Festive Tut

Like so many other people this year our Christmas was quite different from other years, but I have to say I quite liked it. For the first time in years, other than seeing Iris and Bertie for a couple of hours on the big day in our three household bubble, for once we didn’t feel the usual pressure of spending time travelling to other places seeing other people during the rest of the holiday, so we really chilled.  However, as I said last week I didn’t feel quite so chilled when it came to putting all festive paraphernalia away when it was all over.

But I digress, to make Christmas Day last longer, Lu and decided not to open our presents until around seven o’clock, after our Christmas meal, a new tradition, I think, that is set to stay ……

……….. and we didn’t go mad on expensive stuff, instead we each filled a pillow case with charity shop tut and inexpensive bits and pieces that would make each other laugh and bring back memories, things that in turn we would use or add to the fun bits on our shelves or perhaps even return (when they are open again) to a new charity shop!

When Lu was little she loved the Care Bears, her face when she saw this mug (it was in new condition with the paper label still on the bottom) was priceless and now being lovingly used, finding the little dingle dangle in the same shop, at a different time, was just the icing on the Care Bear Cake. The same mug currently has a bid of £9.99 on eBay, I am keeping a watchful eye.

Lu also had an awful lot of baby Garfield’s when she was little, she was never without one or another, again she adored this perfect condition Garfield (£1.99 from Oxfam) all I added was the ribbon. The talking Lucy (Peanuts/Snoopy) toy cost me 10p and, I have since found out, was a 2015 McDonalds promotional toy. This is definitely now on Lucy’s shelf in her lockdown/working from home office/spare bedroom as her namesake. 

Lu in turn found me this set of bottled Christmas tree lights from the Compton Hospice shop in Wolverhampton, too late to put up this year, but I have a feeling that if Bertie clocks his little eyes on them, I’d better be careful not to lose them for next Christmas, as he is obsessed by little bottles.  

With having  to work from home and Wolverhampton being in Tier 3 before Christmas getting to a charity shop was hard for Lu, however, Flying Tiger was a most excellent source for inexpensive bits and bobs. The Christmas pickle (above) had me howling and then thinking, let’s just say I have already ordered several packs of little bottles from The Works as I am already planning on making tiny bottles with labels containing  equally tiny Fimo pickles along the same idea, sooooooo funny!

Also from Flying Tiger a Christmas planner, with my pickle jar idea already entered, along with a couple more mini bottle ideas and some dusting slippers as I am always obsessing about the state of my wooden floor!

On eBay she found this Diamond Art kit, to make up for our not being able to go to Greece last year (now rebooked for May 2021, but I am not so sure we’ll even be able to go then!) She said the frame cost more than the actual kit, it made me laugh, I’m not sure where it’s going yet, but most probably in my craft/spare bedroom, when I get it sorted.  I do love a bit of religious kitsch.

And a couple of other surprise and much loved/appreciated gifts …….  from my cousin Chris, goodness only knows where she found it, but the complete DVD set of the House of Elliott, my all time guilty pleasure.  There are 36 episodes, and I am already about half way through ……… pure bliss, but poor poor Jack! From my sister in law, nine tubs of Kruger Chai Latte, it’s generally all I drink now, I am seriously addicted.  This little lot will probably last me about two months then I will order some more from Amazon via Germany, as I have only found it once in the UK.

I also did a sack of tut each for Marc and Rick, but I seem to have been very remiss in not taking any pictures of some of the treasures they unwrapped on Christmas morning, including an totally over the top, multi frilled, Widow Twankeyesque type, floral apron that was soooooo Marc it was unbelievable, a skeleton print peg bag, a vintage My Little Pony Mug, tea lights and wax melts and pink Smarties. I have already started collecting for this year (above) starting with this metal work Brighton Pavilion, which will be perfect in their cottage garden, with perhaps some sort of small trailing plant inside. (£1.25 Salvation Army, Evesham)

