Grimsby Fishy Grimsby

A 2 day tour of Grimsby this week , a place with an awful lot of charity shops. so lets shamelessly plug the best of them .
The Rock Foundation has a shop at the top of Freeman Street plus a huge site round the corner on Wellington Street this is complete with a Victorian Tea Room ,an old fashioned sweet shop plus a 3 room charity shop thats very reasonable and displays of garden furniture they make from recycled  timber , theres craft workshops on site and its all in aid of adults with learning difficulties . Its open Mon - Fri. Age UK yielded a bit more from their free bins , load more magazine files and other office stuff  and its just across the road . heres just a little of todays haul .

Edwardian transfer printed hat pin holder from Louth , going into the shop shortly . A pair of gorgeous cut up books The Silver Jubilee of George V 1911-35 great condition packed with sepia photographs but a single page missing . The Wonder Book of Animals early 20c tatty but amazing photographs and illustrations including the Canadian soldiers with their Pet Bears from WWI. Original River Cottage Cookbook for when i have a cookbook week in Katies Recycle. a pile of 10p unused pretty photo frames , because its school photo season !!

D.I.V.O.R.C.E

Do you ever have that thought " If I'd only known then ,what I do now"   I walked away from 22 years of marriage, a house and everything in it. I took a couple of dustbin bags of clothes , my computer and my car, which fortunately had my son in it ! Drove to the bank and asked a wonderful lady how i should finance a divorce . One interest free credit card later , i'd rented a house rounded up my daughter and moved in .
We slept on the floor for months , we didnt have a TV or much else for ages but we were happy . I slept for the first time in months and so did the kids .

 My ex threw the most amazing tantrums , hid in hedgerows to try and catch me seeing anyone and tried to turn the kids against me . He put all my belongings in storage and refused to let me have anything from the house which he proceeded to wreck once i left . The reason for his ire? There was no one else , I just couldnt put up with his behavior for another day .
The reason for me drowning in stuff is that my ex couldnt afford to pay his storage fees so he gave me everything back years later
I was shunned by my family and still am, except for one wonderful aunty whos now gone  , in my family divorce just didnt happen .
I pottered on for over a year , then got talking to a man online , not on a dating site I wouldnt dare , just in a bitter and twisted divorcee chat room..lol ..the worst anyone had to say about him was that he was boring ..lol.. It took a year to get up the courage to meet and the rest is history .
Mr Bah Humbug the grumpiest little furry bloke in the world has been part of our lives for 8 years , he wasnt boring , turns out hes a one finger typist and just couldnt keep up withe the conversation in the chat room . He makes me smile every day and i could cheerfully kill him on occasion, maybe we only get the downward slide of life together but thats still a good thing .......................

Sunday Service

Busy day on the ebay front , finally figured out where the aerial photograph featured in the last post was . its Castle Rising in Norfolk , sorted through  tons of bits and bobs on the craft front , got to figure out quite how to group them yet and what is actually worth listing . i may end up Freecycling a load . Managed to fill up the dreaded Turbo Lister . So a few New listings going into  http://stores.ebay.co.uk/katiesrecycle  ebay store tonight .
Heres a little tip for you , how many books of Comman Prayer and little Bibles have you walked past at thrift, charity shops  and car boot sales lately ? Always look inside them,

because you quite often find these , little page markers and tracts many were given at bible study and sunday school. Back in the 60s we used to get stickers and a book to put them in , these date back as far as the victorians

Dont you think they would make an awesome wrapping paper design? Id quite like to cover a bible or notebook with this just to annoy those who dont like Sunday

Famine Over

Finally a break from the charity shop famine , The Cats Protection were having a closing down sale as they are moving site , theyd emptied the stockroom of stuff theyd had for years. I turned up just as they were packing up and i came out laden up for the grand sum of £1.80 I dread to think what they started with ..lol

Norman Rockwell Cook Book great illustrations may chop up for the illustrations if it doesnt sell . An old black and white framed photograph of Poole Dorset , might just flog the photo there are collectors of aeriel photography out there  , More childrens books to cut up and a few for the little man , 60s sugar dredger thats been claimed as a salt shaker by Mr Bah Humbug , yet more knitting patterns and some unopened knitting magazines with the gifts still in, im so mean i can never justify spending £5 on a magazine no matter how glossy  . The Nomad Trust yielded this harvest formica tray that i have a use for , gorgeous small vintage biscuit tin that will become yet more sewing storage and a brooch that im not sure why i bought it but it was 50s and cheap . Lots more stuff to unpack yet .  Always lifts the spirits when you have a good day at the thrifts

Motivated Thursday

A hard day at work in the real world , late home and ive left everything in the car . Its pitch black and like a swamp outside so ive dragged something off the shelf to show you today .

