The Village Fete, a place to meet friends

Hello. After all the rainfall we've had, thank goodness the weather was kind to us today and we were able to hold our Fete on the Village Green. It was the usual mix of stalls, games to win prizes, raffles, tombola, craft stalls, and of course the old favourite the WI cake stall. Yes I did cave in and bought a coconut tart, I am partial to a nice home made tart. 

The refreshment tent was a hive of activity. It's nice to sit and have a natter over a cuppa with your neighbours, not that I had time for any of that, I was too busy.

The youngsters having a go at the bowls competition.

The ladies of the Hospice Supporters Club always do well. Pull a string and win a prize. 

It was lovely when the sun came out.

Kiddywinks having their faces painted.

The new Chairman of the Parish Council dropped by to see us on our cat rescue stall. I have known Craig for many years, I used to work for him in his metal detecting business. I will put a link in here because he is a personal friend, and what he doesn't know about metal detecting isn't worth knowing. 

Two more visitors came to see me today. Blog readers Lesley and her daughter. They brought gifts for me, and some great things to sell on the stall. Thank you very much, I enjoyed meeting you.

And here is our stall. We have an extra pair of hands today, thank goodness, because I have been flitting about a lot. The giant leopard was the prize in a competition to guess it's name. As you can see we have a great selection of items to sell, all donated by kind people. We did very well for sales which will cover the cost of the cat food for a while. Fourteen of the shopping bags sold, and I tried my best to sell the last one, but there were no customers left, they had all gone home.

I also helped to set up the Village Hall for the Art Exhibition tomorrow. I shall be there in the morning at 10am with my artworks to display on my space.

I must do my walk tonight. I'm getting a bit behind with being busy with other things. I'd better get a move on, if I sit here for much longer I will be falling asleep. Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip

Take 294,876.....CUT ;o))

Hello. I'm back after a 400 mile round trip down south. Here's a clue about what I was doing. Yep, filming for Shed of the Year. All 32 sheddies and guests were present, a great friendly bunch of people. Much fun was had. 

Sorry, but I'm going to have to dash now, a quick in and out. A full day ahead at the Village Fete, and tomorrow at the Art Exhibition in the Village Hall. I'll catch up with you later.

Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip

Oooops, got carried away :o)

Hello. My lovely charity shop bootees are looking a bit tired, and need tarting up a bit. I want to wear them tomorrow and they must look nice. Remove dirty white laces. I tried scrubbing around the white bits at the bottom with a toothbrush and toothpaste, then wash up liquid, didn't make any difference. 

So, paint it's got to be. Vinyl silk emulsion from the tester pots.

Oh wow, I just couldn't stop myself. The grey fabric was a bit grubby, so let's give it the full works, blue, green and purple. I had a new pair of laces in my stash to complete the jazziest trainers ever. They would cost a lot of money in the shops. I bought them for £2 a few years ago, have had a lot of wear out of them, now they have a new lease of life, all for a couple of bob.

Love, love, love 'em. I hope they will make people smile. Not to be worn in the rain maybe, ha ha.

I'm going AWOL a bit later today, something important to do. Can you mind the shop for me, no skiving. I'll be back before you know it.

Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon. Toodle pip

Organize your bits and pieces

Hello. I try and keep things tidy so I know where to find things. There are plastic storage boxes you can buy, of varying sizes, to store small items in. I don't spend money if I can find a cheaper or free alternative. My bead collection is stored in various tins and boxes. These two plastic trays once contained posh cakes from M & S, I nabbed them after a party as they were about to be thrown out. The trays fit exactly inside an old chocolate tin, one on top of the other. 

In this tin I have a couple of ice cube trays, and small individual pots made by cutting the top off some supplement containers. I collect all kinds of plastics and have had these for a long time, when I used to take extra vitamins. Yes, I fell into the trap of thinking I needed them, but having not taken any for several years, I now know they did not make any difference to my general health and well being.

Another tin, this one has those small yogurty type drinks bottles in it, with the tops cut off. I buy these if they are on a yellow sticker, would never pay full price for them. They make handy little containers for bits and pieces.

Those Ferrero Rocher plastic boxes make good storage boxes as well. You can see at a glance what you have without taking the lid off. 

Has anyone else got their own unique storage system made with re purposed tins, boxes, jars, and plastic bottles? Share your tips so we can save money by not buying new from a shop.

Thanks for popping in. We'll catch up soon. Toodle pip

Look through my window

Hello. At last I have made a frame for this picture. It's been hanging around for months, I've been playing around with it, changing bits of it, adding things, now I've done enough and it's framed. 

I've daubed paint on it, and added more stitching.

Lots of French knots.

The mountain colours have been toned down with paint and needle felting, and beads added. The clouds have disappeared under splodges of blue paint. 

The frame is four pieces of wood I removed from an arm chair when I was dismantling it for disposal. I've made it this shape to give the impression of looking at the view through a window. I've sanded the wood but not varnished it, I don't think it needs it. The fabric is stretched over a board and fixed at the back, it drops into the recess of the frame. I haven't put glass in it, it's already quite heavy without. One thing I have forgot is to add my name at the bottom. I will stitch that into it, though it would have been easier to do that first. I forgot in my haste to get it framed. 

Glad that's done at last. It looks pretty good.

Thanks for popping in. We'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip