A Riverside Find!

Another one of my riverside walks has brought an unexpeted find!  Partially hidden from view amongst the long damp grass, a mystery item lay ungraciously discarded, unloved, unwanted and broken beyond repair ....or so it seemed!   Intrigued, by what this vibrant blue colour could be, I carefully reached into the grass to discover a rather new looking camping chair and on further inspection it became apparent that the frame was sadly broken.  My first thought turned to how disgraceful that visitors to this area should feel it is appropriate to just leave it there because it was broken and therefore rubbish. (or perhaps there is a belief that the "rubbish" fairies will flutter by on the winds and carry away all discarded litter in the midst of darkness!)

Then it dawned on me, my second thought, Hmmn, I have no wings but I am happy to be the one that flutters by and removes litter from the beautiful landscape and with this thought I gathered the sad looking chair and headed for home, hubby in tow muttering "that's rubbish, broken and of no use to you!"  "Aaaah but it is" I declared and walked even more swiftly with a plan firmly embedded in my mind.

 

My plan was to replace the tatty old green cover from my well used camping chair with the pristine blue cover from the chair I had just saved from the jaws of the rubbish tip or at worst layiing decayed and rustly in time by the river!  With the swift use of a screwdriver the old green ripped cover was removed....

 and expediently relaced with the whole refurbishment taking 5 minutes!  There is nothing more satisfying than recycling...It's truly fabulous and very rewarding.

My chair has now another 5 years of life....thanks to a walk along the river, who'd have thought it!

Treasured Junk Sale Finds

An early start for me this morning, with family in tow (and I must admit there were a few moans and groans...but they did volunteer to come) we headed off to our local Junk Sale or Boot Sale as they call it here.

This was my first purchase from a really sweet lady with a great sense of humour, she knew exactly my concern when I asked how heavy it was and without any hesitation she reappeared from the back of her van with a rusty old red sack barrow.  Thank god for that I thought. My next job was to gently break it to Adie that he was needed and it really wasn't as heavy as it looked. It all went very well really, a swift jaunt back to the car and job done!  It is now in situ in the front of the cottage...I would have liked something a bit more ethereal but it'll do for now. I may well use it to seat fairies?  I just love the sound of running water!   

This cushion really caught my eye, I am a sucker for french writing!

Just cant resist a lovely piece of china and the shabby roses on this bowl and the gold printing are just so pretty.

I thought this was so unusual, as soon as I saw it I snapped it up.  The lady I bought it from said it was from the 1950's.  I'm not sure how clear the photo is....It has a a larger display plate on the bottom then a rack of 6 small dishes as all part of the one stand.  Not sure where its going to go in the cottage...It'll be interesting to see where it ends up.

I think this noticeboard was originally from BHS ...I love it but I may revamp it a bit as I am not sure if I like the pink ribbon.  I have some cream grosgrain ribbon which I think may look better.

Well, this one was a bargain ....£1 .  It is so sad that somebody's hard work is valued at so little as this was all handcrafted..  You can just see the rest of the canvass on the edge it was obviously a piece that was finished but not displayed.  I am so pleased I have the chance to showcase somebody elses talent in my home and it wont go to waste. I may use it to reupholster a stool.

These great crochet pieces were sold as one lot, just jumbled in a bag.  I had a sneaky peek and saw a couple of pieces I liked but when I got the bag home and took a look I was overjoyed to see a fair amount that I really liked.  Most of these are silk thread pieces and I am now thinking of a multitude of uses...oooooh its so exciting I can't wait.


I am getting the feeling, though, that I am collecting so many things but nothing is being acheived yet, so I may be a bit quiet next week. I have a hectic week anyway although I am on holiday from work but hopefully I'll make a start.

Hope you all have a good week.

Never One to Miss an Opportunity!

