Is that the phone?

Some things,

large or small,

can instantly make you feel happy.

Jog memories.

But how about an old fashioned phone box?
Probably just me on this one but let me tell you anyway...

Now there used to be one of these right outside my house!

I've mentioned before that this is my Grandma's old house,
(would it spoil your illusion if I tell you it's ex-council hee hee
not the thatch farmhouse I would love you to believe)

But the lovely
bright red box
has gone,
gone to telephone heaven

~and where is this telephone heaven?

Well I'm not sure, but I do know there is one in the local demolition yard and I want it!

I want to put it back in my garden!

Imagine the fun the boys could have with it.

Now my Grandparents didn't have a telephone,

they used the red phone box of course,

my Mum would even ring it to speak to them!

Yes you could hear it ringing from inside the house.

My brill Dad

'AKA Grando' 

worked all his life for BT,

but would my Grandma have a phone line fitted?

Nope, not she!

(nor would she have central heating, double glazing, a fitted kitchen

 or any form of hot water that didn't come from the coal fire!)

 Bless her!

I wish she could see the house now,

I'm sure she'd like it!

When I was a girl,

I used to go out with my Dad on 'call-outs'

in his little yellow van.

To remote farms or phone boxes to fix faults.

He would get a phone call and give me a whistle,

we'd jump in the yellow van and off we'd go,

visiting many lovely remote places

and sometimes quite unusual folk!

I was his little mate in that van on those wintery weekends,

or balmy Summer evenings.

All this is leading to a little story BF

pointed out that I may like.

About a village near him

who adopted their phone box and gave it a new lease of life!

As a book exchange!

It's a lovely story,

read about it here!

So???

How about it?

A Red phone box in my garden,

as a hen house maybe?

Tardis?

Den?

Endless possibilities.

Bet they don't come cheap though!

Love Claire. x

P.S.  I'm helping my pal Emma at

Em's shabby shack

to do a swop,

we thought it would be good to share it,

as we haven't done one before.

We have a brill theme organised

so...

watch this space!

Real Easter Eggs.....

I have just been out

in to the 'Night Garden'

(Not sure how Upsy-Daisy does it, I was a bit lot scared,

but then I am a wuss!)

To pay a little visit to Wendy.

What a bossy little madam she is!

Little does she know

but she has been sitting tight on what

she thinks are eggs for a couple of days.

Shhhhhhh....

Don't tell her but they were only pebbles!

I have been out and swopped

them over for the real deal just now.

Aren't they just the cutest little things you ever did see?

Sorry, didn't mean to put you off your meal ha ha

(oops, there goes my naughty sense of humour again!)

But what you see before you

hopefully in just 3 weeks time,

will be fluffy little teeny tiny chicks.

Watch this space........

Love Claire. xxx

Little things....

I have realised a couple of things today.

1. This Cath Kidston wallpaper is £150 a roll!!!

I reckon it would be perfect in a downstairs loo, if I had one that is.

But £150 a roll? Just for the boys to wee on it?

Are you having a laugh Cath? hee hee.

2.  I am off work for 2 weeks!!!

Whoop whoop!  I didn't realise until earlier today durrr!

But then on Wednesday I was told I may not have a job in September :-(

3.  I need to buy Easter eggs before the shops sell out!

Maybe that should really say;I had best hurry up and replace

 all the Easter eggs I have eaten from the

secret stash I bought, trying to be extra organised has totally backfired!

4.  I would have cleaner eggs in the egg basket if I cleaned out the hens more often.

Very broody hens are now in a cleaner hen house after today.

Gorgeous Delia!

(shhhhh don't tell her anything to the contrary)

All of the above I have found out today.

Somethings you forget

and just need a little reminding....

5.  I love this muddy twosome!

Even though my adorable Finn was, last week, diagnosed as having ADHD

 (yes, it was a heck of a week in the emotional stakes)

I still love my little grubby mates.

(who are they trying to fool with this show of brotherly love? ha ha)

                                      

Love Claire.

xxx

P.S.  OH I NEARLY FORGOT.

6. I COULD BE DOROTHY!!!

A thrifty adventure.

Now this bit is becoming a bit worrying for me,

I seem to big things up and you probably think

'Is that it?!'

