Come On Spring

 Handmade 70s maxi dress (ebay), boots £10 (ebay), bangles (boot sales, Nomads sale)

It's been a while! I've been lurking and checking out what you've all been up to over the last month, but decided to have a break from blogging myself. I'm feeling a lot better now that Spring has finally arrived and I'm on the way to starting CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) as a first stab at learning to cope better when things get tough. A bit more sleep wouldn't go amiss, but with JB1 having turned into a bit of an early bird recently, that doesn't look too promising!

I've also started taking ballet classes again. I've always loved ballet but didn't have the opportunity to do it until I was about 18, when I did and adult beginners class for about a year. With practice, there's a chance I might even be able to start pointe work next year.

Can't believe that it's nearly the end of April - feels more like late March in the garden.

Primroses and Forget-Me-Nots. The garden is filled with them in spring.

Raspberry canes

Chiondoxa

 The first tulip

 Hyacinths

Daffodils ('daffofull' according to JB1)

Disorder, chaos, moral disintegration - in short you have a ghastly mess!

No outfit post today, just not up to it at the moment.

To be honest, I don't really know why I'm posting, other than to say I'm still here, just not blogging for the time being. The dull weather coupled with 'challenging' behaviour from JB1 and a severe lack of sleep has left me at the point of near-exhaustion. I really hit rock-bottom yesterday, but I'm clawing my way out of the hole a bit more today. I really do need to sort myself out and will be seeing the GP after Easter in the hope of being referred for counselling or some sort of help to deal with it. I've suffered with depression on and off since I was in my teens, but I haven't felt this bad for this long for years. It's not fair on the kids or anyone else and stops me doing the things I like, so it's time to do something about it.

Thanks for listening x

Clothes Maketh the (Wo)Man

Handmade 70s Crimplene top - £8.97 (eBay), Belt £1 (PAWS shop), skinny jeans 20p (jumble sale), boots £10 (eBay), 70s? patchwork waistcoat £4.00 (eBay), earrings £2 (salvation Army shop)

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you'll have seen all of these before with the exception of the top. Though I own a fair few clothes, like many people I often come back to a few favourite items. I'd love to say I swan around in maxi dresses and high heels all day, but the truth is when you have a baby under one arm and a toddler hanging off the other, you just can't hold up your skirt at the same time as climbing the stairs. Plus I struggle to walk in shoes higher than a couple of inches. From next school term, I'm taking the role of secretary for the boy's parent and toddler group. Now, I'm well aware that I dress a little differently from a lot of the mums, but the question pops up in my mind - is there a 'typical' way that mums (particularly of young children) dress? If so, should I tone down it down in order to look more 'acceptable' to prospective new members? (not that I will, this is a purely hypothetical question). It leads me to more questions about conformity and the attitudes of others. Most people wouldn't go to an interview say, with neon leggings and a hawaiian shirt simply because it wouldn't be a 'professional' image to the masses (though perhaps if you were auditioning for the circus you'd be spot on). Chances are you wouldn't get the job, even if you had all the qualifications as you'd likely be perceived as 'wacky' or a similar expression and therefore unsuitable. But why does the way someone dresses create such preconceived ideas? All I can say is thank the universe for my fabulous army of blogging buddies who just don't care what other people think!

On another track entirely, I just wanted to share this fab dress I found on Tuesday in one of my regular-ish trips to Keynsham. As one of the Fundamental Laws of Charity Shops is: The Good Stuff Is In The Last Shop You Almost Didn't Go In Because You Couldn't Be Bothered, I did bother and came up with this beauty.

70s Trina Lewis and Marjon Couture maxi.

Though I may look less than thrilled (that's my lack of posing skills), I actually really love it. It's just it's a little tight around the waist (must lay off the Mars bars for a while). At £9.99, it's at the top of my budget, but I knew it had to be mine. I didn't try it on, just measured it and bought it hoping it would fit, luckily it (just) does. I have another similar dress in pale blue with more detailing by Trina Lewis that I also found in a charity shop a couple of years ago. It's packed away at the moment, but I hope I'll be able to wear it soon. JB1 found a toy combine harvester for his growing garage (what is it about little boys and vehicles?!), so he was happy too.

Can you tell I've also just discovered PicMonkey?