This weeks edition of the Girls Own Paper from 1881 , those were the days.  back then every middle class girl aspired to win a prize in the annual competition for a drawing or painting on the subject of adversity . Two guineas wasnt to be frowned on back then . A visit to a cotton mill to look down your noses at the poor clog wearing girlies was suggested so you might learn your place?? Answers to readers questions always amuses me , lots of pull you down for your spelling or handwritting answers.

Things have changed a lot, now its how to apply a vajazzle for 12 year olds , everyone writes in text speak and  how to be a right old slapper 10 years before your time, while for the big girls theres Mollie Makes to show you how inept your crafty efforts are

Despondent Wednesday

I think total apathy has set in a day early this week , ventured out to do my real world job today only to come home and find my wage slip for the last month . It was so depressing i really could sell a kidney or maybe one of the kids kidneys ...mmmm
They introduced this wonderful bonus scheme that effectively has halved our pay , in the past 3 years my real world wages have droped over 60% already , we're now working for way below minimum wage on a zero hours contract and theres little anyone can do about it . the argument is that theres the potential with the new bonus scheme to earn big money , most people are leaving theres only us oldies left, nobody is earning big money  .  I could go out and get another job but once you hit 50 nobody wants you no matter how well qualified you are , plus its a very male dominated industry that i work in .
Ebay is keeping me afloat just , but the fees each such a big chunk of what you make that its not easy money anymore .
So today laugh at what i bought , these American Geographical society sticker books from the 60s  , they cost pennies and theyre are 10 of them but theyre worthless and dont sell ....story of today i think

Donations of 70% dark chocolate gratefully accepted , Gordons Gin and maybe a large dose of sympathy ...lol

Getting Crafty

Its stopped raining finally , so today i thought i'd drag a couple of projects that are nearing completion outside for a photo shoot .  I had a vision a while a go when i found on my travels a huge reel of red blanket tape , it cost me all of £1 and the patchwork blocks were something i'd done for a cure for boredom last winter , all made with loads of material that a lovely lady who had stopped sewing gave away on Freecycle . Then it got weirder , we bought a bad duvet it  had something very wrong with its covering fabric, it generated static and twisted round whatever cover it was in . So daft lass here decided to unpick it and have a look , i discovered that you could pull apart the individual layers of hollowfiber and an idea was born .( I would add, dont dismantle a duvet in the house the mess is unbelievable ) So know i have my version of an eiderdown that weighs next to nothing but will make a great window quilt . 

Then of course grandson decides he wants one ,so thats under construction , all i have left to do is the hand hemming and the velcro to fasten to the frames . All these quilts have cost me in real terms is approx £5 and 2 reels of thread , theyre both backed with vintage sheeting . Yes you can spend a fortune on fat quarters and jelly rolls but theres quiet satisfaction in recycling what you have around you and i still have 2 huge bags of hollowfibre for a rainy day . I can also vouch for the fact that a 95 year old singer sewing machine quilts rather well

Pillowcase Love

Boston again today and greatly to my shock I visited Age UK and picked up this pair of Barkcloth glorious autumn shades curtains , into the ebay shop these must go im afraid , I could think of a dozen projects for these including covering the vile rocking chair cushions,but cant be sentimental ive rent to pay .lol

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Then it was my favourite of the moment vintage pillowcases , they store so well and theres just the right amount of fabric for most projects I tackle , including quilting , theyre usually poly cotton so they dont rot . Has anyone else noticed of late that a lot of cotton shirts just rot into holes in one season now ? are they doing this deliberately , is it a green policy or just a ploy to make you buy more clothes ? I have a theory that your not supposed to hang your washing out these days so they dont test fabrics for UV sensitivity anymore because everybody works indoors and just tumble drys everything . My daughters generation seem to be the worse offenders one of her friends told me it was unhygenic and a total waste of her time to hang out washing , after all thats what you do if your poor  . Money to burn more like
So today every shop I went in seemed to have odd 70s and 80s pillowcases , which to me made it a good day , ive just finished a yellow project so they can go but im building up to a pink project for the winter , I like hexie hand quilting and every once in a while i get the urge , it takes forever but i find it satisfying and ive a bored soon to be 5 year old boy on the premises , its time he learned to sew , it does him no harm and its a useful skill for life.

