Do As I Say (but for god's sake, NEVER do as I DO!)

Does it feel like my bathroom renovation has been going on

F O R   E V A???

I know it does to me but then I'm living it.

In truth it's been a week (or three) but that's partly due to SD having to fit in the woodwork and stuff around work and other commitments and then of course there's paint!

Actually what happened yesterday was entirely paints fault!

I got bored waiting for it to dry and a bored Sarah is a dangerous thing ...

Anyway, when I started the bathroom I decided that I was going to do everything properly and maybe I'd become a decorating expert or something.

I haven't been an expert in anything for AGES although you might remember my expert guide on Kissing -  Relationships - Twitter  - Seduction  (I can REALLY recommend THAT one!) and of course famously Pub Dancing!

So I was going to tell about the importance of the 27 P's (poor preparation thingy) but I couldn't remember half of them because 27 things is a LOT to remember isn't it?

Anyway, mine involved masking tape, good brushes, not the 5 for a quid type I usually buy that shed more hair than SD, Miss Mac and I combined and other useful stuff.

Got to admit I haven't really got the hang of masking tape and I either find I'm left with a big strip that I should have painted or I peel off a load of paint with the tape!

So, I was bored ...

I looked around for something to do ... Remember that a while ago I mentioned there was a little paint peeling on the ceiling so I picked at it and this happened:

 

I'd kind of been ignoring it because at that point I wasn't in expert/perfectionist mode and I thought that maybe it would just go away or something.

A couple of days ago I decided I really had to tackle it and do the job properly (or just paint over it).

I thought if I carefully sanded the edges then painted it you would never notice.

A couple of hours later I posted this on Facebook:

Yes, that IS an actual photo of me ...

The more I sanded the bigger the bare patch got!

So I painted over it ...

The next morning all the edges I'd painted over had curled back and it looked terrible!

I bit the bullet and started scraping and soon after my bathroom ceiling looked like this:

Bearing in mind that all the other paintwork has been finished and I'm pretty sure you are supposed to do the ceiling first ...

Anyway, not to be defeated, I gave up  (I know, I know!!) and painted over it again ...

Well, it's been slightly more successful if you ignore the loose bits that the roller picked up and spread across the ceiling giving it a slightly textured look and the fact the there is a rather embossed look to it all now with paint of varying depths ...

But, as I said to Miss Mac, you only really notice it if you look up don't you ...

So I've decided not to become a decorating expert for now and I guess those lovely people from Wilko had some kind of premonition or something that I might not be which is why they didn't want to be associated with me and send me loads of stuff to review for them!

Something Weird Is Going On!

I don't know if it's just me or if it's happening to anyone else but I've suddenly lost a lot of followers.

17 since Christmas to be precise!

10 went overnight and the rest in dribs and drabs since then.

It's odd ...

I mean, losing the odd one or two here and there is normal but 17 in just a few weeks?

I'd like to think it's a fault with blogger.  I have had people re-follow Fudge in the past because somehow they have lost their following status but that's just a couple of people (that I know of) in the past 5 years.

Since then even people I'm pretty sure have given up blogging haven't actually unfollowed  me so I'm confused.

Has this ever happened to you?

IS this happening to you right now??

I've googled to see if there is some kind of problem but can't see anything that helps so if there is a problem then I don't know how to fix it.

Maybe people HAVE just moved on or are bored with Fudge, I really don't know.

Any thoughts?

Ok, update: since I logged on this morning I have lost 4 more followers, 2 just after I logged in and another 2 in the few minutes since I published this post - something is NOT right!

The Marwell of My Childhood

Marwell Cross Gardens was a very different place when I was growing up.

I don't know why it came to mind this morning but it did so I googled it to see if I could find any old photos.  Of course I could have just emailed my friend who I am still in touch with and who's family (who seemed a part of my own family) lived and worked on the land for many years.

The only photos I could find were of it in the present day.  A very different place to the Marwell of my childhood.

An imposing house, guest houses, stables, formal gardens and, as far as I can tell a price tag of over one million pounds.

