COWBOYS & CUSTARD

A few carrots ....

2008-07-25T12:44:00.015+02:00

These last few weeks I have been alternating between a sort of treacely fatigue and buzzing with creative ideas.
It is true to say that the next four months will be quietly frenzied until I reach the grand finale of The Vintage & Handmade Fair in November.. the 22nd to be precise.
I know .. I know.. I promised not to become a bore about this event.. but I just can't help myself.. The days are slowly but surely ticking by and there is much to be done behind the scenes ... making stock for the fair is just one of them..
I am so thrilled by the wonderful response we have had so far and this week we have welcomed aboard two new bloggers who are coming along to sell their unique handmade creations at the fair.. Joanna from Things Handmade and Lynn from Sea Angels..
I really can't wait to see all the fine fare laid out on the day and I shall be like a cat on a hot tin roof.. wanting everyone to have a good time!

Dear Annie from A Saucerful of Secrets asked if we could do a swap last month when I visited her enchanting home and Open House exhibition in Stroud. Well.. how could I possibly refuse such an invitation...
I received my beautiful felt wall hanging from Annie last week and hung it where it will be seen frequently and by all that visit our home.. Annie is such a talented lass as you can see...

An unexpected and delightful little extra in the package was this enchanting tiny felt bird brooch ..

Annie will be at the fair selling her original and decorative felt peices and vintage textile dolls..

I thought I would dangle this carrot and a few more in front of your eyes to try and tempt you to come to the fair....
This is such a dear little 1930's child's tea set that I will be selling.. in it's original box and in mint condition..

Here are just a few of the frames that I will be bringing... some as you can see are works in progress...

And what would a fair be without the essential ingredient... cakes!!
Including some of Jayne's wonderful felt cupcake pin cushions... Very tasty!
There will a wealth of unique handmade and vintage items to buy from the collective bloggers.

So start saving those pennies and come along..

I promise to change the subject.. soon.

Seasonal disorder...

2008-07-21T07:24:00.021+02:00

There can't be many of you.. no make that 'any' of you that find yourself singing.. "I am dreaming of a white Christmas".. in the bath in mid -July !
Since my last post about the Blogger's event that Jayne and I are putting together in November.. I have become obsessed, to put it mildly, with matters festive and Christmassy..
There is much to be done between now and then and ideas are clamouring for my attention and head space, as to what I need to make and do before the much anticipated date!
I don't wish to become a bore about this event as I know that some of you can't come because of commitments or the distance involved or just simply because it isn't your cup of tea.. but now the cogs have started whirring and preparations are well under way for our inaugural Blogger's Vintage & Handmade Fair.. it is very hard to think of anything else at the moment..
Gingerbread men are competing with handmade bunting in my mind .. causing me a few sleep problems and some very 'interesting' dreams when I do finally nod off.

I thought you might like to know who is definitely coming to the Blogger's Vintage & Handmade Fair on 22nd November.. so here is the roll call..

Jayne ~ Country Cottage Chic...
Moi ~ Cowboys & Custard ...
Ginny ~ The Flour Loft
Annie ~ A Saucerful of Secrets
Carol ~ Katherine's Dream
Sue ~ Vintage to Victorian
Liz ~ Pretty Practicals
Lucy ~ Lucy Bloom
Julia ~ Vintage Heaven
Joanna ~ Things Handmade
Lynn ~ Sea Angels

We still have spaces for more stall holders so if you have something vintage or handmade to sell and fancy a day out with fellow bloggers then please sign up by contacting either Jayne or myself.

There promises to be a wonderful selection of both Vintage and unique Handmade items for sale from vintage Kitchenalia to unique felt crafted cupcakes and felted wall hangings, Linen embroidered hearts to vintage toys and ephemera and lots ,lots more... so a perfect place to find something original for Auntie Mabel's Christmas present or much more likely .. your own!
Not forgetting.... of course...that it will be the first time that all these bloggers have met up and can you imagine the chat that will evolve..over a cup of tea and some very fine homemade cakes

Please come if you can and PLEASE spread the word... it is open to all visitors with free admission .

Right that's that.... I am off to make Christmas cards now... only 156 shopping days to Christmas you know... groan!

Roll up, roll up..Vintage & Handmade Fair..

2008-07-14T16:52:00.023+02:00

After several failed attempts over the last six months due to constant work load and ..well ... life really ....Jayne from Country Cottage Chic and I finally managed to make a date to chat over coffee last week. Jayne and I had first met last Christmas when we had a very enjoyable outing at the American Museum in Bath..
Jayne and I met up again today with a chance for me to visit her lovely country cottage which if definitely tres Chic! ..and over a delicious cup of coffee it wasn't long before our conversation turned to .. blogging of course . We both felt that a Blogger's get-together would be a wonderful occasion for kindred bloggers to meet each other and have the added opportunity of showcasing and selling the wealth of handmade arts and crafts and vintage goodies that so many of you have to offer.. Sooo... with this idea buzzing around our heads we have put the wheels in motion for a Vintage & Handmade Fair to be held on Saturday the 22nd of November 2008 at Rangeworthy Village Hall, nr. Chipping Sodbury, South Gloucestershire. 10 a.m - 4.00 p.m. Tables for the event are £10.00 each for the day Maximum 2 tables per person.
Free Admission
If you would like to share a table with someone then that is also a possibility..
There is plenty of parking for sellers and visitors at the hall and so no worries about traffic wardens and wheel clamping!

