I'm Distressed ....

No, don't panic, I'm not really distressed! It's just that I went on a one day workshop with daughter number two last Saturday, where we were taught how to distress furniture! Shabby Chic it's called, and I just love the effect.

I'm sure some of my American bloggy friends will be excellent at this, because they certainly seem to be into crafts in some form or another in quite a big way!  However, my daughter and I were complete novices.

We could only take a small item of furniture each, as anything bigger wouldn't have fitted into the car.  I found this old stool in the garage - very dark wood and absolutely splattered with paint marks.  Just the job I thought.  Unfortunately, I cannot let you see a 'before' photo, because my camera started to play up, and I ended up taking the other photos with the camera on my phone.

This is the stool after being well rubbed down and the first coat of paint applied

My daughter and I both really enjoyed the day, and I can imagine that this 'distressing' lark could become quite addictive.  I am now looking at all the pieces of furniture that we have in the house, to see where I can start!  I did take along a lovely Duck Egg Blue paint, but, apparently, it was the wrong sort. DOH! I shall certainly be looking to use some lovely pastel colours in the future.

This photo is after it had been given a couple of coats of top coat, then distressed, and then waxed to give it a nice sheen.  I must say that I was very pleased with my first attempt!

All I can say is that hubby had better not stand still too long, otherwise I shall be distressing him!

My facebook followers will know that a couple of weeks ago, our local Friends' Group of Children's Hospice South West (there are six of us in the group) held another fund-raising evening. This timed in the local Church.  It was an evening of song, and everyone had donated their services  for nothing. As  we didn't have to pay for the Church, it meant that every single penny went direct to the Hospice.  We were thrilled to raise £665 on the night, and then we were given a further donation of £50, and the Church gave us half of the monies raised during their Flower Festival, which was taking place at the same time.  This amounted to £300, so imagine how thrilled we were that the total came to just over £1,000.  

Children's Hospice South West Web Site.

As I type this, unbelievably, September is coming to an end, and it will soon be time for my holiday in Gran Canaria with my lovely granddaughter, Eleanor.

Oh, we have a new kid on the block - fishducky.  I remember how everyone made me very welcome when I first joined bloggyland almost two years ago now, and I would recommend that you go and pay fishducky a visit - just click on her name and (hopefully!) it will take you right to her blog.  Although her blog is quite new, she has been commenting on blogs for some time, and I was always taken with her very funny comments on Carol's blog (facing50withhumour).  So!, if you want a smile, pop on over there.

I know that I am now making this post a little longer than usual (and I do usually try to keep them fairly short) but I just wanted to say a huge "thank you" to all of you that come over to leave comments for me, especially the ones that comment on every single post - and you know who you are my friends!  Because of time, I don't now respond to individual comments as I always did at the beginning, but I just wanted to let you know how much each and every comment is appreciated by me;

Take care everyone. I won't be posting my usual Sunday Snaps feature this weekend, but I will see you again on Monday.

Stop Press News from Sush....

Hi everyone. Sush has just put a status on Facebook as follows:-

"Bloggy friends.... Please put in a post that I have not ceased or abandoned blogging.  My trusted blogging companion of forever.... My MacBook has expired.  Will be replacing it in the near future, but for now my iPhone is not a method I can use for posts.  Even reading your posts is virtually impossible using this tool!"

I'm therefore passing the message on to all her bloggy friends, so you will know what is going on.

No need for any comments my friends.

Autumn Is Creeping In ....

Good morning, good afternoon, or good evening to you - depending on where in the world you are reading this!  It's funny to think that when I am setting off to bed, some of you are just about to have your evening meal, and some of you may be just waking up, and some of you may even be a day ahead! (Jo-Anne, I'm talking about you!!).

Autumn is gradually creeping in, and I for one won't really be sad to say  goodbye to the summer that never was! At least now, I don't have to hope for a lovely warm sunny day anymore, only to be greeted by, yes, you've guessed it, more rain!!

For the last few evenings, we have made up a log fire.  I love the smell, and it makes everything seem so warm and cosy.  We have so many trees in the garden that we are never going to run out of wood or logs.  Already the leaves are starting to fall from the trees a little.  Autumn really is a lovely season when all the leaves change colour and we are reminded of God's beautiful creation. 

Latest saying from Eli - "I do try to be good mummy, but my brain is telling me to be naughty."  I really thought that one was priceless! Almost as good as when Eleanor was 5 years old, and hubby picked her up from Nursery.  As they were walking to the car, she piped up and said "oh look Papa, that man over there has got old hair like you.!"

I urge anyone with young grandchildren (or even children, I guess) to write these little sayings down in a book, because they can easily be forgotten, and they really are so sweet.  

