I sat down one Saturday and spent the afternoon making a dent in my mend pile. It's a very satisfying use of time. 

My ancient jeans needed further mending. I showed Andy and he said 'soon you'll be mending the mends', too late, that's exactly what I'd just done! As long as they fit and I can keep patching, I'll keep mending. I had to explain to my youngest nephew that the jeans were older than him, that they were once dark blue, without holes. I guess when you grow out of everything in a matter of months the concept of having an item of clothing for several years must be hard to wrap your head around.

I had a cardigan that had been sitting to one side for months after a hole appeared in the front. Not knowing how to mend it properly I just made it up as I went, used pretty thread and stopped when it felt done.

I folded my khaki maxi dress and left it on the floor overnight as I wanted to stitch the straps into place and in that time Socks bought in a mouse that nibbled it, and had a little wee on it too, just to add insult to injury (the mouse was caught in a humane trap and set free far from the house). I'd only worn the dress twice and was adamant that the little rodent wouldn't spoil it. I stitched some circles in similar colour thread so the holes wouldn't expand. It doesn't look too bad, and it's on the back so I can't see it anyway.

My skinny jeans needed some reinforcement around one of the back pockets. This is the first mend for them - probably the first of many. With interfacing on the inside for strength I added some overlapping stitches in white thread. I'm rather pleased with the result. I'm wearing them today for the first time in months.

I ripped the sleeve on my heart print shirt by simply pushing up the sleeve. This has been mended once already on the upper arm but it's hardly noticeable.

I then discovered a small tear on a summer top that I stitched to stop it getting any worse. I used white thread to try and keep it inconspicuous. And, after a few years, I finally mended a hole that was caused by catching my top on a door handle. The thread colour was a really good match so it's hardly noticeable.

With every mend I feel pleased that it's an item saved from landfill. Even if I were to put it into cloth recycling I have little faith that it would actually end up being recycled. If I can mend it and wear it a little longer, then I will. 

I mended some rips on two pairs of Andy's jeans, and have five pairs still in need of repair!

When it comes to Andy's old work clothes - they all eventually end up threadbare, ripped beyond repair, and stained - I tend to pop them on the bonfire. After reading some stats on how little of our clothing is actually recycled I felt that burning them was a way I would know they wouldn't end up in landfill.

Anything of good quality will always go to a charity shop, or is listed on ebay, but Andy's old work clothes are good for nothing, and if I can't be certain that they can or will be recycled, on the bonfire they go. I often wonder if this is the right approach, but it feels like the lesser of two evils.

I still have a pile of mending to do, I've resigned myself to the fact that I'll never get to the bottom of it, but as long as I can do a little mend here and there, I'm happy.

This year I'm making my resolutions at the start of each month, but March didn't quite go to plan. Coronavirus put a bloody great - if absolutely necessary - spanner in the works.

Here's what happened

1. Get my green skirt zip professionally mended
I'd found a place to take it but hadn't managed to do so before social distancing kicked in, and now, lockdown.

2. Get out
I'd been hibernating over winter, and wanted to get out and about a little more (Ha! if only I'd known). My plan was to visit the Ed Sheeran Exhibition at Christchurch Mansion, and the new (and only) independent bookshop that'd just opened up in the town centre. The Ed exhibition was closed due to coronavirus long before it was mandatory, but I did get to visit the bookshop.



It isn't huge but it's lovely. It has bowls of sweets, plants, and a wonderful selection of books. I might have fallen in love with the Macmillan Collectors Library, and made the first of what I'm sure will be many purchases. The bookshop has since closed it's doors for a while, just three weeks after opening.



I can still get outside into my garden of course. My greenhouse is very welcoming at the moment, it provides shelter from the chilly wind, and allows me to enjoy the warmth of the sun. It's not the same as getting out to do things and see people but it'll be the thing that keeps me sane over the coming weeks.

3. Get listing
On the first Saturday of the month I listed a number of items on ebay, most of which sold. I'd planned to list several things every Saturday morning throughout the month, but decided not to after the first week. I cancelled the listings of the things that had relisted automatically so that I didn't have to go to the Post Office again, keeping my public appearances to a minimum.

It's hard to believe that only a few weeks ago life still looked so normal, and here we are on lockdown, I'm trying to keep things as normal as possible, taking note of all the things that haven't changed. The birds are still singing, the signs of spring are still emerging, life maybe a muddle but it carries on regardless.

I hope you're all well. What are you doing in the 'new normal'?
xx

This year I'm making my resolutions at the start of each month, hoping that this will refocus my attention and make the year a productive one.

1. Get my green skirt zip professionally mended
I tried to replace the zip on my favourite skirt but made a really bad job of it. I haven't worn it for months but I want it fixed and ready for Spring.

2. Get out
I've been hibernating, it's time to get out and about a little more. At the very least I want to have visited the Ed Sheeran Exhibition at Christchurch Mansion, and the new (and only) independent bookshop that's just opened up in the town centre.