This event will be held exclusively for Blogging friends to come and sell their items at a Vintage and Handmade Fair and is open for all fellow bloggers and the public to come and buy and start the Christmas shopping frenzy...or just to meet up and chat and EAT CAKE!!

If you are interested in joining the throng as a seller.. or wish for more information ..please could you contact Jayne or myself by email. All are welcome but we are trying to achieve a variety of stalls so we have a good eclectic mix of Vintage goods and handmade items. We aim to advertise this in as many outlets as possible and of course the Blog world will spread the word far and wide we hope... Don't forget to put this date in your diary and we look forward to seeing you there.... Yee ha !!

Birthday boy.....

2008-07-07T20:49:00.006+02:00

This is for my boy... my one and only beautiful child who is many miles away from me today on his fourteenth birthday...It seems so strange, so wrong that he is not here to be hugged and kissed and spoiled on this special day.. his special day...

So sending my love to you my darling boy across the waves and praying for your safe return and happy homecoming....

Happy Birthday Darling... I love you so.. Mum Xxxx

P.s I will try not to eat all the cake before you get home...

The times they are a changing....

2008-07-03T10:29:00.003+02:00

I am having one of those weeks ...
A lot of wandering around in circles trying to find myself.. along with the elusive scissors and my reading glasses that are invariably perched on top of my head..
I am fearing that the dreaded hormones are really kicking in now and some strange force is taking over my life. I like to think that I am even - tempered person but these days I can feel positively psychotic at times provoked by the slightest thing.. reduced to tears in an instant if I feel life, inanimate objects, people are conspiring against me..All totally irrational thoughts most of the time.
It is akin to being a toddler/teenager again, feeling like I am on a runaway train.. out of control..
It must be the Dementors at work or is it something equally dark and hideous.. The Menopause..?!
Now I am slightly ill at ease writing about this subject as I know it might be considered a taboo subject by some and a real faux pas to talk of such things.... but what the heck.. I am living dangerously again and throwing caution to the wind.. all part of the condition I feel!
Hello.. hello.. is anyone there..??
If you are then I must tell you about a few of my classic A.W.O.L moments of late..
There are so many but I will spare some of my blushes and your boredom and limit it to these..
Picture the scene..
Sunday evening the telephone rings.. " Hello it's Dennis here".... me.."Oh hello Dennis how are you" not giving him a chance to answer.. " thank you so much for coming to sort out the printer, I would be lost without it".. without drawing breath I continue .... " I expect you are looking forward to the school holidays now?"..
Dennis manages to squeeze a word in with.. "Hello Mrs Chivers.. I wondered if you would like some more veg this week?"... OH ... NOT THAT DENNIS... the local organic veg supplier instead... Lots of back peddling later we establish a coherent conversation... Poor man!

Classic No: 2...
In usual altered state of consciousness in the morning.. loading the dishwasher and absentmindedly taking a bottle of yellow liquid from the cupboard under the sink.. I start to squirt what I believe to be 'Rinse Aid' into the machine.. then I realise to my horror that the rinse aid is in fact Fairy Liquid and I have filled the rinse cycle with soap.... It is still foaming 5 weeks later!!

Leaving my reading glasses on the compost bin at the end of the garden and turning the house upside down to find them...
Leaving my mobile phone on the wall outside the front door with the front door keys still in the lock....
Sending an Email to my son's tutor at school instead of my intended friend.. Goodness knows what she made of my prattle!
Oh the list goes on.. and on....

I hope I come to my senses soon..

Last but not least.. a quote found in a book...Wrinklies' Wit & Wisdom..
My grandma told me, 'The good news is, after menopause the hair on your legs gets really thin and you don't have to shave anymore. Which is great because it means that you have more time to work on your new moustache.
By Karen Haber....

OH JOY!!!

On the home front ...

2008-06-30T09:39:00.011+02:00

There is nothing like an impending visit from friends to bring about a sense of extreme panic in me and become uber critical of my habitat..
With the knowledge that others will be seeing my home for the first time I have started a home improvement exercise in the same vein as a military manoeuvre... Well I am trying to gather my troops but they have all gone A.W.O.L and so this task has been left mostly to me to complete.
It involves vast amounts of rubbish removal and a lot of tweaking and re-arranging..

There are areas of my home that I love.. probably not what you would consider the best features but just little corners that speak to me in some way .. ..I have had my fair share of homes having moved 5 times in the last ten years due to some of life's unforeseen upheavals but now I feel I have settled ... for the time at least.. I don't think I will ever cease to fantasise about life in a cottage on Dartmoor or a rural idyll tucked away in the darkest depths of the countryside.. I still avidly scan the glossy pages of our local magazine 'Bath Life' looking for that perfect home, at a perfect price, in a perfect location, with a perfect interior and preferably a lottery win to accompany it!
When we moved to our house two years ago it was a decision that was made in the first two minutes of walking through the door despite the acres of cork tiled floors that greeted us and the double glazed windows.. I am a bit of a traditionalist and love old sash windows.. but having lived with force 9 gales whistling through the rickety window panes of previous houses ..it is actually a godsend to have a draught proof house.. forget the aesthetics of wooden sash windows. I can take some comfort that our house is the only house in a terrace of 42 Victorian houses that is not draughty!

In the Beginning

We spent the first six months in our new home taking shelter in any corner of the house that wasn't being ripped apart.. floorboards were taken up for the total rewiring.. something that the building survey had failed to mention despite the rather dodgy wiring that looked like a map of the London underground.. oh and the Bakelite plug sockets.. circa 1950's...

