Sunday Finds.

A day out in Sarah 'Otto's' van round recycling centres in Devon helped us acquire these lovely new (old) things:


Our latest obsession is finding nice old jars to store our dry foods and spices in, we had a couple more but they met a sad end before we even got them home thanks to a clumsy van exit by Tom; oh well, easy come easy go... They are sat on a sweet little deco wooden tray also found today.

Tom found himself a sturdy little wooden aeroplane.

Tom got this for it's amazing leather saddle, but upon closer inspection is actually a really quality late 60's East German racing style bike and will be done up and sold at some point. It will keep Tom out of trouble for a while anyway.

This little chap was one of a few sad looking toys in a damp and dark shed; I am a sucker for sorry looking toys and so he is now safe and warm and will now be making friends with all my other waifs and strays this evening. His name is Budleigh bear, after the little seaside town tip he was residing in until today.

A fetching deco looking fire-screen, the wood came up lovely after a linseed oiling and is ripe for a bit of a creative make-over. I am not quite sure what to do with the panel; decoupage perhaps? Any suggestions welcome. We ended the day with chips by a slightly drizzly seaside, what a great Sunday!

Practising for Autumn.

I put myself on a clothes buying ban this week; it lasted four days. Oh dear, I lost my bet. I walked into Whistles confident that I had seen all the latest Autumn clothes online and didn't want to buy any of them, I didn't bank on the silk blouse I had been coveting all Summer being reduced to a nearly affordable price. I now owe Tom a dinner out in penance for losing the bet. At least I have a lovely new blouse, and doesn't it look nice with this camel skirt I won off of eBay for when the weather starts to chill.

Linen Suit Revival

Following an accident involving a prong of metal protruding from an arm chair and the right hand sleeve of my linen jacket I decided it was time for a bit of an over haul.

I had bought it a year ago from H&M of all places and never expected it to last this long but, seeing as it has I thought it deserved a bit of dedicated work.

The hole required patching (from the inside, I slipped the fresh cloth through the hole to make it less obvious) as I was saying the hole require patching, to get the fabric I needed it was obvious that the trousers would have to lose some of their length. They had never actually managed to reach all the way don to my ankles and I had never felt quite comfortable wearing them so shorts was the logical step to take.

I hope I have managed to create some sort of easy summer outfit whilst still conforming in some way to civilised ideas of what is proper gents wear, and saving my jacket which is a staple.

Excuse the creases, they need a second iron.

Rowan.

I am attempting my first knitted garment; I have been knitting scarfs for too long and am finally branching out into jumpers. I found this 1930's inspired set in my favourite knitting magazine Rowan and have decided to try the one pictured at the top here, but in a burnt orange shade instead. Some of these designs are too wonderful, I can only dream of being able re-create them, I can but try. I found the pictures on this yarn site though I should have not been lazy and scanned them myself. Well, if I start now I may well have finished it by next winter.....

New Green Dress.

My favourite time of year: Autumn clothes are finally hitting the shops, and though I was very underwhelmed by most of them there are a few bits that I will hopefully be buying throughout the month; I got this one on the spot though, it is from Next (which I generally really don't like but has the odd wonderful item that catches my eye!). It is the exact green I have been longing for a dress in and will look great with brown tights and boots when the chill sets in. For now, as we are having some sort of vague summer, I will stick to sandals and bare legs.

Old money, new money

Having just discovered a new sort of shopping experience together we thought we had better write about it straight away.

Here are the instructions;

1. Find an old advert for something you already own (with the price on it).

2. Type in the price along with the year at the following website.

3. Marvel at how much money somebody must have spent on an item you got for pence.

We found adverts for our bikes and tried those, it seems we both made quite a considerable saving!

My latest obsession.

Why oh why are these boots £400? I know why, because they are beautiful Italian leather equestrian boots; I having been scouring every shop and Internet site trying to find something similar at a more Maria suited price and have had no luck. They would be perfect for autumn with ample amounts of tweed. Must carry on looking, you know how it is when an obsession takes hold.....