I can't walk around a shop now without thinking

'What would the blog girls think?

Would they buy it?'

Or

'Ooooooooo, that'll make a good post for the blog!'

Even BF is starting to do it now, hee hee,

but mostly he just rolls his eyes at me, bless him!

Not to worry, I only buy what I like and for me only,

nice to know I take you with me though hee hee!

 Last Friday I walked from BF's flat into the town

to check out the brill CS and a fabby 'bits and bobs' shop that I love, and saw this...

Bunting!

Now this was from the lovely gift shop that sells lots of

lovely Emma Bridgewater and the likes, but also sells

some brill buys like this

Bargain Union Jack Bunting.

Next I found these egg cups.

(bit of cheap 'tat' but I can't resist anything 'henny'!)

These aren't just for regular eggs,

even natural grubby (Claire blushes slightly) garden eggs like mine.

I thought they would make a brill Easter present,

with 'clean' fresh garden Easter eggs in of course!

Not sure which of my many God-Daughters

(thats what comes with being the only girl in a male dominated Catholic family!)

 shall receive one.

Only 79p for the pair.

A bit of fun and as CHEEP-CHEEP as chips!

Next cutie little blue tits for the Easter display

the boys and I are making.

(so, that'll be a bunch of daff's and now a birdie ornament LOL)

They're only tiny, thats why I liked them.

(and much cheapness 'tat' again)

And so we come to these.....

I saw them.

Checked the price.

Liked them.  Wanted them.

Picked them up.

Oops!

I had walked down to the shops, now it was raining.

I decided to put them back.

All evening my thoughts strayed back to the lovely scales,

my sleep was broken by memories of holding the lovely scales!

BF woke up too and when I mentioned the lovely scales we both laughed,

all in the middle of the night!

We got up early and before we set off for our day out,

we stopped off at the CS so I could run in and grab

the lovely scales!

Mad!

That's what I am,

quite mad!

Ha ha!

Love Claire. x

I'll show you my Cath!!!

Now I don't know what to show you first

my thrifty bargains or

my Cath Kidston purchases.

Hmmmm....

I do love teasing!!!

Well, you may be disapointed when you see them,

as you will have seen the Cath stuff before, but

let me tell you this...

I have been a fan of CK for years, and you know what?

I have never ever bought ANYTHING of hers!

(bit of a fib, I have some fabric ;-)

I have been in a couple of her shops and

always sniff her out wherever I go.

So really I was one of Cath's rare 'Virgins' these days I reckon!!!

(no comment on that please you little minxes)

So, you have the setting?

The adorable shop in my last post.

Hmmm....

lovely pink bag!

Why do things seem even more gorgeous

when you get a lovely bag with them too?

Pink package......

Can you guess what it is yet?

Yey!!!

Full marks to all who guessed correctly!

Lovely storage tins.

I didn't realise that they came with labels too!

I think I will use them on something else though,

just to spead the Cath feeling around the kitchen! 

I hope they'll be happy on here!

Anyone notice the tidy corner being used again

for this photo shoot?!

I also got myself this lovely purse.

My old one has a broken button,

so everytime I open my bag to pay for something

all the change is at the bottom of my bag!

Not now, this will be perfect.

Although...

I have no money to put in it, I've spent it all!!!

Thanks for letting me share

my Cath Kidston with you.

Coming soon.....

Claire's thrifting purchases!!!

Ha ha, oh it is getting exciting!

No? Oh, OK, it's just me then! LOL

Love Claire. xxx

I want to take you there.......

Well a few of you last week posted about lovely trips

to the beach,

and seeing as I was down yonder in lovely Somerset,

visiting BF I made a request.

'One wishes to visit the beach!'

Announces Lady Me!

Well, it has poured down ALL weekend.
(except today whilst I was driving back!)

ONE WAS NOT HAPPY!

But BF being the fabbytastic chap he is said

'The lady wants, the lady gets!'

So off we went.

To Lyme Regis.

Stopping off on the way to visit

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

well, not him in person but to his

cafe in Axminster for lunch.

Delicious!

Next stop, a very wet but still lovely Lyme Regis.

It was VERY misty and grey day but in true

Claire and BF style, we had lots of fun and laughter along the way.

