fredsworldblog.com

Woke up pain free today, first time in quite a few days, already to get out there to see what I can find, however due to last weeks glorious weather today its pissing down! Thus rearing to go, at 6am I made this caramalised red onion chutney, and ate it on doorstep cheese on toast…

Ive never made this before but due to the weekly price increases at the supermarket, £ 1.79 for a small jar made me think twice, easy peasy to make, receipe listed at Chef Fred suggests..hope you try it and enjoy it.

Next at about 815 am I finished this…I saw this at a decorative living fair but the stall holder wanted £10, all it is is scraps stuck on an old lampshade with fabric glue, what a good use of all those bits you cannot bring yourself to throw away.

This is our new addition from last weeks sale at the Georgian manor sale, the nurses apron is world war one and the KL dummy is one ive wanted for ages.

Its 10.30 am , I might add pics during the rest of the day to show how much I get done, If this post ends here you know Ive got distracted and wasted the rest of the day!

1 pm, I’m cooking on gas today…just turned this..

into this…..also put that coat hook up, its been in the garage since we came back from France.

Next I painted this little coat hook blue , start to finish about 45 seconds, just as well I don’t strive for perfection! 

The sun was shining…..and we got invited here…

can you believe the house! but just look what was in the grounds, the hay Barn and the out buildings!!!!

It was like the best vintage dream ever, it knocked spots off any Cath Kidston shop ive every been in..it was like being in Narnia for Happy and me. We oohed, we aagghhed and we sipped lime cordial from a CK jug served on a blue spotty tray!

These 2 wonderful ladies, Margaret and Madeline, hold this sale just 2 or 3 times a year, at Margerets house, yes , all these goodies sourced for just 2 sales.

There was too much niceness, and if money had been no object we would have gone really mad, even when we left with the car groaning our I.O.U was larger than we planned!

Sadly as I love all my blogging pals I cannot tell you the location, because if i did would have to kill you.

This little lady best describes how we are feeling tonight !

Hi all , Iv’e been frying myself in the sun, ooohhh how much better life seems when the suns shining. Even the tumble weed thats forming in the lounge due to the lack of housework being done seems ok. Fingers crossed this is the start of a long hot summer.

As you know we went to France last week, the sun was shining there too, Id shaved my hair off the day before, and for the first time in my life, I burnt my scalp and it peeled, not just a little bit but pringle crisp size flakes! It goes without saying I had to cancel my appearance on the Jonathon Ross show, luckily they got nearly all of the cast from the IRON MAN to stand in at the last moment, how considerate!

Right, back to the point of this blog, you want to see what we bought, although the strength of the euro meant alot had to be left….

I think we bought well, but its getting harder to find places for everything, although saying that, I managed to fit this cabinet in…it was £4.99 in the Oxfam shop in Rochester high street, which as anyone local knows is the most expensive charity shop in kent. They think they sell rocking horse s**t, not other peoples cast offs. They get free stock, free staff and still want £6.99 for a cookbook that was £9.99 new ! Thus when I walked in and saw this had £4.99 on it, i quickly paid in case they realised their error, the fact that two people were measuring it did not deter me. You should have seen the look on their faces as i lifted it up in front of them and carried it out of the shop….in Harris terms, that was a “first on the lifeboat” moment.

It wasnt red though, but a few slaps of Cath Kidston red soon sorted it out.

Going off in another direction, this months Vogue highlight an artists book exhibition at the V&A. I ve always had a thing for cutting and sticking bits of paper together, i enjoy the creativity of it, although I dont like perfection, crumpled paper is better, and ripped is better than cut straight. Over the last year Ive seem to have developed a passion for Molskien notebooks, they are hand made and the paper has such a nice feel…

Bye for now, another unusual tv programme just starting….What yemen women wear under their Bukta! can you believe they spent money making this!

After seeing many trolley posts lately , especially Lucy”s posts ,when I saw this for £3.99 in Oxfam yesterday it had to be mine, especially as it was such a nice blue, just the thing for this years bootfairs, after all my joints are not what they used to be!

The quilt is a project that is now finally finished, ta dah ! sadly the same cannot be said for the other one, but its getting there slowly.

I bought a fantastic book for 50p called shack chic, its full of wonderful photos of the way the poorest poeple in South Africa, who live in shacks, some with doors , some without!  Just look at what they have done with  food wrapping for wallpaper.  It’s said that 2.5 million people live like this.

I’m thinking of doing the same with cath Kidston carrier bags and red wine labels! 

No posts for ages and then two in two days!

believe it or not i found this mirror last week when i sorted the garage out, we bought it in France last year for a few euro’s, and thanks to a generous Cath Kidston wallpaper sample a mini bathroom maker over happened, all in all from hanging the wallpaper , to painting the mirror and banging the nail in was 6 minutes, eat your heart out sixty minute makeover! Oh also found the red pots in another box!

Sunday the sun shone here in Kent and at long last the bootfairs were on, YIIIPPPPPEEEEE!, although there wasn’t much to buy, although the lady selling allegedly fresh bread did amaze me, she was wearing plastic gloves as she handled the bread, however she kept the same gloves on to take the money and give change,UGG! thus protecting only herself!! and people were buying it!!!

Although another £1chair was found, and duely painted when i got home, a CK tea towel just covering the seat.

the only other thing i bought all morning was this granny blanket for another £1

A busy day ended with another Cath Kidston wallpaper sample being stuck on the dresser doors, I used border adhesive, so easy just squeeze on like toothpaste,

Hope you all like my new look, its quite scary moving your blog as its a great fear that no one will find you again, i know i ask alot but if you could just leave a comment on this blog, old friends and new ill know you’re out there. ( hoping i.m not sounding too needy!) bye for now x

Hello all, ive finally decided on this theme, hope you all like it, its been such an intense process, changing the picture at the top required a css diploma! Still im itching to get blogging big time but the apprentice is on soon. Did anyone see last week when the blonde one who looks like hes an extra from Little Britain, try and decide an Italian menu!!! What a prat!