3. Get listing
With an ever growing pile of items I want to sell on ebay, I need to put aside some time to get everything listed. It's part of my plan to make 2020 a year of decluttering.


Here's how I got on in February

1. Make a start on my office blind
This is underway. The problem I had was the sun coming in through my office window and blinding me, but, being an awkward sort of person, I didn't want to put up blinds and sit in the dark. I have voile curtains that keep out the sun about as much as a fine mist would, so I needed an alternative.

After some pondering I came up with a solution.

Step 1. Buy a spring loaded shower rail (easy to install without the need to drill holes) to go inside the window recess.

Step 2. Temporarily hang a large scarf over the rail to create a panel that I can slide across as the sun moves round over the course of the day.

Step 3. Create a handmade panel, using either patchwork, lace, felt, possibly some simple embroidery, or a mixture of some or all of them.



Until I decide on how I want to construct the panel Step 3 will remain on the to-do list. As it stands the problem is solved, the solution just needs to move from temporary, to finished. For now I'm just happy that I can sit at my desk and work without being blinded by the sun.

2. Bathroom improvements
I had only three tasks on the list. Install a towel ring, replace the shower head bracket, and reseal the bath. I spent a cold a blustery weekend getting these things ticked off the list.

3. Plan eco friendly crackers
I have a collection of items to use as fillers (kept from crackers of days gone by, all collected during my decluttering in January), along with the snaps, the hats, and the jokes (all recyclable), so now I need the cracker part. I've found some on Amazon - don't judge me, I haven't found any elsewhere - that are plain white recyclable card that I can decorate according to the season or occasion.

You know it's been a while since you last posted when someone takes the time to comment and ask if you're OK because you've been quiet on the blogging front (thank you Kezzie, you're very kind to ask).

Grab yourself a cuppa, this is going to be a long one.

February was a busy month, there's a lot going on, all of which takes up head space and energy. I miss the blogging world when I'm away but it's the thing that sometimes has to be put on the back burner when real life becomes all consuming. Life seems to have returned to a more normal level of activity, and I'm very grateful for that. They say 'things come in threes', and if there had been just three things to deal with I probably wouldn't have disappeared for a month. The saying should be changed to 'things come in multiples of three', as that would be more accurate.

I had wondered at the beginning of the year if I would continue with my Weekend posts, and wondered if I would post my Photo An Hour photos here as well as on Instagram, and life seems to have made that decision for me. But there are things that I'd like to document because whilst things have been hectic and trying at times, they've also been rather lovely.

The first week of the month I was busy making items for a Valentine's Cake and Craft sale. My Mum, a friend, and I hold these sales three or four times a year at our local hospital. It's the first time we've done a Valentine's theme and we didn't leave ourselves nearly enough time to make everything we wanted to. When we planned it we thought 11 weeks would be plenty of time to prepare, but we (stupidly) didn't factor in Christmas and all the time that would take up, and then we took a while to get going once the new year arrived. The date got close very quickly and we were left in a mild state of panic.

So, for a week, when I wasn't working, I was knitting, or making pom poms. This, of course, coincided with work picking up a little after the Christmas lull, and for a while I didn't know if I was coming or going. The sale went well though, we raised £500, which surprised and delighted us as it didn't seem as busy as usual.

I allowed myself a little 'playtime' one day as I'd promised myself that I would see the Kiss & Tell exhibition at Christchurch Mansion. I had an appointment in town and took the opportunity to go and see it. The star of the show is Rodin's The Kiss. When I arrived there was a gaggle of small children on a school trip with all the noise that that entails, but it wasn't long before they left and I was alone and free to enjoy the sculpture. It's bigger than I thought and beautiful. I really wanted to lean over and touch it but I resisted. I wonder if it was because I wasn't allowed to touch it that made me want to?


For Photo An Hour, on February 16th, I only managed to post four photos on Instagram but I had a lovely day. I went to see Calendar Girls at The Theatre Royal with Andy's Mum, aunts and cousins. The play was fantastic, definitely worth going to see if you get the chance. We met beforehand with plenty of time for lunch and a look around the Norfolk Makers Festival. I now have a hankering to try whittling, and making a mandala, and have a funny story to tell about seeing a policeman, naked, holding his truncheon (not a euphemism). (It's fine, he was knitted and in a stop motion animation).

Then it was half term week which meant Andy's sister was home with her family. I like to spend as much time with them as I can when they're home as we don't get the opportunity to visit them very often, at the same time work shifted up a gear meaning my week was hectic.

My niece asked if she could come for a sleepover. She's six and it was her first solo sleepover, she'd only been on one before and that was at Granny's house with her older brother. She was very excited but also a little apprehensive so I wanted to make sure she had a lovely time. I have a small floral two-man tent that I put up in the bedroom and made cosy with pillows and blankets, framing the door with fairy lights and adding a little lightbox that said 'hello [name]'. I thought this might help her to feel safe in a strange environment.