You can take a virtual look here if you are interested: http://www.primelocation.com/for-sale/details/33455428#ow0wJ8dRzxjtDuY9.97

Marwell was a curious place and the people who lived there may have been considered a little curious themselves, certainly Barbara was rather eccentric.

Barbara was the mother of my school friend Frances.  A tall, imposing woman with a booming laugh and a keen sense of humour.

As a mother I suspect she was slightly difficult to love.  As a kind of substitute mother it was much easier and, although I wasn't conscious of it at the time, I did love my second family as much as I loved my own.

Marwell was (is) set in the valley of two small hills about a mile from Bigbury where I grew up.  It's reached down a winding lane and sits on the corner of two roads with a small wooden sign post declaring it to be Marwell Cross.

The first sighting is a little before the crossroads through a gate by the large wooden shed that served as a garage.  From here you could look across the land to the right where a row of half a dozen or more large green houses stood in a row.  To the left, hidden from view by the shed was a paddock where Caprice, Barbara's temperamental, pure white (I know, ALL horses are grey ...) Welsh Mountain (with a touch of Arab) horse spent much of her time.

Caprice was certainly a horse that lived up to her name.  One moment she would be nuzzling up to you gently nibbling your ear and the next, if you weren't careful, she would take a sharp nip out of your shoulder.

She and Barbara were a good match.  A swift tap on the nose if she misbehaved when she was being groomed and Caprice would snort loudly and then blow gently through her nose fluttering her long lashes innocently.

Barbara and Caprice ready for the meet (in the days before fox hunting was banned) were a magnificent sight.

Holding her tail high, her hooves gleaming with oil, her mane neatly braided Caprice knew she was a thing of beauty.  Barbara sat astride her, her back ramrod straight, not a mark on her gleaming white jodhpurs tucked into the long black boots with the brown top that proclaimed her the leader of the hunt and on her head not the traditional hard hat but a black dressage hat, a little like a shortened version of a mans top hat.  A riding crop in one hand and a flask containing brandy attached to her saddle.

Barbara wasn't beautiful but she she had style that reached far beyond mere beauty.

Walking a little further down the road it was easy to miss the arched wood doorway set as it was in a wall so covered in ivy it was almost completely hidden.

The door was opened by means of a large, rusty ring that, when twisted, lifted the latch on the other side of the door.  Kicking the bottom of the door where it had swollen tight against the frame I would walk into the dimly lit walkway to the house.  Trees on either side of the path met overhead and even on the brightest of days it felt like you could reach out and grab handfuls of the thick, soft, green air and there was complete silence.

At the end of the path to the right was the entrance to the house.

Except ...

Well, it wasn't a house like ANY other.  The back of the building which reached into the trees that lined the path was a World War II Nissan hut!

Half cylindrical and made of corrugated steel and it was BIG.

At some point the steel had been overlaid with something.  I'm not sure what but it had been rendered and pebble dashed.

On the front an extension had been built and a covered veranda built across the front and down the path side of the building.

You entered the house at the point where the front veranda met the side veranda.  To the right you walked the length of the building to reach what would otherwise have been an outside toilet which I avoided wherever possible as spiders lurked in the Ivy that clambered over the outside of the building and forced it's was between the breeze blocks and the corrugated plastic roof.

The small extension on the front was the hub of the house.

Immediately on the right as you went through the door was the kitchen.  Little more than a narrow corridor perhaps 9ft long and 5ft wide with a solid fuel burning Aga where much of the cooking was done.

The kitchen opened off a larger room, I'm not sure what you would have called it.  The living room perhaps as that is where most of the living was done ...

Much of the room was taken up by a large table covered for most of the time in part finished flower arrangement for Barbara was a florist.  Buckets of blooms stood around on the floor filling the air with perfume.

Along the back wall sat a long narrow uncomfortable looking sofa.  I never saw anyone sit on it as it was always covered in a collection of coats, bits of bridle and various tools for flower arranging.

It was the untidiest, gloomiest and yet most comfortable room I have ever been in.