Still untill tomorrow this will make you smile, Happy wanted some info on mammograms, heres what i found……

Mammograms

Many women are afraid of their first mammogram, but there is no need to worry. By taking a few minutes each day for a week preceding the exam and doing the following exercises, you will be totally prepared for the test and best of all, you can do these simple exercises right in and around your home.

EXERCISE ONE:

Open your refrigerator door and insert one breast in door. Shut the door as hard as possible and lean on the door for good measure.

Hold that position for five seconds. Repeat again in case the first time wasn’t effective enough.

EXERCISE TWO:

Visit your garage at 3AM when the temperature of the cement floor is just perfect. Take off all your clothes and lie comfortably on the floor with
one breast wedged under the rear tire of the car. Ask a friend to slowly back the car up until your breast is sufficiently flattened and chilled.
Turn over and repeat with the other breast.

EXERCISE THREE:

Freeze two metal bookends overnight. Strip to the waist. Invite a stranger into the room. Press the bookends against one of your breasts.

Smash the bookends together as hard as you can. Set up an appointment with the stranger to meet next year and do it again.

YOU ARE TOTALLY PREPARED!

Sound familiar?

I know it looks a bit drab now, but as with all things..its a work in progress.

I must be going senile, i looked at an American blog, the post was a picture of a little girl in black and white with a coloured background, there was a link to the free software that let you do this, on route to the software i lost the site and now cant find it!!!!!!!! …i dont suppose anyone remembers seeing it?

Firstly, many many thanks for all the words of encouragement, they really helped, Happy said i was fishing for compliments, well you know what us men are like we need our egos boosted every now and again.

One comment yesterday from Stephanie at mysweetfairy suggested i send the candlestick pictures to Marie Claire and they feature the best in a gallery on their blog….i submitted mine and got an email the same day, they have been selected!! fame at last!

The pictures on this blog seem possessed! This one wants to be this size no matter what i do.

Well i hope you all had a great Easter….Im a little puzzled as to how such an important date is so flexible, if a certain thing happened on that day surely it will always be that day! This year i think it was moved to fit in with the 3 day DFS sofa sale! Happy and I had the misfortune to be in Sainsburys on easter saturday afternoon, the churches were all full, so we had to go shopping! How great it was that jesus loved chocolate,especially Lindt bunnies, do you think he had some when he was a boy!

.

..however, when shopping fredsworld style life is never simple. As we attempted to decide what size egg to buy Happy hears over the tannoy that all eggs are now half price!!!Yippeeeee, we grab all the big ones and scarper to the till before the masses….however our joy is short lived, it was FISH that was half price not easter eggs!!! and by the time we put all the eggs back and got to the fish counter, it looked like the sermon on the mount, the crowd was at least ten deep all holding their hands out as the fishmonger offered his wares!

The following day, Easter sunday, the big man upstairs got his revenge, he fooled us at 6am that the day was going to be nice, so Happy and i set of to what will go down in Harris history as the shortest car boot sale ever……we arrive at 6am, the sellers about 80 of them pull on the field and begin to unpack, the sky turns grey, and then this happens! we were back home by 6.25 am!

well not quite as bad, but you get the idea. Still i did manage to buy these old kitchen stools for £1 each, once painted and recovered they look great.

also bought 2 cookery books for 80p, the titles do seem to compliment each other dont you think? NUTS and book of OLD TARTS!

My mother in law treated Happy to this vintage vegetable rack instead of an Easter egg , a fair swap i do think!

its funny how things work out as i first saw one of these racks in Cath Kidston’s outlet shop, and the lady said it wasn’t for sale , and now we have one.

One last pic and then im off, going to watch the repeat of last night’s apprentice! How many of you want to punch Raef, what a pompus prat, with a pompus prat hairstyle to match, let’s hope this moron dosen’t choke on the basket of plums in his mouth…..calm down fred, I hear yo cry, the bp is rising!!!!!

oops, I got so carried away i forgot the last pic, here it is, the flag collection is growing, time to get the machine out to make some more cushions.

Once again, thanks for all your comments on the last post, feel free to comment today as well.

Its funny how things work out, after what seemed like forever , your comments seem to be few and far between, it even got to the point when i decided that if no comments arrived today i was going to stop blogging and delete it all..however i got a couple of comments today and my faith in you all has been restored.Thank you.

As it rained nearly all day sunday and all the bootsales were cancelled i decided to get motivated, i painted the dining room chairs i had collected over the past few weeks, not one was more than £2!

and whilst the paint tin was open, the candle stick got painted and the glue gun was whipped out and hey presto!……

i looked around for a nice ornate stick but they seem impossible to find, so i know you shouldnt but emulsion and metal does work.

These eggs are organic free range and have been hand blown by vegans! well thats what the gypsy at the door said, she also said id be a lucky heather, strange when my names Fred! and a bargain at several pieces of silver…well if i never bought them she said she would curse me! …curse me, when im so cursed already, what with the pressure of dieting and Delia starting a new cookery show on how to cheat!…and before you ask, yes i did buy aunt bessies ready mash, i did buy a mini chopper, and yes the salmon in cheese sauce fish pie was fab!…it only took 3 hours start to finish! 90 mins of which was locating the mini chopper…sold out everywhere, it was worse than the free range chicken run.

After popping to the country living spring fair a new cushion, made from a vintage flag appeared here…

why the picture is this size i do not know!!! still im not resizing it now.

Bought this Babuska coffee pot cover today in Oxfam for 99p…

shes guarding the rose pyrex.

Hope you all have a great weekend, feel free to comment, thanks Fred x

P.S all the pics have been taken by my lovely wife Happy, check out her blog at Happy loves Rosie!

I have a small torn page from Marie Claire Idees latest edition , it is my next project.

