Website news and summerhouse progress...well, a bit!

I've uploaded oodles of vintage goodies onto the website today including the items pictured here...

Solid oak shaker peg rail...

Chalkware Scottie family...

Shabby chic triple mirror...

Rosy knitting bag...

Gorgeous de Longpre rose prints...

and a pink whicker chair that I will find almost impossible to say goodbye to!

If you subscribed to the newsletter from my previous website you should have received your email by now. My apologies if you are a new customer to the new website because although this site is 'all-singing, all-dancing' in a lot of ways, one thing it doesn't have (strangely) is a built-in newsletter function so I'm having to install an external one and it's not going swimmingly so please bear with me a little longer. Ta!

I've made some good progress on my little summerhouse makeover as per my last post.

Although the easter weather here was rotten, I got most of it painted out although the floor still wants another coat (or two)

Of course, the best bit about doing over a room is the finishing touches so I couldn't resist even though it's still a wip!

I feel a summerhouse has to have bunting so I made this from (wait for it) a set of tea towels from Wilko! At £2.00 for five they're an incredible bargain and look like expensive deckchair fabric. My bunting consists of 10 pennants (two of each fabric) and there's lot's left over for other projects. I just used pinking shears for quickness (the least sewing I have to do the better..me and the machine have a testy relationship...) and garden twine threaded through the hem at the top so the pennants can be spaced out as required. I think it's rather jolly!

I made a curtain from a damaged embroidered tablecloth and added a vintage Union Jack (very de rigeur!) then painted the window frame in this lovely turquoise blue...

I handpainted the sign on a lovely old piece of painted wood..

and I was so pleased with it all that I couldn't resist taking this weeks stock photos in there!

Most of the things pictured here (but not all) are for sale on the website now or will be in the near future. The best bit about this makeover is that it's hardly cost a bean. I did run out of white paint and so had to splash out for some more but I'll have plenty left over for other projects. And I've got lot's of bit's and bob's around the house or up in the loft I can press ino service out there too so there's no cost involved in furnishing it.

Hopefully, I'll be enjoying it a lot this summer...if the weather ever improves!

My other half is on hols for a week now and although we won't be going away as we normally do(this young man's fault. Far too wobbly and incontinent to take away or leave with anybody else!) we should be getting out and about a bit.

Have a lovely weekend.

Nearly there!

Hello one and all! I did intend posting days ago but the time has just flown by...that's Christmas I suppose. I hope all your preparations are going smoothly? It just gets sooo frenetic, doesn't it? It's like a warzone on the high street! It makes me laugh to see people struggling around the supermarket with teetering trolleys as if they're battening down the hatches down for a fortnight..the shops are open again on Boxing day!


So, how's this....?

Any better....? I don't know why I can't get a good picture of a Christmas tree. Although it's laden down, it actually looks really sparse on these pictures! Ho hum... I won't bore you with 'the drama of the christmas lights'. Suffice to say, not long after I took these pictures, they went out. We had to run out and buy another set just to drape over the tree until twelfth night when I can remove offending lights and local garden centre will be on the receiving end of the wrath of Deb. This is the second year in a row this has happened!

Here's a few favourite ornaments....I just love clip-on birds; getting rarer and more expensive all the time but can still be found.


These two I just adore!

This is one of several Russian ones from ebay...

I bought these knitted puddings from our local donkey sanctuary for 50p each and threaded them to make them into baubles.

This fairy is a recent find...

My favourite things of all...candles and clips. I have lit them...just for a second! They look amazing.

There are some very strange subjects for baubles....for instance, frogs...

...cats...

...and even a cockerel! I'd say this tree is about 95% vintage.

And these...I made...yes ~ ME! I'm quite pleased with them...there's something very satisfying about hand sewing isn't there?

We have a second smaller tree in the breakfast room that seems to have become the kitsch/retro tree but alas, I'll have to spare you that for this year.

Unfortunately, I think the stockings will remain empty as I forgot about them until it was too late.

Never mind...there are presents under the tree and Mr.Gordon and his friend, 'tonic' have moved in, so that's me sorted. Oh, and a husband at home for nearly a fortnight. That's the best present of all.
The other thing that makes Christmas is a scrummy dinner. A question I get asked a lot is "what do you have at Christmas?" The answer is...(nearly) the same as everybody else....with this in place of the obvious. It's called 'not just a nut roast' which is a very uninspiring name for a recipe but you can blame the VegSoc for that as it's theirs. I make a lot of nut/mushroom/lentil roasts and I can definitely say this is the best. It's not something you would make every day but that's the point...you want something special at Christmas and this is it. It's full of lovely things that all combine to make for a delicious roast. It's certainly become a firm favourite in our house...and it's (fairly) easy although you do need a food processor. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

I med onion, finely chopped

1 1/2 tbs olive oil

125g veg. Halloumi cheese, sliced

50g cashews

50g fresh wholemeal breadcrumbs

100g walnuts

50g ground almonds

150g cooked basmati or brown rice (about 75g uncooked weight) cooled

1 sm red pepper, sm dice

2 - 3 tbs chopped fresh coriander

1 1/2 tsp fennel seeds, ground

75ml hot, light stock

50g stoned black olives, halved

salt/pepper to taste

2 large free range eggs, beaten

Pre-heat the oven to 180/375/gas mark 5. Grease a 450g loaf tin. Line the base and ends with a single strip of baking paper, leaving an overhang at each end. This will help ease the roast out of the pan. Or use a silicone loaf tin and just grease it!

