A Lincolnshire Family History

Meet the ancestors, this was the home of my Aunty May and Uncle Pete  up until the mid 1990s . they were are great part of my life when i was growing up .

 Uncle Pete was profoundly deaf and never switched his hearing aid on and was a tiny weedy bloke  . My Aunt May was a big strapping 6ft lady , who was a ganger on the land for a great many years . They married back in the 50s much to everyones amazement as it was expected that neither would marry but would stay on and look after there parents into their old age, it was the done thing for an only daughter and a youngest son . They were never blessed with children and accepted there lot , but they always had a hoard of nephews and nieces hanging around , mainly i think because they had land and we got to drive ancient tractors and farm machinery . Health and Safety would  have had a field day .

you know you want the door! 

My aunty kept a herd of milk goats and chickens for pin money . Getting to the outside loo with an evil smelly billy goat sitting on the roof and waiting for you was an experience. Plus there was the fact that my aunty could bake in ways i can never hope to compete with all ,done on a solid fuel range ..

outside loo and goat shelter 

These photos were taken the day they had to leave their home and move into sheltered housing , my Aunts joints were giving out after a lifetime of farm work and my Uncle had the early stages of dementia . It was a house very like my Grandmas that i grew up in , they even had the bath under a worktop in the kitchen just like she did . A single cold water tap and dodgy home done wiring complete with Bakelite fittings and an iron you screwed into the light socket . the following day the house was bulldozed for a new development at least the sale of the land provided them with good care till they passed away a couple of years ago .
They always seemed contented with their lot , they never bought new , replaced things only when they couldnt repair things anymore and just didnt aspire to what others thought important . Maybe thats the way were going again ?

Spot the bath?

Boot Sales & Yard Sales

Well 3 bootsales and a round the village yardsale and home for 10am , that must be a new record . I wish i had something dynamic to show you but all i found is yet more pillowcases for the fabric
and these .A Pikachu for my 20 year old son , yep thats right my big kid of a son .

 Plus i found this big golden privet Sylvac vase , I just loved the 70s browness of it . i think I have a Sylvac problem as fast as i get rid of a bit i find another to take its place , i sold my christening present green bunnie a couple of months ago he made a stunning £30 on a BIN . This big lump of vase cost a whole £3 and doesnt have much of a resale just because of the postage aspect . Maybe if i keep it 50 years like the rabbit it may have value . I will keep telling Mr Bah Humbug that as he keeps tutting at it ...lol
Now for the bad news yesterday i washed the gorgeous 70s nylon bedspread featured in my last post , only for it to develop UV itis  it faded in a large patch then split up to the quilted part on top grrrr does anyone have a use for the fabric before i chuck it into the rag bag ? the top is fine

Grimsby & Immingham

Thursday i went to Scnthorpe and managed to sneak out during lunch to potter around Ashby . I had begun to think i was the curse of the charity shops, not a thing did i find . im not sure if its because im being so picky or if its just because there is nothing in them ?

So when i managed to get finished for 11.00 , I figured i can raid Grimsby and Cleethorpes, so Freeman street it was , admittedly i did find a little something try not to laugh...I bought a durex mug , for those of you in foreign parts, theyre a condom company.  I can only find one other on the internet so into the shop it will go ...obviously its a rare and valuable item . 

But being me i forgot the sun was shining and the kids on holiday , so i managed to get as far as the homeless charity on Cleethorpes road , where i got 10 books for a whole £1 a couple for ebay and the rest as winter reading material for me .