During

After

Not only did we decide to dive in head first with our hands tied behind our backs.. by having the kitchen knocked through into a study and the old fire place opened up.. having masochistic tendencies.. we had the garden landscaped at the same time.. So nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.. madness. Expensive insanity!
The daily cuisine of microwaved meals soon took their toll and the constant dust cloud did wonders for my hair and complexion.. more Catweezle (without the beard and tash) with every passing day.
I think that I can say our home is almost finished but when will it ever be finished.. as thanks to my constant neurosis about finding perfection.. I want to take up the paint brush and start all over again.
It's all your fault you see.. If I hadn't started blogging I would be content with my lot..ignorance is bliss and all that.. but seeing your beautifully styled and serenely painted interiors I know that some things HAVE to change and our living room will be the first to go under the brush..It is more like an Indian restaurant circa 1970's than a haven of pastel good taste..
I would love your tips please on where to begin..

Life on the high C's....

2008-06-26T17:28:00.006+02:00

Please forgive me the dreadful pun title but today my post has a bit of a nautical theme..
The high C's being the doses of said Vitamins that I am taking to try and rid myself of a tenacious head cold...
Feeling stuffy and with a throat like sandpaper I will not be saying very much today...
I would like to show you what I have been up to whilst sneezing and sniffling..
My latest vintage nostalgia box frame was inspired by a memory I had of messing about in boats during my childhood Cornish holidays... endless days of sandy feet and a sun burnt nose...
and as I grew older and far from wiser... holiday romances.. one that has lasted 35 years..
I would like to present to you

'HELLO SAILOR'

I must try and find a way of photographing my work without having a camera lens reflection in each frame..!
I will be off now to pop some more pills and seek lemon and honey..
In the meantime.. thank you so much for all your lovely comments re: my garden..
I get so much pleasure from my plants but after all it is not I who should receive the credit for my garden .. it is dear old mother nature who does all the hard work!

Fireworks in June....

2008-06-22T17:31:00.016+02:00

Midsummer's Day.. passed with a distinctly autumnal feel about it... grey skies, low misty clouds hugging the skyline and a damp dour air about the day . Not the heady heat of a summer's day, nor the Lapis blue skies that I had hoped for, to mark the summer Solstice.
Yesterday evening, I watched from our lofty bedroom window to see the garden sway and dance in the wind and I prayed that the delicate blooms would survive the lashing and buffeting of the relentless wind.
Today we have a return to something more pleasant which drew me out into the garden to survey the damage and to admire the new arrivals of which there are plenty..
These gorgeous rich ruby flowers of the Penstemon look so pretty against the mellow stone walls of the house..
Pastel pink Penstemon sing out amongst the tangle of acid green Milly Molly Mandy our affectionate name for this plant, otherwise known as Alchemilla Mollis..and the feathery leaves of the Cosmos.. grown from seed as part of Monty Don's Cosmos trial.
.. poor, dear Monty... I do hope he makes a speedy recovery. Friday nights are not the same without his charm and passionate approach to gardening on Gardener's World..

This is my.. "When I grow up I am going to be a bottle of Wine" vine... Ever the optimist.. Grow faster, faster...!
Speckled throats of Foxgloves.... one of my favourites that have self seeded with gay abandon around the garden....It must be hard to resist if you are a bee..

This amusing character has grown the most absurd hairdo this year... but I love it and judging my his/her expression , they are rather pleased and smug about it too!

I am so happy with this Clematis Rouge Cardinal that has been smothered in these outrageous blooms for the last two weeks.
And here we have a fine example my hybrid Tabby showing off... in true Pickles style...You can almost hear him saying "Look at me, look at me"... I think we might send him off to join the circus with these acrobatics skills.
My beloved Alliums have done me proud this year and this specimen looked stunning against the dusky leaves of my Cotinus 'Smoke Bush' .
I want to preserve this month in the garden.. capture the moment and make it last.. for after the firework festival of flowers in May and June.. the plants have peaked and start to fade and go to seed..But then again... there is always next year and the fun of planning and re-arranging.
Views to die for...over the hills and far away..

An ant's eye view of the main border..
The foxgloves do remind me of firework rockets with their endless plumes of flowers exploding in one final crescendo of colour...
Nature is pretty amazing and my love affair with my garden continues with a passion...

**** Monday.. How could I forget my mother's favourite rose.. Ferdinand Pichard.. a heavenly rose with a heavenly scent ..
Astrantias .... beautiful little pink pin cushion flowers..
And finally.. the cascade of clematis Viticella... better this year than last..
How does your garden grow this summer?

So far so good....

2008-06-16T18:03:00.010+02:00

After the events of last week, this week has kicked off to a good start and buoyed along by your lovely comments (thank you so much one and all) I felt much happier in my heart yesterday and vowed to use this to my advantage ploughing this feelgood mood into being crafty and creative... as not forgetting... Cowboys and Custard was always meant to be just that and not a monologue about my woes...
So feeling in another 'Blue Peter' mood.. I dug out an assortment of ephemera and vintage miniatures to make a 'Garden' themed frame.. one I had given much thought to over the last month or so but hadn't felt confident to tackle until now... 'Onwards and Upwards' was my motto of the day so before the mood had time to think twice.. I started cutting and pasting and painting and Voila... may I present to you...

