keeping busy...

I have spent a few months making squares and the last 2 weeks decided it was time to start joining. this is number one, coffee and cream.

Number 2 is a gift for a friends grandson down south after he kept borrowing the Christmas one I made for his grandma - can't have that he needs one of his own.

This is a larger one made from leftovers of my favourite yarns. Im hoping to sell numbers 1 and 3 so cross your fingers for me.

The last one is a 36" square for my dear friend Mrs Twins (Sue) from SIBOL http://sunshineinternationalblanketsoflove.blogspot.co.uk/ Please visit her beautiful blog and see the wonderful blankets she collects from all over the world. They are mainly for elderley people in the Uk but some are auctioned so she can carry on helping as many people as possible.

Paisley packages tied up with thread...

...as opposed to brown paper packages tied up with string...here are a few of my favourite things, all from my dear fellow blogger Linda http://chalkygilbert.blogspot.co.uk/. I won her giveaway and my goodness what a wonderful parcel I recieved. Every item beautifully wrapped and tied, It was like Christmas. Even handmade gift tags - soooo pretty. Handmade notelets, earrings, note pads, stitch markers - just what I need - crochet doileys and a sweet little owl. Also a handbag/phone charm, lavender heart, a very useful shoebag, cookery books- yummy - and some crochet hearts. It was just what I needed to cheer me up. My daughter and her daddy were going to a friends funeral but Hubby was too poorly to attend after all so I have been running up and downstairs all day tending to him. I left all the gifts on the table so every time I went past it they made me smile. Thank you Linda.

I sold my vintage sewing box and 3 vintage shopping baskets of Fleabay last month and netted £25 for the lot, so much space now its quite addictive. However boxing them was another matter. Luckily Hubby is quite gifted in that area and created some sturdy if slightly deformed boxes. Im now popping upstairs to the 'bedroom of doom' and hunting out more things to de-clutter. having to do 10 minutes at a time as I have run out of painkillers - idiot I am.

I also have a box full of video's to dispose of, we came to the momentous decision they should go when we discovered we didnt even have a video player to watch them on. 

Christmas came and went quietly with a quick visit to see little man and give out gifts there. 

Christmas lunch was low key and served up when I felt like it, turkey and the trimmings, pud and cream with a rather nice beer shandy for 3 came to £4.70 and there were leftovers for Boxing day fry up tea and turkey wraps for lunch - that pleased me. OH has just returned from searching for painkillers for me, Mr T didnt ope n the pharmacy today but he found a local chemist open thank goodness. He also scored 2 bottles of milk for 49p each and double cream for 79p - thats destined for the freezer in tubs to enrich quiches or currys.

Michael decided grandads funny hat and baggy jumper were just the thing for a chilly day! 

Further to my No-spend-vember I decided to put lots of the goodies we found whilst clearing the loft out to E bay. Usually I dont do very well with it and stuff remains unsold. Seems I have found my niche now, I really only hoped to make minimum price for stuff which would have slowly filled our money pot but amazingly things have done really well. 

1. knitting patterns on Amazon sold for £11

2. OH's old Dinky toys have sold for £10 - !6 which was a shock as they are very well played with, no boxes and some have no wheels.

3. Lace making bobbins that Mum picked up for me ages ago in a charity shop sold from 99p a bundle to £8

Have boxes of things that I would have liked to keep but really are filling the house to bursting so am popping a few things on E bay every few days so in about 4 months will have lots of room and be able to pay off a couple of small debts thus saving us money every month. there are some pieces of Speedway memorabilia and Games belonging to Son that could potentially make (to me) a lot of money. Son has agreed to split the money with me so onwards and upwards!

Here is a preview of the pillowcase dress that I made for a charity working in the Gambia. the lovely fabric was gifted to me by my dear friend Chalky and so far I have made 10 dresses and 4 of the little bags. I am putting each little dress in a bag so its new owner gets 2 gifts in one. Some friends and I collect lots of useful stuff during the yea then my friend Annie delivers it all to the charities head quarters.

Michael loves his new hat and carries my handbag round so he can pretend to be Mr Tumbles. Also decided the best place to eat lunch is sat on manma's hatbox on the fireplace, much better than a custom made table (courtesy of Grandad) and a vintage chair.