I didn't even know I wanted one

What is it with the younger generation wanting to buy new things when there's nothing wrong with the old?
My daughter wanted us to get a new computer chair for my and her Dad's computer (not one she uses).  I personally think the one we've got is fine; perhaps a bit on the small side, and not particularly comfortable, but I wasn't thinking about changing it.  
She kept showing me ones she thought would be better but I didn't want to be spending £60 or so on something I didn't really need, and then I saw one on freecycle.   
Now we're talking!

It was a bit worn and had a tear on the back

but nothing a bit of reupholstering couldn't fix.  The fabric I've used is some that was left over from curtains I made in our last house, and you can see it here when I used it for car seat covers.   It wouldn't have been my first choice but it was the only one I had enough of, and I wasn't going to go buying any

I must say it's a lot more comfortable than the old one - I don't know why I didn't think of getting a new one myself  ;)



My daughter has also suggested I do the Couch-to-5K running plan in order to be able to run up the hill I mentioned in my last post.
Running in general doesn't appeal to me at all, but it's a means to and end, and I've completed my first week and hopefully will be on target by mid November.
I prefer walking, which I do on local public footpaths but they can be a bit uneven, so for the running I thought I'd be better on the road because I don't want to go twisting my ankle or something.  Not as interesting as footpaths but the road is quiet so it's not like I'm pounding the city streets!
So instead of walking over fields, this is where I'll be exercising for the next eight or so weeks

 I don't want anyone to see me, so I'm getting up at the crack of dawn.  Well 6:45, but to someone who rarely gets up before 9 it seems like the middle of the night!  It's only three days a week though so I can lie in on the other days.



  

Little challenges

Whilst out walking the other day I came upon this notice on a stile across the footpath

I wasn't sure what to do because it doesn't say 'beware', but a couple of months ago there was a news article about a man who had been trampled by a herd of cows, and of course they're going to be protective of the calves, so I was a bit wary.  
I decided that if the herd was well away from the path I would carry on through the field, but when I got closer I could see they were near the stile, and it was a pretty big bull, so I decided to turn back and take another route

I was quite miffed about it.  Not because it meant I had to walk an extra half mile or so to go round because I need the exercise anyway, but just because I had to go back the way I'd come!   

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I've decided to get a bit fitter and I've set myself a little challenge.   I go for a walk most days, but I'm going to up the ante.
I want to do a 'Rocky' and run up this hill
(click to enlarge)

It may not seem very steep or high but it puffs me out just walking up.  

This is the view from the top where it starts to flatten out.  After the foreground it drops away steeply.  The farm buildings you can just see the roofs of in the bottom is where I was standing for the first photo.

I've timed myself walking up, and it took 4 minutes, 35 seconds the first time.       
I want to get faster and eventually run up.  Realistically I'm not going to be able to do this unless I can run on the flat first (which I've never done).   So now when I'm out walking I've started to do occasional bouts of jogging.  Ideally I'm trying to alternate between 2 minutes walking then 30 seconds jogging, but this isn't quite working out yet because if anyone is about I don't want them to see me trying to jog so I keep on walking.  Also it's not helping that I'm wearing walking boots!
I have managed to jog the last little flat bit at the top of the hill and got my time down to 4 minutes 15 seconds.

I may or may not be reporting some time in the future that I've succeeded, but don't hold your breath!

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Hands up anyone who knows what's missing from this photo -

The cooling towers of Thorpe Marsh Power Station!  They've all been demolished now.   :(

Hay ride and jeans update

Spaghetti (our cat) nearly had a trip out with us the other day.
We'd loaded up the pick up and trailer with hay to take to some friends, went in the house for a few minutes, and when we came out she was on top

she jumped across to the trailer (pity I didn't get a photo of her mid flight)

This is not the first time we've had a pet make a bid for freedom like this - Lotto did a similar thing last year!


I've sewn the bias tape onto the jeans from my last post and I'm really pleased with them now

Ada, Vintage Sheet Addict suggested sewing a flower on too.  I wondered if I could cut one out of the tape but there weren't any complete ones, but then it struck me that it was bias tape so I folded it into binding and did this

which I think just finishes them off.

Dyeing for a change

I'm in need of some new playing out jeans and unearthed a pair in my wardrobe that I'd never worn.  A friend gave them to me years ago but they were too small for me at the time.  They fit me now but are slightly too short.

