The tale of a table

Once upon a time, not so long ago - and there I shall end the nod to Bagpuss that made such a huge impression on me when I was growing up. For those unfamiliar with Bagpuss he was a cat ( a saggy old cloth cat) who lived in a shop with lots of other objects that had been found, taken in and restored to their former glory. What with that and the Wombles the seventies certainly knew a thing about recycling. Anyhow, I digress.
Ahem - once upon a time there was a table (nothing too extraordinary there but stick with it!) Having passed through the glory of youth and bounty of middle age it was now spending a quiet retirement in the corner of a shop. A shop filled with grand carvings, marble washstands, Victorian samplers and hand painted china. People came and people went. Wowed by the beauty of the grander artefacts they rarely noticed the small, unassuming object in the corner. That is until the day that Plain Jane appeared. 
Okay - enough of the third person - that's just too far. Back to earth now.

Always on the lookout for a bargain the shape of the little table took my eye. It appeared to be made from bent plywood with a gorgeous bevelled round top.

                                              

 But then I looked closer.I saw something that made me curious. Can you see it? Look really close.

      

A catch. Now where there's a catch there's usually more to see. Hidden treasure? I quickly peeked inside and hurried over to Mr Shop Man to nervously ask the price. He looked relieved. Oh that thing - it's been there for ages - full of junk  - how about £10 just to get rid of it? I must have changed colour. Surely he hadn't looked inside properly. Surely he was talking about something else. What was certain was that for £10 I had bagged a cute little table and I needed to get it out of that shop - quick - before he realised his terrible blunder. Unaware of my anxiety Mr Shop Man calmly accepted my £10, carried the little table to the car for me and waved me off in a  friendly, if confused, fashion. 

Once home I couldn't wait to see the full extent of the treasure. I unclasped the catch and was immediately smitten by the beautiful rose coloured silk that padded the lid.

I was so excited that my hands were shaking. Look!

And then the little treasures revealed themselves.

It became clear pretty quickly that this little table had once been owned by someone who valued it very much. It was a place for them to store all that they needed to 'make do and mend'.

There were needlebooks.

Look at the motto on this one.

'Tis Plenty in Small Fortune to be Neat.

Mrs Table Woman was not only thrifty but neat to boot! Inside this one each 'page' had a label as to what sort of needle should go there.

This one was double, long and darning but there was also chenille, straw and rug!

                                                  

Some darning thread together with a beautiful hand painted darning mushroom.

Lots of 'bits and bobs' including notions, a suspender clip, a shell, keys (I wonder what they were for), a badge from Torquay and - obviously - a small plastic baby.

There was beading thread on a gorgeous card.

...for stringing pearls and beads.

And a pillar box red tin

full of pins!

The sweetest little blue nappy pin and name tape. B.D. - Bartholomew Dimple?

But the crowning glory was saved until last.

I imagine this tin was given as a present, probably full of loose tea, and was cherished as a 'posh' tin which would be brought out when visitors arrived, full of biscuits or home baked fancies. Later in life it was given a new purpose. Maybe not as fancy but just as noble. Can you guess? 

That's right. Buttons!

Lots and lots of buttons.

Mrs Table Woman must have kept the buttons off all of her clothes. Imagine the larger ones on her winter coats, pretty glass ones on 'best' blouses, hefty ones with brass fastenings for Mr Table Man's cardigans. I have my own button stash and the obvious thing to do would be to sort them all out together and then keep them according to size, colour etc. But it wouldn't feel right. No - these buttons must stay together until needed for a worthy cause! In that tin is a whole history of Mrs Table Woman's wardrobe - how lovely it would be if we could magic up the clothes they belonged to. For now they are going back in the tin. And the tin is going back in the table. And the table is going to be cherished for many years to come.