Caveat Emptor

70s zip St Michael top (about £5, ebay), 70s 'Them' flares (£5.09, ebay), Clarks boots (£2, CLIC Sargeant shop), plastic flower bracelet (boot sale, 50p), earrings (gift from Helga)

Thanks for your comments on my last post, it means a lot to me. I can share some happier things with you today - yesterday I went to a huge jumble sale and came back with a few things. I'm sure I'd picked out a couple more things than I paid for - I reckon either someone else nabbed them from my pile or the volunteers did! 

 From top right: Nomads silk wrap skirt, Edwardian-style theatre costume, 70s? sheer nightie/dress, 80s St Michael cord jacket, 60s cotton dress, 60s/70s pinafore dress (maybe maternity wear), 60s white slip. 20p each.

60s repro hat 20p, children's books 10p each, Chance glass dish 20p. Not that I really need anymore glass or crockery, but for 20p I couldn't leave it. Mr R&B's grandad has a few of these glass plates, which I've always liked.

I almost couldn't believe it when I saw the Tatty Ratty book - JB1 has read a couple of Helen Cooper's other books and had really wanted this one. Maybe there's some truth in this cosmic ordering thing?! 

There was also an auction (though I didn't bid). I think somebody must have regretted their bid, because I saw a greasy looking bloke kicking off and asking for his fiver back. Some people take the piddle, especially as this was for charity. I'm not sure you'd get your money back at Christie's?!

Bye-Bye Love

It's a shame my first post in nearly three weeks is a sad one, but I haven't felt much like blogging or commenting recently.
Sadly I lost the last of my guinea pigs, Honey, yesterday. She was just over five years old. I'd noticed she was losing weight and wasn't eating last week and after a few vet trips it turned out she had overgrown teeth and had also lost a front incisor. Guinea teeth keep growing throughout their lives and can cause a lot of problems if they wear unevenly, usually putting the pig off it's food. Because they're evolved to eat more or less constantly, a guinea that stops eating is in danger of gut stastis (basically if there's no food going in, the gut shuts down and is nearly impossible to re-start and the pig will die in a lot of pain). Subsequently I was syringe feeding Honey in the hope of getting her weight back up so she would have a chance of surviving a general anaesthetic to have her teeth filed. She had looked a bit stronger first thing yesterday, but went downhill throughout the morning and passed away at lunchtime. The picture above is quite an old one (she would have been around 5 months there) taken not long after I got her. She's wet because she'd just had a bath (back in the days when I had time to bath guinea pigs!).

Feels a bit weird without animals in the house as I've had guineas for almost eight years now. I will get some more in the future, but not just yet.

Prints Charming

Needlecord kaftan (about £7, Exmouth charity shop), Ted Baker waistcoat (about £20, House of Fraser sale), 90s boots (£5.50, eBay) earrings (99p, PDSA shop), bangles (50p each, car boot sale)

Check out the slightly sinister print! I don't know if this is actually an original item - funnily enough I have a length of fabric like this in pink and grey tones that I bought new a few years ago.

I took a trip to Nailsworth on Thursday as I'd heard there were some good charity shops there. The first two didn't turn up anything, but the third was definitely worth the trip. At last - a proper old fashioned charity shop crammed with stuff and sensible prices.

60s or 70s handmade velvet hat £3, (Emmaus Nailsworth)

Somebody went to all the trouble of stiching all those lines in the panels!

Beyond knowing roughly how much fabric each type of garment takes, I rarely buy fabric with a specific project in mind. That said, this 70s polyester length said 'halterneck maxi' as soon as I spotted it in a box of remnants. 

70s polyester £4 (Emmaus).

 

60s or 70s (not sure) crimplene type fabric £5 (Emmaus), probably destined to be a dress as well.

 

These two are ebay wins, and I'm thinking of blouses for these. I have a pattern in mind but I'm not sure I can bring myself to pay £4.99 for it!

What about you, have you sewn anything recently?

We Will Rock You

To be honest, I'm not wild about this dress. It's a Dollyrockers, my size and cost less than a tenner, but there's just something a bit 'meh' about it. By Vix's rule it should be destined for a new home.

Dollyrockers by Sambo dress (eBay), orange belt (Salvation Army shop), boots (eBay), green top (jumble sale).

Anyway, I've been meaning to show you the rocket toy I knitted for JB1 for Christmas. Unfortunately, it failed the 'toddler test' shortly after the big day and has been waiting for repairs ever since.

Rocket re-knitted and hopefully toddler proofed this time!