SOW & GROW

I printed a black and white floral border onto some ink jet linen backed paper.. Currently my fave material of the month, to give it a vintage flavour and used a vintage seed packet for the central decoration.
The small vintage garden roller was once part of a toy garden made by 'Britains' a toy manufacturer of fine lead, then plastic models..

I think I am pleased with the results but then again if I start to think about it for too long I am sure to find fault as I always do... ever the Virgoan.. never 100% satisfied.

While still on a creative roll .. I decided to make a lemon drizzle cake to welcome my boys home from school as there is always the inevitable dive for the larder to raid anything sweet and toothsome.
So engrossed was I in my garden frame, that I forgot to remove the cake in time and here we have Lemon Drizzle Cake... 'Well done' or is it Flambeed, or maybe just Burnt!!

I shall call this latest creation .....

Burnt Offerings

I did manage to salvage the cake and save face by carving off the charcoal layer and dousing the cake in a thick lemon syrup.... They will never know... and you won't tell will you??!!!

P.s An update on my mother in laws' health after the awful scare of last Friday...
Being a frail woman of 86 years of age.. we feared the worst on Friday night when she was admitted to hospital in a desperate state.... 24 hours later she had come through and though a shadow of her former self.. she continues to fight on...
Her husband of 93 years of age.... is her raison d'etre.... reason for being!

As for my stressed out son.. he came home triumphant with an 86% grade in his French exam results... Oh he of little faith!

Lastly.. my big boy... beloved man of mine.. has gone down with a horrible cold.. not surprising after his gladiatorial week...
I will leave you with this.... enjoy!

A new chapter & a new friend...

2008-06-15T15:24:00.015+02:00

I was sorely tempted to delete my last post. It played heavily on my mind for several hours .. 'Should I have written such an indulgent post'?.. I enquired to Mr Custard..
"Well he said.. what is done is done and wait and see how people react".... That was my principal worry... what would you think about my rather desperate chapter in the life of Cowboys & Custard. Well I should have known that my dear and empathic blog friends would offer words of support and sympathy... but it is tempting to hit the delete button of life sometimes and in blogdom it is possible to do this and try and erase some of life's more challenging moments....

Having written my post yesterday we promptly went out to try and find an antidote to the woes of the last week and we succeeded in having a brief, but wonderful time and putting the worries of the last 48 hours behind us for a while.

Dear Annie from Saucerful of Secrets had sent me an invite to the Stroud Valley Open Studios.. an event that spans many artistic households and venues in the beautiful Gloucestershire countryside in and around the pretty town of Stroud. Very similar to the Brighton Open House event that I visited a few weeks ago where I met my dear friend Kim from Ragged Roses.

It was a perfect distraction and the journey to Stroud was awash with rural splendour... fields of ripening corn and poppies, quaint little Cotswold villages of mellow stone houses and leafy lanes cloaked our journey to meet this lovely lady who I had spoken to on the phone on two occasions and had promised that we would attend her open house exhibition.

I knew it was the right house the minute we drew up outside... a pretty Cotswold stone cottage with flowers abundant in the front garden and the very handsome Rufus to greet us at the gate..Rufus being a cat of Abyssinian descent..no less!
On reaching the back of the house I had a sense of deja vu... here was the 'oh so pretty' balconied house and winding cottage garden that I had seen on Annie's blog.. and it was such a charming sight bedecked with knitted bunting and flowers..
There were four artists displaying their fine crafts in the small converted 'Little Wren House" that Annie had written about recently on her blog.

Stepping inside her tiny but perfect emporium made my heart swell with a mixture of admiration, awe and envy.. it was absolutely delightful inside and crammed full of the most wonderful felted pictures, jewellery and Annie's very special trademark vintage textile dolls...(see photo of doll above) and why oh why did I not take a photograph of all this!!! I must have been mad to miss this opportunity..Lovely knitware and bunting

We stepped inside the kitchen to chat to Annie and my eyes were on stalks.. spanning the small but bijou room that was testament to another era.. one of a Victorian doll's house full of decorative arts and crafts... To have an idea you must go and read Saucerful of Secrets and see for yourself... It truly was a sight for sore, tired eyes and an absolute delight to see.
Mr Custard and I sipped coffee from pretty chintz china tea cups in the sun soaked garden and chatted briefly to the lovely ladies who were also exhibiting there.. The moment was perfect.

Thank you dear Annie for your friendly hospitality.. it was such a pleasure to meet you..at last!

I am so glad that we made this journey and we came away with much happier hearts having shared some lovely moments with Annie and fellow friends and artists ...in her enchanting home and garden...
I look forward to seeing her again one day and am more convinced than ever that a collective Blog Bonanza is long overdue .. something I would like to organise one day to bring all you lovely people together to chat and share the friendships that bind our blogs together..

This visit taught me a valuable lesson... not to sit on my backside this week feeling sorry for myself.. but to make the most of every moment and use the experiences of late to inspire some more craft projects..
It remains to be seen what I come up with but I will be sure to share it with you if it is worthy!

The Eye of the Storm...

