A Prickly Man & Prickly Plants

The Mr and I dragged our sleepy bodies out of bed Sunday morning to sell at our local boot fair. Thankfully it was dry but bloomin eck it was freezing. Selling on items I no longer feel attached to or need, is part of my decluttering strategy before we move house, of which there is no progress. We had a very positive house viewing last Thursday but haven't heard a peep back. The wait continues. We did quite well at the boot fair and made a few pennies for the coffers. I do like people watching at these events too, always good value. I chatted to some very nice folk as well. Although just as we were packing up a rather grubby man came up to ask me what price I had on a pair of Lulu Guinness shoes. £25 I said. He scoffed , "they're not worth it FAR TOO worn, I sell shoes you know!" Oh says I, but they are well over £200 new and actually not worn very much at all. What price would you offer I asked him? I wouldn't says he, as he stormed off with a face like a bulldog chewing a wasp. So really he just wanted to come and tell me how foolish I was. Grrrrrr. (Btw the shoes were a charity shop purchase and when I do sell them some of the money will go to one of my favourite animal charities).

On a much brighter note a very nice man came to our house this morning to collect some succulent plants that I felt would not survive the house move. I've had them years and rather than compost them I offered them on the Freegle website. The man called Les is in a local cacti and succulent society and will use them to raise funds to hire guest speakers. He was as pleased as I was.

Fair Weather Fair Isle

I know I'm a wee bit on the strange side, only I would get the urge to knit just as the sun starts to show it's face. But my logic is that the natural sunny light is better for knitting, especially complicated patterns like Fair Isle. I took inspiration from a rather sweet vlogger called Ration Book Rebecca. She has been absent for most of 2025 but I'm pleased to say she has made a return to YouTube, she is a total delight, quite scatty of course, like the best of us. She showcased an old knitting book, which rather took my fancy.

I do have oodles and oodles of knitting books and magazines but this one has a few patterns with unusual motifs.(That's my story and I'm sticking to it).

I've chosen a different colour palette, which I think will work well for Spring and Summer. I've also opted for a 50% wool 50% acrylic yarn as I find the Shetland wool recommended quite itchy.

I've made a start so I'll pop back and show you my progress soon(ish). Anyone else knitting at the moment? A very warm welcome to my new follower Sue. Thank you very much for clicking on the Follow button, much appreciated.

My Best Girl

A warm welcome to my latest follower Pili, thank you kindly for pressing the follow button.

Wet Wet Wet

The Mr and I have just returned from a few days in Bergen Norway. Such an interesting and historical place. We went after seeing an American Vlogger's post about it's charms. A world heritage site with a delightful 14th century old wharf area known as Bryggen, surrounded by majestic mountains and waterfalls. Very picturesque but oh my THE RAIN hardly stopped for breath. It had a goodly amount of thrift and antique shops which as you know make me very happy indeed. I was very circumspect and only came home with two items, one of which was a vintage hand made pewter candle stick, which I safely packed in my husband's case and which got him stopped and searched at the Bergen airport, ha ha. Sorry, shouldn't laugh, but usually, well always really, it's me who is stopped after setting bells ringing. I am still slowly selling off and donating items, trying to get our belongings down to a reasonable amount for our move, whenever that might happen. We did have a house viewing booked today, but the agent called this morning and said it had been cancelled. Still the threat of the viewing has had me clean the house to within an inch of it's life, so silver lining and all that. I'm also making efforts not to acquire too much. But yesterday I spied a couple of things I thought were very stylish and reasonably priced, both from Zara, so a purchase was made.

I couldn't seem to find the full sizing guide on the Zara site as it was not alongside the garment as it should have been. So we will see if it fits. No problem for the necklace of course. I love the idea of coral, this is faux coral of course, but I think it looks rather swish and will do for my May trip to Italy where I will be attending a Beltane special event, hosted by a senior druid friend of mine. A very exciting prospect.

Welcome In Spring

The sun has crossed the celestial equator here in the UK, and Spring is at last showing us it's sunny face. We will be planting some seeds today. Spring blessings to you all my dear blogging chums.