I blame it all on Bagpuss x

Distractions

First week down! 
Back to work - tick.
Mr K's chest infection - gone.
Big Sis - back to uni.
Little Sis - exams done.
Jessie dog - vet  (for a very unladylike procedure of which we shall not speak).
Dare I say our life is getting back to what we consider 'normal'.

No excuses - things to do!

Our Christmas decorations were all lovingly put away in their new box ready to go back in the attic last weekend - must move them from the landing were they are directly in the way of our bathroom door. That should be an easy one.

Our so called office has become used as a bit of a dumping ground over the Christmas period - a sort of 'open the door, throw something in and shut the door again quickly' type place. Complete overhaul here I think. 

Then there's the room we call our clothes room. From a distance. Less said.

Our downstairs toilet was last painted about - errrrrr - twelve years ago. This was when the girls were both knee high to a grasshopper - hence the mirror being placed at such a low height. Although it is now a perfect place to store 'books that we don't look at that often but can't bear to throw away' I think it is perhaps deserving of a little TLC.





But do you know, as I wandered around the house making a mental note of what to start doing and when, I got distracted.

The sun was shining on a picture Big Sis did at primary school. It's been on her landing wall for about nine years now - easy to walk past and not notice. It brought back memories of her explaining very eloquently as to what the picture was about - it very clearly made sense to her and was in no way any different to the ones her classmates did of their families or  favourite pets!

Then I thought I'd try an arty shot of a bowl of fruit by playing around with the camera settings.

Along came a tulip.

Then I found the gorgeous dishcloths my dear friend Ange got me for Christmas. Always one to find a gift from somewhere a little bit different she sourced these from Jangneus.

 Dishcloths! Could you wash up with this little cutie? No - they're definitely going in a frame.

Then of course there's my Acadian shawl. Finished just in time for the 'Beast from the East' weather front we are supposed to have moving in this weekend. Must post on Ravelry.

The garden has had a flurry of feathered visitors which are an absolute delight to watch - must refill bird feeders.

Little Sis is going out for a meal in a 'posh' restaurant this evening with her friends and I've promised to style her hair accordingly.

Need to actually go and buy some food as our Christmas leftovers are just about gone - more chutney anyone?

Which are chores and which are distractions? One thing for sure is they never end and without them our life would be incredibly dull.

But then here's one last thought. Goodness knows where this came from but the other night I was struggling to get back to sleep at around 3am and this popped into my head - do cold drinks actually taste better if drunk from a glass than from a mug? I'll leave that one with you!

Now I must go - there are things 'to do'!

Paper heart tutorial

Whoa there -  deep breaths - about to write first tutorial!
I first made these paper hearts many years ago at school. We used sugar paper in various grey type shades which we were allowed to colour with felt pens and glitter. Although I remember being incredibly proud of the lopsided article that was put on the classroom tree I think (hope) things have moved on a bit.

You will need:

• an A4 size piece of your chosen paper (double sided for the best effect - I'm using sheet music but have also used an old map)
• scissors
• pencil
• ruler
• stapler/glue
• small piece of ribbon / ric rac / tab of paper to use as a hanger

Mark out and cut 5 x 2cm lengthwise strips of your A4 paper.

Fold each strip exactly in half.

Leave your first strip as it is. On your second make a mark 2cm from the open edge, 4cm on your third, 6cm on your fourth and 8cm on your fifth.

Chop across through both sides of strip.

You will now have five staggered strips of folded paper - see?

Now you need to unfold the strips and layer them on top of each other, from the longest to the shortest, cut ends together.
The strips now need to be secured together. If you have time and you want a neater finish use glue and wait to dry.  If you are an impatient soul like me use a stapler and hope nobody notices!

Repeat procedure at the other end but this time place whatever you are using as a hanger across the shorter piece - like this.

This bit can be fiddly. You need to fold both ends in towards each other. Then secure ends together making sure that hanger is pointing upwards.

There it is!

String them together as a garland, hang as a mobile, give to a loved one for Valentines. 
You could makes the strips thinner or fatter and use pinking shears, hang buttons or beads, or even use felt pens and glitter! Let your imagination run wild!