I was going to blogg about it but alas ALLSORTS, got there before me, still i suppose as we are all similar minded people we find the same ideas appealing. However, like most artistic / creative people my to do list is very long. Ive got kitchen chairs to paint, a quilt to finish (sorry Mary) and a sofa to cover just because i saw a patchwork one in living magazine!! and then its Easter, better start blowing them eggs now!…did someone say eggs, dont get me started on the chickens again!!…just heard on Richard and Judy, ( or as we call them , the liver spot and the fringe)..say that battery hen sales have fallen in 2 months by 10 million!! I know ive been on a diet since Christmas but i can assure you its not all my fault!

Hello all, where did that month go! Well ours was trawling Europe for stock for Happys store…2000 miles, 5 flights, 4 trips , 4 hotels and 72 arguments!!! We finally made our last trip this week and the pressure was mounting, so one snide remark monday morning in the hotel room resulted in a long silent drive home across 3 countries!!! Still all is ok now and we celebrated by trimming the dog ( sadly not a new bedroom activity, but actually trimming the dog!) This morning he looked like Cher now he looks like a pipe cleaner, its shocking how little dog is left once the matted, stinking fur has gone.

Time for a few pics…

New charity shop shelf..£2

Car boot granny square blanket..50p

Her majesty has a new book out..its called her spring catalogue……nice new prints and these jugs…an of course one somehow ended up in our kitchen!

A tea towel cut up , made great curtains for the dresser..

You all know i have a weakness for enamel, well i nearly crashed the car when saw this for sale outside a junk shop in France, its the biggest one ive ever seen, and at 15 euros it would have been rude not to but it.The only thing is its so big, I dont know what to do with it or where to put it, at the moment its propped in the hall, i do believe if i turn it north i may get sky tv on it!!

We are at that point where we are running out of wall space to hang things, so im now putting hook racks on the doors, this little French one, once painted in Cath Kidston blue greets you as you come up to the first floor.

…if your wondering about the quilt , its coming along slowly but surely, ill post some new photos soon .

Does anyone out there know of a way to upload photos into wordpress without having to manually resize them first, it makes blogging such a long process, Happy blogger account does it all for you, am i missing something?

bye for now, Fred.

Oh one last thing..How brilliant is ASHES TO ASHES, even more enjoyable as im 42 and that era was my youth…GOD BLESS THE 80s!!!

Many thanks to all of you who took the time to comment, ive decided to give them all away, and the selection method is the Harris clans birth dates…so comments 2, 11, 21, and 27 (well 26 as i was 27!!!!!) will get a selection through the post.

the lucky bloggers were……..

2nd knittingtroll

11th prettyshabby

21st Jen

27th AmyWagner

if you lucky ladies would drop me your address, to me email….

fred.harris@mac.com

ill get them in the post.

Sunday morning insomnia, the rest of the world seems to be asleep as i wander around like a zombie! Its 5am and i find myself flicking around on the blogs as you do admiring other peoples handiwork and thinking ” if i only had the time i could do that’….Rosehip
had made some wonderful babuska dolls for crimbo, that looked brilliant.

i decided that i would try some of my own, but with paper and card as it was too early to get the sewing machine out, and besides it was quicker!!!! By 7am id made quite a few…

and by 8am i’d made even more!

the only trouble is what to do with them now. So i’ve decided to keep a few and give the rest someone who would like them. However be warned they are very basic, the enjoyment was just making something after the christmas lull! It was nice to force myself to do something rather than just flick about on the internet until everyone began to stir.I love that time when the house is calm and still, after all anything you do before 9am is a bonus to me!…how ironic, as i type this i hear my 18 year old son, on the floor above me has walked into the kitchen, opened the fridge, shut the fridge , help himself to some cornflakes , which on planet Darryl equates to getting the largest bowl he can find, tipping whatever is left in the packet into it, and using all the milk to drown it! How smug i feel as i look at the enamel tea pot next to me knowing i will not have to go to the shop for my next cup of coffee.

I’ll draw a name from the hat next sunday, all i ask, as most bloggers do is that you would be so kind as to leave a comment about my blog, criticism is allowed although it will be vetted and only nice comments allowed! after all whats the point on letting people tell you your faults, thats what your relations are for!!!!

Happy Sunday to you all , only 4 days to go and its been a month since christmas! what was all the fuss about….

P.s…..yesterday I saw my first Easter egg in a shop, its so unfair as i’ve just started diet number 42…by this time next year im going to have all my bits where they should be! or at least where Happy remembers them being!!!!!

I have been to Tescos today, not a bloody free range or organic chicken in sight!!!…..I think ill have to have a look on EBAY!!!

I know my last blog was about the tv and, sadly this one is too. ….Imagine a large black leather chair, a dimly lit studio, a handsome muscular figure approaches, and in a rasping voice announces….Fred harris, specialist subject the chicken!!!..yes reader after last weeks tv i feel confident enough to go on mastermind with chicken as my specialist subject.

It was chicken monday, chicken tuesday, chicken wednesday, chicken thursday and the Jamie Oliver foul dinners friday!!

I do agree it has been a great education week for all us chicken buyers with all aspects of free range and factory farming being shown, however i do feel ive had an overdose, afterall do i want all the plebs getting in my way at the chicken counter looking for free range organic to go with their oven chips and mushy peas , no i do not!!! i want to be able to whaft up the aisle in my organic cotton fairtrade t shirt, carrying my Anya “Im not a plastic bag” shopper, select a chicken and go….

Newsflash!.. all the freerange chickens sold out by 10 am! the power of television, Happy and I wandered the aisles in horror, what were we to eat know for we only knew about chicken. Beef was too risky as neither Hugh or Jamie had not mentioned it. Fish was debatable, but we didnt know what was sustainable or farmed or line caught ! and as for pork, has anyone seen babe! how could we. Thus, not being able to stand the glances and smugness of those who had manged to get the correct chicken at the checkout, Happy and i left empty handed.

