AT LAST!!

ooo i have been waiting and waiting and waiting to be able to get into blogger for days now!!..

i haven't been able to sign in, so couldn't post, make a comment on anyones blogs its been a nightmare and something that i realise i do take for granted..

so I'm not sure if this is a fluke and how long I am able to stay logged in so I'm going to make the most of it anyway!

well the hubby has just got back from a freecycle pick up!!..its not even been a week since we got the free bench.. has been a good week hasn't it!..

so the latest addition is this sweet little tea trolley...



its a bit ropey and will need a sand down, and the wheels need a bit of oil on them !!

i think I'll paint it a nice pale pastel shade as you know me and dark wood don't really mix!.

(i have so many things that need painting I'm just going to have to do them all at the same time!!)

but i love it, i can be Mrs overall whenever i want now!!..

i couldn't resist dressing it up so just put a little floral cloth down with afternoon tea apparatus!!..

unfortunately there are no cakes on that stand to tempt me!!

Ive no idea where I'm going to put it there is practically no more space to put anything but I'm sure I'll find a home..

i quite like it at the end of my sink cupboard.. how inconvenient then that the back door is in the way.. will i get sick of moving it out of the way every time i want to go outside or will I just be pleased to see this pretty little thing with even more surface space to hold more things!!?...

a box of loveliness, fancy stickers and even more!

so i was on my nightly eBay window shopping the other week and i came across some very sweet spice tins on offer.. didn't really have the money for them at the time so i left them.. sold a few things last week on eBay so finally got some money in my pay pal account hurrah and was able to buy the darling tins!!

they came the other day i was most excited..especially when i opened the wrapping to be met by the lovely packaging.

and then once opened this lovely sight greeted me..

i just love all the pastel colours together and the sweet little bird print on top..truly a box of loveliness!!

so here they are lined up together.. how cute are they at all..

i love em !!

now i had hoped that you could buy the same tins but with a variety of spice names on the front but having searched through all of eBay and going on to the dot.com gift shop were these originally came from i think these are the only ones that are made.. which is a pity as i think a little shelf full of these would just look gorgeous ... and was what i had planned to do...

so as i cant do that i just thought i would have to think of ways to pretty up little jars myself..

so again was doing an eBay wander through and came across a book of Cath Kidston stickers now I'm probably about 40 years behind everyone else here.. but i cant understand why Ive never bought these before or even seen them before.. were have i been!!

so this book of gorgeous stickers came through my door on Saturday morning..
i am so going to have to restrain myself because I'll want to put them on everything.. the children will wake up in the morning and I'll have labelled them in the night!!..

so i thought i could use some of the floral ones and if i pop them on some smaller jars they would look quite cute!!

later on Saturday we popped up to my mums so the hubby could have a look at building some arch or something, its wooden and for the garden anyways!!.. well i came back with a right haul of things including this lovely red flowery plant.. which I've popped in to a spotty mug and it really brightens up my day every time i walk past it.. its so bright and cheery and lovely,..

and a gorgeous skirt which I'm going to save for a Friday frocks post ( oh haven't done one for ages must get back into that!) a couple of dresses and a pretty little floral box,(which ive forgotten to photograph but its very sweet so will take a pic for next time!)

so I did rather well from mummy's boutique there didn't i !!..

Sunday we went for a drive and also to pick up a garden bench off freecycle .. the hubby has just got roof racks for our car ( don't ask me why.. hes not a window cleaner so cant quite understand why he wanted them!) so it was the first chance to try them out !!..

i think it would have been quicker to shove the bench in through the boot with the seats down but no we stood there wrapping rope round this rickety old bench with the wind howling and the children getting more and more lively in the car!!!..

so Ive got another bench for my tiny tiny yard .. i got one last year from freecycle which i painted red. you may remember from this post....

http://charl-prettyvintage.blogspot.com/2010/08/so-were-was-i.html

well this is this years one!!.. so they are sort of in a L shape now

I'm thinking of painting it pale blue or pale green.. not sure yet.. I'll see whats in the back of my cupboard!!

