A Thrifty Mirror

 Hello lovely chums, I thought I would show you one of the projects I've been working on during the last few weeks.

I did start working on it in our garage but the weather has been so perishing cold I brought it into the house to paint. Much to Morgana's delight as you can imagine.

I had been looking for an unusual large mirror for the dining room for some time. I really love the gilt 18th century ones but they come with a hefty price tag.

This one is for sale at £650. But some run into thousands.

Of course my house is not a grand 18th century country house, rather a marriage of Victorian stone with 20th century extensions. It has to be said it is not the prettiest of houses, but I grow to love it more and more.

The Victorian mirror I found on Ebay had been purchased by a local couple, well over 20 years ago, when they were on a motorcycling holiday in the UK. Found in an Antique shop, they had it sent to them and it arrived very badly damaged. They had fixed it up a bit but you could see the cracks and mended breaks in the dark wood.

It was my lucky day when they decided to sell it. I secured it for £10.

I started by giving the wood a good rub down and clean. Then using left over paint from my kitchen, I gave the mirror a coat of white paint, then two coats of a nice dark cream. Once they were all well dry I took some sand paper and 'distressed' the paint work slightly. I finished it off with some champagne coloured gilding wax. I'm very pleased with it and it works very well in my dining room.

Wee Gifts On A Budget

 

I do love a twinkly light and these gorgeous lanterns where such a surprise when I happened upon them at our local Chatsworth Gardens. So pretty, I found myself smiling from ear to ear. 

Now I've finished all the DIY jobs in the house and I'm furloughed for another couple of weeks, I've had time to make a few little things. I made some lavender bags, a few for us to stop the pesky moth babies from eating our clothes, plus a few for friends as little extra stocking presents. I had bought a big bag of lavender from a visit to Burghley House last year and happily have now made use of it.

The fabric was purchased in a little bundle of mixed fabrics, half price in January and the blue velvet ribbon was in my stash.

I also planted up these fancy Welsh Gaudy Ware teacups with dainty house leeks. The cups themselves were a chazza shop purchase £3.00 each, but they are early 19th century and the house leeks I picked up from Freecycle. I'm keeping one and gifting the other two. I think they look smashing.

I'll be back soon to show you my latest project which I collected this morning and the dearest little bobble hat make.

Inspiration And The Snow Child

Champneys is a great place to recharge your batteries and enjoy a wee bit of pampering. I went hoping to energise myself, get loads of exercise and to get my head around reducing my portion sizes.

The Mister and I eat really well and healthily but my portion sizes have crept up, and with drinking a glass of wine most nights, the weight has crept on. I can happily report that I achieved my goals, made a dent in my flobbage and have returned home with a good mind set. Now I need to carry on.

I went with one of my best chums, no Willie that is not her in the waistcoat. She, god bless her, managed to get us a tremendous deal through an associate so we only paid about a third of the going rate. I wouldn't say it was worth the full rate. But for my budget it does feel as though I have made a good investment in my health and appearance.

Whilst there I read the most extraordinary book, inspired by a Russian fairy tale, Snegurochka. The tale of an old man and a woman who form a little girl out of snow and she comes to life.

"Alaska, the 1920s. Jack and Mabel have staked everything on a fresh start in a remote homestead, but the wilderness is a stark place, and Mabel is haunted by the baby she lost many years before. When a little girl appears mysteriously on their land, each is filled with wonder, but also foreboding - is she what she seems, and can they find room in their hearts for her?"

This Newsday review sums it up beautifully. 'Ivey, a native Alaskan, knows how to make the frost glow in a window, how to describe light flickering through birches in a way that plays with the reader's imagination........The book is full of reflections in dark windows, lamplight, alpenglow.......Ivey sets up the two most powerful forces in any story: fear on the one hand, potential for the miraculous on the other'.

A wonderfully evocative and spiritual story of love, in an icy magical and powerful landscape. I can't recommend it highly enough.

Another book to mention is the cutest little journal that arrived at my house whilst I was away.

A giveaway win, my first, from Cornish Chickpea who has a smashing blog just here. Thanks again Chickpea, I will put it to good use. Can you all see the quote on the front? It's from A Midsummer night's Dream. " Though she be but little, she is fierce". Sounds like my kinda gal.

