Getting in a pickle

Thank you all so much for your lovely birthday wishes for the Monster. I showed him all your comments and he was really pleased. He was even more pleased to see that I made him famous by posting baby photos of him and also his birthday cake! Kids are so fantastically unashamedly vain, aren't they?

We had a lovely evening. His little friend is so funny and kept us all entertained at dinner :) Sausage did very well for presents - see below for evidence:

Sorry I was such a misery about the old mouth pain yesterday and thank you for your luuuurve on that one! The Calpol worked a treat, especially once the red wine kicked in ;)

I've had a chilled out, pottering sort of day. After a coffee with my buddy I went for a wander round the local charity shops. This little lot is destined to be cut up and remade into bags, toys etc. From top left: pair of brown gingham curtains £2; pink towelling hoodie £1.50; red needlecord dress £1; pink woven wool scarf 75p; pink linen trousers (new!) £1; mans pink linen shirt £1.20.



Now to justify my purchases! After this I really feel the need to explain why I've bought more. I have a couple of orders for cushions to be made in pale pastel colours and I don't seem to have many pale pastels in my stash - so there! The needlecord dress is like one I bought a few weeks ago. This is such soft needlecord and there is so much of it in the dress that I know it will all get used up. The curtains? I'm a sucker for gingham. The scarf? To be cut up and made into Christmas presents.

I had to get this Postman Pat duvet cover (£2) as I'm almost out of Rupert Bear now and needed a new bit of barmy fabric to line some bags.

Ooh, ooh - look at this too - £1.49!

If you thought all that was good (or not) take a look at my latest addition to the craft library:

I love the dog on the front - have to make one!


Pat Butcher earrings anyone?

Hats? I can make hats now. Got the book!

I do like this and will have to make one:

Not so sure about this skirt...

How about going all Mills and Boon and running up a 'smart shirtwaister' to wear for cocktails? Then you may just meet that tall, dark, handsome stranger. Worth a try.

That thrifty stuff was really just my way of avoiding dealing with this little lot:

I had, for some unearthly reason, decided I'd quite like to make some pickled onions to give away at Christmas to family for people to leave in their cupboards for 12 years until they finally remember they hate pickled onions as gifts.

After warnings from a couple of experienced pickling friends (!) I felt precautions should be taken with regard to minimising tear-duct trauma. A quick trip up the loft ladder provided the perfect solution:

It really worked but, as you may be able to see from the photo, the Sausage Monster's goggles are a little tight for his mummy!! I did actually ditch the snorkel but kept the goggles on to peel the onions (partly as a result of a joke with Lucy, honest!!).

I am soooooooooooooo glad I did this a couple of hours before I have to pick the monkeys up from school. The deep red goggle indentations around my face were somewhat alarming, resembling extremely unsightly facial scars. They've faded now.

Note to self: slacken goggle strap before wearing in future.

Here's a quick bit of music before I go - some '70's groovy stuff. I hope it works ok, my headphones aren't working and I don't know how to get it through the speakers!!

An apology: I am being pretty rubbish at replying to all your lovely comments at the moment. Very sorry!!! Must try harder. I still love you even if I'm too ignorant to answer you :)

xxxxx