Marc asked me what I would like for Christmas and I told him a box of Thorntons Viennese Truffles, another guilty pleasure of mine, sadly, they were all sold out, the only way Marc could get any was by buying this Luxury Christmas Hamper instead ……. what is he like?  Let’s just say, it’s not been a struggle to work my way through its many delights …… the gingerbread fudge was a particularly gorgeous and the wicker hamper it all came in is so big that I fully intend on using it when I next stay with Marc, whenever that might be ………

Happy days and hopefully (although it’s looking pretty doubtful for the next few months) happy charity shop hunting for more treasure for coming birthdays and Christmas …….. fingers, toes and vaccines crossed.

Into Lockdown Number 3 We Go .........

Ahhhhhh .......... the best laid plans of mice and men eh?  All I can say is here we go "a' flipping gen", although, along with an awful lot of other people I sort of thought that something like this was going to happen, but thank goodness for all our "support bubbles" this time around.  

Fortunately Monday was a Teacher Training Day so Iris and Bertie weren't actually in school, thank heavens for small mercies with no chance of any bugs being passed on after a very "safe" Christmas break spent away from people other than those in their "Christmas bubble. So after Boris's announcement we quickly worked out our childcare plan. During the first and second lockdown Tom wasn't working and was able to take care of all the home schooling, but now he's back in the lab.  Laura, bless her, has studied all the rules on the Gov UK site and, in principle, what we have come up with should work.  Iris and Bertie will come to me on a Wednesday as they will undoubtedly be champing at the bit for a change of scene in familiar surroundings as lockdown drags on. I will  then go home with them at the end of the day until Friday evening, to save on any unnecessary to-ing and fro-ing ......... My My Little Pony case is packed, along with my chaii latte, coffee and a monkey or two.

I will return to the Towers for a long weekend to help catch my breath, especially as Tom says home schooling is pretty grueling. There will also be other things that I will need to get done like the odd e-mail, getting bills paid and attempting to get an online shopping order now and again.

I am bracing myself for a few tears, tantrums and a long hard slog, but this is an infinitely better situation than last time, when I didn't see/smell/cuddle those two rogues for twelve long weeks, apart from watching Bertie's birthday party through the kitchen window right at the very beginning and that broke my heart.

Soooooo, I am aiming to post on a Monday only, for a little while, because I am just not sure what or when I will be crafting or if I'll even be in the mood ...... Fiddle Fart might just turn, temporarily, into an account of home schooling exploits, but I'll be dammed if this virus stops me from doing  something that keeps me sane and in the case of  "those flipping monkeys" always looking for the funny, bright side of life ............. so it's upwards and onwards, to infinity and beyond ........

................................... see you next Monday!

School Run Biscuits – Jane Asher Edible Ink Marker Pens

I said before Christmas how impressed I was with  the Jane Asher edible ink marker pens I found in Home Bargains for just £1.69, just check out the prices they are selling them for elsewhere!

Soooooooo impressed, it would have been rude not to buy another pack for me, already thinking of Valentines Day and Easter, plus another pack for my lovely neighbour Kata across the hall who is known for her baking.

The school run is pretty slow and monotonous at the best of time, but especially so in the last couple of weeks before the school broke up…….

……… so these very basic designs on plain, oblong biscuits helped lift our flagging spirits when we would stop off at around the half way mark to sit on an old tree stump for a cup of hot chocolate.

I have to admit, the colour ran when dunked, occassionally giving Iris and Bertie mouths worthy of a Halloween Trick or Treat disguise, blue mouths are never that good a look ……..

……. but memories, I hope, were made, with plenty of other themes/ideas to follow.

Aghhhhhh, Undecking The Halls ............. A New Years Plan

This is a fill-in/bitty post while I try and get a New Year rhythm back to my crafting and posting. At the moment I am not really feeling it, so my apologies if it takes a while to bed in again, at the moment I am hoping to simply post on a Monday and Tuesday, perhaps a Wednesday  ......... we shall see.