Other than the glorious riot of colour from the flowers everything seemed to be in various shades of grey.  The carpet was so well worn that any pattern had long since disappeared and the two large armchairs were threadbare and full of lumpy cushions.

leading off again to the right was the bathroom which made up the final part of the extension.  A cold, dark room housing the hot water tank, a sink and the bath but no toilet.

Beyond the extension you entered the part of the house inside the Nissan hut.

A huge room with the domed ceiling of the Nissan hut above you.

This room by contrast was always immaculately kept and rarely used.  A large open fire place on the left and a door to the veranda and access to the toilet on the right.

Again the air was gloomy as the only light was from the windows leading out the the enclosed veranda which in turn was shaded by trees.  There was a faint smell of damp and dust but also a kind of majesty about the place almost like being in a church.

At the very back of the Nissan hut were two bedrooms.  One belonging to Frances my friend and the other her parents.

Looking back it was an odd house and a very odd way of life but to me it was always just as it had always been.

There is so much more to tell of this wonderful place and the things we got up to during the long summer holidays but I'll save that for another post (or two).

Well, Dang It!! (and a bathroom update!)

I haven't really got the hang of the reviewing malarkey.

I thought I'd done all the right things.  I read up on a few websites about the best way to approach potential companies.  Checked out the proper proceedure for disclaimers etc.  Thought very carefully about what I was hoping to achieve and then fired off my very first email.

I'd decided to target Wilko seeing as they were the ones I mentioned and I am using their products.

I checked out their website for an email address but the only way I could find to contact them was through their customer service online form.  That was ok but it had a limited word count so it really did mean that every word counted!

I got an immediate response saying that one of their customer service team would look at my email and get back to me within 48 hours - which they DID!

"Dear Sarah,

Thank-you for contacting Wilko Customer Care.

It is always wonderful to hear when a customer is as happy about our product ranges as we are!

I have taken a look at your blog and it is a really good read. I’m really pleased to see how well the Pearl Grey bathroom paint suits your walls.

We can advise you are able to review our products on your blog. You could also review them on our site and on our social media pages to share your great finds with our other customers if you wish.

We are glad to hear we have exceeded your expectations.

We wish you all the best in transforming your home, it will be great to see what you do next.

If you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to contact us."

How lovely - except ... well ...  They seem to have completely MISSED the point where they ask me how much free stuff they can send me ...

So, either they missed the point deliberately and were just being really polite OR (which is more likely) I was so reticent about asking for stuff that I actually FORGOT to ask for stuff ... 

So yes, might put that on hold for a bit ...

Anyway, I popped round to see my neighbour yesterday, she's selling up but it's proving to be a difficult business.  She's already seen one sale fall through when the surveyor the couple buying brought in tried to knock 100k off the price of the house by saying it had damp, subsidence and needed a new roof!

It turns out that it doesn't have/need any of those things but did just require some new flashing on the roof which she's had done.

It's on with a different agent now so fingers crossed.

'I'm not happy' she told me, 'I'm not happy at ALL with Jo from across the road'.

To be honest, Jo isn't the type of person who makes anyone jump for joy any time - EVER!.  She has a tiny dog, not sure what it is, it could be a Pom a Poo or some such ridiculous new 'breed'.

Talking of which, I'm sorry, but I can't help finding all these new breed dogs just a little silly.  Who on earth thought it was a good idea to mix a Standard Poodle with a Labrador?  Both breeds are known for being slightly mental and I know from bitter experience just how temperamental a Standard Poodle can be because my transvestite plumber had one and he brought him round when he was fitting my central heating.

The damn dog wouldn't let me up my own stairs until I'd fed him an action man and several pieces of red Lego!

I think someones having a laugh and it isn't the people who pay sometimes hundreds of pounds for a dog which is basically a mongrel!

Anyway, Jo never speaks to me.  When we pass in the street she looks me up and down and her mouth shrivels up to the size of her dogs bum but I knew that Janet had always had a good enough relationship with her.

'She's one of those you know' says Dennis pulling his best Les Dawson face.