. it was a bit wonky but the hubby just tightened it up when we got home and its fine.. so this will be my breakfast bench as were this has been put is were the sun goes to around breakfast time

( if it ever comes back out .. I'm freezing!)

so there you have it.. a few bits from the weekend, all random but nice!!

thanks for all your fantastic ideas for my dresser as well they were very helpful and am at the moment constantly checking the colour charts and looking at paint!!..

colour my dresser

hi all...

well as the weather has turned horrible around these parts ( i've even stopped putting the fake tan on. i mean whats the point when im covered up in cardies and jeans and socks again!) so ive been in the house an awful lot.. this is fatal to be honest as i start to notice all the niggly things that need doing.. the hand prints all over the walls and the general wear and tear of the house ..and my giddy aunt there is so much from roof down that needs doing its driving me mad !!

alas funds have been a little low so Ive just had to grin and bear it when all i really want to do is just go to home base and buy tins upon tins of paint!..

anyways by next week all funds should be straightened out and that means decorating again YAY i say !!.. BOOO says the hubby!!

so whats been driving me mad at the minute is the dresser in the kitchen.. i painted it what i thought was sage green ..but its so pale that it could pass for dirty white i reckon!..

also since being in the kitchen its been knocked about a bit and is looking a bit sorry for itself.. you know even with my good intentions my painting always comes out slapdash!!..

so i thought i would give it a re paint as it does seem rather drab ..but I'm just not sure what colour to do it.. the walls are pale blue .. and the sink cabinet cupboard fronts are white..

do i paint it white.. or cream or another colour.. it is only a smallish kitchen as you can see

so it needs to be something rather bright as i think a very dark colour would just drain the room of any light!!...

what do you think ?.. what would you do ! .. how would you colour my dresser.. ??

break time is over!

well hello there !!... that was an unexpected break from blogging that i took wasn't it!..

with all the bank holidays and children being off school i haven't known if i was coming or going to be honest.. i feel like Ive been away for ages.. over a month anyways..

so how are you all !.. ( have been getting my fix of lovely blogs though. like my daily newspaper reading through seeing every ones goings on .. just not had that much to write myself.. must have had a touch of bloggers block.. what do you think!)

so I'm back i have at least 3 weeks without a school holiday taking place so I'm going to make the most of it!..

haven't been to the charity shop in weeks although i went to the bank holiday car boot sale and it was horrendous.. it was huge which sounds like a good thing i know but it was rows upon rows of tat basically... and usually i love other peoples tat.. but i couldn't even bring myself to part with my coppers to buy it.. it was rammed full of people so i didn't come away with much .. although i have a got a bit of a makeover project for something i bought which I'll show you another time.. (real rock and roll this blog aint it!) ..

so not really got much to show you on the thrifty front .. so I'll show ( bore !) you some piccies of our little break we had last week..

we went to criccieth in wales.. only for four nights.. it was the same house that we stayed in last year..only this time we actually had the sun shining on us instead of sideways rain!!

as it wasn't technically a school holiday last week but our primary school had a couple of staff training days and our school acts as the local polling station the school was mostly closed for the week, we decided to go then.

its such a lovely house, so its a joy to stay there.. i love all the little touches that the owners put in which makes it feel all the more personal and not bleak like some holiday homes can feel..

in the bedroom .. the lovely jug and bowl in the fireplace and the little glass tea light holders on the mantle..

the cosy sitting room which has a fantastic view of the sea so sitting in there at night you have the sounds of the sea just so relaxing with the little stove on as the nights are still a bit cool..

the fairy lights in the conservatory, making every were feel lovely and twinkly ..

lovely original tiled floor in the hall to.. great for sweeping up all the sand we had brought in with us!

we had such a lovely time.. we had whole beaches to ourselves




( if id known this was going to be the case i might have braved a swimming cozzie!)

we had ice cream every day at Cadwallers

( famous ice cream parlour!)

( waffle with toffee and chocolate ice cream.. drizzled butterscotch sauce and double cream yummy... me and the hubs had this most days no wonder Ive come back looking like the Michelin man!!)

we found a branch of some sort washed up on the beach

so that was soon buried in to the sound with great foundations that when we went past the next day it was still standing tall !!

this little tree of ours was decorated with pebbles off the beach!

oh and the hubbys favourite meal of the holiday, freshly done fish and chips from the most gorgeous chippy right on the sea front with a pint of hobgoblin or some traditional ale that he likes!..

me - i just loved sipping on a gin and tonic in the evenings with a bowl of nuts reading a book that id bought from the charity shop with the sound of the sea in the background.. bliss !!

cooking treaty teas for me and the hubby on the aga..( notice the boys trainers drying on it!! )

i do have aga love.. is that wrong!! ?

so that was a little snapshot of our break away...takes time to get back into routines though doesn't it. .Ive got piles of ironing to be getting on with and a good spring clean of the house but i just cant get my head round doing it..think I'm still in holiday mode!!