Showing posts with label free. Show all posts
Showing posts with label free. Show all posts

Sunday, May 28, 2017

I'm in the pink.

Hello. I've had a nice day today. Did my walk straight after breakfast, a bit more painting on the garage door, made some plastic flowers on sticks, gave them to Janet to put in her pots, and she gave me a jacket that is too big for her. As you can see it fits me perfectly. 
Now I'm going outside to water the flower beds, then I have to get something ready to take to Crafty Club in the morning, need to start a new project that can be transported in a bag. Something small.

Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon. Enjoy your Bank Holiday Monday.
Toodle pip

Monday, April 3, 2017

Home made super deluxe garden table.

Hello. I thought I would give you an extra day to check in with your miles, and I'm pleased to see that the Walking Group are doing really well. It's good to read your comments, I can sense the determination in your writings, to do the best you can. It's nice to know that you are not finding it a chore, and now look forward to increasing your fitness levels. Stick with it everyone, do as much as you can, any walking is better than no walking. 
It was a good turnout at Crafty Club this morning, a full table again. It's been a lovely sunny day and I had a project I wanted to get on with this afternoon. Out with the tools, hammer, screwdrivers, saw, screws and nails. A bit of DIY is needed. 
My garden table is getting a bit wonky, it has been repaired once and now the wood is rotting further. Musn't grumble, I made it a few years ago and it cost me nothing, I have had good use out of it. It has been mainly used for potting plants and seeds, and any other DIY job which needed to be done outdoors. I've sawn many a piece of wood on this table. But now it's at the end of it's useful life, I need another one.

And here it is. The new all singing and dancing deluxe model. Heidi likes it. 
The two ends used to be a bed, out of a skip of course, I've had them ages. I've still got the base but it didn't fit in with this project. Some of the wood was from the four divan beds I had from my friend when they moved. I didn't have a pallet to cover the whole top, so I used a narrow pallet on the right where Heidi is lying. On the left I used two side pieces from a divan bed with some blocks nailed at each end to bring it up to the same height as the pallet. The top is one piece but I haven#'t screwed it to the frame, in case I want to move it.


I'm mighty pleased with that, my home made garden table/work bench. It's very sturdy, the cross bars hold it all together. Old screws used so it was all free.

Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip

Wednesday, February 22, 2017

I love free furniture.

Hello. Question, where can you get free furniture? Answer, from a skip. I found these two bedside cabinets the other day, not a mark on them. The house had been empty for a long time, it has recently been bought and a skip appeared on the driveway. It's on my walk, I pass it every day, and when I saw these I was so excited. 
There was no one around so I asked my friend up the road if he knew who had bought it. Yep, go down the next street and knock on a red door, so I did. Permission was granted to remove said furniture. I immediately went home to get my car, as it was in danger of raining. 
They are smashing. My first thought was to find a home for them because they won't fit in my bedroom, then I had a look around and thought they would look nice in my living room. 

This is a bit of a messy spot, the brown stereo unit next to the chair is about forty years old, it was cheap and chipboardy, and is too big for the space. I think it's time to get rid of it. I have to keep the tall cupboard behind the chair because it has a false back in it, it was made to cover up the electric meter behind it. Stupid place to put a meter.

Hey, look at the difference, a lot better. I moved the coffee table next to the chair and the cabinets fit perfectly either side of the alcove wall. This room used to be two smaller rooms, the previous owner knocked them through. I'm chuffed to bits with this.

The moral of this story is keep your eyes peeled for any skips which appear on people's driveways, they might be throwing something useful out. Always ask permission to remove items you want. They will always say yes. I love free stuff. 
My dinner yesterday was very simple, tagliatelle and frozen vegetables drizzled with toasted sesame seed oil. Only takes a few minutes to simmer in one pan. My lunch today was a bit of a mishmash, iceberg lettuce, potato salad, Danish Blue cheese, and tagliatelle, with a splodge of tartar sauce. 
I was up late this morning so I am a bit behind. I'll get off now and catch up. Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip

Thursday, December 1, 2016

Not impressed.

Hello. I was in town today, library, bank, a couple of shops, cat food, coffee and a few other bits. I was passing a jewelers shop, they are full of Christmas stock at the moment. I wondered why this rather posh shop had lot's of these ugly brown bags in the window. In my opinion they are not at all attractive, in fact I think they are pretty awful, wouldn't be seen dead carrying one. Then I noticed the price labels, WHAT, £728 for that, chuffin crazy. I haven't the faintest idea who would want to pay that sort of money for a brown plastic bag with a bit of leather trimming on it. 

Crikey, the window was full of them, all the same boring brown, all cost an arm and a leg. Yuk, they are so ugly.


