Tuesday 29 December 2015

November Book Review



To the student nurses at The Nightingale hospital, the ward sisters are heartless and frightening, with impossibly high standards. But the sisters have troubles of their own... 
Violet
The new night sister is not all that she seems. Who is she and what dark secret is she hiding? As the mystery deepens, Sister Wren is determined to find out the truth. 
Dora
The student nurse is struggling with her own secret, and with her heartbreak over Nick, the man who got away. A new arrival on the ward brings the chance to put a smile back on her face. But can she really get over Nick so easily?
Millie
Dora’s fellow student is also torn between the two men in her life. But then an unexpected friendship with an elderly patient makes her question where her heart – and her future – really lies.
As the nation mourns the death of King George V, it seems as if nothing is ever going to be the same again, especially for the women at the Nightingale.


I finally finished a book!!!
Yippee!!!!

I read the first in this series last year & really enjoyed it. I was so happy when someone donated this one plus the following 4 books to my shop!
Yet another easy read but I really warmed to the characters & couldn't wait to find out what had happened to them since the last book.
If you're looking for a light, easy read set in the 1930's then I would throughly recommend this series.
9/10



Thursday 24 December 2015

Merry Christmas!!!


This is me right now....... looking forward to 4 days off!

Hope you all have a smashing time...... eat, drink & be merry!



Thursday 17 December 2015

November 2015


November came & went in a blur....... time with my cats, my one & only vintage fair of the year, lots of knitting & starting to feel festive.




Saturday 14 November 2015

Crikey!



I can't believe it's that time of year again....... I will be there selling my makes.
Come & say hello!




Wednesday 11 November 2015

Friday 6 November 2015

October 2015


October passed in a blur & looking back over the month I realised I hadn't done anything!!!

Due to holidays at work I had to work 3 weekends in a row but I did enjoy a morning at the boot sale with my parents, finding my lovely cat planter, a new cardigan, cocktails with friends, spending time with my children, knitting, knitting & more knitting!!!

I didn't even do anything for Halloween this year, any ideas on how to slow down time??




Tuesday 3 November 2015

September 2015


September came & went...... and so did October!!!

It was a beautiful sunny month. 
I enjoyed a week off, new birthday shoes, spending time with my children, celebrating 7 years in blogland, knitting for Crikey in November, a night out with the girls seeing Rocky Horror Live & walking 5k for the RSPCA Big Walkies.
I didn't enjoy having a chest infection for over a week!!





Sunday 4 October 2015

August & September Book Review

No books finished in September! I must find my reading mojo again.

I did manage to finish one in August


Three sisters are growing up in 1920s Bermondsey - the larder of London - with its bustling docks, its spice mill, tannery and factories. 
Southwells jam factory is where many of the girls work. And Milly Colman knows she's lucky. At Southwells she can have a laugh with her mates. She's quick and strong and never misses a day's work. She needs to be. Because at homes things are very different. 
The Colman household is ruled by the tyrannical rages of the old man - her father. Often Milly feels she is the only thing protecting her mother and younger sisters from his murderous violence. At least autumn hop-picking in Kent gives all the Colman women a heavenly respite. 
But it is here, on one golden September night, that Milly makes the mistake of her life and finds her courage and strength tested as never before.

This was recommend to me from Amazon & at only 59p on Kindle I couldn't say no.
It was a bit of a slow burner & took a while for me to get it to it. However once it got going I was hooked.
I really enjoyed it, well worth 59p!
9/10



Monday 21 September 2015

Anniversary


Today I celebrate 7 years of blogging!

So I don't seem to be about much these days but I'm not willing to give it up just yet.



Saturday 5 September 2015

August 2015


Another August has come & gone!

It seemed to past in a blur & I didn't do very much!

At the start of the month I went to Lupton 1940's event with my brother & his family. This was the 3rd year we attended & rather then getting bigger it seems to have shrunk! Not much happening unless you like US army vehicles.
Cracking on with my Christmas cardigan & taking photo's of my fair isle berets for the internet.
Spending time with the children, dressing Bobby up!, attending a rally for Jeremy Corbyn & celebrating my birthday at the end of the month.

OH moved back in the middle of the month as his money ran out, I've had a year of being alone but over the last few months he's been spending more time here. I'm pleased but just waiting for the next time!

After a rubbish week off from work in July I was really looking forward to my break at the end of the month....... but stupid me lifted a very heavy 1940's sewing machine in a wooden cabinet on my last day of work so I've spent the last week at home in pain. Not a happy girl!