This beautiful image from Wendy at Painting Dreams. Do pop over to her website for more inspiration.

Ah Me I do Love Norfolk

The Mr and I spent a few days last week in Norfolk. We had hoped to be living there by now but the universe is holding us back for a reason or two. Patience is still a virtue right? Norfolk holds a world of possibilities for both of us and we are excited at the prospect of a move there. For now we will just have to savour small visits. And may I say, make the best of where we are. Otherwise we would be wishing our lives away. We found a sensational Asian museum cum store. Antiquities mixed with modern hand made items for sale, in particular hand blocked textiles, so beautiful.

We also explored an ancient medieval house called The Strangers' Hall, it was like a maze inside but so evocative of the many times and lives of the house. I loved wandering inside experiencing all the different rooms and antiques. The only place I didn't enjoy was the childrens nursery room it had a very bad feeling about it. The feeling didn't stay with me for long though as we scooted off for some delicious lunch at Jarrolds. Our first time visiting the department store, we were not disappointed, it has EVERYTHING. Incuding a lovely view of the old lanes of Norwich.

Don't Be Cut Off From Yourself

A tremendously sad piece of prose from Virginia Woolf, which touched me on reading it recently. I'm not sure she ever felt a true happiness in her life, her mental health struggles are well documented as is her eventual suicide. I DO understand how and why she perceives life in this way, but I hope that most of us have the power and enough life force to increase our levels of happiness. And I do feel isolation from folk is not the answer. We all have to try and create and recognise the small pockets of joy we are blessed with. I know I'm doing my best to do just that and I see the same determination in many of the lovely bloggers I follow. On a happier note a warm welcome to my latest follower Carole, thank you very much for following my blog, I do hope you find some of my musings Joyous.

Happy International Women's day

I'm very fond of this portrait and am very lucky to see it regularly. 'The Duchess' film didn't really explore the many sides of Georgiana, she was a fascinating woman with a good degree of tragedy and heartache in her life, like many of us. I have a soft spot in my heart for her.

I'd Like To Believe George "It's All Love"

My Latest Crush & Guru

I have no idea why George Harrison should suddenly be of so great import to me, but dear readers he is. I seek him out on YouTube to see him with his Victorian gnomes at his wonderful country house Friar Park, Henley, to watch him on stage with The Beatles and to delve into his marriages and family life. Sadly also to read about his early death. I listen constantly to his music, his 'All Things Must Past' album is slowly being eroded in my car CD player. I had no idea he was such a deeply spiritual person and oh so wise. I really love him. Dear George.

Tunisian Polenta Gluten Free Citrus Cake

First of all can I just say I've had to purloin this image from a post from Clifton house, sorry not to be able to link to their site but blogger doesn't allow me to create links anymore, in fact it has even stopped me being able to space out my text properly, very naughty. I'm wondering if I might shift my blog to another place, substack maybe? Do any of you use a site that is a bit more flexible for links, small films etc ? Anyhoo, here is the recipe for my Tunisian gluten free citrus cake, (as mentioned in a previous post). Ingredients: 45g polenta, 120g golden caster sugar, 100g ground almonds, 1.5 teaspoon of baking powder, 215 ml olive oil, 4 eggs beaten lightly, finely grated zest of one unwaxed lemon and also same from one orange. For the syrup : 45g sugar, juice of half an orange and half a lemon. Method: 1. Combine polenta, sugar, almonds & baking powder in a mixing bowl. 2. Using wooden spoon beat in oil, eggs & zest. 3. Pour into a greased and lined 20cm cake tin. PLACE IN A COLD OVEN 4.Turn on oven at 190/170 fan, gas mark 5. Bake for 35/40 mins. Test with a skewer to insure cooked through. 6. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes, turn out onto a wire rack to cool. 7. Meanwhile make syrup. Simmer sugar & citrus juices for around 5 minutes. Stirring to dissolve sugar. 8. Prick cake all over with a skewer then gently spoon over the syrup whilst it is cooling. Serve dusted with some icing sugar and perhaps some candied orange slices or edible flower heads. So incredibly easy to make and totally delicious.