THIS one!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

'You know ', he flaps his hands around and wiggles his eyebrows.

'O N E  O F  T H O S E .....'

And, just in case I haven't quite caught his meaning (and didn't already know) , he adds, with exaggerated lip movements:

'Bats for the other side if you know what I mean ....' 

Janet sighs and shakes her head at me.

'That's rather beside the point' she tells him sternly.

It turns out that Jo's niece goes to college with Dennis's grandson and she told him that that Jo had said Janets tennant had been running a knocking shop from her flat and Janet knew all about it and didn't DO anything! 

Which as WE all know is complete rubbish because Janet DID  give her notice to leave once Jo told her about it  (and when she asked the lovely Chinese lady was quite happy to confirm that she was indeed a Madam although she assured Janet that no business was carried out in the flat).

So Janet lost a very good tennant who had kept the place clean, paid her rent on time and apparently made very good jellied eels.

Janet is understandably put out to hear that her good name is being muddies in this way.

SO

How's my bathroom coming on?  I know you are all dying to know!!!

Well, SD has just about finished all the wood work so that the pipes are finally covered behind the sink and along that back wall.

I've done most of the painting (although a second coat is needed in the alcove where the bath is) and we have started to play with accessorise.

I know, I should wait until it's all finished but I'm SO impatient to see how it will look!

As you know, I'm going for a kind of 'workshop' look so the wall's have had a coat (and some of them two) of grey paint.  I've sprayed the mirror above the sink with a metallic paint so it now looks like this:

   
   I think it needs something more though - I'm actually contemplating getting a bicycle chain and edging the mirror with it to give it a kind of steam punk look ...

And THIS arrived!!!

  
I can't tell you how much I love this!  The shelves are made from the drawers of a tool box and will be perfect for the bits and pieces that we need day to day next to the sink.  I'm going to put the toothpaste and brushes in the measuring jug.

I've also been checking out EBay for an 80's Pirelli calendar which I think would fit in perfectly but so far they are either not quite right or too expensive so I'll keep looking.

I also forgot to show you this which will also be going in the bathroom:

Tiny little oil can

  
And SD had a root around at the farm and came back with these:

Some of which may well end up hanging on the wall.

  So yep, other than the fact that I'm not getting any free stuff the bathroom is going pretty well at the moment.

Bit Of A Brainwave (Or Maybe Just A Really Crap Idea)

As you know, I'm in the process of decorating my bathroom.

It's a slow old process mainly due to lack of funds.  This isn't a high income household and I can't just go out and buy everything I need or pay for someone to come and do it for me but that's ok.

I like the challenge of giving things a go.  The fact that I have to budget makes me think very carefully before making purchases.  It means that sometime I have to be imaginative or think outside the box for solutions to problems.

It means that everything I have is as a result of my own hard graft (and of course SD's as he is an invaluable help with the practical stuff and he has TOOLS and stuff!).

To be honest, it's not just my bathroom that needs some attention, there isn't really a room in my house that couldn't do with a makeover from carpets, to paint to even furniture there is very little that isn't just a little tired looking or even downright shabby.

I DO have some nice tings, of course I do (I showed you some of them recently) and in many ways I know that I'm better off than many but I'd love a home I could be proud of, something that really reflects me and what I'm about and eventually I'm sure I will get there.

But this morning I was thinking, maybe there IS a way to speed that process up a little without winning the lottery being my only fall back plan.

Maybe I could ask for help!

I don't want something for nothing and I don't have grand plans.  I DO want to be able to get on with things without having to constantly worry about how and if I can afford them.  I don't mind doing the work and I am happy to give something back for any help offered.

I'm talking about asking companies if they would like me to review products.

Now this is alien territory for me.  I've come across plenty of sponsored blogs over the years and this isn't what I'm looking for.  I want Fudge to stay mine and to stay pretty much the way it is.  I don't want it to become a blog about renovating my home.  I want it to remain a blog about those 'things' that I do or that happen to me but a part of that has always been about my home.

