Eclectic Decorating

I really loathe decorating , im a great believer in lots of emulsion paint , not in white . White is my mothers addiction , i always thing its cold or maybe i just associate it with her..lol
Now by know most people will have realised that i collect Victorian , prints , china , books the list is endless , but i also like vintage and retro . So i thought id show you a few of the weirder decorative items that have stayed as guests .  If you have a scooter nut in the family you should always clothe his ornaments with Lego Men and my current favourite McDonalds Minions .

No home is complete without a couple of 3ft garden gnomes in the living room , I love these but in the garden theyre light enough to be stolen and as they are Mothers Day gifts from the munchkin, inside they must stay , they scare anybody walking down the path , new postmen being a favourite , Mr Bah Humbug has threatened to install red glowing eyes

Something that has been lurking near the front door at a number of houses meet George , he has recently been fetchingly improved with the addition of a Mike the Knight helmet courtesy of the munchkin .
So is the definition of eclectic decorating just adding things that make you smile ? or just not pleasing anyone but yourself

 Sharing with     www.wecallitjunkin.com

Car Boot Sunday

The sun was shining the birds were singing so I sneaked off this morning to Banovallum School car boot sale at Horncastle . Today had been predicted thunder and heavy rain so the field was only half full , this car boot can be a monster if the weathers good and the dates are listed on the schools PTA website.  There was lots to choose from and what do i spend ? A whole £1.50  on 2 bits , I think its just that im getting picky and with the ever robbing ebay fees its better to sell a single £20 item than a couple of dozen 99p auctions you just might get lucky on.
The  latest returns policies are going to be a nightmare for clothes sellers,  14 working days to ask to return and you can now return due to buyer remorse..mmmm  I can see where that is going , buy clothes to wear for an occasion then decide you dont like them because of buyer remorse after youve worn them . A recent experience may be the reason im so jaded, having sold a shirt   , only to have it returned filthy and stinking of aftershave .  Little point in complaining to ebay , because with the new ratings policy buyers can pretty much do as they like and you just have to smile nicely and agree . ...rant over

Anyway while buying dollies the other day , I had to spend a further 50p because they didnt have any change , rummaged in a pile of bits of china and found a selection of Shelley , Royal Albert, Hammersley and the pretty unusual green edged Aynsley  side plates and saucers , havent a clue what to do with them ...lol
These unusual green Irish Stoneware dinner plates were included in the 50p,  Brendan Bouquet Erin Stone , 3 of ,they may just go to be used when my rubbish dishwashers have chipped and broken a few of the current ones . this week ive managed to tick a single item off my wish list a Tupperware bacon box bought from a church sale up the road , im so easily pleased

Unidentified dolls

I should be banned from even driving past the Christian tiny thrift shop in the next village , once again I had to screech to a halt as i spotted more dolls sat looking lonely in the window , so meet the new batch of girlies who have perched up on this filthy wet day next to my keyboard . Now even I recognise Sindys slutty sister Barbie , but this is her 1970 Skipper little sister , she will be going onto ebay once shes had her face washed .
Now here are my mystery girlies ,  A Tressy clone or family member complete with a rather nice Faery Glen coat and a spotty dress marked Patch so not her original outfit . Thirdly the white haired girlie who ive taken a shine to , she just has such a nice face , made in Hong Kong but she seems rather good quality . Imput welcome on this one , who are my two mystery girlies .

A Crafty Easter

Ive had a thoroughly inactive Easter, I had a whole list of car boot sales i wanted to attend over the Easter Holidays ...lol.. You guessed it rain for a change . the menfolk toddled of on a fishing trip then a scooter trip , so ive had a lot of me time . I managed another one of my vintage jigsaws to go onto ebay , got to the end and there was a single piece missing , cue deranged grumpy granny episode . Get up next morning and the bit has mysteriously appeared after i had broken the thing up...grrr ...