Sunday Busy Sunday

Im back, ive not lost interest in the blog or run away , just had a hellish busy couple of days , lots of family and one of the truly rare occasions when Mr Bah Humbug and I go out !! Cue gasps of horror from the kids

. We travelled to the depths of Scunthorpe Baths Hall to see Mr Bill Bailey comedian and purveyor of strange music it was an excellent night and i really had face ache when we came out , wed planned to go get food afterwards but the tumbleweeds were blowing along the streets , whatever happened to going out on a Saturday Night?  instead we ended up at the Lincoln University McD a vaguely surreal experience complete with bouncers and lots of teenagers in pyjamas.

Meanwhile my daughter had been buying things on ebay for me , so ive spent most of today moving furniture for my next project that i havent got any time to complete and fetching this in the pouring rain ..lol

 so comfortable but the covering is vile,reminds me of the stuff they cover chairs with in old folks homes , guess i wil have to live with it for a while at £24 for something that retails at around £400 im happy . , so its official im an old granny with a rocking chair now .

Ebay will resume tomorrow , theyre pushing lots of free shop listings for the next couple of weeks so ive got to make the effort , but I cant help feeling that a lot of stuff will just drown

Friday Off

Well I wish I could say ive got on with all my craft and repurpose projects today but sadly its been a paperwork and parcel sort of day with a bit of domestic servitude throw in . I really have to make the effort over the weekend to list on ebay ive not an awful lot left in the shop   http://stores.ebay.co.uk/katiesrecycle
Which is a good thing, it means my sell through rate is good and when your trying to downsize thats the object of the exercise .

 Ive yet more studio pottery to list , im so good at hiding pin dishes I impress myself , plus im bracing myself to tackle the cook book mountain and childrens books . Books dont seem to sell that well on ebay  because of the cost of the postage , so i suppose i will have to charity shop most of them, but theyre picky and often wont take books unless theyre recent paperbacks and i hate to think they will just throw them away. Take these lovely Enid Blyton books theyre a bit tatty and have a tear in one page so therefore they need to be in my rest home for childrens books  . See i've talked  myself out of getting rid of them..lol.
My other big problem is that I keep buying stuff that i cant resell simply because of size and weight , just because its beautiful . This huge stoneware  rose dish is my prime example at the moment, ive one china cabinet that is jammed full and nowhere to put another in this horrible house .So WHY did I buy it

Positive Thursday

Yeah  its been a good day , won something !!! on a blog , thankyou so much to http://missyscakesandaprons.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/japanese-15-clone.html  shes a nice lady, she has quilts, cats and treadle sewing machines. all things pretty high on my viewing list .
I must admit I stalked a lot of blogs for a year or so before I got up courage to comment and join in , i dont think id ever get the courage up to do a blog meet or anything like that , but i enjoy the fact that im not the only person out there who just wants something a bit more than ordinary in their lives. As a total techno disaster , im slowly progressing with the whole blog idea but its very much 2 steps forward 2 steps back . Why they cant make things more simple for the unenlightened of us I dont know ?
So future aims are to add stuff to the sides of the blog , errrr ive tried but it didnt go well , maybe a G&T and more sleep might help, or the absence of a 19 year old nerd thinking hes being helpful .

Anyway todays wander round the county has been a little more productive , the Christians of Gainsborough have provided a few bits , then it was on to Ashby , lots of charity shops in my lunch hour , saw quite a few nice retro clothing bits in the Sally Anne but nothing said Buy Me , RSPCA was its usual ultra cheap hunting ground for a few bits including yet more childrens books for my every growing collection , if i open a book and i like the cat, its going home with me , plus grandson gets to read them , he all ready knows i only read cat books to him ..lol
Then onwards to Barton on Humber , I havent been there for months but it still has 3 decent charity shops , once again just a few books and some very nice knitting patterns . Ive got to find some fertile hunting grounds for this weekend , but the weather does look vile so we will see  

Purseless Wednesday

I had a real Doh! moment this morning and didnt pick up my purse on the way out, good job i'd filled up with fuel yesterday . Didnt realise till id got to skegness just after i drove past a car boot sale on the main road . Drove many miles cussing and spitting then decided to torture myself by doing a few charity shops with no money..lol . Sutton on Sea first stop , Childrens Hospice shop packed to the extent of walking round a track, managed to grab a big batch of embroidery transfers for a whole £1.00 that i leave in the car for shopping trolleys .Kidney Charity was packed as well , then somebody said its because they all have to be out of the chalets and caravans by the end of October . so I will make an effort to pop to the coast next week .
On to Mablethorpe , Salvation Army does a good cuppa and i do get the odd retro titbit from there because they will sell anything. Seal Sanctuary , hospice etc all picked to death . The Cancer shop near the Coop keeps everything under the counter for the chosen dealers but clothes and books are dirt cheap .
Alford was its usual productive self , considering this is a little town with a fair few antique shops you can still find nice bits there . Greyhound Trust had some Midwinter in an unpopular pattern that i id have bought if id had my purse , well it was very cheap . Hospice shop there always has nice stuff , for some reason they dont seem to send everything back to the mothership , theres a couple more but they wernt open today.
Spilsby Age UK was the one that made me spit they had loads of Red Rose Pyrex  in the 20p dump bin plus silicon loaf tin liners . Serves me right for forgetting my purse

