Countdown Conundrum ..,

Ok, I am hoping that this prompts some great suggestions......

I must admit I continue to be impressed by the simplicity of this. We saw it in our local pub last Saturday night. It was framed above the till and we thought it was great. The letters make up a phrase but you have to guess what it could be and I will reveal it soon.  I painted it on a bathroom ceramic tile that I bought from a junkyard  6 months ago  and I just wrote the words on it in  non permanent pen. I am thinking that future BBQ's chez nous will be interesting as people try and guess the meaning.....

Answers on a postcard please.....

A uniformed society.....

The sun has got his hat on, hip, hip, hip hooray!

And along with soaring temperatures come soaring dress sales at work. The female of the species are out in abundance at present, searching out that perfect maxi dress for a cruise or a little cocktail dress for that summer wedding. It's a nice sight to see. Spirits are lifted and so are hemlines (not mine I hasten to add).

I have spent a fortune lately on uniform for work but then I just seem to love the product that is hitting down at the moment. But on the flip-side, there will be plenty of months where there is nothing that suits so the expenditure balances out thankfully.

The two dresses that follow are my current faves. They prompt lots of interest when worn and thankfully boost my sales a little. It really does make a difference when you wear the product, if I had the stock I could have sold the purple dress 50 times over. but it also helps that I love the uniform I have to wear.

It got me thinking about the concept of uniform and identity. When I spent my year in France teaching in a private school, all the kids there were hung up on designer clothes whereas in Blighty, our school children conform to a uniform for school. I used to love winding the kids up by saying that the headmaster is considering bringing in the UK system, they were horrified at the thought of wearing a uniform.

I have always loved wearing a uniform. It helps to define who you are and what you do.  And although these are not second hand or vintage, I do recycle a lot of my old uniform to the charity shops so they will be one day. It's the circle of life (well my life anyway).

This is the pink version but I also have the green. Of course. 

On a shoestring.....

Yesterday was a day of many emotions. We went to view a house in Wales (the houses over the bridge are so much cheaper than in Bristol where we currently live), and I have to say, I didn't have high hopes but by the end of the afternoon we had returned to the estate agents and put in an offer. We are now just playing the waiting game, no doubt to be followed by the negotiating game. It ticked all the boxes in terms of our necessity list and even the nice to have list. And the biggest draw? 5 bedrooms. A luxury that seemed the stuff of dreams until yesterday. So if everything goes to plan, I will finally get my dressing room and even an art room!

We don't know the area at all so we did a bit of research in the local town to see if that too ticked the boxes....

1. Is there an Indian restaurant within walking distance? Yes.
2. Nice local pub? Yes.
3. Open space/park for the dog? Yes.
4. Selection of charity shops? Yes.

It is of course important to thoroughly research these aspects so we went for a pub lunch and popped in to the charity shops while waiting for estate agents to do their thing. And what did I find? Shoes......

I managed to obtain these two pairs for £10. The red leather ones are lovely comfy shoes from Clarks and the satin, emerald green shoes are from my own beloved Wallis. Quite old too if the label is anything to go by. So a very successful trip all in all, and if we are lucky enough to get the house, all my shoes will live happily ever after in their very own boudoir. 

Surely two new pairs is a good sign. After all two magpies are lucky! 

What a year....

Exactly a year ago today, I was possibly having my first dance as a married woman at our wedding reception. I say dance....more like a drinken jig, not really worthy of Gary Barlow's lyrics. It was a truly wonderful day and the sun even came out.

Today I have been spoilt with two bouquets of beautiful flowers and a gorgeous new notebook. I certainly lucked out for this one. Paper is the traditional gift for your first anniversary and I am definitely a stationery fiend.

And as luck would have it, I happened to buy an enormous vase this week in Clic Sargent, a charity shop in Downend. It was £2.25 and still had the John Lewis handmade sticker on, so it was obviously brand new. What a find!

I wanted to take the opportunity to post a few of my favourite wedding photos from our perfect day. My dress was not second hand or vintage I am ashamed to say but I just knew it was the one when I saw it. It is now living in the kids bedroom, in perfect hibernation. I was tempted to try it on again but I know it won't fit now.....one day maybe. It is so beautiful and worth every penny.

Hallmark Eat Your Heart Out....

I forgot to post about a selection of greeting cards that I also bought on my trip to Downend last week. I am a big card sender...I think that everyone likes to get things in the post, especially me, so I try and send out little messages when I can.  I think that email is killing the art of letter and card writing so it's important to keep the culture alive! That said, I do not like being ripped off for a card at £3 a go. 

So when I saw a box on the charity shop counter filled with 20p cards, I grabbed a stash. I store all my cards and correspondence in is gorgeous little Samsonite writing case that I found in TK Maxx a few years ago. For those that love stationery....it's a beauty, and boy do I love stationery.  A trolly dash around a stationers or art shop would be as exciting for me, as one around Kurt Geiger. It also comes with a little key to lock the case...great for curious husbands! 

Une petite fleure en bleue...

I am definitely turning into my Nan.

Writing shopping lists on the back of old envelopes, enjoying the occasional tipple at lunch and wearing big style costume brooches. She had such a lovely selection and would never go out without some piece of bling adorning her coat or jacket collar.

My gorgeous and probably favourite brooch is currently AWOL somewhere in the house...I hate mis-placing things  at home. It just fuels Johns argument that I have too much crap (a somewhat whimsical attitude if you ask me, all my "crap" defines who I am). 

This brooch sang out to me in the  St Peters Hospice shop in Downend. Still in the box and originally from a lovely shop called Past Times that is sadly, now, a thing of the past itself. 

So, Nan, what do you think? I know you are looking down on me, gin and tonic in hand (and yes, I have washed behind my ears and my hair is nice and tidy!).

Mighty Mantelpiece...

Bonsoir tout le monde....

Where to start?.......another busy week in the Merchant-Locke homestead. I need to start campaigning for a 48hr day as I simply cannot get everything done on my lists (I use the plural as I am usually working from 2 or 3 at a time). There is always so much I want to acomplish but I shamefully never seem to. Hours merge into days, day to weeks and so on. I keep telling myself that I am a bad friend as I do not spend enough time just chewing the fat with my nearest and dearest. Then there is my poor mum who is lucky if she gets an audience once a month of late. When I was young, I remember excessive usage of the words "I'm bored" and now I cringe at the thought. My brain doesn't get time to consider the word. I'm bored has morphed into "I'm on project overload". 

Never mind, I suppose it keeps me out of mischief.

This week, the Internet became un petit source of inspiration as I came upon a lovely picture of  coloured glassware organised on a mantelpiece. I stupidly didn't save it and cannot find it since but the image was firmly rooted in my brain and I set out on a quest to recreate it myself. 

So armed with my trusty debit card, I set of to the charity shops in Downend in search of bargain glass pieces. I adore coloured glass in all shapes and sizes and luckily charity shops seem to stock them in abundance. I picked out about 9 pieces for my summer mantelpiece and added them to a couple of pieces that we had at home. The plan is to arrange them in colour order BUT I still need to find an orange and a purple piece ideally. Prices ranged from 75p to £3 and I am so pleased with them, some truly lovely little pieces. 

The picture below gives an idea of the sort of thing I want to achieve. A spectrum of colour from left to right in an array of shapes and sizes. The dog however has already brushed past one and put a chip in it....good job I think imperfections just increase the attractiveness.

Never live with a wolf.

Picture courtesy of Google.