Saving and Spending

So the best bit for me over the Christmas period was spending time with our son. Back home from Uni' for a few days. He wasn't with us on Christmas day, so the day itself lacked sparkle for me. But next Christmas will be organised early doors, so I have all my family with me, for a change. Even my lovely brother who hasn't spent a Christmas day with me for about 40 years has already been invited.

Mind you, the Mister and I are planning a bit of an adventure in 2015, and so may well be living in Italy by December. We shall have to wait and see what fate has in store for us.

As usual we mainly bought presents for the children in the family, and a few other folk. Small gifts between us and of course some hard cash for 'the student' in the family.

I did get one fabulous 'big' present from the Mister. Which we went out to buy last Friday, just in case the store had January reductions. It didn't :(

As you know dear reader I've been experiencing a bit of a Scandi crush of late and these Danish, Ilse Jacobsen rain boots (all right, wellies), fit the bill. I'm super pleased with them.

Last of our Winter veg, harvested today.

We popped to Tunbridge Wells to buy the boots, which is our nearest big town and luckily for me, is home to the only Ilse Jacobsen store in the Uk.

One of my knitty group friends, Libby, also tipped me off that the big department store in T Wells had a brilliant bedlinen sale on. We took a peek, of course. So glad we did.

We bought this gorgeous Sanderson king size duvet set for our bed, reduced from £150 to £15. That's the sort of discount that keeps me smiling for a day.

Now we shouldn't need to be buying anything other than necessities for quite some time. Back to watching the pennies and making our money and resources stretch.

With that in mind I'm really keen to cut our food bill this year, without compromising on quality and taste. I think growing more vegetables and eating more meatless meals will be a good start, coupled with no food waste.

Tonight I will be using some home grown chillies which I froze at the end of October to pep up a home made chicken Jalfrezi. Just the ticket in this bitter weather, my mouth is watering already.

Homespun Pursuits

I've been slowed down on the gallivanting front this week due to a lack of sleep. Frankly I'm knackered. Not due to any joyous or exciting activity, just bloomin mighty menopausal temperature swings. Just thought I'd share that. I suspect some of my blogging chums may empathise.

Anyhoo, moving on. Rugs. The homemade kind. I've finished my first, peg loom rug. I know, so exciting isn't it? Life in the fast lane.

This is it just after 'liberating' the rug from the loom.

Finished and 'installed'. Also above, showing the peg loom in all it's finery, as requested.

I am pretty pleased with it. I got my inspiration from an Irish Crofter's room set, during last year's Wool Week at Somerset House. Our bedroom now has that curated feel, ha ha.

More domestic goddess activity, in the kitchen this time, with home made soup. Actually I saw a post on Rosemary's blog which spurred me on to harvest the last tomatoes from the greenhouse.

I added more chilli, celery stalks and leaves and a few other bits and pieces, but essentially used her recipe. My it was good.

Immersed in Craft

Bear by Heather Drage

Had a fun and full on day with the knitty group at the Knitting and Stitching Show at Ally Pally yesterday. The rain first thing put quite a few folk off, but that was a bonus for us, as we could walk around the show without being squished to death. It was great.

I got a good deal on the tickets by booking early, then booking as a mini group, then adding a discount code that Texere Yarns had very kindly sent through to me. So instead of £16.00 per person we only paid £10.50, what a bargain!

I only made a few necessary purchases, which I will share with you another time. Small items that I needed for my projects list and one C*******s present.

Looking at and buying gorgeous materials and yarns is only part of the many pleasures of the annual show. I get so much more from experiencing other peoples work and understanding their inspirations. This show offers a large and varied body of work put together by artists and makers from all walks of life. Fascinating.

We Are What We Eat by Helen O'Leary

Closer to home, a local maker Polly Kettley, is opening up her studio for a one day 'Introduction to Lampshade Making', on Thursday 16th October. Using the most amazing vintage fabrics, you can, with her help, create your own bespoke shade.

Polly has actually made a few shades for me, which sit mighty prettily in my studio and drawing room. So I'm confident you will get good value, in every sense, from the experience.

So if you are within easy travel distance of Lewes, East Sussex, pop over to her site for the full details.

Also don't forget to enter my exciting 3rd anniversary blog giveaway. Remember you have until this Sunday to participate. Good Luck.

Harvested Delights

It's courgette time and that means every day is a courgette day. But that's fine with us, they are free and they are most definitely delicious.

Last night I picked and grated a courgette and added it to my normal Carbonara sauce. It lent a light freshness and subtly changed the flavour and texture.