Found Something

Finally something to cheer me up a little pile of vintage Womens Weekly and Bunty, Jackie and Mandy a donation from a friend , I do have a few in the real world .
 Those were the days , theres a Marc Bolan centerfold  that wont be going far , he was my first love , a bloke with eyeliner and a bad perm ..lol . Somehow none of the boys in my little village were going to live up to that , its bad enough being into Northern Soul  when youre surrounded by folks who listened to Led Zep and talked tractors . 80s Bunty is still fun , but i thought i was to old for that I was more Fab 208 and Just Seventeen . I can remember being called all the freaks under the sun for having Melody Maker in my school bag.

Does anybody remember this obscure 80s band , just look at her hair its a perm and electric socket crossed, I so wanted big hair , but never achieved it .
So thats my weekend took care of not much listing till then , ive a 60 hour working week this week in the real world  , plus i get to read loads of magazines till then . Womans Weekly Anyone?

Home Schooling Anyone?

Strange reading material today , Child Education from 1960, I have no idea where i found this pile of magazines , not sure if theyre worth listing , I thought theyd make a nice gift for a modern teacher , but my daughter says that quirky is frowned upon they expect big named gifts these days . This is therefore a rant , what happened to schooling, since when do people give teachers presents 2 and 3 times a year ? did i miss this in the Home School contract ? My grandsons been at school just a few weeks and im allready horrified , do they not teach at reception classes anymore, where have all these teaching assistants appeared from?
Look at the cover of the magazine , little people sat at desks learning , back then it was one scary teacher and 40 kids , by the time mine had started school they had a teaching assistant in reception for the ones who were'nt house trained .

The magazines are a lost world of education all jolly songs and rhymes , Ladybird and Enid Blyton where did we go wrong? Glockenspiel Anyone?
All comments will be marked for Grammar and spelling and awarded a grade

Newark Autojumble

Another lovely day trailing round the huge auto jumble at the Newark Showground , good weather brings out the sellers and theres a lot of weird items dragged out from sheds and garages , great if you want to find stuff to repurpose

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Even remembered to take my camera!!
You know all those womens magazines telling you how to find a man , where you hang round supermarkets and fondle the veg or join a male interest evening class . They got it so wrong , put your big boots and hoodie on girl and head to the Autojumble ...lol

You can even get a customised cycle trailer , funnily enough my sons auditioning a Hayley for the role of daughter in law .. But seriously im kicking myself, it was so huge and crammed full today that I turned down a mint 60s Ercol rocking chair thats been on my wish list for ages , just because it would have been a struggle to carry it through the crowds , Mr Bah Humbug said if it was still there on the way out he'd buy it for me. Of course it wasnt,so I didnt buy a thing , looked at lots but ive so much in the queue waiting to be finished that it could be spring before i finish my xmas projects ...lol

Heres a few wee bits ive scored in the last few days , the filthy retro Not a Boom Box for 50p actually worked !! I was planning on using it for a weird handbag , but theres a teenager whos willing to cut hedges for it ...lol   Yet more studio pottery , green Lotus that can hide in my filling cabinet till people appreciate it more and a nice Celtic Pottery planter , dont you love the the 70s dress , found it in a bag of scrap material from my step mum , I know it was my kid sisters I remember trying to drown her in a waterbutt. when she had it on ..Ah, those were the days .
An Isle of Man TT mug a BT Cellnet brick phone mug, a modern studio cat ornament his marks so bad i cant read it but it begins with a B ..any idea anyone? tiny bottle of Grants whisky and a Milky Way moneybox , shant make my fortune with any of it , it has to be a better week doesnt it ?

Desperate Saturday

Oh dear its been a lovely sunny day and pickings should have been good..alas not . Started with a village table top sale managed to buy a packet of buttons and some ribbons .
 Marched round Torksey car boot for what seemed like hours , it was packed to the gills there must have been over 100 stalls and i think i bent down to look at something twice and come away with one little carrier bag , there was a nice little table for repurpose but i didnt have a teen slave to carry it today . Torksey is the chav equivalent of Lourdes , theres more disabled parking than a Super Mall  , and once those gates open theyre off , the speed some of these poor people can reach when they see a bargain is amazing , maybe they could start hanging crutches and trusses over the gates ,?
In desperation i ended up in Gainsborough at the antique center. Spent a happy hour having a gossip with one of the sellers but only came away with 3 little 50s birthday cards just because i liked them . It has to be a better day tomorrow . Doesnt it?