They're also very dark and new looking so I thought I'd have a go at at tie dyeing them with bleach. 
I used Tesco's thin bleach which is 29p for two litres, and used about 15p worth in a bucket of water.
  
I absolutely loved how they came out, so much so that I decided they looked too good for confining to gardening and painting!  With this in mind I lengthened them to be worn with heels rather than flats.
I unpicked the hems, using scissors, because my seam ripper disappeared in mysterious circumstances a couple of weeks ago ....... I was using it at the computer and when I'd finished I took it, and whatever I'd been unpicking, over to my sewing machine at the other end of the room.  When I got there (which is only nine steps away)  I didn't have the seam ripper!  It's a laminate floor and I didn't hear it fall and I searched for it to no avail.  Spooky!

Anyway back to the jeans... 
I ironed out the bottoms and overcast the raw edge.  To lengthen them I had the great idea of cutting a couple of inches off the bottom of my old jeans so that I could use the existing hem, and sewing them to the new ones on the outside.  I thought if I then frayed the raw edge in would act as an edging between the old and new and look as though it had always been there.  

The concept seemed like a good idea but in practice the old jeans fabric is an entirely different shade and looks quite drab compared to the vibrant tie dyeing.

So now I'm wondering if they should be relegated to playing out status or if I can remedy it.
Here's what they look like now

What I'm thinking is that I could put something brighter in the 'extension'.
Such as ric rac, but I've only enough of this blue for one row

or I've got this bias tape which just fits nicely

So what do you think?  Are they good enough to face the public as they are or with the extra decoration, or should they be confined to house and garden?  
Be honest, I don't mind if you say I should keep them for playing in - after all I've just cut the bottoms off my old ones!

The animals went in two by two

Remember the tablecloth/bed cover I showed you the other day?  Well I've combined it with some fabric I got off freecycle

and made a couple of tote bags.
One has an elephant on one side and a slightly chubby cheetah on the other (or it could be a leopard but chubby leopard doesn't sound as good).
Check out my arty photo shoot!

The other one also has an elephant, but on the reverse is a wildebeest (or it could be a buffalo!)

I've lined them with the other fabric and and put a pocket in.  They can be used inside out too

They're for sale in my Folksy shop.


I dropped on three pieces of fabric at the charity shop yesterday

The first one is just over a yard of upholstery fabric

I love the second one which is dress weight and has a 1950s/60s feel about it.  I can see it with pearls and 'Evening in Paris' perfume!
Only trouble is it's 36" wide and there's only 1 3/4 yards so I'm a bit limited what to use it for.

The colour is actually deeper than this, more like the first photo.

They were both £1 each, but the last one was only 75p and there's four yards of it!
I think whoever priced it up thought no one would be interested in it, but I think it's great

what's not to like about these buildings,trees and bridges?

It's another dress weight and I'm thinking some kind of shift dress maybe.  What do you think?

All is safely gathered in

We've had a nice run of sunny weather to get our hay dry and it's now safely under cover.

I usually hate hay making (you may recall me moaning about it last year), but my son's friends helped again which made it so much easier.  We borrowed an extra trailer this year too which was really low to the ground which made for easier loading.  
My daughter pulled it with the old tractor.  She's only a slip of a thing and of course the tractor hasn't got power steering, but for her first time she made it look easy.

On another note, my childhood landmark, Thorpe Marsh Power station has had more of it's cooling towers demolished and now there are only two.

I hope they leave one standing because I'll miss it when it's gone.

Elephants in the hay

It's been a while since my last post, and I'm way behind with my blog reading, and I don't really know why!

I have been doing a lot of weeding in our's and my MIL's gardens, clearing up after my husband cut the hedges, and making numerous trips to the tip, but that hasn't taken up all my time.

I think I must have just been wasting my time on the computer.

~~~

I did buy this from the charity shop

I thought it was a tablecloth but the ticket described it as a bed cover.  The fabric is quite thick and I've got plans for it.

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I've put a link to my Ebay page up on the top right hand side because I've been selling some of those buttons and zips I bought at the car boot sale.  I'm listing them every few days but I'm only posting to the UK because even here the postage is way more than the price of the buttons.  It works out a lot cheaper for multiple purchases though ;)

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We've finally had our hay cut today.  With all the wet weather this summer it's about a month late, and a lot of it had been flattened by the rain but it looks OK now it's cut.  

Now we just need a few days of sunshine to dry it.

Fingers crossed!