I'm also not thinking on a grand scale.  I'd love someone to offer to replace my roof in return for a review because quite frankly, I can't see how I'm EVER going to be able to afford to have THAT done but that's not what I'm thinking.

I'm thinking help towards those products that I would be using anyway.  For instance.  I told you about the paint I was using in the bathroom a couple of posts back.  I didn't tell you for any financial gain, I told you because I was really pleased with it (and I still am) but I wonder, would Wilko be interested in letting me have a tin of paint in return for a more in depth review as part of a blog post?  I'd be quite happy to tell you that I love the fact that although it isn't sold as a non drip paint it really doesn't drip at all (and that's a first for me!).  I'd be happy to tell you that it's great value for money, it covers really well, it dries to almost the exact colour on the tin (also in my experience a rarity) and it's soft sheen makes it perfect for a bathroom as it's wipe clean and isn't harmed by a little condensation.

I'm happy to tell you ALL of that without Wilko sending me anything at all because it's true.

But just maybe Wilko WOULD like me to review it  (and maybe other products) on a more formal level ...

I don't know, what do YOU think?

I'm thinking that maybe I could have a series of posts on renovating my house.  Maybe one post a month that was sponsored (assuming anyone WANTED to sponsor me) but does that alienate readers?

Do you hate sponsored posts and would it put you off reading Fudge'

I don't want to take anything away from my blog, it's very important to me but I would love to be able to move on with my house a little more easily.

This could be a way but I wanted to get your view on it before I take it any further.

More A Gathering Of The Soon To Be Committed Than A Committee Meeting

I almost didn't go to the park meeting last night.  My cold has moved on and in a new and interesting development my head now seems to have been filled with some type of glue!

I can't hear properly and seem to spend most of my time saying 'What? What??  What???' With Miss Mac irritatingly saying, 'You mean PARDON, not what!'

And I was tired, and cold and the Pavilion where we hold our meeting is, as I've mentioned before, a place so bitterly cold even on a warm day that I'm amazed we don't all end up frozen to the chairs.

I did debate taking my hot water bottle with me as I often do when dog walking but decided to man up and just throw on another layer or 7 and set off.

I met our esteemed leader by the door to the pavilion which he was looking at in disgust.

'Baarb was supposed to come over early and turn the heating on' he informed me.

'Bloody wasn't!' said an indignant voice behind me. 'YOU were supposed to do that you fecker!'

'Wasn't - was - wasn't - was - wasn't - WAS!!!'

'Ummm, shall we just go in and turn the heating on NOW?' I suggested ...

Two pair of eyes glared at me ...

'Kettle' said Baarb not even looking at me (but I know my place).

Slowly the others gathered.  There were 7 of us in all.  A combination of the original Parks committee and a couple form the now defunct Community Group.

Late as ever was our noble secretary clutching  a green recycling box full of papers and files some of which might even have been relevant to our meeting.

'Thort when you said you had a green box is was going to be like what the Queen has with her red box' said Baarb looking a little put out.

'Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes ... well, no ... said our noble secretary a little sadly.

'Where's the fecking tea?' barked Baarb glaring at me.

'It's in the fecking POT' I barked back waving the teapot in his direction - 'Where's the fecking milk???'

'What milk - didn't you bring milk?'

This is Baarbs idea of a joke - he brings the milk to every meeting but never takes it out of his bag until I ask and then he pretends that it's not his job to bring the milk.

How I chortle EVERY time ...

'No tea for me' says Ronnie (from the defunct Community Group) 'I've been drinking coffee ALL day, I'll be bouncing off the walls!!!'

'Black no sugar' said ... (do you know, I have NO idea what she is called so lets just call her Dot) - 'First drink I've had since breakfast'.

Ronnie was aghast - 'It's 7pm' she said - 'how can you drink nothing all day??? - that is SO bad for you!!!'

Dot hung her head. 'I know' she whispered.

'Well' said Ronnie - 'at least that explains why you never seem to need to pee!'

'Ummm, shall we get started' said our esteemed leader.