2008-06-15T09:24:00.006+02:00

Sunday has arrived to huge sighs of relief in this household..
It has been one hell of a week and I am so glad to put it behind me..we all are.. even the cat!
I knew it was going to be a challenging time with my workload and a week crammed full of end of term exams for my son..I didn't however realise that the crescendo would arrive on Friday night just when I had hoped it was safe to breathe out..
Monday.. my son arrived home from school in floods of tears having " messed-up"his exams that day.. Maths proving to be impossible and normally one of his strongest subjects.. I fear that panic took over and my poor boy had a temporary meltdown in the exam room despite me sending him off to school in the morning liberally doused in Lavender oil to calm his nerves and with a lucky heart charm in his blazer pocket. It is hard to reassure our children when they face these hurdles in life.. but I tried to bolster him up for the next onslaught of exams on Tuesday and this pattern continued until Friday when a worn and weary lad returned from school feeling as though he had been put through the mangle.

Kitchen Industries

My pile of Christmas card orders hit the production line and lurched along with a few punctuations for tea breaks and a brief nose outside the back door to take some air.. All finished and packed on Friday afternoon up and ready to leave the premises on Monday.. courier permitting!
Oh what a wonderful feeling that was to put the last cards in the box... but always shortly followed by an uneasy feeling that maybe 'that's it' there will be no more orders..
as I need to keep the cogs oiled and turning to keep the wolf from the door..

Cassius Clay aka Pickles

Pickles had another of his close encounters of the 'punch up' kind this week and has been sporting a rather unpleasant cut to his handsome face.. Thanks to Nurse Custard.. I have mopped and swabbed the offending area and thankfully he has escaped another costly and traumatic trip to the vets.. where we have become a regular fixture recently and were even given loyalty points on our last visit. Maybe we will get a season ticket and front row seats if Pickles continues to take on the local moggy population. Really to look at him you would never think that he is capable of being an aggressor.. he is such a 'pussy-cat' at home.. unless you happen to be another tom cat on his territory!

Sanctuary

Friday evening had been our carrot all week.. a time to unwind and relax, put the ills of the week behind us and eat copious amounts of chocolate washed down with some nice plonk.. Well.. t'was not to be..
Mr Custard has had a very stressful time commuting between work (running a busy primary school) and a very frail and worryingly ill mother. Friday evening he was due to host the school's P.T.A popular quizz night having spent the day attending to his mother who had taken a turn for the worse. After being reassured by a doctor that antibiotics would cure all ills... he returned home wrung out and in desperate need of an early night..
Well to cut a long short..... he spent the rest of the night in A & E with his mother until she was finally admitted at 3.a.m whereupon he came home and fell into a long deep but troubled sleep..

We are all taking stock today and re-charging flat batteries to face another week..

It is not my style normally to write about the nitty gritty of life on my blog... but today I blew caution to the wind.. though I know it is probably very self indulgent..

I promise to be back with something more Cowboy and Custardy next time....XX

P.s How could I forget... Happy Father's Day to all you Papas out there.. have a wonderful day.

Notes from the boudoir ....

2008-06-11T07:34:00.013+02:00

That title might suggest something a little racy but I can assure you that this post is anything but..
I am just grabbing these few precious moments of peace and tranquility at 6.30 a.m whilst propped up in bed, to clock - in and say hello to all of you.
My time has been hijacked again, not only by the usual domestic chores but also by a rather large pile of Christmas card orders that arrived with a heavy thud in my mail box last weekend.
Oh.. sorry to mention the ' C ' word in June!!
Now I am on the proverbial conveyor belt churning out smiling Santas and frigid looking snowmen whilst the temperatures outside soar and I slowly melt at my kitchen table workshop....standing a few feet from a cynical Aga that pumps out a steady temperature..i.e HOT! No.. I know that it is not very eco friendly but to compensate.. I recycle just about everything... cardboard, tins, newspapers, all junk mail (that hardly makes it through the letterbox before it is thrown ceremoniously into the recycling bin) ..rainwater for my plants, plastic bags, bottles, compost etc etc....
I get a little panicky when I can't keep up with my acquaintances in Blogland.. but I will hopefully come up for air (literally) next week and wade through the many neglected bloggers who have visited me and that I intend to respond to..
I live with one ear carefully trained so that I can hear the ping.. whenever mail comes in and it is always such a pleasure to hear from you so please bear with me..
The factory will close this weekend to restore some sanity and to give me some time to don my 'domestic goddess' hat in order to tackle the mountain of shirts that need washing and ironing...

( I can assure you I do not grin like this whilst ironing)

Rant over.. work resumes in one hour.. so Au revoir mes amies..

A bientot..

Enjoy the sun!

6 of the best...!

2008-06-05T10:12:00.015+02:00

Isn't it amazing how life can be lived in a day.. or so it seems..
Yesterday was one such day when I felt that I could happily have turned down the volume and slowed to a 78 r.p.m tempo..

Today the day has a sense of calm about it and though it is early in the day.. I have a feeling that maybe some sanity will be restored... now that's tempting fate!

I have been a bit of a latent blogger recently and the frenzied determination to write a daily post has waned over the last few weeks and now I have comfortably settled into the slow lane and don't feel so pressured to keep up the daily musings..

This however has led to a very belated post... one that I promised dear Dana at Calico Cat Press that I would write last week... a tag!

So sorry Dana... Here I am .. and here are 6 unimportant facts about me..
I would just like to add that most facts about me are unimportant but how I struggled to come up with six this time!
Those of you who can't face another Meme.. look away now.. as the sports commentators often say when announcing the sporting results..

1. When I was a wee lass.. one of my darling brothers thought it was a great wheeze to take a blackcurrant Rowntrees fruit gum, and place it in his cupped hands. He would approach me with the words.."look what I have found".. with a slightly menacing tone.. I, with my fertile imagination, had a quick glimpse of the clutched sweetie and convinced that it was a big black beetle... ran screaming around the house being pursued by my amused brother and a very innocent fruit gum.
It took me a while to cotton on that the object that I had feared so much was actually a delicious confection and ironically is now my favourite flavoured fruit gum..

