Dirty Weekends

Its been a really good weekend. We have been working up our unit and getting mucky as usual, but we managed to get a lot done so are very pleased.
I started to unpack some of his pottery things he's collected over the years, things that my house simply outgrew, as there was so much of it: and they say women are the hoarders..OMG I haven't opened half the boxes yet, theres no end to his tallents.

I have been working on several things this weekend, that need some TLC and got a few finished. I think the old mirror looks lovely enough to grace any dressing table now. It looked so rough when we first got it but the charm was there. My fella does the old tools of course, as he is one... so was his father..lol Get him on the wine and talk about vintage tools and these two are in their elements.

 

He brought me an old leather sewing machine a few weeks back. It was rusty, filthy and needed quite a bit of work, but its now back to best, and working brilliantly. I fell in love with it, as it has so much charm. I plan on training how to use this beauty properly as I think I can do something good with this, that works with what we do. i.e.: Carpenters chisel wraps and mending old Drs bags etc.

The unit is workable now, we have divided it into 2 areas: The mucky area where everything gets cleaned and polished and my area, where they move through to once the base work has been done.

Here is my fella hard at it yesterday working on a Ships lantern:

Our eldest spends his weekends helping his dad now too and is gaining skills as he does.

My next project are these 2 items:

They look like crap at the moment, but the chair will be mine as soon as its done. I have an old oak writing desk at home and this chair matches it lovely.. I bought it with some Xmas money my gran gave me as I could see its potential even through the cobwebs :)
Just having to wait on the stables for a few days, as my friends are collecting all the horse hair up there for me, to make a new seat pad for it!

 

Today my fella is back on his laptop as he has a big job starting tomorrow.. So im spending the day preparing my garden for this weeks downpour! I know everyone moans when it rains, but, the garden does need it.. and it takes me hours to water mine as I still haven't got an outside tap. So you wont find me moaning when it rains.

These 2 lamps came together from a boot sale and were in exactly the same condition. Look at the difference after we worked on the little one.

Mine and Ryan's need to do table!

 My restore project on the leather machine (before it gets sold) its a child's Victorian pram.

 Bloody man has a fascination for Torquay pottery.... so I'm gonna sell it all..

He must have every machine known to man in there. its a mans shed alright. The anvil came this week.

 Our drying corner, when its come out from the glupe.. I love cleaning it.

 Another project of mine to come, I have to bring these back to best along with the matching sofa!

Out with the Old - In with the New

Spring has arrived.. Changing of the seasons and everything else. So much is happening here.
I've been talking to my fella about a change in career for me, I want to make a change and do something different. You get to an age as a woman that you don't want to carry on the same as when you were younger, your tastes change and attitude and it looks like I've arrived at that place.
Im sick of clothes and want to do something different now, using different skills and adding to the ones I have already He's agreed whole heartedly, so we are doing something together that's a bit different, I've also been offered 2 jobs running companies for 2 of his past customers,that I can run from here easily, will allow me enough time to still run this place as mum and still run my project with Steve. Im nervous and excited all at the same time. Will fill you in once we are up and running... You will like this one!
My fella meanwhile is going from strength to strength, today he's spending half the day managing a big site in Essex then he's off to Manchester, I put my machines up for sale yesterday and within 60 mins had sold the 4.. Poor bugger has to deliver them for the chap though but I actually made a good profit on them as well as had use of them for years.. Its enough to help along our new business so he doesn't mind a small detour (huge one more like)
He was headhunted by a good firm a couple of months ago and is now running a Norfolk branch here for them, its a lot of thinking and organising, but he's in his element and it shows. His new van comes next week also, so I get to keep the car for a change, Im really pleased he's done so well, I knew he would..
We have a new unit tucked away where we will go to work on the new business and have been getting it ready to use over the last 2 months (I've been painting and he's been making) I have been thinking about changing my work for a long while now, some will say im mad as its doing so well, but I want something different to get my teeth into, a new journey and I don't believe you can sell clothes to people in the same way as you can when you are younger, unless the clothes are older styles, and I've always been a jeans girl at heart. It just doesn't excite me anymore, I want something I can do as a hobby for the next 20 years but have fun while I do it, so im going to follow my heart.
 I've had years of people copying me and mimicking any new ideas I had and this change means that I will get to spend more quality time with my fella as we both love this and do it as a hobby now, I wont be reliant on earning money as I'll earn enough on the Monday-Friday ones to add to the house pot, but it means weekends away and plenty of walking with my fella and that's what matters most now. I asked my kids what they thought I was good at: the answers came back from cooking, sewing, gardening and creating, but they all said I was good at making something old look amazing, im the first to admit I love charity shops and car boots and this means I also get to up-cycle things and give them a new lease of life.. Perhaps to last another 100 years. There is so much waste in the world, im hoping I can help a little in my own way and have fun at the same time...

Im going to sell everything off in my shops and see where this leads. If it takes off and I do these other jobs well, I will make a complete change and close them all down. My kids all have their own paths to follow and my daughter doesn't like clothes and I don't want to end up like a woman I once knew who we called racing blonde, she would sell young peoples clothes and model them herself even though she was in her fifties.. She was the brunt of so many cruel people but I blame the husband (he was the photographer) for not telling her she was too old to model anymore.. That man was never honest with his wife! and cruel with it.. Our tastes change and so do mannerisms and no one wants to be looked on as mutton dressed as lamb anymore.