Sunday dinner was a well informed feast, we knew the origins of all our produce, and all the stages of its life from conception through to slaughter…….

Happy had cheese and onion, and i had ready salted! (organic of course!)

Hello and Happy New Year to you all!

I apologise in advance as this small post will probably only interest uk readers who happened to be housebound on wednesday evening!!!!!!! Has the tv scheduling been taken over by the lanlord of the Star wars bar? It was probably the most bizzare evening of tv I have ever watched….first we had ” half a ton mum!” a documentary that followed a 64 stone lady who wanted gastric bypass surgery, the show had a kind of morbid freak show quality that sadly finished with her death, however the only conclusion i seemed to draw from the show was , if you eat 8 McDonalds at a time! you are not going to win a gold at the 2012 Olympics in the 100 meters hurdles!

This was followed by Fake Babies!!!!!! even more bizzare, a lady made life like babies and sold them to nutters, ooops i mean other ladies who had more money than sense, who then bought them prams and took them out shopping . One lady made me nearly choke on my pringles as she took her “little miracle” ( no! just a plastic dolly you fool!) to the sea life center!!!!!!and what was even more unbelievable was her husband, whom no way looked retarded, helped to strap this child of chucky doll into a childs car seat for the journey!!!! Still this only confirms what ive always felt, never trust a woman with a cheap home perm! for thats what she had..still the plastic babies did look so at home in her northern council flat..and when she announced she was going to go to America to collect her new baby, all one could do was to shout at the tv,  get a new carpet instead you silly cow!….however, this was not the end, she then went to Harrods with a fake baby in a pram! oh god call security! and bought £269 worth of designer baby clothes for her new arrival. We then follow this care in the community escapee to Washington to get her new arrival…we see her pacing the hotel room waiting for the delivery, and she even says” that this has been a long labor!”.. god someone get me a stun gun. The baby arrives in nice brown box, shes so excited, we watch her peel back the plastic and bring her new baby to life…..at this point Happy and I , burst into what can only be described as hysterical laughter…the baby is so ugly, and i dont mean ugly Betty ugly i mean Nigel Lawson ugly!!!!…….still our laughter was an omen as a few days later as ’straw perm lady’ begins to bond with her baby she notices a crack in its head, she is devastated and feels she needs to reject the child as she only can accept perfection!…we on the other hand roll about on the floor unable to breath through laughing!….

Next i kid you not was another documentary about some Asian jail where the inmates for punishment are forced to dance on mass to make you tube videos! one of which, there version of Micheal Jacksons thriller has had over 7 million hits and is you tubes most watched video…not bad for a group of some thousand plus murder’s, rapists and drug dealers. What ever happened to real punishment like sewing mailbags and working on a chain gang…after all when they are released the world will be over run with what could only be described as failed Asian X factor contestants….and when they all donned nuns habits and started on a Sister Act medley, it was time to reach for the remote, turn of 16 sets of christmas lights and go to bed, or was i already in bed and this was all some kind of bizzare dream……….

Today, i got up early, put Nigellas ginger ham on to boil, 4 hours! its supposed to be express!!!!!!! wrapped some presents, ran out of sellotape, resorted to using luggage labels..not in a country living style but more blue peter!!!…then the hoover decides to stop sucking!!! unblock tube, empty bag, and still no joy!!! put hoover in room 101!!!…..you know where today is going!!!!children request toilet paper after they are at the point of no return!!.. 4 bathrooms and yet no paper left, oh but we do have enough cardboard inner tubes to make crackers for the WHOLE Von Trapp family!!!…dog looked grubby, so I wash dog, no pet shampoo left so use Treseme!..dog is so fluffy now he looks like Cleo Laine!!……time for luch…no bread left! so its good old 7p noodles from morrisons with worcestershire sauce! ooh if Nigella could see me now shed gasp in her cashmere twin set!….dog scratching at back door wanting to go into garden..let dog out….lets put some washing on….the washing fairy has not been and pile is at least 3 feet high…guess what, a thimble full of powder left, still in it goes..perhaps in 3 days time when we remember to get it out again it might be clean..ill worry about that then!…still need to get last food shop before Christmas, its like a military operation, ….im going solo at 9pm on saturday….along with the rest of kent no doubt…as i tpe children are arguing, 18 year old is complaining that no one has made him noodles!!!…oops i forgot teenagers eat, i thought they just walked around in 3 day old pants thinking they were so superior …shes called him a chav now and hes said she is like a satsuma as she has so much foundation on!!….oh the joys of a family christmas….just remembered dog is still in garden, probably now frozen, as hes been out there 4 hours!!!…just went to door to let him in as his cries seem so pathetic…do not worry readers hes got his revenge, hes covered head to foot in foxes S**T!!!!……..still once ive washed him again hes going in the oven!!,…so lucky i bought 2 throw away roasting dishes!……any one got a good reciepe for what to do with left over westie scraps?……….all this and its only 11am!….got to fight the crowds at bluewater yet to return the waistcoat that looked good on the hanger but gave me breasts when i put it on at home…..still not long now until we can all enjoy the turkey and remagel!! Happy Holidays to you all…ps if theres any spelling mistakes, tuff! i aint got time to do it again….Fred x
…

To celebrate HAPPYS 42nd birthday, the mother in law sent us to Cologne to visit the christmas markets…a great way to get in the the mood, although i dont need much encouragement..

there are 6 great markets selling food , food, mulled wine, food and of course decorations by the vintage truck full!

and when you feel like you just cant eat any more, theres the gift shop at Colognes chocolate museum!!!!…i said pick a couple of bits up, but Happy went mad!

still we did have a slim fast shake for breakfast it wasnt all bad!!

I really wanted to buy this vintage santa, but at 200 euros , he was a bit beyond my pocket..

the gluvine, however was more affordable, so we drowned our dissapointment…

that of course is the teenage look for ” I think mums had enough now” …otherwise once you feel too merry you just want everyone to smile, even if you have to force them….

a great time was had by all, if you havent been , do go next year, the markets run from 25 nov to dec 24 and open every day 11am to 10 pm, so wear comfortable shoes and elasticated trousers!!!

