TARRAGON & THYME

This post really encompasses the past 14 weeks maybe a little longer.  The original post I had prepared was just too long. I have therefore split it into three parts (at present). During the past 12 weeks, I have paid several visits to the CS shop close to where I live and I was lucky to pick up a few lovely things.  I am not in there all the time, but predominantly at the beginning of any new month. First off, I managed to locate a second bedside lamp in the Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady Range. I have a lot of items from this range and have been collecting for years.  This range first came out in the late 1970s if I remember correctly.  I  was newly married and could not afford this at the time as we were buying our own home and that was the priority, plus refurbishments were being done as well. It was something that I always liked though.  Since then I started collecting items a bit at a time as I intend to decorate one of my bedrooms with the R...

Nothing much of late however I am on the look out for nice pine picture frames with not particularly nice pictures in to recycle with some of my finished pieces of needlework as it costs an arm and a leg to have them done professionally these days. I have some nice pieces which it is about time I had on the wall; mostly cross stitched. So today I managed to find a nice one quite large for £4.  I shall keep my eyes open though for other suitable frames in due course.  Sometimes they are a bit scuffed but a little tlc and elbow grease often works wonders.  Sometimes if they are little to scruffy then out comes the paint pot and they end up getting a drastic revamp.  However at the end of the day I have to take things as I find them.  I predominantly go for pine, as it matches my pine furniture and blends in I also picked up another picnic hamper for £5.  This will be ideal to take home prepared goodies to friends and family over the Christmas period....

Just stopped for a small tea break after getting stuck in with the immediate back garden outside the back door for most of the day.  This little stretch of garden is my herb garden and I also normally have some planters with bits and bobs in as well.  Thought I would tell you about some treasures I have found recently at my Charity Shop. All inspired by Frugal Queen's post this morning about making a quilt out of recycled charity shop shirts, (and also a post a little while back by Cotton Reel)  I went tootling round to my local charity shop, but unfortunately they had no 50pence bargains; although they did have some nice shirts where the tones blended and would have been ideal for me starting to collect the fabric for a home made quilt cover.  However they wanted £3 apiece  (their prices seem to have gone up during the past few weeks) and after all the idea for me of making the quilt would be to make it frugally so that I came out with something handmade and...

I nipped out for a while earlier on as the house was doing my head in and needed some space or should I say being cooped up was doing in my head in. I therefore nipped to my local Charity shop the one I don't usually get chance to go to.  There were several nice things but on the practical side I had nowhere to put them, but one thing did catch my eye a long enamel loaf tin which will do very nicely for when I make the yogurt and blackberry swirl ice cream for the Christmas Larder,  or the rich chocolate and chestnut mousse.gateaux but equally can be used for making pate, or making bread, or baking tea breads or cakes in.  I bought it for the princely sum of £2.50.  So to me that was a serendipitous find that has come just at the right time.  I like finds like this especially if they are practical. (I like the word serendipity - I seem to be using it a lot just lately or slight variations). I have had several lucky finds at Charity shops and car boot fair...

Although I don't go into the Charity shops half as much as I used to, every so often I poke my head in to see if there is anything that takes my fancy. This Friday just gone I found this little bargain for 99 pence. Will go very nicely with all my other bits and bobs. An extra cake plate can always be used as a sandwich plate as well. And these are far prettier and cheaper than buying new. I just wish I could go a little more often. Everything will come in time. I love pretty china, especially china tea cups and saucers. A cup of tea always tastes a lot sweeter from them.

On Saturday morning a few weeks ago the first day off in the week for ages and the day was all mine so I went for a wander round the corner to our local charity shop and picked up some goodies for next to nothing. I have been looking longingly for the past two weeks at these pedestal candle holders. I thought that they would be way beyond my budget, and to be honest they are not exactly how I want them at the moment, but they have potential. To my surprise and delight the price of the two pedestal candle stands was 97 pence each - they are destined for a make over - I want them to sport a gold colour which will look lovely on the Christmas table. I wasn't sure whether they were plaster or wood, but it turns out they are wood, so I am going to strip them, rub them down and then re-paint them. I also want to do some dried flower ring arrangements for the top and put a large pillar candle in the middle of each. I thought I would use dried flowers for a removable changeable display to ...