Trying To Live More Slowly

This is how I'm feeling lately. I'm trying to cut back and slow down as much as I can and avoid the hustle culture. It's not easy is it? I have been baking a bit, but of course cake baking means eating it !! My reasoning is home made is a bit better for you because you can adjust sugar levels and there is no crap ingredients in it. This polenta cake made with olive oil is a point in question. I've never made a cake with polenta before but boy was it amazing. Full of good things, with lemon and orange zests taking centre stage. My family gave it 10 out of 10, and perfect for gluten intolerant folk, which is an added bonus.

I also made some rosemary and rock salt bread, I know, very cottagecore. It looks fantastic, no? It was dry and horrible. Although the Mr chomped his way through it. What was left I blitzed into breadcrumbs to avoid any waste. They freeze quite well so all was not lost.

I Bloomin Love Her Attitude

What a gal. RIP Marianne.

An Eclectic Mix of Things That Have Caught My Eye This Week

I thought this was a spiffing idea, plus it gives a new use to plain old bottles that might otherwise just be recycled.

I'm going to make my own version of this with some very old and dusty books and a small tester pot of paint, but I thought I would leave the price on to show you.

I thought this 17th century plate was very soulful and desirable. And last but not least, something for The Ladies. As Frankie would say, titter ye not.

A Money Saving Idea

Good afternoon blogging chums. You know of course that I love to save a penny or two and will do my best, always, to get good quality at a reduced price if possible. So I thought going forward if I spot something I will let you all know. This weekend the Mr and I are popping to a travel show, to garner some information and to spot some jolly holiday options that perhaps we have missed before. It is on at the Manchester Central. We got free tickets through a newsletter I received, so far so good. We are then having a late lunch with our lad and his lovely girlfriend at a Spanish tapas bar. I googled said restaurant and tried to find any discount codes or offers. One popped up, The Tastecard. No I hadn't heard of it either, offering 2 for 1 on main meals. But It looked like you had to pay £79.99 for a year's subscription. I continued my search and saw it did have free trials etc but nothing I could access. Then BINGO! The Lidl App plus, which I have only installed about four weeks ago has a free trial for 90 days, and after that you can pay for a year's useage for only £29.99. I like the sound of that.

My Hope For 2025

Wouldn't it be nice if everyone joined in?

Vicar of Dibley Royal Mail Stamps

My very good friend Linda who passed away a few years ago now, was a HUGE fan of The Vicar of Dibley. She would have rushed to buy this new set of Royal Mail stamps, celebrating the iconic comedy series. These ones are available now on Ebay despite not officially being released until the 14th January. I'm not a collector of stamps myself but I kinda feel I need to buy them on her behalf, is that silly?

Everyone Is After My Money

It's the same all year really but the constant bombardment, post Christmas, for us to buy buy buy, is grating with me. The temptation to'grab a bargain' is very real, but actually resisting spending can be much more satisfying. The Mr and I did go out a few days ago to take a look around our local shops, more to stretch our legs than to look for something to buy. We did buy a few things, which I'm very pleased to say were all second hand from our various local charity shops and of course therefore very cheap. I also donated a few items at the same time. Win win. I did buy an old box which caught my eye because of the hand decoration on the outside. It appealed to me. I'm wondering how old it might be and whether it might perhaps have been a tea caddy in another life? I wonder if any of you, my blogging chums might know. Also the small brass insert shows a crest, any ideas?

Bright Blessings for 2025

It's been a funny ole year what with one thing and another. The Mr and I are still desperately wanting to get moved to Norfolk and that is our primary wish for early 2025. The end of 2024 has seen a lot of ill health in our extended family, with even the mr and I falling by the wayside in the last two weeks of December. Friends, we cancelled Christmas. But I am looking forward rather than back now. 2025 will be a healthy joyful one for us and I hope for all of you lovely blogging chums. Thank you for being there, I hope to do and share more with you all in 2025, sharing joy where I can. A toast to you all.