2. Returning to my early years.. one of my earliest memories is standing at the kitchen sink... perched on top of a chair, washing my brand new white and red leather shoes with copious amounts of washing up liquid. I have always had an unhealthy obsession with washing and cleaning and my mother recalled that I would spend many happy hours washing my dolls clothes.. a favourite toy of mine was a Chad Valley washing machine...
I can't say I feel that enamoured towards ironing!

3. I have always yearned to be able to dance well but having a poor sense of coordination has kind of scuppered my dreams of being Isadora Duncan or Dame Margot Fonteyn...
I had ballet classes when I was five years old and I think my motives were purely to wear the costume... I loved my little red ballet shoes and the whole ritual of putting my feet in the resin box to stop me skidding in an ungainly fashion across the parquet dance floor..
My dance career was short lived and by six years of age.. I resorted to riding bikes and wearing dungarees..

4. I love maps..
I enjoy studying the contours and little symbols on a map especially if it is unknown territory
I would love there to be virtual maps where one could see miniature cars travelling along the roads and birds flying over the landscape...
I have become a huge fan of Google Earth and though it seems voyeuristic.. it is great fun to visit favourite haunts to have a birdseye view... it gives a whole new perspective to our world and defines armchair travel.

5. One of my favourite all time books is 'Where the Wild Things Are' by Maurice Sendak.
It is a wonderful book and one I got to know intimately when my son was very young and would love to curl up in the crook of my arm and listen to the story of Max sailing .."off through night and day, in and out of weeks and almost over a year to where the wild things are"... I can just about remember it word for word..

And finally...

6. Faces fascinate me... (other than my own)
Of all the subjects that I have painted and drawn during my artistic years.. faces are the the most satisfying..
As my memory is on the wane and I am forever trying to remember names .. it is some comfort to know that I never forget a face..!

Well there we have it... 6 of the best... or worst.

It is safe to look now.. those of you that turned away..

The Grand Tour ... part 2

2008-06-01T12:02:00.014+02:00

After the kind and lovely Kim et famille had chaperoned Mr Custard and I around the various Open Houses of Brighton and given much of their time and wonderful company we left Brighton feeling buoyant though weary about the legs. Charmiane our loyal sat nav lady... took us on a rather convoluted route towards our next destination on the grand tour.. Midhurst.
En route. we stopped at an inviting village inn, in the pretty village of Poynings . I realised at 2.30 p.m that we had not eaten that day and I was running on empty so we re-fuelled at a pretty village inn and set off into the stunning south downs listening to Charmiane telling us in a controlled but clearly irritated voice.. that we should have turned left not right at the previous junction.
Oh well... nay mind.. it is good to get lost sometimes... great discoveries are often made without a map or guide and I love to explore unknown territories.
We arrived in Midhurst by late afternoon and checked in to our hotel.. a place that held fond memories for us from a previous visit... a long story but one I would love to tell one day!
The events of the day had caught up with me and I suddenly felt exhausted .. so quickly fell asleep whilst trying to read what was left of the Saturday Telegraph after Mr Custard had practiced his origami on it!
That evening we dined at the local Loch Fyne restaurant on a delicious supper of oysters and salmon and then took a gentle stroll around the city limits (!) of Midhurst.. a very pretty Sussex town with a wealth of history and attractive half timbered houses and the indigenous local flint and red brick.
I can't believe this is the only photograph that I managed to take but I loved this vintage sign..
The day ended on a slightly eccentric note... sitting up in bed eating tiramissu and watching the mildly disturbing and yet hilarious Eurovision Song Contest... enough to send anyone to sleep..
Sunday morning.. awoke to the sound of rain but this did little to dampen my growing excitement for our next and last destination on our mini grand tour.. a place of fairy tale memories that stretch back at least 40 years... wonderful WISLEY.
When I lived in Berkshire it was just a hop and a skip to visit this mecca of the plant world and my father being a passionate gardener who inspired in me a love and lifelong appreciation of gardens.. would regularly take me to the RHS headquarters at Wisley.
So here I was... some years hence arriving at Wisley with two vivid snapshots from my childhood.. the long perennial border that I loved to run along and of the house.. a stunning tudor style house which I presume houses the administration offices for the RHS. ... a noble cause.
As we had set off early we were probably the second people to arrive and judging by the size of the car park I was pleased that we would not be wading through a sea of people to enter the gardens.
The weather was wet and the light dark and murky but this didn't stop me from snapping away at every step and turn..
It is a fantastic feat of landscaping and planting with an enormous wealth of plant species and trees set in the Surrey countryside and only a whisper away from the M25... though you would not know it... peace and beauty reign within.
The rockery was a vague memory of mine... climbing the cleverly designed steps, abundantly planted.. so beautiful.. and immaculate... hardly a weed in sight.

These photos are for dear Sal... who yearns to return to Wisley..
I will leave you here to take the tour as my words could never do justice to the beauty of this place...

A field of Alliums stunning and inspired!

Enter the glass house for some outrageous plants...

The Doll's Slipper Orchid..

The scale of some plants was truly amazing...

Such wise words from Leonardo...

A passion flower curtain...
Passion flower beauty..