I am in the throes of cleaning in the Dining Room - a good bottom out and I have found these goodies in the drawer, which were not new to me which I found in the Charity shops locally. First of all there is a tatted large mat with two small mats, in coffee - there is an awful lot of work gone on to produce this. Tatting is one of those crafts that I have never quite got my head around - but not for the want of trying. But I think that it looks really elegant. Then there is the hand embroidered Christmas cloth, beautifully embroidered on linen. Yet again someone has spent hours and hours on this particular piece. It should look lovely on the table come Christmas. Then there is a set of two white cotton cross stitch embroidered dresser runners, with two tray cloth mats two round mats and two smaller mats - I think I have the tablecloth to match upstairs - bought separately but yet again what a lot of lovely work has gone into this. I have also found my crotchet jug and bowl covers with b...

As many of you know my OH is currently out of work like so many other people in this day and age and pennies are tight. Before he lost his job I regularly used to support my local charity shop(s) but unfortunately I have not been able to do this, of late and I have been looking longingly at some of the treasures that I have seen; but have had to walk away. For a time I haven't ventured in as I haven't wanted to be tempted. I have been a little sad of this, because it has been a win win situation as far as I am concerned I have managed to acquire some very lovely bits and pieces for my home which in turn helps fund other projects and people in need. But it has been a case of needs must and all that and you do have to cut your cloth according to your kelt. I love pieces with a story i.e a family story or something that has been found and repaired and made useful again. It may even be the story of how I found it but it all adds to the rich tapestry of our own individual world...

I found this lovely Patchwork Quilt in my local Charity shop. So much work has obviously gone into it and it is the colours of my bedroom so as far as I was concerned it was a delight of a find. I started Collecting the Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady items years ago when they first came out and over the years have managed to add to the collection. This Quilt has some of the Country Diary fabric in it which is a boon. I did write to Dorma to see if they actually did this design quilt in a Superking Size (the size of my duvet) but they had no plans to include this sizing in their range. However all is not lost I intend when I get a few minutes to add some strips of plain fabric say in pink or green like you would with a patchwork quilt and then add some broderie anglais to make the frill, then my duvet covers should match the rest of my room. Its like buying a patterned duvet cover that has no curtains. In the past My Nan has made curtains to match my duvet from buying the unfi...

THE MOON BOAT TO DREAMLAND BY HUGH WILLIAMS I found this print a few years back; it was dog eared on the edges and was in the back of a local Charity shop unframed. Very unloved and tattered. I loved the picture as soon as I saw it. I think I paid about £3 for it at the time. Turns out it is a 1930's print. So I bought it home, tidied up the dog eared edges and re-framed it in the pine frame; gave it a little bit of TLC. Doesn't look too bad I don't think and adds that little bit difference to my home.

Here are some of my most recent finds I paid no more than £5 for each one. I love needlework of any kind.Whoever ever works the piece (no matter what their ability) puts heart and soul and an imprint of themselves into each piece. I have found the following pieces in Charity Shops for minimal amounts and yet the hours and hours of work contained in them you cannot fathom just by looking at the piece. I think I only do because I know how many hours they took. I am very lucky to have found such treasures but I always feel a little sad for the families who have lost these treasures they don't know what they are losing. Sometimes it is more than the picture its the actual art of doing these things. I consider myself extremely lucky Don't you

Since my other half lost his job last October we haven't had many pennies spare at all and any spare money has had to stay in my purse for emergencies and essentials. But today for the first time in ages I spotted a pretty china square cake plate with cornflowers all over it. It was love at first sight and was only £2.25. I am afraid I succumbed and been highly naughty but could you have resisted. Its a cheap way or used to be of making your table look absolutely delightful; you can mix and match china quite easily I either tend to go for a pattern i.e. roses different styles or different colours and inter-sperse them with plain colour pieces as well. Trouble is you cannot always get brand new items that look as pretty or suit your pocket, so I for one certainly think that recyling like this makes more and more sense. Mix and match them with pretty glass cake stands or bon bon dishes in plain glass or coloured glass and you are going to have a table top that no one else will have...