Hey ho my next week off is the beginning of December so lets hope that's better!





Sunday 16 August 2015

July's Book Review


This is what my house is starting to look like!

But guess how many books I read in July?

ZERO!! 

I've been a bad girl :-( 



Friday 14 August 2015

July 2015



I've been away too long! 

July seemed to pass in a blur...... remembering the Somme, the wedding of my nephew, a week off from work,  knitting cats, starting my Christmas cardigan, spending lots of time at home alone, finishing my temporary job as a fundraiser, having one last chance to see the rescue cats & the big blue moon!!!

August feels like a fresh new start...... I'm back in my shop full time & feeling much happier, funny how my eczema has nearly cleared up! OH has moved back, we'll wait & see how long that last!

I hope August slows down a bit!







Sunday 12 July 2015

June Book Review


I did very well in June, my first book is actually 3 books in one!!


An omnibus edition of Judith Kerr’s internationally acclaimed trilogy, When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit, The Other Way Round and A Small Person Far Away, we see the world through Anna’s eyes as she grows up – from her much loved family to Hitler’s holocaust.
Anna was a German child when she had to flee from the Nazis before the War. By the time the bombs began to fall she was a stateless adolescent in London, and after it was all over she became a happily married Englishwoman who thought she had put the past behind her.
This omnibus edition of the three volumes of Judith Kerr’s Hitler trilogy, tells her story beginning with the rise of Hitler in 1933 through to her return to Berlin years after the war.

I found the first 2 parts gripping & couldn't put them down. Such a brave family packing up their lives to move away from the horror that was going to happen to Jews in Germany. I really warmed to Anna & wondered what it would be like at that age to be moved around to different countries when you couldn't speak the language. At that age you don't understand the reasons why & no wonder she felt she had no home.
However the 3rd part was harder going, it follows Anna as an adult after the war & focuses on her mother. I must confess I didn't like her mum...... I can't put my finger on why but I felt she was a selfish, self centred person who didn't think about the impact of her actions on her children. Maybe I was missing something!
I thought this was a great book & would recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading books about the holocaust.
9/10



Touching true stories from the heyday of the Butlin’s holiday camps.
‘When I got to the camp I felt as if I’d suddenly walked into Utopia – it was so colourful, so warm, so friendly. There were lights across the roads, there were banners fluttering in the breeze… There seemed to be laughter coming from every building.’
With grey post-WWII skies hanging low over Britain, factories lining the streets and smoke stacks dotting the horizon, there was one way that ordinary families could escape: the ever-cheerful holiday camps of Butlin’s.
When Billy Butlin founded his holiday camps in 1936, they were bastions of community spirit and havens of luxury. Here, for one week, wives and mothers were freed from the toil and drudgery of housework, children ran free through the grounds, fathers and husbands hung up their work clothes. Ever-helpful redcoats were on hand all hours of the day, dinner halls ready with plentiful food for old and young alike, bars stocked to quench any level of thirst, ballrooms waiting to be flooded with shiny shoes, rustling dresses and peals of laughter. And, as the sun went down on another exhausting, happy day, a chorus line was ready to sing holidaymakers back to their beds.
Rich in period detail and highly evocative, Wish You Were Here! tells the story of seven women who worked as redcoats in Butlin’s Golden Age. It’s all here: Knobbly Knees and Glamourous Grannies, the laughter and tears, hardships and heartbreaks, loves and losses of their lives in and out of the holiday camps, and above all the lifelong friendships they formed with each other and those who also worked or holidayed there.
Funny, moving and heartwarming, these are the timeless tales of a community spirit that burned brightly in a much-loved British institution.

I brought this book on Kindle for a bargain price of 99p, I love social history books & I found the cover helped!
Wouldn't we all love a Butlin's holiday in the 1950's??
It didn't disappoint! I read this within a few days & love it!
It's based around peoples memories of working in Butlin's between the 50's to the 80's. 
There are some very amusing stories plus some sad heartbreaking stories towards the end of their lives. It's lovely to hear there's a reunion group that still meet every year.
If Butlin's would like to run traditional holiday's again then count me in!!
10/10


Tuesday 7 July 2015

June 2015


Half way through 2015!

June was a very busy month for me..... 1st June saw the start of the national RSPCA week which as part of my new role I had to help organise a collection day at Tesco's & a coffee morning in Exeter High Street. Celebrating OH's birthday with a yummy cake & lots of shots! 
Finishing my Landgirl jumper, remembering Zoe, cracking on with my hexagon blanket, spending time with my children, treating myself to some great badges from The Scout Project, a day out to Bristol for the Dig for Victory show.
Then I finished the month off with the Shelter Day which you already know about.