Now although it was wet and windy it was still lovely.

I know it to be a lovely place to visit in the sun and now the rain. 

And now on to a gorgeous little Aladdin's Cave called

'A touch of vintage'

Maybe some of you have found this little beauty before

but it was new to me!

As I walked in to this delightful little shop

all I could think of was you!

The lovely lady behind the counter smiled and said it was

OK for me to take photos, and my usual shyness

with my camera was soon forgotten.

Almost everything in this magical place it seemed was

Cath Kidston!

With a good mix of vintage goodies

thrown in for good measure.

The helpful lady told me that the shop

used to belong to a children's author, he ran a book shop there.

He had crocodiles carved out of wood for the beams,

trees growing up through the counter,

twisted wooden handrails to help you creep up the staircase...

To magical doorways.

The present owner has now painted  the shop

in lovely 'ice-cream' colours, with splashes of

red and blue, giving us Cath Kidston fans an irresistable colour scheme.

Making it, of course,

so tricky to leave empty handed!

Of course I didn't,

leave empty handed that is!

But more of that later this week,

along with this weekends thrifted goodies too.

Right now, I have tea, toast and this months 'Coast' magazine

to console myself with,

after leaving the my BF in Somerset and

driving the long haul journey back to normallity in Cheshire.

Can't wait to show you what I brought back with me though.

See you soon girls.

Love Claire. xxx

Somewhere over the rainbow....

Lions and Tigers and Bears!

OH MY!!!

Did my eyes just deceive me or have I just seen

a trailer for what looks like what could be my favourite

programme for the next couple of months????!!!!

I did I did I did

Whoop whoop!!!

I am Andrew's PERFECT DOROTHY

There is not an actress in the land who could be

more perfect for the role than I!!!

Pick me!

Pick me!

MEEEEEEEE!!!!

But alas....

It cannot be.

Too old ?

Too fat ?!!! hee hee

Too clever ???

(well, come on, bless her little cutie cotton white ankle socks,

Dot is a teeny bit dim at times)

But to be honest,

I have had my 15 mins of fame.

I used to be a bit of a local actress/comedienne in

Musicals and Pantomimes in the town where I live.

Singing, acting, dancing and playing the fool

was my main hobby for many many years.

Performing infront of many hundreds of people,

thousands over the course of a week.

And you know what?

I couldn't think of anything worse now.

Hee hee!

I love the fact that I don't have to learn pages and pages of dialogue.

Learn a dozen or more songs and dance routines in just 2 weeks.

I haven't pushed the boys into it,

and I am quite glad they're not in to it at all.

I have thousands of show photos that I guess

I should've scanned in and now be showing you.

Maybe another time.....

(too shy)

But for now......

I may have to go get myself a little doggy and have him audition

 as the next TOTO!

Yep!  They're even auditioning potential Totos.

Enjoy girls.

 Oh, if i'm not here for a while,

then go to the place

where my

troubles melt like lemon drops. 

That's where yooooou'll find meeeeeeeee!

Can you not tell,

 this is one of my all time favourite films in the

whole of the wide world?

Love Claire.

AKA Dorothy Gale

(the best)

(Even had a cat called Dorothy

 after Dorothy of course!)

Chicken sewing club....

Now do you remember me telling you about the Sewing club I run at school?

I get lots of ideas of what to do with the girls but is is hard to find things that are basic enough, and will only take a couple of hours to complete, using the basic skills that I have shown them already.

So if you know of anything you can suggest.

Have a pattern that you can forward.

Or just any words of encouragement,

then fire away.

I will be very grateful.

Even if this bunch of great Year 6's will be leaving me

in July, I shall continue to run the club as the present Year 5's

 are quite jealous that they can't join in. 

I had to be strict and restrict the numbers.

There are only so many needles I can re-thread in an 1 HOUR!!!

This weeks new project is one of these...

Only we are using much brighter fabric and

will give her a more fancy 'comb' on her head.

This was easy as there are only 3 pieces to it, and

I want them to take more care when cutting out and pinning together,

this project I thought would enable us to do that.

Plus, I couldn't resist it being a chicken and a bit of an Easter theme.