Fiddle Fart of Yore

For the first time in years I didn't post any pictures of my festive shelves or sills, I'll be honest I cut back a bit, sadly remembering that I lost two of my vintage Empoli genie bottles in the "putting everything back" process this time last year, which I really kicked myself for.  However, despite this cull on festive tut, as I started to put everything away yesterday, (a job I hate with vengeance), I found that things just wouldn't fit back in my very limited cupboard space like they used to ............

Fiddle Fart of Yore

......... and I confess that in the end it all started to get on my nerves, I didn't look upon much of it fondly as I put everything away, I just realised that I had far too much stuff, most of it tat, simply because it was Christmasy and it had to go! So, for next year, to misquote George Michael, badly " ..... to save me from tears" I'm going to give the vast majority of it back from whence it came, i.e charity shops, although there might be a few bits that I will pass on to Marc and Rick for the cottage garden, like the lanterns and a few of the old "vintage" ceramic bits might go on eBay, but as nothing has any sentimental value I just feel overwhelming the urge to get rid.

Unfortunately, I will have to live with the boxes for a bit longer because said shops are either closed or not taking much new stuff in at the moment but hopefully by around Easter the cull will begin in earnest. 

The whole thing has always been part of my wanting to "make memories" for Iris and Bertie, but perhaps even for them it was all too much, I need to go back to my crafting mantra that "less really is more", rather than totally bombard and befuddle them and any other visitor with all that is Christmas. In the bedrooms the bedding is de rigueur, but there will be a strict limit of ten decorations per room on the shelves, with a curtain of lights at the window.

Then in lounge/kitchen/diner again just a few choice decorations in among my usual tranklements on one shelf only, with my two beloved bejewelled trees (Dunelm 2013) sitting on the drawers either side of my sofa. My twig tree has suited my Christmas's so far at The Towers, but I think perhaps I will replace it next year with a very small live tree that I can plant somewhere on the bank at the back afterwards, perhaps even bringing it in the following year to use again?  However, I plan to keep it for another year at least, as Halloween just wouldn't be Halloween without it.

It all sounds very pared down, but I am no spring chicken, I love Christmas, but on January 3rd 2022  I would just like to put away all that remains after this cutback in an hour at the most, without all the fuss .......... well, that's my New Years plan anyway and if it doesn't work, just think of all the fun I can have replenishing all the bits and pieces I gave away or sold!

Happy Days ........................... I hope!

New Year 2021 …….

Well, I think it has to be a tentative "Hello" to 2021 …… only because of what 2020 bought with it ......

....... however, not wishing to jinx anything, naturally I felt I had to toast the New Year in with a chilly Long Island Iced Tea, my cocktail of choice ...... well, it would have been rude not to!

No resolutions this year, just the hope that we can all continue to stay safe while patiently waiting the call/text to arrange our appointments to finally receive the Covid-19 vaccine, I tell you, my sleeve is already well and truly rolled up in anticipation.

In the meantime, I simply plan to keep my nose well and truly down, having, as far as I can, a no spend January, doing the school run three afternoons a week, while trying to clean and tidy The Towers after the ravages of Christmas and New Year plus several sleepovers, because at the moment everywhere looks like a bomb has hit it.  I need a really, really good chuck out, but I am delaying that for a week or so just to make sure that the charity shops are taking in new stuff. 

After eleven odd years Fiddle Fart is a very hard habit to kick, but as I haven't crafted for the past four weeks or so and have no scheduled posts in the pipeline there might only be one or two "fill in/bitty" posts a week for a while until I get back into the swing of things. I have a few ideas ...... and as it's going to be a no spend month I did manage to sneak in an order for a few things from The Works before 2020 was over ......... 

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Goodbye and Good Riddance 2020 ........

Fingers crossed all the wonderful vaccines they've been talking about really work and all the adventures we put on hold in 2020 can finally begin ...................

2020 …….. What A Rubbish Year ……

2020 is, I have to be honest, with no holidays, weekends with Marc and Rick or special occasions to mark the passing of the weeks/months/seasons, it’s all a bit of a blur.