Getting sidetracked

I think that could be the title of my biography , spent ages tracking down a sold item yet again today , then i found a bound edition of Theatre world 1930 at which point I ended up wallowing in nostalgia for ages , i was reared on a diet of old movies and real theatre,  movies with my dad and theatre with my mum , they couldnt stand each other so I was their plus 1 from a young age .

I know Burlesque is very trendy these days but have you ever seen the likes of Valerie? talk about letting your grapes dangle ..lol  Im not that old that i can remember the 30s theatre but a lot of the old black and white movie stars started there .

Do you ever get the urge to REALLY answer ebay questions

Does anyone smoke in your household ?  Only when the dragon comes our from under the stairs
Please could you wrap this well?  No im going to put your valuable 99p china item in a plastic bag with an address label on .
I have allergies ....pass me the peanuts
Do you have pets ?  no i have kids theyre more dangerous
Is this item real?  Best not answer that one

Motivated Thursday

my day started well at 1am this morning when a four year old wanted his onesy fastening up , i rolled over clicked my back and the poor child is now scarred for life after been attacked by a screaming flailing harpy. Meanwhile  Mr Bah Humbug  continued snoring as i hobbled of into the distance and a night playing inane games on the puter while chucking any painkiller i could find down my throat .
We will get to ebay eventually i just want to ask you take a look at a speech given to the Tory Party by Jack Monroe   http://agirlcalledjack.com/2013/10/03/calling-your-cuts-a-war-is-an-insult-to-my-father-and-to-my-brother-and-the-service-they-gave-this-country-this-is-not-a-war-it-is-a-massacre-conservative-party-address-jack-monroe/#comment-17383

The 6th richest country in the world and theres people out there who cant afford to feed their children. Im blessed in my current life, but the kids and I have been there , they still laugh about pork pie stew ( you could get a carrier bag full of out of date ones for a pound ) any left over veg or packet soup ,half a dozen mini pork pies , into the slow cooker , lasted for 2 or 3 days.  organic no, filling yes

That was the reason I started ebay many moons ago , it funded my divorce..lol a story for another day . Today ive made an effort and gone to the back of the top shelf in search of items .

A Truly filthy fisher price record player , works perfectly just needs a really good clean , im told this is in this months Mollie Makes  , do tell me if it is I can put the price up...lol

Thrift / Charity Shop Hates

Whats are the things that drive you mad about thrift shops wherever in the world they lurk? Heres the UKs biggest problem  ..Mary Portess self styled government guru of the high street , she has destroyed the traditional charity shop, because they were not up market enough.  Instead we have acres of slippy wood flooring , very little stock because it must appear like a high end boutique and hideous overpricing. Does anyone shop in these shops anymore? I must admit i just walk past them . There is still the odd haven of sanity out there , independent charities and the Salvation army spring to mind .
  The latest trend for charity shops seems to be The Vintage shop , many of them have stripped their stock of all vintage and retro and sent it to a central shop in the nearest city , I know they have to make money but isnt this just making all the shops theyve stripped unattractive? The variety and thrill of the chase was what made you go into them in the first place. 
Meanwhile here is todays charity shop gripe .

Why when you get to the till do they ruin goods by ripping sticky labels off? And yes ive bought another jigsaw from the 50s...lol

Work Work Work

I just hate it when ive a busy work week , ive projects piling up , ive a quilt to finish, a crochet cover , a blind, cases to cover and a blog to write !!  Ive bought nothing but a quilt cover for the fabric ,ive  tramped the streets of Lincoln in search of a bargain during lunch  but nothing, you can tell the University is back in business every shop is picked clean .
 I thought id try the fringe of town charity shops , Nomad Trust yielded a glorious rose duvet cover for a project in the pipeline , little steep at £4 but king size and very Cath Kidston , they do get quite a lot of little furniture items ideal for repurpose freaks  that they plonk outside , but nothing today .
 The Bridge Community Venue on Newark road had a sale on , dont be put off by the fact that theyre Christians , they do a budget sandwich and a cuppa for a couple of quid and they have a nice little shop as well.

Heres another Ehrman kit currently in http://stores.ebay.co.uk/katiesrecycle  yep i had to steal a photo because ive lost the one out of the kit , maybe I should start a xmas list .
Lightbox , posh camera, camera phone that works...lol  Then again maybe i'll just  muddle along as usual