Cottage garden plants..
And finally.. rendezvous with a memory... the long herbaceous borders...FAB!!!!!

This weekend was perfect from start to finish... meeting my dear friend Kim, acquainting with some of the finest countryside Britain has to offer and my long awaited rendezvous with Wisley.. Phew... a bit of an emotional roller coaster but one I would happily do every day of the week.. given the chance!

“There are no strangers here

2008-05-29T09:17:00.004+02:00

....Only friends you haven't yet met.” W.B Yeats

Part one..

5.a.m Saturday morning and I am wide awake ... a miracle that I slept a wink with the myriad of thoughts on my mind.
6 a.m.. stagger with armfuls of assorted luggage as quietly as possible to awaiting car..so as not to wake the neighbours.
Minutes later we are cruising along the M4 eastbound on the first leg of our epic journey.. a journey that I have anticipated and waited for with longing and just a wee smidgen of trepidation.. one I had dreamed about in detail for some time..
It was to be a pilgrimage of sorts and a journey of discovery..
On reaching Reading we came off the motorway and headed south. It was not long before I started to recognise the road signs pointing to my old life in Berkshire.. and then there it was.. Crowthorne.. the place I had lived for 14 years as a child, the village where I grew up and attended the aforementioned primary school..
Mr Custard could sense my desire to drive past my old home.. a place I have re-visited in happy memories many times.. Driving up the small private lane all the houses looked vaguely familiar and the names associated with them.. my mate Joanna's house stood as I had remembered it..Reaching the end of the lane we soon realised with a sinking heart that my old home 'Applecroft' had vanished and in it's place two soulless houses had been built.It was a bitter blow..
Still.. there was much to look forward to and many miles ahead of us so we pressed on to our destination.
Playing our usual hybrid word games along the journey took the edge of my growing sense of unease and excitement and before we knew it we were whizzing past the 'Welcome to Brighton' sign and street names began to ring familiar bells in my mind.
I had scoured the map for weeks to familiarize myself with the area and at 9.a.m we found ourselves sat outside an elegant Victorian house in a pretty tree lined avenue with two hours to spare!
In desperate need of a loo and with no knowledge of the area we started to wander with some urgency on my part, around the neighbourhood in the hopes of finding a cafe open.
In fact we found two cafes open and after a short and sweet cafe crawl we managed to kill off most of the two hours. By now my nerves were jangling and I was running on pure adrenalin.. the long awaited hour was nigh and soon my fears, hopes and dreams would become reality.

I started to pace up and down the avenue whilst Mr Custard sat in the car doing the Saturday morning ritual of the 'Telegraph' crossword..bemused by my antics.
At the 11th hour.. The Ragged Roses Family turned the corner and there began the friendship that had been confined to emails and blog comments for the last six months.
Within seconds of nervous 'hellos' and garbled introductions on my part.. we were walking along chatting and laughing and it was all so easy and effortless.
I knew that dear Kim was just as anxious about our meeting as I was and for all the same reasons.. the fear of disappointment. I didn't want her to feel betrayed by the reality of meeting me in person. We had shared an empathic and warm friendship via the ether, up to this point in time and I suppose my biggest fear was that I would be an anti-climax.. a Wizard of Oz..!
In hindsight I feel most foolish at my unnecessary fears and doubts..

Kim and her delightful family.. graciously gave up their time to welcome us to Brighton and escort us around the various 'Open House' venues where we were introduced to another blog friend ..the talented Emma who was exhibiting her lovely crafts.

Kim also managed to quickly dispel my fears about my participating in the December 2008 Open House events. It was a real treat to see the huge variety of arts and crafts on display in these beautiful homes and to feel that I would be part of it one day. A real privilege.

We came away after a whistle stop tour of Brighton's Open Houses with a firm belief that we had met up with 'old' friends and were richer for the brief time we shared in each other's company. My only regret was that we couldn't stop the clock and spend more time with Kim and her charming family.

When I stepped onto the threshold of Blogdom last October, never did I imagine that I would inherit such a wealth of friendship from my virtual/real friends.. and such is the nature of blogging that it is easy to forget sometimes that there are real people with hearts and souls behind each blog facade not mythical beings.

The next leg of our adventure takes me back to a very special place in my heart.. a place that I visited regularly as a child and have not returned to for some 40 years...

To be continued..
Here is just a sneak preview..

Best days of our lives...

2008-05-22T09:13:00.017+02:00

Do you remember the days of the old school yard.. as Cat Stevens once sang..?
I have very fond memories of my primary school days..
I started at the local C of E Primary School in 1963 in the village of Crowthorne, Berkshire. The school was a red brick affair, built in the late 1800's and had separate entrances for Boys & Girls.. A school hall, numerous Victorian classrooms, a canteen and the all- weather outside lavvies! I remember the dash across the playground to break the ice in order to use these conveniences in the colder months.. and in those days we had proper winters..Does anyone remember the winter of 1964.. it seemed like the second ice age had arrived.
Of all the years of my childhood.. my early school years are the most vivid and memorable.
I walked the mile to school with my older brother who had the dubious responsibility of looking after me each day. My first day at school is forever indelibly tattooed on my memory..Arriving at school tearful and bewildered I was ushered into a large cavernous classroom adorned with pictures on the wall, green tiled walls and tall windows. There was the Wendy House corner with assorted pots and pans, the reading corner with a jumble of books and the crates of small milk bottles on the floor with a box of drinking straws. Why was the milk always tepid.. yeuch!

