~sunshine & thrifting~

it is yet another gorgeous day here in this ancient forest~even stepping outside into the garden the air has lost the chill of previous weeks and the wind that is setting off my chimes hanging from the forsythia is a warm wind.

'our' birds have been here feeding, a dunnock is sitting on the fence singly loudly and a buzzard has been circling high above me.

of course my thoughts are turning to the earthquake and tsunami in japan~and i am trying to remember if my second cousin is still there teaching. she returned home last year but i cannot remember if it were for a holiday and if she returned...

yesterday i was doing some crafting and listening to the radio and listened to this on radio 4~it was difficult to listen to, made worse because i remember it being reported at the time.

but it was a good reminder of the importance of acceptance and tolerance...

it also made me think of how society seems to have changed over the last 20-25 years.

when i was in collage the student body was a fine mish-mash of different groups/subcultures and we existed in harmony~this harmony existed beyond college to the clubs and events we went to.

the events around sophie makes me think how and why could such intolerance and dis-harmony exist and it makes me sad.

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so onto thrifting...

i have always been a fan of the second...third...maybe fourth hand.

unlike some i have never had a problem with buying clothes or household items that others have worn~after a wash its like new without the crispy newness you often find with new clothes.

i first started to go to local jumble sales when i was still at comprehensive school and my best buy was a harris tweed jacket and a trip into an antique tent at the yearly new forest show gained me a black tailcoat which i wore daily.

i still thrift now~after my operation last year i was very ill and lost a stone in weight and never put it all back on, although i did have some to spare i have to admit!

as a result, all of my clothes, especially skirts and trousers, have become so lose i can put them on and off without unbuttoning them and my new super-strict 'dirt and worms' diet is also making me lose more weight.

so it was time for some serious thrifting!

i have a set routine~i stick with a few particular makes of clothes as i know my size in them, both top and bottom; they are brands that are generally beyond my budget in the 'real world' because then i know they are well made and will last and usually i wont pay over £10 for it...and the lower the price the better!

the only things i wont thrift are shoes~don't ask me why i just wont.

today i am in a combination of thrift and store bought in sales~my green 'kurt' cardigan, bought in a sale, orange and white striped top, a sale find in new york, over a thrifted white broderie anglaise sundress, over sale find blue/grey (one size too large!) linen trousers with striped socks and my 'milano' Birkenstocks...oh and a scarf given me by swampys sister hazel and a hand made necklace of a small vial of white sage.

well now, its too nice a day to sit here~time to go and look around the garden...

~thank you~

thank you all for your kind comments about my crochet~as many of you know i only taught myself last year after many unsuccessful attempts in the past that involved much throwing of hooks and yarn and tears...yes tears of frustration!

its lovely to know there are folk out there who actually like what i make!

as you can see on my sidebar i decided to take the plunge and finally in the process of setting up my own Etsy store~ *a little eclectic*~but at the moment showing my two favorite sellers, the bloggers ren at fairysteps (who made my lovely bag!) and rima at the hermitage.

i love crafting and admit to having become totally obsessed with crochet, but realised i have reached the point where i cannot keep everything i make in our small house and my sister will not want everything so decided that it would be best to see how i go with Etsy.

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we have had a few nice days here in our forest which has inspired swampy to start work on the pergola over our little patio in our garden. he was going to start with our raised vegetable beds but the shop had run out of gravel boards so as it was a big job decided to get the pergola made.

some of you may remember last year how i was unable to go into our garden during the hottest days of summer without burning as our garden is open to the full sun from almost the moment it rises until early evening at summers maximum and we have no shade from tree's.

we planted a climbing jasmine outside our back door two summers ago and it has flourished amazingly and will grow quickly over the pergola. last year we planted a rambling rose in the bed alongside our little patio and that will also grow up to provide shade.

so i am getting very excited, and hoping we have a lovely summer, about sitting in my shady nook with a book, my journal or crochet (even maybe even all three!) with nothing but the sound of the birds and water.

i am even more excited (if that's possible) as swampy is also creating a 'water feature' (i really hate that word but have no alternative for it!).

in our garden we unfortunately have a large metal cover over what goes down to, i think, underground overflow pipes and so our plan has been to cover it with something easily removed if workmen ever need to access it...

as you can see until now our stone bird bath has sat on top of it with pieces of purbeck stone and plants growing around it which disguised it but we have always longed for the gentle splash of water.

well luck came our way, swampys sister gill gave us a small fountain pump she no longer used. so we bought a small tub to hold water and two bags of north sea cobbles, was given metal grating to stand the cobbles on and swampy is going to create a rustic wooden surround for the tub. hey presto there is my splashing water and extra water for the birds to enjoy.

we stopped at burley yesterday on our way to get the wood and walked from where we parked 'pretty pagan' into the centre of the village via the woods~well we found a square lump of granite just sitting there and the first thing that popped into my head was how perfect it would be as a small alter stone for the garden~and so my lovely swampy carried it back to pp for me.

it seems it was just sitting there waiting for me to walk by!

and later this year a small wildlife pond will also be finding its way into a small corner~i never imagined we could squeeze so much into such a small space!

~swampy by the way has finally started his very own blog!

he, as yet, has not caught the blogging bug however and so you will find two lonely posts here and for more gardening gill's blog is here. those of you who go to see her blog, yes that is her gorgeous blue shed and i am so envious of it!~

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well time for me to get moving~we had planned to go to lymington as it is market day but its turned into a grey day with a chance of showers so i may just buy what we need and come straight home~i had planned on some thrifting but maybe that can wait until another day.

*i hope you all have a good day*