Meanwhile months ago I paid a whole 50p for this and ive spent most of the last couple of days covering it with Britain and  Commonwealth stamps.  I really am that much of a packrat  that ive been saving stamps in a box since i was a kid , its busy drying . so it gives plenty of time for £1 shop varnish to be bought and me to sell something on ebay and fund the fabric from China ive seen, that i want to line it with . theres something about stamps theyre all little mini works of art.  Come on is it weird that its took 40+ years to find a use for them ?  Also please dont tell me if ive stuck something highly valuable into one of my projects

Sharing at  www.wecallitjunkin.com 

Sindy Tressy & Tablecloths

Its strange the things that jump out of a charty shop window at you , screeched to a halt outside the local church shop on spotting these lovely ladies who wernt there the day before . Yes its vintage Red haired  Sindy , sindy Clone? and a Tressy  theyve all come to live with me and have a bath and scrub up . Well played with, but they have all their fingers and toes . The dresses are Grubby but they will wash ,Tressy is modelling vintage Faerie Glen . They even have their little shoes and boots ,can you tell I'd like these to stay ?  I may list them once theyre cleaned up . Truly lousy photo its just settled in to blowing a gale and raining typical Bank Holiday weather .

I feel the start of a collection coming on whats not to love about this shabby Australian tablecloth , it has parrots its lime green , ive now got 3 location tablecloths !!

Girl Guides

Once upon a time my mothers middle class aspirations forced me to join the girl guides . Back in the 60s it was practically compulsory if you were going to get on in the world . It was all a bit Stepford wives then, flower arranging badges , Cake Baking and a bit of First Aid . The annual camping trip with the Scouts where you wernt allowed to even speak to a boy . I quickly realised that I didnt fit in , im not the slightest bit sporty and never have been , i was always the last to be picked , I cant hit a ball or catch a ball , i was banned from hockey for being to aggressive.

The flower arranging went well , I just dont grasp it at all., I still just grab a vase and ram them in , i think they gave me my one and only badge out of pity . I was eventually asked to leave after an incident with a Scout . But when you look at these 1920s images it looks kind of fun. When you look at the stuff they do know it looks fun...if your sporty , otherwise its like a visit to a coal mine in your wedding frock  . My daughter has just informed she was a deprived child because i didnt let her join the Brownies !!

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In praise of daughters

did you really think id manage 2 car boot sales and not come back with something for the Home for Rescued Volumes ?   1923 dilapidated Scholgirls Own Annual  , flicked this one open in a box of 50p volumes and home it was going . Guess what lured me ? I opened it and it was full of Bessie Bunter , one of my mothers favourite derogatory names for me, I guess she once had this book even though it was before her time , but as the plain fat bookish tomboy that i was , i always was such a disappointment to her .

Lifes sort of funny that way, my ultra glamour puss mummy was given a lumpy boring child,  meanwhile i got a stunningly beautiful twiglet daughter who thinks shes a failure because she cant read as fast as i can ..lol.. The look of horror on her face when people point out that you always end up like your mother is priceless . No love you wont get fat  . Yes you are turning into me , you lose everything and your parking is appalling but you will get the hang of cooking one day

Car Boot Sunday

So im up early and dragged a protesting daughter and munchkin , to a drafty field in the next village  , A real car boot and you never quite know what you will find , so here laugh at what I found . Sharing with  http://sirthriftalot.blogspot.co.uk/ because I have no idea what made me buy them..lol
Yes its vintage paper Santa napkins

Kurt Hammer Tankard with pewter top , serious blue & white 60s, lovely but into http://stores.ebay.co.uk/katiesrecycle this must go , not very popular in the UK so if it doesnt sell it can guest a while.
On an interesting note ive just found out that Surface Mail still exists, they have now  rechristened it Economy Mail , so if people can wait forever for stuff to arrive it makes postage to the States , Australia and New Zealand bearable

Mini Car Boot

Im very stressed at the moment and the best therapy I know is a walk round Torksey carboot sale . so i toddled off with daughter and the munchkin in tow, somewhat to my amazement they let me walk for miles on my own , more because of my tendency to look at stuff they find embarrassing and the fact that they always have a domestic half way round..lol
Its the school holidays so you were tripping over little people everywhere , couldnt look at anything for all  the pushchairs and the dealers were out in force .
I just struggled to find anything amazing , I so need amazing at the moment everything seems so samey, lots of blingy handbags and bad taste shoes , toys and  more toys  , overpriced "antiques " and vintage made in China circa 2010  .
Finally found a dealer i see around , hes a strange little bloke, he'd done one of the big antique fairs and  fetched all the stuff that didnt sell to the carboot so laugh at his chuckouts that I bought .
Jug with a little chip and a tiny crack just because i liked the colours

dinky JAJ Pyrex carafe with shamrocks that somebody might like?  a half a parian ware shrimp that just said pincushion to me