If you would like to share any finished pieces I would love to see them.
Enjoy x

Then along came the wool

Some time ago I listened to an interview with Jane Brocket on Radio 4. She was talking about her new book 'The Gentle Art of Domesticity' in which she acknowledged the influence that everyday life had on her outlook. She not only relished family life and all that entailed but allowed influences from arts and literature to impact upon her designs. From there I looked up her blog and was inspired by her beautiful projects. I mentioned this during a chance meeting with an old friend and she told me about Attic 24 . Well that was it. It was then only a small step to Ravelry, followed by the discovery of a local yarn group, and needless to say I've been producing woolly objects ever since! 

As I've mentioned before I really am a dabbler so the above shows some early experiments in weaving, crochet, knitting, beading and even yarn bombing. The photograph in the middle is my ongoing saga of a ripple blanket. This was one of the first projects I began and it's still going strong - i.e.  it still stares at me from my wool basket begging me to finish it before I begin something else but there's always  something more demanding in the queue. So much wool - so little time.

A snapshot

I thought I'd have a go at trying something a bit more creative with my photographs. Several people seemed to recommend picmonkey so I've had a go. 

The remaining decorations have come down today and with them some smiles. Those snowflakes were a breeze to crochet but the invisible thread I used to try and connect them drove me to distraction. The heart garland was a joint effort between me and my girls (at some point I'd like to do a tutorial to show you how simple this was).  My spotted laurel has stayed gloriously glossy all winter, but just to remind us it's still January there's our lovely fire.

So there we have it. My first picture collage. A small snapshot of a January day in my home.
What do you think?

A sign of things to come

After reading Bunny Mummy's post as to how to take better photographs I armed myself with my trusty Olympus X-940 and set foot outside. Typical of me I left it too late to catch the brief glimmer of wintry sunshine that graced us this morning but nevertheless I started clicking away prolifically. I was concerned that this might make my pictures seem indiscriminate but instead, as I went on, I realised I was focussing closer on what was in the aperture. And what joy that brings! At a time when my garden seems completely dormant I discovered this

- new buds on my lungwort! I love this plant. It came to me as a straggly piece from a neighbour but has now found a perfect position beneath the ferns. Soon those buds will develop in to the most pretty blue flowers, fading to pink as they age. I know I'm not alone in delighting in these early signs of regeneration - isn't nature brilliant!
Another sign of what I hope is to come was my first comment on a blog post. Thanks to Janie at joy for the soul for the encouragement - her blog is certainly worth a visit not only for her selfless work for the homeless but her recognition of the simple things in life.
Here's to new signs. 

Books

Here is the booty of books I received for Christmas this year - can you spot a theme?

Crafts and ghosts. 

I love that I can dip in and out of the craft books at leisure and think about all of the things I might do. Then there's the ghostly theme. Love it. Not that I believe in them. As a child I was fascinated by anything supernatural and pretty much devoured anything the Readers Digest and Doris Stokes could throw at me. Now I'm more interested in why other people believe in them. I recently heard an interview with Roger Clarke - author of 'A Natural History of Ghosts' - on Radio 4. He has gathered a series of ghostly tales and not only retold them but placed them in a historical context, allowing the reader to decide on their validity. As a link to this Amazon suggested 'Gossip from the Forest' by Sara Maitland. If you are at all interested in the evolution of traditional tales in to the more anodyne stories that we are more familiar with today this book is for you. Told against the backdrop of some of the UK's most beautiful woodland she transports us, as did Clarke, back to a time when our landscape and seasons dictated our way of thinking. It's fascinating stuff.

And just to squeeze a little more from that theme here's the first page of my 2013 calender:

It's part of a lithograph by Herbert Leupin to illustrate the Grimm's 'Mother Holle'. 

I look forward to sharing the rest as we go through the year x