 Huge traffic jams going down to Cleethorpes so i had to rethink and head to Immingham instead , that place rarely fails me , 3 charity shops and one purchase, ho hum , but its gorgeous a 70 retro nylon single bedspread , very orange i can remember these if you held them tight down and turned off the light you could slide down them and make loads of static sparks , it did take two of us . but it amused us for hours . it has a teeny tin hole where the idiot in the shop ripped the kimble tag off ..ggrrr  so i may do a tiny 2 stitch repair . Struggling with photographs today its somewhat breezy 

 For those of you who are local , Martin LN4 is having a village wide yard sale tommorow and sunday  , im at work of course!!

diary of the frustrated thrifter

Having spent a couple of hours yesterday thrifting my way through Boston and doing the big sighs over the few price tags i looked at , today had to be better didnt it ?
So I thought a plod around the outskirts of Lincoln was called for , only to find most of the Strut a local charity for disabled children , which was always worth a look due to the pricing, is no more . The furniture warehouse on Outer Circle Road is still alive and Relate appears to be moving into there empty unit on Moorlands , lets hope the Relate is a bit more reasonable than the one on the High Street .Moorlands Methodists have shut for the summer as well...Lincoln is now thrifting hell...lol
Tomorrow im in Scunthorpe for the day so hopefully i can sneak off and see what i can find, i havent been for months so we shall see.
While i remember... I did an online Sainsburys basics shop and my daughter managed to find a code for £20 off your first order , it was her first order not mine....lol  so worth a look if youve got other family members and you havent ordered online for a while . This was more to get my frozen food home without it turning to mush than anything . So with the money saved ive been going mad , its amazing what £20 will buy you at http://www.approvedfood.co.uk/ i had to bump it to £25 to get my 1p lucky box , I dread to think whats going to be in it ...lol
Heres todays huge thrift purchase a couple more Ladybird readers, the next two that the munchkin needs a whole £1 and a 10p fat quarter with dinky little Strawberries allover it

Sunday Thrift Starvation

This week has been grim, not a single ebay sale in  http://stores.ebay.co.uk/katiesrecycle. Not unexpected when theyre throwing hundreds of free 99p auction listings around . I do however seem to have dozens of watchers on items , all a bit strange unless theyre waiting for payday?.
In the real world it has been audit week at work , a ritual of such stunning nitpicking that my soul has been sapped to the hilt , ive just come home everyday and slumped in a chair and snored . It ended with a stunning event,, a visit from THE boss , more commonly known as the Lord High Executioner . I assumed it was to pension me off , id never met him in the flesh , though we bicker on the phone regularly . Sadly no he hadnt come to pension me off , hed come to tell me how wonderful i was???? believe me i,m not wonderful , im good at my job but im no company person..lol..
So I knew he was after something , wasnt he just . Would I consider coming back to work full time ? I havent answered that one . But i think its a no, we may be broke , but its the first time in years ive had any quality of life . Im very aware of the clock ticking , now we dont get to retire till were 67 , Mr Bah Humbug is 7 years younger than me , but it looks as if hes the one who has started to hit  health problems and i will end up as his carer . So theres things i want to do before that happens . Selfish i know, but im not into flash cars , holidays or any kind of conspicuous consumerism , my pleasures are small , i enjoy my ebay and trawling the universe for stuff to sell . Even if you have to sneak off from the boss to do it ...lol
This is my sole thrift shop trip of the week , 3 of these unusual cat cushion covers and a couple of Smarties Egg cups , all for the shop methinks . Tomorrow normal service will be resumed , half a days work and half a day of thrifting in Boston

Moan rant moan

Grumpy old bird day today, spent a weekend in a wet tent near Grantham doing scooter missus duty. Plus side finally managed to finish .Stephen Kings under the dome in one go, far better than its TV version.
Rural broadband is rubbish we're barely managing .3 meg at the moment , so no eBay uploads or picture today, how you're supposed to run a business from home ?  Get a dongle you say, err we don't. Have a phone signal strong enough...aaaarrrrrgggghhhhh.
Bid in loads of online auctions won nothing...lol.  So now I can go out and thrift with the money I didn't spend.
Sadly haven't time , burdened with time consuming rubbish work in the real world.
And as the final straw got stung by something in the garden , despite tons of anti histamine I now have grapes under my arm and fingers like sausages.
Tommorow is another day, where the thrift shops will be full of vintage loveliness for pennies. The family will do all the chores they're asked when they're asked and I will believe in fairies!!!!