The night before the mister thinly sliced and lightly dusted a courgette with seasoned flour. The little pieces were then cooked in a small amount of rapeseed oil. Fabulous little appetisers, especially when served with some gorgeously sparkling homemade Elderflower fizz.

I have four 1 litre bottles of the fizz sitting in my darkened pantry, which I'm saving for a little party we are having in a couple of weeks, chilled to perfection, I think my guests will enjoy it.

How are you cooking your courgettes? Let us know. A courgette recipe exchange could ensue which will see us all through the season.

Btw, here is a picture of the yarn I bought at 'Unwind' last weekend, I thought a few of you lovely bloggers would like to see it.

Upcycling & Recycling Kinda Weekend

So you know how it is. You have some things forever, you love them, you'd never be parted from them and other things you have for a while and well, you just want to change them. Aha I hear you say, but are you not a super scrimpy type of person who does not waste money willy nilly replacing things that are not worn down to the bone? Yes I emphatically reply, I am indeed a super scrimper, but I do get bored with some of the things I own. Time for action then.

I loved this cushion when I bought it in 2012, it was the Queen's Jubilee year you see. I loved it so much I bought two. Now it has fallen out of favour. It's sister cushion has already been sold at a boot fair a few weeks back, so this one has been 'living' on borrowed time.

I thought I had found a solution last week when I chanced upon a gorgeous silk cushion in one of the local chazzas. It was perfect, if a little grubby. So I soaked it for a few hours to get rid of the dirty marks, disastrously the two main colours of the cushion leached into one another and the cover was ruined. That really pissed me off. But I did still have the feather cushion pad so all was not totally lost. This prompted me to give the Queenie cushion a make over, rather than buy another cover.

I carefully unpicked the cover and used the front piece as a template for my 'new' cushion. I had intended to recycle the piping and the zip but to be honest I only managed to salvage the zip as I couldn't sew a straight and tight enough line to make the piping look right. Never mind. The back part of the cover was in good condition so I re-used that.

I had a delve in my fabric stash and decided to liberate some Frida Kahlo fabric that I ordered from America a few years ago. It has been waiting for the right project and this was it.

So I have a fresh and 'new' cushion for my sofa with minimum expenditure. Job done.

This weekend I also managed to convince the Mister to sort out all of the old clothes he no longer wears, or are too worn out to keep. He took all of his old gardening rags clothes to the tip with a completely naff rug and other undesirables, then pensioned off some old t shirts and trousers, they have become his new gardening togs. Any clothing with some life but not really needed or wanted was dropped off at the Chazza today. I also have a couple of items to list on ebay.

I do love a good sort out.

Make Some Elderflower Fizz

I've just been prompted by Dawn's blogpost to get my bottom in gear and make some Elderflower Fizz before the flower heads in our garden go over.

This year I'm using the same IKEA flip top bottles as her, which I wisely purchased last time I made the dreaded journey to our nearest IKEA.
Last year I used large plastic lemonade bottles and they stood up to the pressure ok.

I bought two of the clear 10ltr food store 'buckets' this morning and they were fine with the hot water part of the recipe. £2.99 each a real bargain and I figure can be used year after year.

Super Scrimpy Face Cream

A few years back I watched a TV programme that set out to analyse face creams and challenge the claims of the manufacturers. I think the presenter was a chemist of some sort, anyway she was an 'expert' in her field.

She sampled very cheap creams, mid-range and very high end ones too. One of the expensive creams had caviar in it as I remember. I have just checked the prices on-line for a cream that includes caviar and spied one retailing at £512 for a standard pot. The manufacturer claims it is the ultimate experience in firming and lifting your skin.

After testing all the creams the chemist concluded that it was best to go for something mid range that didn't upset your skin, as she felt there wasn't much difference between them, and that no cream would stop the signs of ageing.

I do tend to swap about with face creams a little bit, especially if there are deals to be had. But I quite often use Nivea Q10.

It has some sun protection in it and is usually sold around the £10 mark. Every now and then it is reduced to half price and I stock up. It's a nice reliable face cream

Last month, on the way back from Reykjavik, I made a duty free purchase of an Icelandic organic herbal face cream. It was three times what I normally pay for my Nivea cream. It smells divine, but I haven't noticed any visible difference to my skin.