As you know I really am never one to miss a good opportunity when it comes along and slaps you in the face right between the eyes.  A quick visit, early this morning, to the supermarket has just come up trumps!  The journey back was, as you would expect, quite run of the mill, chatting with Adie about how much we'd spent on food and how much we'd saved going to Aldi's, the cheaper superstore (don't tell my mum....she really is a food snob and just scoffs at the thought of "shopping at that cheap place" as she calls it) .....when ....wham!  there it was, a glorious yellow skip jam packed full of slate roof tiles...."woooo" I cried, "stop the car!"   Adie being Adie did no such thing so it was then left for me to convince him that this sort of find doesn't come along too often and how wonderful it would be to re-style the front garden with new shrubs and lovely slate chippings!  Eventually after a lot of discussion whilst hurriedly putting the shopping in its rightful place he relented and gave in to my whining. Off we went, car protected with blankets and gardening gloves in hand.  On arrival we asked politely if we could offer her slate tiles a new home and gratefully agreed.

Well, 2 car loads later and here we are, a heavenly supply of lovely grey slate, ready and waiting for another of our projects.

Most of the slate will be made into chippings for the garden but some f it is new slate (offcuts from the new roof I think) and I will be making some shabby chic plaques to go around the cottage and garden.  Would love to hear your ideas for any other uses for this great material.

Have a great weekend.

A Great day Sketching by the River

I feel like a happy girl.  Adie and I have just got back from a day on Wallasea Island which is very near to where we live.  There's not a great deal on the island but we sat on the shore overlooking the town of Burnham-on -sea which is always buzzing with activity.  The marina thrives and bursts to the full with gleaming white yachts and cruisers and we were quite happy to watch the comings and goings of the sea fairing traffic.  (our gaze followed a police boat that raced out after a speed boat obviously going beyond the permitted speed limit.  A tame chase I guess, as the police boat was really no match and it seemed they were not going to stop for anyone.)

The idea behind this trip was for Adie to start his first piece of artwork for our Home Gallery and for me to hunt for more goodies which have been graciously coughed up by the foaming sea.  It was indeed a success. Adie enjoyed his pencil sketch but it came to a halt when unfortunately a wasp decided to indiscriminately target his knee for a good place to plant a sting.  They are so mean wasps there is no rhyme or reasons behind why they sting....they just do!  In the mad panic we both leapt to our feet and flapped our arms, as one does in these situations, before regaining a calm and dignified pose.  It was only then that Adie realised he had lost his pencil rubber.  His arty time was scuppered and he called it a day.

Well as you can imagine this left me with a dilemma....was this now a good time to tell Adie I had found some rather nice boards very near to where we found our posts yesterday.  (and before you ask....these had been put there intentionally and had previously been used and discarded...so we were ok to rehome them).  Adie gave me that look as he does then reluctantly gave in to my pleas as I scrambled down the bank to retrieve them.

Then came the long walk back to the car ...Thank god my lovely hubby can carry a fair weight....but I did my bit too I carried all the chairs and picnic stuff and 2 pieces of wood....well done me I say!   Eventually we arrived at the car and both sank into our seats exhausted but pleased again with our haul.    Oh happy days....more materials for yet another project. Life is good! Life is full of unexpected surprises!

These bits are for my next sculpture, apart from the tennis ball...thats for Millie!

 

Saturday Chores

I have had the strangest morning.  I was in the food supermarket by 8.20am (a miracle considering I went out last night and was slightly fragile this morning!) Shopping done and put away by 10am...then off to the river for some scavaging for flotsam and jetsam with Adie.  Our hunt was brought to an abrupt halt by a wave of excitement having discovered a haul of wood on the riverside. This was obviously wood which had previously been used and had been discarded.  Thinking of our garden and a future project, of sectioning part of it off for the dog, we found a good selection of posts.  Now came the problem of getting them back to the car, which was quite some distance away! Ever resourceful, I clicked into survival mode and searched for some rope, which we found, then to my amazement we came across some wide fabric straps.  We bundled up our load and with straps over our shoulders we commenced the long trek back to the car.  A few puzzled looks were given by walkers and quite a bit of laughter and banter exchanged between Adie and I whilst we were reflecting on how bizarre this must have looked.  We are back at home now, very satisfied at the jobs we have done this morning and really chuffed at our recycled posts.

 Watch out for the finished result of this riverside find later in the month.

Have a great day. X