat West ad Co-op Bank need me to log in to my accounts because of a security breach , have I that much money that I have bank accounts that I have forgot about? Dont think so 

Internet dating sites , I found Mr Bah Humbug online but not on a dating site , just on a chatroom for those of us who have weird kids , took me two years to pluck up the courage to meet him , hasnt turned out to bad....the kids are still weird though 

Do I want lots of Bingo Cash depositing in my account , in fact 14 accounts for various sites, am i that old that i must become a bingo granny ?

Canadian Online Pharmacy , bit creepy this one, thats always in the news for selling euthanasia drugs , whose been on my ID looking that  up?

Marta from Burkino Faso wants me to help her get her millions out of the country , I have very generously sent my exs bank details , he needs the money more than me and hes always been partial to a damsel in distress. 

I think I will go back to my only thrift purchase of the week  this giant monster doorstop of a volume that you may see much more of , a facsimile copy of the 1939-40 Army & Navy Catalogue  this has to be the ultimate source of 40s retro household items , im in love and ive barely got past the luggage pages , I keep squealing when i spot stuff i own . So night folks , ive a small bit of reading to catch up on

Thrift Burn Out

Today ive trawled charity shops the length and breadth of Lincolnshire and fitted a bit of real world work in just to justify the fuel ive wasted . Is it just that ive become picky?
The house is a total tip and the washing mountain has a sherpa and a couple of ice axes hanging off the side , my crafting heap is covered in small muddy footprints "bother that cat"  come on who knows where bother that cat comes from?
 Ive never seen so many pots laid around and its not a tablescape its more like domestic sluttery awards night
Its been a totally crap week I mislaid a friend, its her funeral next week and 51 is not an age to die . It wasnt a long battle bravely fought, it was a crap deal in life , being the guinea pig for pharmaceutical companies latest wonder drugs , having your husband of 20+ do a runner because he "couldnt face it " was his bloody sock drawer empty ? Asshole
So im very bitter and twisted at the moment , hate everything with testicles and im having a very full of self pity few days .
Carole , may you smile down from heaven with a large voddie in your hand and the most gorgeous piece of man flesh on your arm , it was fun knowing you through the good times and the bad

Come Fly With Me

Forced to dip into the Home for Redundant Volumes yet again , roll on Spring . 

Having a funny old week this week , lots of work in the real world but im struggling to make it pay , fuel costs are eating my wage with a vengeance im afraid , an ongoing problem that will never improve. I need to improve my income somehow not sure what inspiration will strike , ebay fluctuates widely so isnt a way to pay the rent , wish it was .

The Wonder Book of Aircraft from the 1930s is a strange one , I have lots of Wonder Books this is a weird mixture of aerial photographs and man bait , thats maybe why it doesnt appeal. I may give it a go in http://stores.ebay.co.uk/katiesrecycle. I dont  sell many books because they tend to drown on ebay . 

What amuses me is the fact that women dont get much of a mention , women were flying planes by then, and its just before WWII , when women flew a lot but not in a combat role

Dolly Daydream

When I was a kid , my cousin had a dolly that I coveted . I whinged and whined every birthday and xmas until someone gave in and I received a Tiny Tears . Once again ungrateful child appeared, I did not want a baby doll that could wee , I loathed all baby dolls . I never got another doll except for a Tressy whos head I severed , that got me another beating . Honestly I wasnt a tiny sociopath just a little bit misunderstood.

Then on a visit to the Salvation Army , there was a battered cellulose foot sticking out from a pile of cuddly toys ,it was worth a look and there she was the doll of my childhood dreams . Palitoy cellulose and beautiful  , complete with her dodgy wig , knitted undies and ruby red lips . The lady on the till said she wasnt suitable for children , maybe, but this big kid carried her round like a babe in arms all day for the stunning sum of £2.50.  Can you spot the problem with a Tiny Tears as a substitute , I love creepy dolls

Shes pictured here as I was practicing DIY gynecology on her , still havent got her legs back on , im informed I need a bait hook , and theres a lake between the fishing shed and the house at the moment . So shes a WIP  , but then i guess i need to make her a 50s dolly gown  , if i made the gown maybe nobody would notice that shes handicapped at the moment