In some ways it feels like only yesterday that I was here looking forward to a packed year of wonderful adventures, but then on the other hand some days/weeks/months seemed endless with not a lot seemed to happen,  even Eurovision was cancelled! 

2020 and this retched, retched virus robbed me of 3 months with this pair, we stuck to the rules as a family without falter, despite aching hearts, in order to protect them, as well as family, friends and strangers, like many millions of other families all over the world.

They are days that none of us can ever get back. 

Watching Bertie’s fourth birthday tea through the kitchen window, when only a couple of days before we’d been walking home hand in hand from nursery, talking non-stop and then after an hour or so doing the same again to collect Iris from school ……. sharing cuddles and snuggles and so many hugs and kisses, oblivious of what was about to happen.

Thank goodness they took it all in their stride and we did it! We are among the very lucky ones, we didn’t lose anyone, no one got sick, jobs were safe and in the summer we were able to form a bubble so, no matter what happened, especially towards the end of the year, we could be safely together again and continue making memories, lets just hope that the Covid vaccination program will soon be winging  its way quickly to a surgery near all of us soon.....

……… and that we and everyone we hold dear will continue to stay safe and our lives gradually return to normal, though I doubt they’ll ever be quite the same again, so that adventures can begin with more wonderful memories to be made.

Wishing You All A Very Happy Christmas

Most Excellent Charity Shop Find - Wooden Alphabet Tray

Who couldn't resist this little beauty for just 50p, all be it without any G’s and only one C?

To be honest it was the tray that I was really interested in, worth 50p every time, being made entirely from wood and very well put together. My initial feeling is to give it a good clean and sanding and then turn it, as it’s the season, into a festive printers tray, putting different papers in the back of each square and then filling them with some of the larger embellishments I have ………. or do I decorate it, without a theme, for either Iris or Bertie for their bedrooms.

The letters I am not sure about ……. Christmas/birthday words, initials on gift tags?  All suggestions very gratefully received …….

XXXXX  I am now going to take a week or so off to enjoy a really peaceful and restful Christmas, it's been quite a year, of which I have said very little, perhaps a cocktail or two will loosen my keyboard ...........  I should be back on 1st January 2021 to start all the fiddle farting all over again ......... Happy Christmas XXXXX

Nanny, Iris and Bertie Discover Sizzix Shrink Plastic

My apologies for a certain little monkey who got in on one of the shots!

To be honest, I can’t remember what prompted me to order a pack of 10 A4 sheets of white frosted Sizzix Shrink Plastic (Amazon £7.99) but Iris and Bertie have loved  and run with it.

It was Bertie who was the most enamoured, as he is continually fascinated by different materials, tools and how they work together.

…… And, in turn, I am absolutely fascinated by Bertie’s little pudgy hands, I could just eat them …… knowing that one day they’ll all of a sudden change, grow bigger, more masculine, perhaps even hairy and work worn, but I am sure they will be mechanically creative hands knowing the boy and his enquiring mind, because everything he makes has to have a purpose.

Iris is the dreamer, with an imagination that is a million miles away, her head always buried in a book and then fired by the adventures within them in all her games and creativity.

After being shrunk with the help of a heat gun these first attempts weren’t as flat as had been hoped.  Iris and Bertie had wanted to turn these mini, experimental masterpieces into brooches for mummy and aunties, but the strong glue I used to attach the brooch backs melted through the white frosting affect of the shrunken plastic resulting in clear patches and the fastening showing through.

…….. however, two layers of paper glued on the back of a new design quickly solved that problem. 

A couple of days later reaped much better results, with Bertie deciding that a hole to hold a thread  by which to hang his designs from might work better ……….

….….. especially when Nanny also found a little wooden tree to hang all their new and future creations from.

What a team ….. happy times to wash the school day away before tea, making beautiful tranklements and childhood memories ……. and  it don’t get any better than that.