Vintage sliderule ..WHY  , strangest of the lot jadeite green little nail brush with a 50s bovver boot top

Finally gorgeous crinoline lady sandwich plate ...which i wil need to find a center for

Cauldron Cookery

Now the big kids view the cauldron ..aka the slow cooker, with real trepidation. Todays cheap and cheerful menu is a really bad cookery effort but its filling . 5 adults and some for tomorrow  .
Read this and be gobsmacked , 3 jars of tikka sauce slightly out of date but they were 6 for £1 , 2 tins of vegetable curry that were declared inedible by the boys , courtesy of the tin shop at Cleethorpes . Add £2 pack of chicken chunks from Heron Frozen Foods , these are probably Taiwanese Seagull chunks , do i care? Then its Sainsburys basics rice .
Now this is not healthy, its probably riddled with E numbers , but the one thing you realize with menfolk is that you really can hide anything in a curry , Indians devised it to hide the rancid meat they were cooking , but its cheap filling and they wont die from eating it .
We also have the arrival of  the big brown box from Approved Foods , 3kg of pasta 99p folks , a week out of date , err dried pasta go off ?
Pancake mix 3 for £1 , dumpling mix 6 for £1 , dried spicy casserole mix ? well it can go in the cauldron with something im sure . Approved food can be a bit heavy on the cakes and biscuits and pop , but its cheap and what theyre selling changes from day to day .
Now ive bored all my overseas readers to death , but in the UK food prices have soared and wages dropped like a stone , although the supermarkets are competing with their value ranges , most of which are perfectly edible , its still possible to shop even cheaper if your not to obsessed with brand names and sell by dates .

So heres some pretty 1962 book illustrations to take your mind off my bad cookery course

Floral Sunday

I needed something bright and cheerful to look at today , as i grump about the wretched weather yet again. Sunday day of carboots and mellow wanderings , so I get up and the winds howling and its raining for a change ..lol
 Its day of sewing and a good book , mixed in with contemplating the cauldron and what the hell i can slow cook for tomorrow .
 Im in disgrace for scrambling dried egg for breakfast , it was a bit weird the colours not right, it goes a bit rubbery, but it tastes just the same as real eggs. It was an Approved Foods purchase that ive been hiding in quiches and cakes for a few weeks and nobody has noticed ....till now
So today its something bright and cheery from the Home For Rescued Volumes, printed in the year i was born and a whole 10p rescue mission , ive bought an awful lot of childrens books that ive not got round to showing in the last few weeks ,theyre so easy to hide around the house !

Im just a total sucker for early 60s graphics. Cant you tell ?

LLoyds Bank ...GGGRRRRRRRRRRR

Now that ive reached that grumpy old woman time of life , hot flushes no sleep etc etc etc , I seem to get a bee in my bonnet over such silly things .
 I received a letter from Lloyds TSB relating to a PPI from many moons ago , opened it, read it, then nearly had my head explode as i realize they had addressed this to me and my EX husband at this address. Now I do not bank with Lloyds and havent since my divorce over 8 years ago and that was three addresses ago ,  . He has never lived at this address  ever .  So I ring them and get India , to inform them he is not at this address , there response is that he must ring them and tell them his new address to be removed from my address . Now I know he lives in Scotland thats about all and the kids are in touch with him , I also know that the world and its wife are looking for him for money he owes . I do not want his name associated with this address at all!!!!
Today i rang the financial services authority , who explained how to register a formal complaint and gave me the UK number for complaints . Ring complaints only to be told that they cant register a complaint because im not a customer , they give me another number for PPI complaints , its India again and theyre reading from the same screen again , so I still cant get anywhere . Ring FSA , I must now write a letter of complaint and wait 8 weeks for a response , meanwhile my ex is back ruining my credit rating at this address .As soon as the knocks at the door start i will be logging every one and seeking compensation from Lloyds

Now for a translation for those overseas . Once upon  time we all believed that banks were honest caring institutions that made the City of London a great place , they all sold us insurance if you borrowed in any shape or form , what they didnt tell us is that these policies were pretty much useless if you tried to claim on them and for pennies you could get the insurance from elsewhere . Eventually someone twigged and it turned into a big scandal , they were instructed to give the money back for the policies , which if you sent the relevant forms off most did , with a few noteable exceptions , Lloyds being one of them , now they have been instructed that they must give the money back by August of this year .