'No, no, no, no,no, yes!' Said our noble secretary frantically shuffling papers, dropping pens and patting his pockets for his forgotten glasses.

Silently our esteemed leader passed his across.

'Minutes of the last meeting' he began solemnly ...

BANG!!!

'NO, NO, I WON'T HAVE IT' shouted Sue - 'We MUST start with apologies!!!

Sue very kindly takes the minutes for our noble secretary as he can't read his own writing but unfortunately she often appears to have been in an entirely different meeting to the rest of us which actually, generally doesn't matter at all because by the next meeting none of us can remember what we have talked about anyway so we always pass the minutes as correct.

'Ahh, no, no, no,no, yes! - Any apologies' asks our noble secretary looking around the table.

'Colin's not here' says our esteemed leader stating the bleeding obvious as we can all SEE Colin isn't here.

'Did he actually SEND his apologies though?' enquired Sue.

'Well, no ... But he's not here ...'

'I absolutely REFUSE to mark apologies unless apologies have actually be sent!'

'And where are our Councillors?  Where are our PCSO's (Police community support officers)'

'Fecking councillors NEVER turn up and we don't HAVE any PCSO's' muttered Baarb.

'They are closing it you know' said Sue in a doom laden voice. 'I don't know WHERE we are going to end up if this continues! - They're sending them all to Bridgwater now but what happens if they pick them up on Exmoor - that's what I want to know - WHAT HAPPENS THEN???'

What, what WHO???

'For God's sake don't mention the toads' mutters Baarb to me out of the side of his mouth and he slides down in his chair until his chin is almost resting on the table and he begins to fumble disturbingly with something in his lap.

I can't tell you how relieved I am when it turns out to be the wrapper of cough sweet.

'Want one' he mutters wafting a menthol breath in my direction.  'I've got more' and he resumed his fumbling.

'I'm ok actually thanks.

'Suit your bleedin' self'.

'Dog shit!!' pipes up Mike suddenly having been sitting there quietly and apparently brooding thus far.

'Bastard dog shit in black bags dropped all along the path - BASTARDS!' - I'll know who it is when I see them with their black bags and I'll 'ave 'em!! You mark my words!'

'Mine are blue' I interject hastily before any fingers are pointed 'and scented ....'

Ronnie started to giggle ...

'What's so blinking funny?' growled Baarb. 'Dog shit's nothing to laugh about!'

'No, no, no, no, yes!' Spluttered Ronnie sounding remarkable like our noble secretary - 'It's not that, it's HER!!!'  She pointed to Dot.

'I've just worked it out - it's been bothering me ALL night!'.

'What' said Dot looking a bit scared. 'I don't even OWN a dog!'

'It's you' snorted Ronnie - 'It's you'  She could hardly contain herself.

'I couldn't work out what it was you reminded me of in that red hat but now I know'

'YOU LOOK LIKE WHERE'S WALLY!!!'

There IS more - of COURSE there's more - I don't think we've even got as far as reading the minutes yet but to be honest - it's pretty much more of the same.  More (maybe) soon ;-)

Oh You Pretty Things

This isn't a tribute post to David Bowie but if it was then this would be the song I'd choose and this would be the version.

I love the way it's pulled right back.

Just the man and his beautiful voice and that moment a little after the 3 minute mark where he glances across at the rest of the band and smiles because he knows how great it sounds ...

Anyway, like I said, not a tribute post but a recognition of a huge talent and a sad loss.

I've been collecting a few pretty things of my own over the past few weeks.

The thing I'm really happy with at the moment is this:

Don't you just love it?  

 

I know I DO!!

Although it's been shabby chic'd it's been done really well with just the slightest distressing and it's been properly waxed and the natural oak top had been oiled.

It's not in situ yet so I've lifted these photos from ebay (although I wish that mirror were mine too!).

Want to know what makes it even better?

It was a BARGAIN!!!  You win some, you lose some on ebay and I've had experience of both but for me this was a huge win at only ...  wait for it ... £26!!!

Seriously, I expected it to go for more than double that so I was really pleased AND it's the perfect fit for the alcove next to my fireplace.