How to Waste a £1

Yesterday i did a couple of thrift and charity shops and what did i get . I spent a whole pound in the Moorland Christians , i bought a shirt for my son , who actually got out of the car and walked round with me!! then i bought a wool cashmere dark blue overcoat , immaculate and a whole 60p that can languish till the cold weather . Then a glorious Per Una summer skirt all roses and fru fru , so not me and it didnt fit anyway , nice material , I will have to conquer the hideous problems i have with item specifics and clothing , not sure how .
Then i visited another christian shop and bought a 1965 peewee mini doll, a plastic viking, a heavy ornate pressed glass sundae dish , a little Aynsley cup and saucer that has a scuff on the green and the one thing worth having a brewery horse brass . What goes through my mind why do i buy this rubbish ?  i would have felt guilty coming out with just the horse brass thats why . I did only spend a £1

Car Boots Bah Humbug!!

Well i made the effort and got up on a dull and gloomy Sunday morning and toddled off with a car load of total junk to do a car boot sale in the next village , of course i forgot my phone and my camera so cant show you my vile wares .
What i hadnt realised is that the big airshow at RAF Waddington would mean that nobody could get there from Lincoln due to road closures ..doh
Theres was about 25 sellers and a few sporadic customers , i made a grand total of ...........wait for it £20 take away £5 for a pitch , thats a whole £15 to blow on wild living and fuel this week lol
But I did manage to get rid of the bulk of the household plastics i was burdened, with, mainly to some very nice Polish ladies and most of the 50p tractor stuff . I took a box to the charity shop and chucked a few bits I couldnt stand the sight of any more into the bin. Not a single pair of curtains did i sell , this is really odd as even on a dead day they usually go really well . So they will go again in a few weeks .
Meanwhile Mr Bah Humbug had decided to start another little fixing up job . Hes been questioning my daughter about the blog so i threatened to post his picture so everybody knows him....here he is

mr bah humbug 

and his constant companion 

July 4th Giveaway Result + Cows

Happy july the 4th if your in the States , heres my little bit of red white and blue

Meanwhile the winner of the medical book giveaway is......Suzy Cuthbert , please send me an address and its on its way

In the real world i seem to have bought a box of cow books at the last auction, i did plop a couple on ebay and one sold in a couple of hours , but i did put it on at the stunning sum of £7.50 . there was a few listed on amazon for £40 but do i want them stood around for months . thats the problem , i have to shift things quickly because i have no storage . I do get a few moans from people who also sell on ebay about my pricing , im not particularly cheap but i do turn a decent profit on the items i sell , usually around 4 times what i bought it for, on a good day 10x what i bought it for . I would sooner turn a profit at a level that allows dealers to buy from me than have an item moldering here for months just because i may get a higher price eventually. At the moment im tripping over boxes everywhere that are full of car boot stuff and it gives more vile weather for the weekend . But i have at last got to the end of washing all the fabric from the huge amount i bought at auction, most of it has washed really well apart from some lengths of silk taffetta that had perished and at least weve had a good drying week . theres an awful lot of curtains that can go to car boot they just need measuring and labeling so it may be a good job for a wet weekend

Crafty Auction

So i sneaked off to auction with my normal tiny budget again and im quite pleased with what i got . People really dont get craft related stuff at auctions so i managed to snatch a bargain or two. Rug Tools Anyone ? or rug wool , loads of lace , more wool , pinnies some just cut out and ready to sew , linen with transfers ready for embroidery . a pile of 70s advertising vinyl pinnies it just goes on and on . This should keep me busy listing for a few days and then some . But there is a couple of mystery items

how many rug tools can a girl use 

nobody wanted this because they thought the wool had been eaten by rats....its rug wool!

Mystery craft related items theres a pair both thick wool carpeting with a hanging hoop .any ideas?

ive only just started unpacking the car!!!