I had a peg to hang my coat on with a picture of a boat above.
I wore a dark green pleated skirt and had a green v neck jumper embellished with the school badge symbolising three crows for the village of Crowthorne. The school motto escapes me but I think it was probably something like.. 'Keep a clean nose and sharp pencils at all times '..in Latin of course!
My crisp white shirt, was far from, by the end of the day.. I was a mucky child and always managed to decorate my clothes with various mediums.. be it crayons, paints or food.
My outdoor wear consisted of a dark green belted raincoat which I flatly refused to fasten and would promptly undo the belt once out of the sight of my disapproving mother.. and a green felt beret which I wore Benny Hill style rather than the Bonny style of Bonny & Clyde fame. I wore Start-rite brown leather shoes with a cut out pattern and grey socks that were forever falling down.
The obvious highlights of the day were 'Play times' which were heralded by the old school hand bell.. rung around the school playground by a prefect. My brother had this honour in his last year at the school and when the bell developed a crack, it was auctioned and my brother and I won it with the highest bid of 10 shillings.. that is 50 pence in today's money.. Gosh I am sounding old!
I still have that bell but alas I could not find it as it is probably in one of the many boxes still unpacked from our house move 2 years ago!!
The games we played in the playground were Hopscotch, French skipping with elastic, What's the time Mr Wolf, Tag, British Bulldog, lots of girly gossip and kiss chase! Sorry Alan Scott..(who asked for my hand in marriage) .... I did play so hard to get!
There were the inevitable crushes that developed amongst the class members and mine was Stephen Skinner.. a dusky, tall legged and brown-eyed heart throb who had many hearts fluttering at the tender age of 11 years old..
Then there was the charming and hilarious Timothy Spencer who had a habit of pushing pencil rubbers up his nose much to the amusement of all except for the teachers who had to retrieve them!

Funny how I only remember the boys names..

I have another treasured relic from those days other than precious memories .. a book that I won for English... English being my favourite subject and I relished the essay homework that we were regularly given.. Why is it then that I struggle so with writing my blog ??

Dear Mr Blore (nicknamed 'Bore') would despair if he could see how my grammar has deteriorated since those days..sorry!
The school dinners were also memorable, not for the haute cuisine .. but rather the lumpy mashed potato, stewed prunes and custard pushed reluctantly around the plate under the watchful eye of the formidable dinner ladies..pink blancmange that always had blue inky specks in it and the mixed fear and pride of being the water monitor for that day..serving up coloured metallic beakers of water with a shaky hand..
Games were Shinty.. a derivative of Hockey.. Playing netball.. badly... and dreading anyone throwing me the ball in case I dropped it and the final indignity of wearing thick, school regulation, green knickers in place of shorts which exposed my skinny legs and knock knees.. (what I would give for those knees now)
I was briefly employed as the school Librarian and wore a green enamel badge so that everyone would know my status. My job description was a little ambiguous and I spent most of my library duties .. re-arranging the books on the shelves and wishing that I had one of those inked stamps that made a delightfully satisfying clicky noise when stamping library tickets.
I was also elected as house captain for 'Buckingham House' one of four school houses, for a year and I still to this day believe I was chosen because no-one else wanted the job.. This however did enable me to wear another enamel badge .. a blue one this time.. in the shape of a shield saying 'House Captain'.. I lived in hope that it would be swapped for a 'Head Girl' badge... but I was not qualified for that heady status!

They were truly happy days and I was lucky enough to re-visit my old school, five years ago, on a trip to my old haunts in Berkshire. The school had changed little in those intervening years..though everything seemed to have shrunk..!.....the step where Alan Scott proposed to me...

I really didn't intend to write about my school days at all on this post.. I was going to say that I had been tagged by dear Dana at Calico Cat Press and my mind just wandered off to the games of tag we played as children.. and the rest is history as they say.

I will return in a few days with my tag post and news of a grand adventure that takes place this weekend.... Ooooooh can't wait!

Ta ta!

A walk on the wild side....

2008-05-20T10:50:00.012+02:00

Don't you just love it when the sun shines..The warmth inspires strong feelings of joie de vivre..

On Sunday.. the sun shone (hurrah) and taking young son by the hand and gently coaxing him outside from the gloom of his bedroom cave into the dazzling daylight.. we set off en famille to
one of our favourite hill tops just outside the city limits..

Kelston Roundhill

There were the usual bleats of despair from my offspring about the length of the walk, the time it would take.. but lo and behold.. within a few minutes of stepping out into the green and blue yonder.. my son started to leap and prance about like a Gazelle on his summer vacation.
The path to our destination was cloaked in a froth of Hawthorn blossom and Cow Parsley.

From afar, the landscape looked as if it had been liberally iced with sugar frosting..

The wind in our hair and a spring in our step we took the familiar route to this very special corner of our fair and green land..Let's face it .. much as we loathe rain.. the benefits of it are manifold.. green green fields for one..

I would love to have heard their conversation...maybe it went like this..
"No I am Buttercup.. you're Daisy"..

Eventually we climbed the summit and gazed out at the beautiful landscape that stretched to the city of Bristol and beyond to the hills of south Wales..One member of the family really got into the spirit of the occasion and took part in a spot of hill rolling.. an ancient custom round these parts !!??
After a very enjoyable jaunt it was ..'last one home's a sissy' and the race to get back to a welcome plate of Sunday lunch and a few sneaky ZZZzzzz's on the sofa...A perfect Sunday in the sun..