Pretty women out walking with gorillas down my street

Well hellooooo!

 

 It's only just over a week or so since I last posted, and a fortnight since I did an outfit post, but in Blogland, that feels like a lifetime! I must say it felt very strange to read and comment without posting myself, so I have a lot of catching up to do.

After wading through a ton of camera reviews online, and thoroughly overwhelming the very small area of my brain which deals with technology, I finally decided on a new camera and bought it - hurrah!

No idea if the photos are any better but I am trying to get to grips with it.

 

Hasn't the weather in the UK been awful? End of March, and I'm still in boots, gloves and a trusty faux fur, that can't be right!

 

Jess and Charlie don't seem bothered by the snowy conditions. 

 

 

 

So here's a little catch up of some of my doings while I've been out of the blogging loop.

 

Mother's Day isn't really something we make a big fuss about in this family, but I did appreciate this card from Eldest;

 

She had her 11th birthday last week;

Littlest's spelling needs some work but she means well.

My baking apparently needs work too, I had actually made a chocolate cake but it was so flat and uninspiring, I threw it away and bought a replacement. Only a few days before, I made the Other Half a coffee and walnut cake for his birthday which was excellent (if I do say so myself!) 

Same oven, same flour, same tins, same me - I can only blame the Baking Gods for making mischief.

 

Yes, those are new Converse on her feet - secondhand actually, bought from Ebay, but they look virtually unworn and cost less than half the price of new ones. (Those of you who have followed my blog for a year might remember my outrage at the price of the new Converse I bought her last year.)

Her other birthday present was her first phone - the photo bottom right is now a very common sight...

 

 

Obviously I have been keeping an eye on the charity shops,and found a few bits and pieces;

 

 

 

1960s hanky box, £2.50

1970s Droopy and Brown's sheer angel sleeve dress, £6

1970s compilation CD, £1 (with a bizarre mix of songs which includes Thin Lizzy, Cher, Sparks, Joe Jackson and the Jam. Fabulous!)

And a 1950-60s Hawaiian cotton dress, bought from Chesterfield flea market on a 3-items-for-a-fiver rummage table. (My calculator tells me this makes it a bargainacious £1.6666666666667.)

 

 

 

 

Dress, 1970s faux fur coat, jerkin and bangles - charity shopped

Hat and boots - Ebay

Gloves - retail (sale)

 

 

 

 

 

I promise to visit your blogs and see what's been happening in your lives - I don't like it when I feel out of touch! 

 

And thanks to those who commented on my last non-outfit post (it felt odd not to do my usual "here's a frock" thing) and to those who got in touch to say they missed me, I appreciate it!

 

 

 

  xxxxx

A jumbled assortment of good and bad...

I was looking forward to posting yesterday about Saturday's school jumble sale, complete with photos of all the lovely volunteers decked out in their vintage scarves and pinnies...

That was until my camera broke (for realsies this time) and I can't get any of the photos onto the computer.

Bugger!

 

 

 

So I am cobbling together a post from outfit pics taken last week, while mourning the death of my poor old camera.

1970s dress - vintage fair

Cardigan, tights and bangles - charity shopped

Boots - Ebay

Necklaces - gift from dear Krista and pinched from my mum

 

Mmm, blue tights!

The jumble sale went really well - not quite as many donations this time, which caused me some minor anxiety the night before, but it was busy, the atmosphere was lovely, and we raised £830.

I am happy with that.

 

 

 

This was my jumble sale set-up outfit on Friday.

It was raining and the photos were crap, so I wasn't going to use them but needs must!

 

 

 

 

My homemade skirt received a lot of love, and I can't tell you how proud I was to be able to say I made it myself!

So sadly, since the demise of the camera, I am unable to bring you the delights of the cake stall, the Dream Team of volunteers, the prettiness of the homemade bunting and vintage tablecloths with flowers in vases, and all the gorgeous vintage crockery used in the cafe.

 

You can imagine the loveliness, or check out our previous jumble sale successes here and here.

 

And until I can replace the camera, I probably won't be blogging - you don't want me wittering on without any photos, do you?

I agree with Alice;

What is the use of a book without pictures or conversations?

I'll be round to catch up with you all (I've been busy and got behind) and I'll keep commenting, so don't forget me during my enforced exile from blogland!

Still linking up at Patti's for Visible Monday.

    xxxx

Life in soft focus

Half way through half term, and I have been very lazy.

Lying in, staying in my PJs, cobbling meals together out of whatever's in the freezer, letting the kids go feral... It's great!

Yesterday, I managed to drag myself, Seldom Seen Kid and Littlest away from the TV/iPad/Xbox/PC and out into the sunshine.

I found these leopard print creepers in a charity shop, and though they aren't my usual style of footwear, I couldn't resist - and they are very comfortable on my developing bunion.

It's all about the glamour.

It was one of those bright, sunny but chilly days, with signs of Spring, blue skies, and gambolling lambs kids.

Littlest fell over and grazed her cheek, hence the red patch on her face. Her condition  means her skin is fragile and tears easily, she is forever in First Aid at school and I have become adept at bandaging and dressings (she can't have anything adhesive as it rips her skin, so no plasters.) 

 

That girl is high maintenance...

The building the kids are running around in front of is an old Victorian school situated at the end of our road, now converted into a  mosque.

The seating area, grass bank, and woodland garden have all been developed and maintained by a local development organisation.

Black dress and long sleeved top - retail, ancient

1960s scarf - jumble sale

Leggings and 1960s vinyl bag - Ebay

Shoes, sunglasses and bangles - charity shopped

We were on a mission to the Post Office, a charity shop, a cafe, and the camera shop, to see if they could advise me about my badly-behaving camera.

Imagine my a) delight and b) chagrin to be told I had the wrong batteries in it...

They weren't powerful enough, apparently.

I thought all AA batteries were the same. I am an idiot, clearly.

The nice man was good enough to sell me some decent batteries and not laugh out loud at me, and to wait until I left the shop before he rolled his eyes.

 

 

 

And after that - new tripod, super-duper batteries and all - I managed to take today's photos with the camera on the wrong setting so they are all scuzzy and grainy, like old Polaroid shots.

 

 

 

I rather like it, I'm in soft focus.

 

And look, someone appears to have inflated my tits with a bicycle pump while I wasn't looking.

 

Nice knockers!

(Thanks to Clare for the reminder of that sadly underused word.)

1960s Debroyal maxi skirt - The Queen's Drawers, vintage fair

T-shirt - retail, at least 13 years old

Cardigan, shoes, tights and bangles - charity shop

Sassy Vamp headdress - gift from the acrobatic Desiree

I have been slightly less lazy today, and spent hours going though the kids' clothes, making piles to pass on/donate to our jumble sale/make into dusters because they are trashed.

I have tidied toys and books, moved furniture, rationalised cuddlies, and chucked out a load of broken old crap.

 

With several breaks, of course.

For lunch, lots of cups of tea, photos, chatting to the kids, fussing the cats, singing along loudly to the radio, etc.

 

Doesn't everyone wear a headdress to do domestic chores?

They should.

Brooch - gift from Super Freak Sarah

Short blue necklace - charity shopped

Longer blue beads - my mum's (I think I pinched them, had them for years) 

 

 

I suppose I'll have to put the camera on the proper setting for my next set of pics, but for today, I'm enjoying the fuzzy benefits of soft focus.

How are you doing this week?

Sharp, focused and definite? 

Or dreamy, floaty and a bit aimless?

xxxxx