Saute the onion in 1 tbs oil in a frying pan until soft but not coloured. Remove and set aside.

Using remaining oil if neccessary, turn up the heat and quickly fry the halloumi cheese until brown on both sides.

Remove from the pan, allow to cool and then cut into very small dice...about 1/2cm.

Grind the cashews with HALF the walnuts until powdery and add the breadcrumbs. Process the remining walnuts until finely chopped.

In a large bowl, mix all the nuts together with the onion, halloumi and all the remaining ingredients except the eggs. Season to taste., then add the beaten eggs and mix well.

Press the mixture into the prepared loaf tin, with a slightly rounded top. Put into a bain-marie and bake for 40 minutes or until firm. Check after 30 minutes...if it appears to be browning too fast, cover with foil (I've never had this problem!)

When cooked, remove from the oven and leave in the tin for 10 - 20 minutes before turning out. Slice carefully using a sharp knife and wiping it after each cut.

Et voila!

I got five decent sized pieces out of this although you could cut it into six small or four large if you're a very hungry person! Leave to cool completely and then bung in the freezer until Christmas eve. Defrost overnight in the fridge and warm through in the oven for about 15 mins on Christmas day...or even heat in the microwave! Serve with all the usual lovely things...roast potatoes, parsnips, bread sauce, sprouts (I love sprouts..what's not to love!) and most importantly...yorkshire puddings... because I don't need an excuse to eat them!

I hope that whatever you're eating this year you enjoy a peaceful Christmas and I'd like to thank anybody who's made a purchase from me; either from This Vintage Life or via the blog. I appreciate each and every one. Merry Christmas!

The colours of autumn

Just when I was enjoying the lovely autumn we've been having, winter arrives! I woke this morning to a beautiful covering of powdery frost. It made getting the hatch off the eglu difficult so that's usually means it's a pretty bad one. I still have tomatoes going bananas (uh?) in the greenhouse and things like roses, sweet peas and my passion flower are still holding their own. Maybe not now though...still, it's a beautifully sunny, crisp day....my favourite sort of wintry day where you just want to wrap up warm and go for a long walk. I'm unable to do that today but I can enjoy what's around me. I'm looking out of the window now and the garden is alive. There are Great Tits eating the bright red berries on the cotoneaster and then poking their heads in the nest boxes. Checking out next years maternity ward perhaps! There are rabbits jumping about on my gravel garden in the sunshine and then chasing each other under the hedge. And my resident robins are cheekily coming to the eglu to pinch Bettys layers pellets...sometimes they do it while she's actually eating out of it. And, if I'm lucky, I get to hear Tawny Owl 'hoo hoo-ing' in the middle of the day and see the ghostly figure of Barn Owl flying steadily and slowly along the hedge line looking for prey as the light begins to fade. I do feel incredibly lucky to see these creatures from the comfort of my own home...sometimes we forget to appreciate what's right under our own noses.

There are lot's of fallen leaves all over the lawn that need raking up. I spend a lot of time doing that at this time of year and they're not even my trees! They are all sorts of lovely colours this year though so I will enjoy raking them all into a big pile which Betty then likes to annihilate in about thirty seconds flat! It's great exercise and get's you all hot and out of breath if you work quickly. In New England the best and most beautiful colours are a result of warm days and very cold nights which keeps the leaves on the trees longer. At least, that's what I was told. Maybe we've had the right conditions this year?
On a recent walk I brought home some lovely 'found' bit's and pieces.

The feathers were too pretty to leave behind...and they make a change from white. The skeleton seed head is from one of my poppies...it was blowing around on the drive for a few days before I brought it inside. I don't know how it survived but it's so beautiful!

Pine cones make great free decorations at this time of year...I'm sure I'm not the only person who's sprayed them silver and gold at Christmas?

We collected so many I struggled for somewhere to display them all as you can see. I filled my rucksack and then had to resort to putting them in nappy bags!! They're still in the rucksacks from when we had a dog with decent legs...but more of Jack later.

My one concession to decorating for 'the season' as our American friends would call it is to display this wreath. I love all the autumnal colours and it reminds me of the beautiful place I bought it. Like a mad woman, I brought it home in my hand luggage but it survived very well with just a couple of things having to be glue gunned back on.