So last weekend I saw that Lidl had their own version of a Q10 face cream for sale at half the normal price, 99p, it's usually £1.99.

Well you know what's coming next. Of course I had to buy some. I figure if it's terrible I can always add some essential oils to it and use it as hand cream.

I wonder if any of you blogging thrifty bods have bought it, and what you think of it?

Another Easy Bread Recipe

Dense and tasty, what springs to mind? Yes, Norwegian Mountain Loaf. Who were you thinking of?

This bread is super speedy in the making and eating. Great with soups and perfect for open sandwiches. I especially like prawns with rocket or Lidl's Gravadlax and ultra low fat cream cheese on mine.

Ingredients

250ml semi-skimmed milk (I used skimmed)
250ml water
350g wholemeal bread flour
50g rye flour
7g (1 sachet) easy-blend yeast or 15g fresh yeast
50g porridge oats (not instant)
25g wheatgerm
3 tbsps sunflower seeds
3 tbsps linseeds
1 tbsp salt

So I just used plain strong white bread flour and I added chopped walnuts and caraway seeds. Didn't put all the salt in either, but that's up to you. Put in what you like.

Method

Mix the milk and water together in a measuring jug, and combine all the other ingredients in a large bowl. Pour the liquid into the dry ingredients, stirring all the time, to make a sticky, porridge-like mixture.

Scrape into an incredibly well-buttered loaf tin and here's the funny part, put it into a cold oven. 
Turn it on to 110 C/ gas mark 1/4  (quarter) and after 30 minutes turn it up to 180 C/ gas mark 4.
Bake for about an hour but check it just before as it can burn quickly.
Use the knocking method to see if it's cooked or as it's a heavy loaf you could use a fine skewer to make sure. If it comes out clean it's cooked.


That's all there is to it.






This slightly abridged recipe from my ole favourite, always reliable cook book. How To Be A Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson.

Super Easy Bread Making

It really doesn't come any easier than this. I made this irish soda bread a couple of weeks ago and it was so tasty and quick to make I thought I should let you all know about it. The recipe calls for a mix of flours but I just used the economy Morrison's strong white flour and it was just dandy. Buttermilk is another ingredient but I substituted skimmed milk and low fat Greek yoghurt from Lidl. Did I mention this was a super thrifty recipe too?

Ingredients

795 g strong white flour
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
680ml approx buttermilk

I used 500g of flour and rounded the other ingredients down, but then I do love to muck about with recipes.

Method

1. Sift flour, salt and soda into a large bowl. Stir in enough buttermilk to mix to a firm dough.

2. Turn dough onto floured surface, (it is really really sticky so put some flour on your hands too), knead until just smooth. Shape dough into a 20cm round, place on a greased oven tray.

3. Cut 1cm deep slashes in the dough in a cross shape (like quarters) , brush with a little milk. Bake in a moderate oven about 50 mins. Lift onto wire rack to cool.

I estimate this cost me about 60p. If I had bought it in an 'artisan' bakery it would have been nearer £3.00.

Happy baking everyone.

Thrifty Christmas

The tree went up today. I really enjoy putting the decorations on it, as most of them have special memories. I'm not the kinda gal that buys new decs every year to introduce a theme and ring the changes. I want the comfort of familiarity and tradition. The first ones that go on are the ones my boy made at nursery and primary school.

Then a couple my Mum gave me years ago. She died over 20 years ago now so her decorations are like a Christmas message from her every year.

I don't go over the top at Christmas with decs or anything else for that matter. We have a few extra treats and because we don't buy mountains of food and drink we don't stuff ourselves or waste anything. More is definitely less at this time of year.

I have been doing a bit of sprucing up on the house front but still haven't spent loads. Finally got round to painting the two front doors of the house. I bought the paint ages ago whilst Homebase had a special offer on. Here is a before, during and after.

It took over 5 hours to rub the doors down properly, but elbow grease is free and I'm really pleased with the finished result. The little cream 'trowel' door knocker on the small side door was purchased over 5 years ago, it's finally been put to good use.

We were also very lucky this weekend to bag a lovely pure wool rug from Freecycle. Initially I was beaten to it but the person couldn't be bothered to collect it, her loss I say. I left a very polite request with the owner and he got back in touch. It has a small bit of damage and smelt a bit musty, but the mister has given it a good shampoo and it looks brilliant. Now it has the whiff of Highclere about it. And it's very cosy underfoot.