Don't forget that if you prefer to follow blogs on facebook, you will find me there. Just search for Southhamsdarling and it will take you to my page.   Press the 'like' button and my latest posts will always show up on your newsfeed.  Voila!

Keep safe until we meet up again.

x

Sunday Snaps!

Happy Sunday to all my little bloggy friends!

I am delighted to say that we are now getting the second flush of roses in the garden, which is bringing a welcome touch of colour.  I took a couple of photos earlier in the week to share with you.

I have been making fresh tomato sauce like nobody's business over the past couple of weeks, and have plenty in the freezer to have in the Autumn/Winter, but, as you can see, there are still plenty of tomatoes left, so I think I will be freezing a lot more before they come to an end!

I came across these photos the other day.  Gosh, look at my huge specs, but I hasten to add that they were very fashionable at the time!!  I think I would have been about 44 and hubby 47, which would make the girls 20 and 13.  How time flies!  

I went on holiday with the two girls once, to Crete (loved it!) and the local people just would not believe that they were both my daughters.  They kept saying that one was so fair, and the other so dark!!  But I assure you that they are both very much mine, and I love them dearly.

Here is a photo of the two sisters which was taken during that holiday in Crete.

I hope you all have a good week ahead.  See you again soon!

"Manners Maketh Man" ....

When I was growing up (and I suspect this was the case with many of you), good manners and respect were very much the order of the day.  Another phrase my mum used to use quite often was that "cleanliness was next to Godliness!"

I can still remember very clearly indeed, an incident which happened when I was fairly young - around six or seven I would guess.

I had a very favourite aunty (my dad's sister) who was called Aunty Gussie, which was short for Augusta.  My dad's mum was also called Augusta.  I should point out here that daughter number 1 has never really forgiven me for giving her Augusta as her second name.  For me, it was the obvious thing to do, because both my aunty and my nan had given me so much love and time whilst I was growing up, and they held a very special place in my heart, as I know that I did in theirs.

Anyway, I digress! As I have already mentioned, when I was around six or seven, Aunty Gussie had just returned from a holiday and came around to visit us.  I immediately asked her if she had brought me back a present! Well, as you can imagine, my poor, dear mum was absolutely mortified and I was told in no uncertain terms that I must never, ever ask people if they had anything for me.

Sometimes on Facebook (and I do love Facebook) and Twitter, or other social media sites, when I read what people have written, often about other people, I wonder about their good manners or, indeed, if they have any manners at all.

On a slightly different tack, Eli is now at school full time this week and he is really loviong it.  He doesn't seem tired at all when he gets home, which I thought would be the case.

Anyway, you can tell that he's now at school, because a couple of days ago, he said to his mummy that "he wasn't going to be her friend anymore!"  Now Eli had quite a close little friend at pre-school, called Riley.  Anyway, since he has started 'big' school, his best friend seems to be Samuel, who wasn't at his pre-school.  His mummy was pleased that he was starting to make new friends.  

Now I know that Eli is only 4 years and 2 months, but I was very proud of his mummy yesterday (daughter number 2).  She asked Eli whether he had played with Riley as well, whereupon he informed her that Riley wasn't his friend anymore, as he was now friends with Samuel.  This really upset my daughter, so she sat Eli down and tried to explain to him that it wasn't nice to exclude Riley, and how would he feel if Riley met a new friend and didn't want to play with him any more.  

I know it's what happens when they start school, and that little ones can often be cruel, but I personally thought that it was really good that my daughter was taking the time to explain that it wasn't nice to say that you weren't someone's friend, and to not let them play with you.  She said to explain to Samuel that Riley was his friend as well!

Like me, my daughters can't bear meanness and unkindness in people, and I know that Eli and Ruby will always be brought up to be kind, and to care about others, just as Eleanor, my eldest granddaughter, was brought up to do.

Thank you for reading my post today, and I send kindness and caring thoughts to you all!

(Images today courtesy of Pinterest)

Wordless Wednesday!

Good Looking Men From Another Era ....

Funny how things  come into your mind when you are just sitting relaxing.  For some reason, I began to think about Hollywood actors and how good looking they seemed to be when I was young.  They don't make them like this any more !

What do you think?

Burt Lancaster

Steve McQueen

Tyrone Power

Montgomery Clift

Paul Newman

Clark Gable

James Dean

Tony Curtis

Richard Burton

Stewart Granger

Robert Wagner

Marlon Brando

Brad Pitt eat your heart out!!

Sunday Snaps!

Hi everyone.  As you know, I had the pleasure of visiting Monet's Garden in Giverny whilst I was staying with the family in France, and I would like to share this wonderful garden with you here on my Sunday Snaps feature.  Enjoy!

This one is for Shady!!

As you can see, there was just a riot of colour everywhere, and, obviously, it is completely different as the seasons come and go.