I also bought these 'mums' last week in very seasonal hues...

...and there is still some colour to be found in the garden. I just love the deep, rich shade of the sedum; it's deepened even more since I took this picture.



This clematis leaves behind such unusual seed heads...they remind me of that breed of chicken with the lovely fluffy comb...is it a silkie? I'm sure someone will know. It looks amazing with the sun coming through it. I'm trying to make the most of these lovely autumn moments before the dreaded Christmas rush is upon us...but upon us it will be so I have been busy adding lot's of great vintage Christmas decorations to the site and they are now available to buy. I will be adding more so keep checking back. There are also lot's of gift ideas and again, I'll hopefully be adding to them in the coming days and weeks.

(Sorry! These are SOLD but yellow and french grey still available.)

And talking of Christmas...I'm very excited to show you this card from the Oldies Club as Jack was chosen to be one of the re-homed dogs featured on it!! He was actually re-homed in March; I don't know how they got that wrong but hey...let's not be pedantic! I'm very proud of him after the rotten life he's had and also because he's having a few problems at the moment. If you haven't bought your Christmas cards yet and you're an animal lover then perhaps you might consider these? The Oldies Club are a great charity and as far as I know the only one of it's kind just re-homing older dogs. Not only do they foster their own dogs in Oldies Club care but they publicise other homeless older dogs from many shelters and rescue organizations up and down the country.

A star is born!!

I'm off to do some sewing now...I've finally sorted out our office/gym/library/workroom so I have a little corner all to myself with a table just for the machine. Now I can walk away in the middle of a project and come back to it at my leisure. That's impossible when you use the dining table. Hopefully, I might even get more sewing done; well, sometimes miracles can happen!

Website news, thrifty bits and a giveaway

There is new stock listed on the website this week with lots of flowery things finding their way in there. Coincidence I can assure you.

(Sorry ~ SOLD! )

This is probably my favourite item ~ it's by Royal Worcester; boxed and all perfect.

I would like to thank everyone that's made a purchase from me, either through the website or the little shop I have alongside this blog. Each and every one is very much appreciated and I am lucky to have some lovely loyal customers. Long may they stay that way!

The sewing machine has been dusted off again recently, mostly due to the rain and also because I would really like to try my hand at making some patchwork this winter. Hmmm. I'll keep you posted on that one but don't, you know, hold your breath or anything. I've had this little cupboard in my bathroom for a few years and it's one of my favourite things; original paint, all chippy and battered (sounds like something you'd eat) I paid far too much for it, mind. It's got lovely original glass but I've often thought about putting fabric behind it to hide those nasty bottles. So, half an hours work and I'd made a curtain. I know that sounds a long time to make something so simple but for me it's an achievement. I'm not fast but I'm thorough. I love little projects like this that use up those small bits of fabric you always seem to have floating around.

I apologise for the atrocious quality of these pictures but the bathroom is small, north facing and has a tiny window. Ergo; bad photos. And using the flash doesn't help, but you get the idea.

I realised today that I'd hadn't shared any of my thrifty finds with you lately. That's really because I haven't found much due to the fact that my favourite Saturday morning car boot is rubbishy once the school hols start. So I've had to get my vintage shopping fix elsewhere. What I have found seems to be a lot of pictures. And books. But you probably don't want to see any more of those.

I did buy this french picture with an eye to selling but that may not happen...

It's about eighty years old and a bit tatty but what a beautiful subject...although slightly provocative methinks! Would you give this young lady house room?






I paid a couple of pounds for this small landscape in a gilt frame. I strongly suspect it to be Scotland; a place very close to my heart. The glass and frame were absolutely filthy and they had the cheek to be asking £14 for it! But the dealer had a sale on so home it came.

And this one....well, do I need to explain? I spied it on the wall across the room and homed in on it like a heat seeking missile muttering to myself "please be cheap, please be cheap".

£4.00. Well, it's not dear is it?

And just because I feel like it I'm having a bit of a giveaway. Well, not a bit of one. It is one.

There's two American magazines (if you don't know them already, I'm sure you'll love them ~ I'll try to send the latest issues) A vintage painted hanger, two Edwardian postcards, both with violets. And finally a pretty cushion cover. I'm sure I'll probably find other bits to throw in there too. So, all you have to do is write 50 words explaining what vintage means to you. No, only kidding. Although, if you wish to do that, please; feel free, but probably in your own time.
Just leave a comment indicating you'd like to be included in the draw. If you don't indicate that, I'll put your name in anyway. All are welcome; regular friends, lurkers (I love that) non-commenter's and overseas readers...so don't be shy, dip yer bread ~ as they say down our way. You've got until my next post. Or maybe a bit longer. Don't worry, I'll let you know when exactly.

While I was typing I looked out of the window and there was a strange fiery orange ball in the sky. I don't know what it is but I just had to take a picture and it didn't half cheer me up.