So, if you Big Girls would like to help my Smaller Girls

(actually, some of them are taller than me but thats not hard hee hee!)

we would love to hear your ideas.

I did think of chopping a pair of jeans off and turning it into a skirt,

but they need to polish those skills first!

And thread their own bloomin' needle aarrggghhhh.

Bless them. x

Snotty Mummy Day...

Being a dedicated follower of fashion,

I have found myself this week under the weather with

a common cold!

Not even a posh one!

I think I should have shares in these....

Anyhow, it stopped my trip to see Erica James ( :-( I was in bed)  it got gradually worse,

and the boys got used to seeing me surrounded by tissues and having a

big red hooter! 

My lovely Mum though insisted we went round for Sunday lunch yesterday,

so after we cancelled mini rugby, sorry boys,

we went to the parents house and gave my fabby Mummy her presents.

We gave her...

Glittery fairy cakes!

Now I was going to be sneaky,

saying how we had been baking together like good families do,

but alas not!

How could i lie to you?

They were bought from Sainsbuys, ready to ice, for 99p!

If it makes you feel better they tasted horrid!

I didn't tell the boys that though, bless 'em.

(they had full control over the colours I have to add! ugh!)

I also bought her....

My garden has 2 lovely bushes of hydrangea,

and as you know, my house used to be my Mum's family home,

so I thought she may like her own again.

Plus....

This DVD.

It is a running joke about how my Dad has sport on ALL the TVs in the house,

so I have started getting films for her to watch, and ones that we can share!

So although her pressies didn't break the bank, I had tried to think of things that were just for her, not for the house and not just for the sake of it.  

Although, I add,

 my choices may have been better if I hadn't had such a big red nose!

Yes, back to chatting about me now ha ha!

My fabby Mum had organised things for the boys to give to me,

secret whisperings down the phone last week, led to shouts of

'Don't come in, not yet'

So even though, that morning,

when I was given a beautiful painting and poem by one son,

an IOU and 'I left it in my tray at school Mummy!!!' by the other son.

(all at 6.15AM!!! On a Sunday!!!)

I was cheered up greatly when I was given....

Bless!

And the card,

the one left in the tray...

It made it eventually!

And my red hooter?.....

It is a little calmer, if I stand in the shade!

Love Claire. xxx

P.S. Please don't think of thoughts about me trying to

 dig for sympathy with this post, snot is snot, we all have it!

Hee hee! x

Pink Packages.....

The 'jingle jangle' of the letterbox this morning

brought with it great excitment, and also a

pink package!

'How perfectly pink and scrummy' Claire exclaims!

2 inquisitive little boys try to be 'not so interested' at the pinkness and girlie delivery!

'Yey!' I silently squeal.

Knowing what delights are contained inside.

One boy is now brandishing the kitchen scissors

 a little too close to my ear at this point,

'Open it!'

 'Cut it open!'

 'Let's see what it is!'

Are all ignored as I stroke the lovely pink bag.

Sooooo cute, compared to a common or garden brown jiffy bag I think.

I don't get much through the post.  You can probably guess.

I want the moment to last longer, even though I know exactly what is inside!

'I have to take a photo before I open it.' is greeted by

looks of confusion and possible thoughts of

'Mum's finally lost it!'

We gentle snip open the end of the bag...

Out spill not one,

but TWO cutie little pincushions!!!

I was the lucky winner of Katy's giveaway!

A few emails of chat (and banter) followed her announcment,

and Katy kindly donated another one for my girls at Sewing club!

They work.....!

Both want to jump into my Sewing kit.....!

But no.

I am sticking to my word, and will do a giveaway with the girls at school.

They'll love it!

Thank you Katy!

From me and my girls!

(and boys, if only for the scissor wielding excitment

and not the pink girliness!)

Love Claire. xxx

Would anyone like to come with me...

I'm going here today!

to meet....

Erica James

One of my favourite authors.

How exciting!

She's doing a talk this evening, and a book signing promoting her new novel.

She often makes the settings in her stories in and around the lovely Cheshire villages around here, this makes them all the more lovely for me to read.

I really do wish you could come with me,

but not to worry,

 I shall take the boys along instead,

they will love the extra time allowed after bedtime. 

 Especially in a book shop!!!

Love Claire. X