Last saturday whilst whisking around london before taking Happy to see Hairspray the musical for her birthday, we popped into Borough market, the famous london food market that is frequented by the likes of Jamie Oliver etc…and it is here that we visited Shipps tea rooms. Nice location, nice food but a bit on the pricey side, ie 2 cream teas £15, and the scones were cold! Still it was all presented wonderfully on nice crockery etc, the only problem was that my tea came in this tea pot! I had this same pot once, but cannot find it now, i want it again but cannot remember who made it. Thus blogland your mission if you choose to accept it is, who made this teapot?, and also if you have one , can i buy it.

Remember when i said we had a lot of decorations well here goes..photography by Hayley at Happy loves rosie, although how shes found the time i do not know, shes been busy filling her 2 Ebay shops, Havershams4u and Happylovesrosie all week…

As you can see its red, white and blue this year..

I hope you have enjoyed our efforts, but dont think this is the end, were off to Cologne in Germany sunday for Hayleys birthday, and guess what theres 6 christmas markets!!!

I cant believe its been nearly a month since i last posted, its the oncoming december madness that has taken over the Harris household!..the decorations are nearly finished, wish i could say the same for the quilt, i think thats going to be a finish in january project..oh, whilst on the subject of the quilt thanks for your fabrics, i had a list of all the thank yous i needed to make but lost it somewhere!! so if you have sent something lately thank you, perhaps you could leave a comment to help me out..i know one was from hawaii, a couple from america and an apron from an australian red cross shop…anyway thank you ladies you know who you are.My next post will be a photo gallery of all the christmas decorations we have put up..so far its…

4 trees

8 sets of lights

at least 200 baubles

half a forest of white twigs

and of course, at the last count 7 empty bottles of mulled wine, marks and spencers is without doubt the best!!i can only drink it in nov dec, it seems so wrong in Jan !

Next we come to the tradition of the christmas movie, and guess what hollywood this year is bringing out one just for me..next friday 30 november sees the release of FREDCLAUS , ive booked my ticket, bought my popcorn, eaten my popcorn! bought my popcorn again, roll on friday!!! ho ho ho

HEALTH WARNING!… do not try CARAMEL BAILEYS, its as addictive as crack cocaine, a friend spiked my coffee 2 weeks ago, and now Hayley and i have a bottle a week habit! I may have to put some of my red and white enamel on ebay to pay for my habit. Still its christmas, and all excess is justified!!

Oh and one last thing, whilst in london last week, my car drove automatically to Cath kidstons, i know , what a surprise! she had these chains, but they were not for sale, so im getting someone to knit me some, that someone has yet to be found, but how good would they look in red,white and duck egg blue…

First I must say I LOVE CHRISTMAS! , from the first decorations appearing in the shops in september to the January sales, I love writing lists, scouring magazines for inspiration, vintage christmas crap on ebay!, I am Mr Christmas…at the last count we had 8 large boxes of decorations ( i mean removal size!) and 3 trees, one which we bought abroad last year is upside down!..Christmas here is like a kid in a sweet shop, its a military size operation but I love it.

Thus , last night when the very boring tv awards were on, i mean who needs to see Ant and Dec thank the public for their support in such a snotty groveling way again and again ,and Trevor Mcdonalds auto que reading was appalling, I dont think he realized some of what he said was supposed to be funny, so dead pan..still I digress…..in my boredom I decided to make this runner for the back of the sofa, id seen one by Caroline Zoob for £235!!!!! now thats a lady with a sewers bottom, if youve seen her you will now what i mean.

all it took was an old linen bolster cover, scarps or various red fabric, one bottle of red wine and some walkers cheese and onion crisps , and voila! three and a half hours later, christmas 2007 has begun.

Next i turned my attention to this book…

some great ideas including the bird decorations on the front cover, i attempted one this morning whilst easing myself into the day after seeing Darryl off to school, i needed a very large coffee to take the taste of his deoderant and aftershave out of my mouth, god help the kids on the school bus, they will need a lie down in an oxygen tent before lessons…even the dogs sneezing!

must go now got to start my high carb diet to fit into my new santa suit, HO HO HO !

I know my blog of late seems to be fabric obsessed, but the generosity of all you wonderful bloggers has really touched me, this weekend saw the arrival of Amy Wagners’s feedsack all the way from Ohio USA, check out her blog, theres a great link that tells the history behind feedsacks, ….

the little paper flowers are what Amy makes for her etsy shop, she included some for as she put it ” a shameless plug” ..I think they are great.

Next it was a ooohhh aahhh package that arrived, I recieved an email from Marian in Holland asking for my address to send some fabric to, however on her blog she shows the most fantastic button shop as well as a brilliant enmelware shop, I emailed her back asking for the shops addresses as I would one day like to visit them, i heard nothing and then this arrived,

not only had Marian taken the time to go back to both shops for their addresses, but she also bought me a gift from each one! how generous . The little enamael bowl above has already been used several times, and just look at the buttons…

Thank you all very much for your support, sadly not much sewing got done this week as my little baby boy was 18! It seems like only yesterday he was being sick in his bed, picking his nose and eating it, getting food everywhere except in his mouth, just leaving his clothes all over the floor, walking around naked except for grubby pants and peeing on the bathroom carpet……..oh my god ! it was, 18 years later nothing has changed, well nearly nothing, Darryl in now a wonderful young man whom we are both extremly proud of. Oh and one last thing Darryl if you happen to read this, confusus says….