Phew..... I hope July will be a bit slower!



Wednesday 1 July 2015

Remembering the Somme....


They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.



Wednesday 17 June 2015

May Book Review


Only 1 book in May 


Struggling to make ends meet, Mary Anne Randall is offered no help by her drunk and abusive husband. A pawnbroking business run from the wash house at the back of her home is the only way she can hope to keep her three kids fed and clothed. 
But, as storm clouds gather over Europe, can Mary Anne break free from her loveless marriage for what might be a last chance at love...?

I wasn't aware this was the second book in the series when I started but I would say it wasn't necessary to read the first one. I enjoyed this book, I warmed to the characters straight away. I really felt for Mary Anne & wanted a better life for her. A lot of the books set in this era are a bit rose tinted which I don't think is strictly true, lots of women in this era had a very hard life & Mary Anne is just one of them. I look forward to reading the next book at some point in the future.
You can find it on Amazon here 
8/10



Friday 12 June 2015

May 2015


I can't believe May has come & gone.

I started the month getting ready for VE day by making Victory brooches & completing my special window display.
Attended my friends daughter's fundraising event, she swam a mile to raise money for Little Valley Animal Shelter.
Feeling gutted at the election results :-( 
Finding out I have to wear glasses for reading, spending time with my cats, feeling stressed out at work & finishing my land girl jumper (more about that in another post)

When I look back over the month it went by in a flash & I didn't seem to have time to do very much. I'm so focused on our Shelter day at the end of June I think I'm wishing the weeks away. I hope the year slows down after that!






Sunday 31 May 2015

Victory Jumper

Back in March I took the plunge & started making my very own Victory Jumper!

I've had this pattern for a long time but I'd never got around to making it.

After working out how to re size it rather a lot...... they were so small in the 40's or is it we're so big now!!!..... I was on a roll.


I really enjoyed the pattern & found it knitted up quickly. I decided to knit it in DK to help make it larger. The only problem I had was with the sleeves, after increasing I found it was longer then it needed to be. I wanted the sleeves to be shorter & it was a real disappointment when it was finished but I'm happy with it now.


Ta-da!!!


 I love it!!


I can't believe how often I've worn it & have been asked a few time where I brought it...... they couldn't believe I knitted it!

Here it is with my 1940's flower corsage I knitted



And with my victory brooch I made for VE day



I hadn't knitted myself anything to wear for nearly 20 years but I'm cracking on now. In the last year I've made myself a cardigan



a Christmas jumper


& I'm just finishing off my land girl jumper


100g Stylecraft special double knitting
Midnight 3 balls - Claret 2 balls - Cream 1 ball
Total price = £11.34
Hours = 51 


Sunday 17 May 2015

April's Book Review


June 2nd, 1953. The residents of Ruby Street in London's East End are celebrating the new Queen's coronation. It's a day of joy and laughter, a new beginning for a nation still in the grip of rationing, still suffering the aftermath of the Blitz. But for Rose Weaver, the day ends in tragedy when her husband Eddie is arrested on suspicion of theft. It's only the first of several shocks as Rose discovers some unpleasant facts about the man she married eight years before, the man she thought she knew so well. Struggling to provide for herself and her two daughters, Rose realises that she'll need the help of family, friends and the good neighbours of Ruby Street if she's to have any chance of pulling through. And when a handsome salesman knocks at her door, it's hard to resist temptation ..

Only 1 book again this month.
Moving away from WW2 I went for the 1950's instead! 
I did really enjoy this book even though it took a long time to read. Rose, the main character, is a great strong East End women just as you would expect for the time.
9/10

My eyes get so tired when I read & when I went for my eye test last week I found out why..... 
yep I have to wear glasses for reading!
I'm hoping I will find it easier to read now so fingers crossed I'll read more..... don't hold your breath! 


Hopefully they will arrive soon.




Friday 8 May 2015

Victory in Europe - 70 Years



Today we celebrate 70 years since the end of WW2

If you've been reading my blog for a while you'll know that if I could go back in time then it would be to this day


The joy is clear to see






On Monday I made a brooch


Today I proudly wore it with my Victory jumper



Although I should be happy & celebrating I feel sad today due to the election result.
I guess it's better to be passionate about something & lose then not care at all.

The funny thing is David getting back in won't effect me personally but it's the country I worry about...... what will happen to our NHS? More people visiting food banks?

I'm a hard working person so this should be my party but it's not!