Buying things to make my home nicer really does make me happy but it's not something I do all that often.  To be perfectly honest the house needs so much doing to it that it seems a little frivolous to buy pretty stuff without addressing major issues like the roof etc but, well, I can't afford a new rood so until it caves in and buries me along with the pretty stuff I may as well make the place look a little nicer.

I wasn't even supposed to be looking at furniture, I was supposed to be looking for things for the bathroom because at long last (having first said I was going to do it many months ago) I am decorating the bathroom!

My bathroom used to be decorated with beach hut stripes like this:

 

But I'd decided to go for a more sophisticated look and paint it grey which I think will work really well with the tongue and groove walls.

 

please note proper use of masking tape and everything (I haven't painted over the coving)

 

 

This is the colour I've chosen.  You wouldn't believe how many shade of grey there are!  Some were really green and some almost brown.  This one is called pearl grey and it's a Wilko own brand paint especially for bathrooms.  It's got a lovely soft silvery sheen to it, I like it a lot!

 

But I don't really DO sophisticated do I ...

 

So anyway, I bought this for SD as a little extra at Christmas because I liked it.

 

 

 

WHAT???

 

Luckily SD likes it too so I just needed to decide where it could go.

 

And I thought ... 'Why not the bathroom!'.

And I realised that what I REALLY wanted was a workshop style bathroom.  You know, the kind of place you wander into that has random things hung on the wall and things to tinker with so this was the perfect starting point!

So anyway.  When we were on the way to pick up the cabinet I mentioned in my last post we stopped at a place near Lyme Regis called The Trading Post.  It sells all kinds of stuff from antiques to junk and most of it very reasonably priced so I picked up a few bits to add to the bathroom when it's finished:

Like this oil can

 

 

 

 

 

 

And this windy thing that SD tells me is used for fencing but I plan to hang it on the wall

 

 

 

 

 

And this which I've ordered from EBay and plan on hanging by the sink for  stuff we use every day.

And finally this

Which I'm going to hang of the shelves above and put the toothbrushes in!

 I don't know if it's inspired or just plain mad - I guess time will tell ...

It's For Your Own Good!

Don't you just hate it when people say that?

I do!!!

When someone says something is for your own good guaranteed it's something you either don't want to hear or something you don't want to do ...

AND THEY KNOW IT!!

AND YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE GRATEFUL!!!

SD says it to me sometimes and I have to say, I'm rarely grateful when he does ...

I'd been teasing SD a little for being a sickly (while obviously being caring at the same time ...) because he picked up a cold just after Christmas.

SD picks up lots of bugs working in a school and usually battles on regardless (actually, he battles on and moans a lot!) but I hardly ever succumb even when he's wafting his germ laden breath over me 24/7 like he did over the holiday.

'When did you ever know me get a cold?' I crowed piously at him - I don't DO colds, you are sickly and I am tougher than you!'

A couple of days later that cold came and smacked me round the back of the head and taught me who was boss!

Anyway, I periodically dosed myself up with paracetamol, bought some tissues doused in Olbas oil, got very grumpy about every 4 hours when I was due for my drug boost and complained in a sickly voice to SD that he  had 'made me sick ....'

So SD cancelled our trip to the beach ...

FOR MY OWN GOOD!!!

I was not grateful.  We were supposed to be spending the afternoon at Lyme Regis, have fish and chips on the seafront followed by a trip to the small, independent cinema there to watch Star Wars and then on to pick up a cabinet SD had bought for me for the bathroom on Ebay on the way home and I'd really been looking forward to it all.

Of course he was right, I'd never have made it through the day and I'd probably have fallen asleep during the film and we DID make it to the beach late afternoon for coffee on the seafront before picking up the cabinet and coming home to watch a film which I missed the end of because I fell asleep ...

BUT

I still hate being told things are for my own good ...

*I'm still a little sickly but on the mend so I shall return soon with tales of Christmas joy, healing biscuits and quicksand and I might even catch up on some blog reading!