‘WHEN CHOOSING A UNIVERSITY, CHOOSE ONE A LONG WAY AWAY SO MUM AND DAD CAN RENT YOUR ROOM OUT!”

thank you ladies, yet again, for you support..more material arrived this week…first was Marys all the way from Liverpool..

this was followed by Kristys of vintagepleasure parcel, i love the card, she even sent a donation to my ever growing red and white china collection, a vintage salt and pepper set.

another package arrived from Jen Rigg , aswell as 2 great fabric peices , she also included a packet of fab note cards.

the final donation this week was my second from Holland, from Marloes, her piece of material came with a lovely note which gave me the history of the fabric, it had been her bedroom curtains when she was 5years old , 28 years ago! Her parents had saved it in their attic with a crib they had made curtains for out of the same fabric, see picture. How amazing that someone would part with such a piece of their history, thank you, it will be a very special panel in the quilt!

Thanks again for all your interest.

One of the first blog buddies i made was Vicky at Hollyhocks she lives in New York, and is the NY Queen of thrifting, she even won first prize in this months US country living magazine for her apple pie receipe. A few weeks ago she came across a batch of vintage christmas bit, and guess what she sent me a parcel, how generous ….

lots of goodies that i can scan and photoshop, roll on christmas, im in the mood now!

Still Vicki being Vicki, the parcel had to include something extra, and after seeing one of Hayleys blogs at Happy loves Rosie, she included some rose napkins that match some we already have, i think these may become christmas cushions.

Thanks again Vicki, looking forward to your next post, F & HH

If you want to cut down your evening wine consumption start a quilt, if you hand sew, you will be amazed how little you drink…my local off license has begged me to stop as they have a backlog of petit verdot!, after all when you sew and wear glasses you hold the needle in one hand and the quilt in the other nearly touching your nose to see the small stitches! im going to try and find some very very long straws so i dont die of dehydration..i did not know quilting was so risky!

this is how far ive got…..

and closer still, i hope you can spot your fabric if you have sent some, more needed please!

also thank you Tommy for todays fabric, sorry I cant find a blog address for you, let me know what it is and ill amend this entry..

once again i thank you all for your interest in this project, i am amazed as nearly all the fabric so far, even though its come from such different world locations,  seems to go together.

p.s does anyone know where i can get an extra large thimble to fit my thumb, its looking a bit like a pin cushion now if you know what i mean!

Firstly thanks to all the wonderful bloggers who have offered fabric for my blog quilt, despite the British post office have a backlog of 60 million items! due to their industrial action, some fabric has made it past the picket lines..first there was Annes package all the way from CANADA..

she even sent me a doubled ended needle threader once she realised we were both 42, and perhaps my eyes are not as good as they used to be…what a god send, why have i never had one before, i can get rid of the Thai maid now as shes no longer needed for needle threading!

Next to arrive was this package from Caton Darling and moore ,

I think the pink flowers will work especially well, thank you CDM.

The next bumper package came from Yvonne over at Yvestown , 

of course it was Cath Kidston, plus some wonderful red spot and tulips, well she is in Holland!..but it did not end there…Yvonne also sent me one of her home made sewing machine cover, made from CK spot..christmas came early!

Thank you one and all, im off now to try and get some sections done just incase more fabric arrives tomorrow..fingers crossed.

I will post a progress picture of the quilt at the weekend so you can all go OOOOHHHH!

As i watched the postman come towards the house i hoped there would be a parcel for me..and there was..hooray my first blog fabric donated by Jeska at  record the day,   such a talented lady with a unique style of blogging, do pop over and see her site. Look what she sent,

two wonderful fabric pieces and a small gift, exquisitley wrapped , a pin cushion and hand made pin parcel..

with such nice material i got the needle out straight away…a few cups of coffee later..

lets hope royal mail is good to me tomorrow.

Whilst waiting for the many fabric offers to arrive via the royal mail who has announced yet another strike, i decided to use my new found sewing skills for a quick tummy tuck! its so easy i dont know why more men dont sew, after all one could enjoy a few beers, a few pizzas, perhaps even an indian takeaway and the next day armed with some nylon thread and your favourite needle, in 10 minutes youre a Vanessa Feltz size 10….ha ha ha….but seriously dont try this at home brothers, well not until youve finished a quilt first!

As you can see ive made so progress, since friday over 100 bits all by hand! I was going to photograph on the floor but the carpet was no in showroom condition if you know what i mean! ie full of cotton and scraps of fabric, magazines that all need something cut out , a few coffe cups etc etc etc

i must say how dissapointed iam that more of you have not seemed to want to get involed with this historic act..this is going to be bloglands first communal quilt hand stitched by a 42 year old MAN!!!! Hows that for  domesticity!

So far ive had 5 offers of fabric! and of course they were from the great bloggers i knew i could count on, they know who they are..THANK YOU

Perhaps i wont bother, perhaps it was not such a great idea after all . Perhaps i should go down the pub,  watch football , fart and take up golf…oh my life would be complete!

Bye for now, just going to burn my nigellas!

Well fellow bloggers, judging by your blogs September seems to have flown past, its just one of those months that involves too many bracontes, bootfairs, school uniform buying trips, my birthday!42 (how strange to be as old as your waist is! both 42) i blame all the cookery programmes on tv at the moment, its just food, food, food, you cant move in our local supermarket for thirty somethings looking for wok oil and quails eggs!

I know its been a while since i last blogged but i start each day with such good intentions and then its 8pm and time for the merlot! Still now all that hot weathers out the way, HA HA HA , i promise to be best friends with my mac again.

September highlights were as follows…

Aother French braconte (fleamarket) where Hayley helped me spend all my birthday money on this shelf and all the enamel on it!!!

Also these green shutters found their way back to england with us, try to spot the cloth i cleaned them with, it wasnt until i had resized the picture i spotted it, and by then i was too lazy to take another one!

Whilst camera is at hand here is another part of the house i dont think you have seen,this is the first floor landing, Hayley bought the german cross stitch a few years ago at a bootfair for £3 , and the quilt top was a recent ebay win from Canada.

I have been told that it reads ..do this in my memory..how apt as its so near to the kitchen!