Meanwhile, as I think about the kids.. They are currently doing GCSEs  and are studying (yes properly up the table and all) they are all so different in their ways. My daughter and I have grown so close walking our blind dog, we now get time alone that we use to learn about each other, she has grown up so much and really is a lovely young lady, she told me she was struggling with Ryan's girlfriend using all my stuff (my make up, shower stuff, perfumes clothes etc) as she finds this rude! and to be fair sometimes I do get pissed off when I go to pluck my eyebrows and my make up bags disappeared but I don't let it get to me. She only acts how she has been brought up to behave so its simply lack of parenting skills there, im sure we can help her adapt to understand things better as time goes by and now at least Lauren understands that decisions we make as parents do affect our children most, as some kids simply are left not knowing how to behave through no fault of their own..

Lauren wont ask for anything, she wont take any clothes from stock if I ask her what she needs as she thinks this is bad as its a company and not free stuff, so she earns jeans etc for doing chores for me, she's grown up into a little me, she's a jeans girl to the heart and it will suit her in her life's journey of working with animals. Its the sort of job where you get your hands dirty and she doesn't mind in the slightest. She's so much like me that way.. Im always happy with im up to my neck in muck or paint.
Callum was interested in renewable engineering, and has now been accepted into a brilliant college, hes the thinker and puzzle maker in the family and is so much like my real dad its scary. He will always look at what needs doing and find the best solution to get it done. Except empting the bins every morning, he will always go for the recycle bin first and quickly, so Brandon gets the messy household one for not doing it as soon as I asked!

Brandon has learning disabilities and suffers from dyspraxia and  is also dyslexic so hes not as bright with literature etc, but where he blossoms is with art, music and computers so is now hoping to attend college to study animation, his interview is next week. He has already been accepted into college for graphics but he knows what he wants to do and is working his arse off to get into the market he wants to do.. I think he will do it, hes the worker in the family and no one tries harder.

Ryan meanwhile is a year away from being a fully qualified electrician and had his first driving lesson last night with mum hanging out of the window smiling away.. Poor lad!
He's installing his first ground source heat pump next weekend with one of Steve's partners (another business he's built up running in the pipeline) and is now going to work weekends so he can get his lessons done and buy himself a little car.
Im gonna need a list soon to keep up with everything that's happening here. But im strangely very happy with my life at the moment...

JENNIFER PAIGE "CRUSH" original version (Official Video) HQ

Changing Seasons

Is it March already? Where has the time gone... I have got life coming back into the garden at last..

Things at the madhouse are still as mad as ever, but I wouldn't have it any other way.
I lost one of my dogs 3 weeks ago, which was heart-breaking. He wasn't the ill one who has diabetes but the one who's always happy Dexter. He had a tumour on his pancreas and over the course of the week became very ill. My fella and me took him to the vets but within hours of the tests starting they told us just how ill he really was. He wouldn't recover from the tumour so the vet asked us to put him to sleep. My fella couldn't do it, so I went in and stayed with him, he's been with me for 10 years so saying goodbye was painful. His sister (my other dog) pined at nights but is adjusting to life on her own now. She's a complete pain in the backside with food so I have to cook her food everyday.. no dogfood for my little diva, fish, chicken and steak mince if you please...lol The vet thinks its amusing as they couldn't get her to eat normally either and as she has to eat before I inject her, so she knows if she doesn't eat it, muggings here will just cook her something else! But she's still with us, so I must be doing something right. I cannot even explain the feeling I have when I take my blind dog out for walks, people look at me like im mad but she knows where she is alright and enjoys it just as much! I literally have to steer for her, but she's very happy and still manages to run like hell round the woods... I've learnt not to get into a deep conversation with my daughter when we walk her together though, Frankie walked into 3 trees last night as Lauren was too busy looking at the birds! That dog must have a tough head or one hell of a headache today...

I've now adopted another young lady here Samantha! One of the triplets Brandon has met a girl at college, who is beautiful.. I couldn't stop staring at her the first time he brought her round for tea, she's very intelligent and has been brought up with all the manners and values a young lady should have, she's also nearly as tall as him which of course means, she's also taller than me! she's now a regular for meals 3 nights a week on top of Ryan's girlfriend Kaytee.. The house is growing fast!

This week has brought us quite a few sleepless nights, we made the mistake of buying a full memory foam mattress a month ago which my fella hates! he cant lie on his side without falling out of bed, (which I found highly amusing) and we have both suffered from backache, so yesterday we had to go out and get a a new one.. I must say a good nights sleep was had by all... I was getting used to  waking up and needing at least 10 mins to stand up straight. Im glad we changed it now as I feel like I've actually been to sleep today :)
So many things are happening here at the moment, we don't know if we are coming, going or just been.... but we are going with the flow and seeing what happens next. One things for sure, its never boring! And I do greatly appreciate my fella when he cooks on Saturdays, as this place seems to have doubled its occupancy now! Its apparently the 'Inn Place' to be and the foods great! (just ask the dog!)