She was very excited when she saw it and kept telling me she couldn't wait to go to bed. We played all sorts of games, had pizza for supper, and three bedtime stories. She did have a little bit of a wobble at bedtime but a FaceTime chat with Mummy made her feel better. The next day she woke up ridiculously early, but luckily Uncle Andrew was already up and willing to play until I got up at a more sociable time of 7am. Her stay also meant I had a legitimate reason to buy, and watch, Finding Dory on DVD. She needs to come again so that I can buy, and watch, Moana.

Later in the week I went on a night out with some friends I hadn't seen for ages. The last time I saw one of them was at my wedding reception! We went to a steakhouse, followed that with cocktails and then ended up in a club that we frequented a lot in our 20s. It's called something different now, and only takes up the ground floor of the building, instead of the three it used to inhabit. The DJ was playing some of the same tunes, and the place smelled exactly the same. And of course there was a drunk girl sitting on the floor in the ladies, just as there always was. She told me I was 'cool' which just goes to show how much she'd had to drink.

We ended the night in a bar, which was quieter and had somewhere we could sit down (showing our age here). I dropped into bed at 2.15am. The next day I felt fuzzy and not particularly inclined to do very much at all. But it was a really good night, and great to see everyone.

The following weekend, after another busy working week,  I decided that I would ignore my to-do list and do exactly as I pleased. I went to Bury St Edmunds, getting there early enough to have breakfast in a lovely little cafe called The Bay Tree, before going to see Museum of the Moon. 


Artist Luke Jerram created a 7m replica of the moon. It's internally lit and uses detailed NASA imagery of the lunar surface. You're encouraged to lay down beneath it for the best experince, and of course I did amid all the small children, watched by all the adults that obviously didn't fancy being horizontal. I had a wander around the charity shops (I won't mention the trip to a tea shop where I had a slice of cheesecake and a chocolate brownie), and on my way home I decided to pop to my local charity shop too, that's where I found the gorgeous leather bag.


The next day (Andy was working all day again) I continued to ignore the housework and decided to make a start on making some items for our Easter Cake and Craft sale. I found a pattern and instructions on Pinterest to make some cute carrot shaped bags, which I plan to fill with Easter treats.


Whilst I had the sewing machine out I decided to mend on old pair of jeans. They've been awaiting repair for years, I just couldn't decide the best way to go about it. I'd recently started following the #visiblemending hashtag on Instagram and when I saw this post, I knew I'd found my solution.

Several colours of cotton and about an hour later I was finished, and very pleased with the result. Knowing that it takes over 1,000 gallons of water to make just one pair of jeans means I want to get as much wear out of my jeans as possible. One pair I have needs to be repaired a little more after almost every wash but I'm not getting rid of them just yet...

So that's what I've been up to. If I haven't paid your blog a visit and left a number of comments in the past few days then expect a visit soon, I've got some catching up to do.

xx

My plans for last weekend were postponed due to the snow. It seems odd to say that now, the snow seems like such a long time ago, almost all evidence of it has disappeared. I was meant to be meeting a friend for a catch up and charity shop rummage, but the roads were too hectic for either of us to make it.

So instead of buying clothes I decided to mend some, and turned my attention to my enormous mend pile. I had three items with frayed hems or seams that needed mending, and a shirt that I wanted to remove the collar and make into a grandad style. This doesn't really make much of a dent in the mend pile but it means I have these things ready for my spring capsule wardrobe; instead of wishing I could wear these items, I can!

This weekend my main plan was to see my Mum on Sunday, Mother's Day. It was lovely to spend time with my her and her husband, and eat the enormous roast chicken dinner Andy cooked, but I was distracted, a little lost in my own thoughts. I found Mother's Day hard.


That evening, in an effort to occupy my mind, I decided to have a go at embroidery. I've always wanted to give it a try, and a recent pinning spree has added fuel to the fire. I found a quick star tutorial, grabbed some scrap material and had a go. Yeah, it's something that's gonna feature in my life again, and soon!

It was my wish at the beginning of the year to avoid that Sunday night feeling of a weekend wasted. My goal was to have a plan in place for the coming weekend by each Friday evening. These were two weekends well spent, I think. The mend pile was tackled, I spent some quality time with family, and I tried my hand at a new skill.

What have you been up to?

If you've read this blog for a while you might recognise this skirt. It first appeared back in 2012 and was one of my very first charity shop purchases. It's one of my favourite wardrobe pieces, and it comes out every year without fail. It's comfortable, easy to wear, and despite it's unusual colour, fits into my wardrobe with ease.


It started to look a little faded recently, which isn't surprising when you think of how many times it must've been washed over the last five years. So I decided to restore it to it's former glory with a little fabric dye. I picked a Dylon fabric dye in Sunflower Yellow and smiled to myself as I handed over £4.20 to the lady in the haberdashery, the skirt only cost me about £2.99 in the first place.

It's £4.20 well spent in my opinion. I love the new vibrant, yellowy version. Now I'll be able to wear it for at least another five years, and I won't have to worry too much about middle aged spread as the waist is elasticated ;)