Ill end this post with a big THANK YOU to all you lovely bloggers who take the time to leave a comment, or even just say Hello how are you, I look forward every day to turning on and seeing whos visited………..be back soon!

Ps whilst in Caths kidstons at Marleybone high st, we say the most fantastic old quilt that i believe is called grannys flower garden, im going to try and hand sew one, but what i thought would be great, and i know this sounds cheeky, but how about my fellow bloggers all donating a small piece of fabric, so it can be a piece of my blogging history….if you can spare a small piece of cotton fabric, preferably with a small print on it in either pinks, light blues or greens , im going to use thses as the centers, so i need to get 9, 3 inch hexagonals out of it, they will all then be edged in red then white, and it will look out of this world..if i offend anyone with this request, i apologise in advance,ill send my address via email…im at fred.harris@mac.com

Hers the first feedsack im going to use…so you get an idea of colors etc…

Have you ever had a black cloud hanging over you, well i did all day yesterday, if i had been 6 months younger you could have mistaken this picture for me…

still once sunday arrived, the sun was shining and it was time to go booting, well once my painkillers had kicked in, im on 12 a day, i have eds a condition that degenrates as you get older causing chronic joint pain blah blah bla…although the sun was shining the stalls didnt seem to have many goodies, although i did get this 1976 american granny squares book for 20p!

loads of really great pics, just look at this one, how current, the crochet balls look so Amy Butlerish dont you think, when i can read a pattern i might try to make one,

still i did manage to finish my Cath Kidston inspired blanket, it would have been bigger but the cost of Rowan cotton and the way the blanket gobbles up the wool put me off, not bad for a first attempt.

next is 2 smashing little french chairs bought in Lille , only 10 euros the pair about £7 or $14, they fitted perfectly..

going to say goodbye now, got some more of Nigellas croissant pudding to eat, this is the third one this week, im sure my next post will be from the cardiac unit! lets hope the nhs has wireless internet access…

forgot to mention, also bought all this wool, with some vintage plastic hooks for 50p, just enough for a cushion front i think, you never know it might get done tonight.

Phew, september has been very busy so far, first there was the Lille braderie, a once a year junkfest, the whole town sells for a whole weekend, dealers from all over France swamp the town to sell, every street if full of goodies, and you walk miles and miles and miles, in the end the ammount of stuff available sends you a state of thrifting blindness as you cannot focus…still as you can imagine the car cam home slightly fuller than when we arrived….

this particular row of stalls went on for about 2 miles!!!!!!!

Then we had the back to school uniform rush, yes we left it until the last minute…still as Darryl is the only one attending sixth form all he needed was a suit, shoes, shirt and ties, oh and course stationary, where did all the stuff he wrote with when term ended go? i think its gets teleported to the planet where the odd socks and teaspoons live!..Just realised we bought a dry clean only suit, how stupid!!! still my plan is to ferbreeze the crutch to cut down on cleaning bills, hell never noticed, because if he was that observant he would have noticed the 6 dinner plates that are making penacillin on his bedside table.

Aswell as all this the new Nigella cookery show has started, just the monday night treat a 41 year old man needs, ive made the receipe below 3 times now , changed it a little though on a friends suggestion….replace some of the croissants with pan au chocolate, double all ingredients , but only use 3 eggs instead of 4…will feed 4 or 1 if you hide it until everyone has gone to bed!

NO LICKING THE SCREEN!

Serves 2 greedy people

2 stale croissants

100g caster sugar

2 x 15ml tbsp water

125ml double cream

125ml full-fat milk

2 x 15ml tbsp bourbon

2 eggs, beaten

1 Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4.

2 Tear the croissants into pieces and put in a small gratin dish; I use a cast iron oval one with a capacity of about 500ml.

3 Put the caster sugar and water into a saucepan, and swirl around to help dissolve the sugar before putting the saucepan on the hob over a medium to high heat.

4 Caramelize the sugar and water mixture by letting it bubble away, without stirring, until it all turns a deep amber colour; this will take 3 to 5 minutes. Keep looking but don’t be too timid.

5 Turn the heat down to low and add the cream – ignoring all spluttering – and, whisking away, the milk and bourbon. Any solid toffee that forms in the pan will dissolve easily if you keep whisking over a low heat. Take off the heat and, still whisking, add the beaten eggs. Pour the caramel bourbon custard over the croissants and leave to steep for 10 minutes if the croissants are very stale.

6 Place in the oven for 20 minutes and prepare to swoon.

Aswell as this im also addicted to Hells kitchen, thank god Jim davison has gone, and next tonight we have The Restaurant , its just food, food, food….thank heavens for marks and spencers jeans with LYCRA.

Just found this, tried it, and it worked….follow this link, type a word,you can even change the photographs if you want by clicking on them, when ready to publish, simply copy and paste!!!

Supposed to be working, but you know how it is, you think ill just check my blog and then its off into blogland for the next hour…Mary of marymaryfairlycontrary has tagged me for the name game, you have to described relevant things about you from the letters of your second name.
so here goes, my middle name is DEAN

D is for DIABETES, a horrible disease that came into our world when my daughter who was 9 at the time was diagnosed with type 1, this is the diabetes that juveniles get for no apparent reason, there is no family history on either side of our families. Its heartbreaking having to watch your child inject 4 times a day and suffer all the restrictions to diet that the rest of us take for granted, still she is a wonderfully strong cheerful child who copes brilliantly…I only hope a stem cell cure is discovered in her lifetime. WE LOVE AND ADMIRE YOU BRITTANY XX

E is for Ehler danlos syndrome, another dibilatating medical condition, a bit like brittle bones but it effects the skin, joints and motability. I was born with this condition and my daughter also inherited it, and as you age the problems get more severe, we both have many battle scars and spend much time in the casuatly dept, but hey ho , life goes on alot more people have to deal with a lot worst..you need to focus on the good as there is too much crap and negativity out there already…

A is for ABILITY, i know it sounds like iam blowing my own trumpet, but i have the natural ability to make people laugh…i laugh everyday and enjoy life to the best of my abilities, too many people look like they are chewing wasps,…. try smiling at 3 strangers today, one will ignore you, one will smile back and one will think you have escaped from a mental home…but its a good game to play

N is for NEVER KNOWING WHEN TO STOP COLLECTING, it started with stamps as a child, progressed onto clothes ( i mean doest one man need 45 linen shirts) and now it seems to cover most items, for example as we speak I avidly collect french enamel, english enamel, red spot, blue spot, vintage fabric, cutlery especially bread knifes with coloured handles, varicose viens, green glass, blue glass, furniture that needs painting, chairs that will never be able to be sat upon but are a nice shape, crochet blankets, cath kidston, nicely packaged food, empty red wine bottles( well i dont collect these i seem to produce them!) and also thanks to my doctor i seem to collect blood pressure tablets….i think i have got the symptons of a disorder, i think it may be caused by reading too many blogs and looking at too many pictures in Flick, thinking ooh thats nice ill look out for one of them!!!

Thanks for the tag Mary, i think i need to call my therapist !……..

Hello all, this is the second time ive tried this blog , the first one got chewed up by cyberspace gremlins, and guess what i never saved it! Hope this blog finds you all well and happy, the weather has been kind to us this weekend and the bootsales were enjoyable…

I especially love the 1920s bride photo that was £1

I also seem to have developed a letter fetish, some were wooden, some were from old card games, and some were just letters…

Does anyone remember my washing up blog a couple of months ago, well if you take a peek in the new Cath Kidston catalogue you will see a very similar picture, i wonder if they saw mine…

and finally, before you look at the next picture please remember these facts..man has walked on the moon, you can watch dvds in a car, only fat people drink diet coke, polish men only buy mobile phones at car boot sales and the eurovision song contest is the best tv around!…then why oh why does my local co op at 2.30 pm on a bank holiday monday look like this….

we are not in some far flung communist state, this is kent 2007! still as the organic multigrain multiseed soya infused farmhouse loaf was unavailable we had to make do with Hagen daas cookies and cream ice cream. Life’s a bitch!

Flicking through blogland The vintage chica showed a work in progress, a great little sock cat from this fab book, only £3.10 on amazon uk!

So thus inspired , and postal strikes permitting, it arrived, only slightly creased, after all it was marked fragile !

Next suitable socks were needed…

A little snip here and there…….

And Eric was born, the only trouble is that he looks so worried!

Perhaps he knew i was going to put this on him!

this is a fab book to create from, projects are all quick, whick really appeals to me, i made Eric while Hayley was at the supermarket, still i think i rushed too much because after his photo shoot, Erics arm fell off !!

blogging seems to be a great therapy, please take the time to read the blog my wife, Hayley has just posted, titled mum and me, on happylovesrosie you may need a tissue, I did ! Thanks in advance Fred x

forgive me father for I have sinned, its been thirteen days since my last blogg…… how time flies in bloggland..It was only a gentle reminder from Vicki that I had been missed that pushed me to get the camera out, because as anyone in the uk knows summer has finally arrived, well weve had 2 days of sun so far!!! and yesterday i expect it was the same the uk over , the car bootsales were heaving!!! but it was too bloody hot to enjoy them!! I know us brits go on about the weather but 75 with a breeze, is that too much to ask!

Another reason for my absence is wireless internet connections that dont work! and then for only 25p per minute and 10p connection charge, the Virgin broadband helpline 12ooo miles away in Calcutta will then take forever to tell you that yes ITS NOT WORKING!!!!!!….you hang on the line, tell them what lights are flashing. reboot the router, and heypresto….its connects….not bad for a call costing about £25!…then once you put the phone down, feeling all excited because youre now connected to the world, it goes off again…..sounds familiar to anyone ?

Still, now thats off my chest, do you like this…

another car boot bargain, £2, and it was these colors! it weighed a ton and nearly killed me getting back to the car, for as you know, what ever time you arrive you never are able to park near the seller!

It has taken pride of place in our newly decorated studio, along with this beauty ..

Also since we last blogged my mother in law has been staying and we’ve now all learned to crochet , infact it turned into some what of a crocheting olympics, as a man I had to have the biggest needle and made one hugh GRANDAD SQUARE {as i have now officially named them}, next im going to copy..ooops i mean, make a similar blanket to Cath Kidstons one, which by the time ive bought the wool , will be probably twice the price!

Still it will be a nice way to relax, after all red wine and pringles can get a bit tiresome!

While i remember i must say a big THANK YOU to all you lovely bloggers who have bothered to leave me a comment, they do make me smile, and im always surprised how far afield you all are…

Here is a few pictures of more tat and treasure that seemed to follow us home from the bootfairs..

A wonderful biscuit tin for £1

Cookie cutters for my children, they wern’t very happy though , as they wanted playstation games, well they are 17 and 14!

Also the red and white obsession seems to be continuing, below are the 2 different lotto games, nice french playing cards, some lexicon cards and red dominoes, that I went on a mission to find on ebay after seeing them on Jenny Harris’s site, no relation just same surname!

and here is the dominoes in all their glory, they are called marblelike, but i searched for bakerlite dominoes on ebay usa…ive got another green set coming from Arizona, any day soon….

bye for now ,chicken tikka masala and black forest gateaux ice cream calling…..what was that number for weightwatchers again!!!

It was early sunday morning and Hayley and i, and our good friends Tina and Kevin, set off on a adult only jolly..( quick call childline we left a 17 year old home alone to make his own lunch!!).first stop was Columbia rd. This is a sunday morning flower and plant market that runs down a residential street in east london, the atmosphere is very bohemian and trendy, with lots of independant shops selling niceness!

when do you see a bread shop like this….

there are also little vintage markets down the side streets, and I wanted nearly everything on this stall…

after Columbia rd, we po