I will never understand the hunger for a designer label. What's a bag for anyway? There is only one purpose for carrying a bag, and that's to cart stuff around in it. Most of the time I don't even carry a bag, unless it's one of my shopping bags, or a rucksack. My pockets are quite adequate for keeping my purse, camera, keys, and phone in. 
Designer bags do nothing for me. This is my hold all, it's great for a few days away. This is far better than a posh bag, because it cost me no money at all, it was given to me. 
This bag is handy for a day out, carry my sandwiches and drink, and a few other bits and pieces, a brolly, a fold up rain mac. Another really useful bag, and it cost me no money at all. It belonged to my mother, it has great sentimental value, she died 35 years ago.
Designer bags? No thanks. Labels do not impress me at all.

Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip.

Sunday, November 27, 2016

Recycling Upcycling Queen

Hello, and welcome to Tightwad Towers Recycling Centre. There was a knock at my front door this morning, my friend Bob was on his way to the council dump when he decided to call in here first in case there was something in his car that I could make use of. Most of it was packaging, but I had to rescue a few things. I'm not sure if I actually need them, but I couldn't see them thrown away. I can probably use the two big frames, but the smaller ones might go to the charity shop. 
I do need a small lamp shade, but I these are going to be too big. Probably charity shop. Three cushions. Don't need them myself, but I could take them apart. They have too much stuffing in them, I could make four cushions for the church. My goodness I've got loads to do now, I'm going to be busy trying to keep up with all this recycling upcycling lark.

I made a sign to go on the lamp post on the High Street near to the Village Hall. It's simple, didn't want to spend too much time on it, as it will only be up for six days, then put away till next year.

Two shopping bags made today, with the fabric from one of the beds. They are a slightly darker shade than they are here on the photo.

So, that's what I've been doing on this chilly but dry Sunday. The days are very short now, it's a job to get everything done in reasonable daylight. I've got to go. There's a ginger cat demanding my attention, he wants to snuggle up to me. Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip

Saturday, November 26, 2016

More free stuff

Hello. It's been foggy here all day, and a bit damp and miserable. I got a call from my friend asking do I want to break up the other two single beds they want to get rid of. I said I would do, after my walk. They came apart quite easily, and now the wood is stashed in my garage. I think I would be the ideal candidate to work in a bed factory now I know how they are assembled, ha ha. 
It's not long now until my friends will be moving, there isn't much left in the house. The furniture removals company are going to do the whole job of packing everything up and transporting it up to Scotland. They are driving one of the cars as well, as my friend is not used to doing long journeys in her own car. 
I was very kindly given a freebie. They bought a posh car four years ago and a cleaning kit came with it. As neither of them wash their cars, it hasn't been used. So now I have everything I need to keep my own car clean. The roads round here are filthy at the moment, what with tractors dragging the mud out of the fields on their massive wheels. It's not worth spending a lot of time on washing cars for them only to get dirty again half an hour down the road. 
This kit will come in useful , though some of it I won't use, so I will donate it to the cat stall at the Christmas Fair next week. 
The new brochure has arrived for the Baths Hall and the Plowright Theatre in town. I've had a flick through it and there's a couple of shows I am interested in. I will have to get them booked early because I like to sit on the front row.

All is well here at Tightwad Towers. Heidi has decided she rather likes snuggling into my dressing gown on the landing carpet, so I have left her there. I have got my old copies of Countryfile magazine out again from 2011. No need to buy new ones, I can't remember what I read five years ago, so these are just fine.

My first Christmas card has arrived, Carol is always the first one I get. Now she has moved I don't know her new address, I'll have to send her a text.

I hope we have a better day weatherwise tomorrow. Whatever you are doing, enjoy your Sunday. Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Recycle and reuse

Hello. I didn't get to dismantle the beds the other day, it was raining, is it ever going to stop! Well it did stop today and as I was passing my friends house, I noticed she had put two of the beds out on the front lawn. That's handy I thought, so after lunch I took my bag of tools and went round there to attack them. 
I slashed the fabric around the edges with a Stanley knife and unscrewed as much of the wood as I could. The tough bits gave way with a bash from a big hammer.  
I am trying to salvage as much as I can, that blue fabric on the top bed is lovely and ideal for shopping bags. I broke it down to manageable pieces to fit in my car, and will sort it out later. The wood can be separated into useful pieces and put in the garage, aka the wood store.

My friend gave me a bag of smellies, she doesn't like toiletries that are heavily perfumed. I will use anything if it's free. The handwash can be used as shampoo and bath foam, the small soaps I will pass on to Janet to be sold on the cat stall. I will wear the socks.

It was library day today. It has changed from a Monday, because the van parks on the health centre car park and they said it was taking too much room up, so they changed the day to Tuesday because it's closed on a Tuesday afternoon. The bin collection day has changed as well. It used to be on a Monday, now moved to Wednesday, just about getting used to the new routine.

I didn't do a walk yesterday because of the rain. People have been asking what next when we have all finished at the end of the year. I think it would be good to have a new challenge, but I'm not sure what. I will carry on walking and will record my mileage on my calendar, and I hope everyone else will do the same. Keeping healthy and looking after your body is not a one year experiment, it's forever. Come next spring and I hope to be doing more long walks.

Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip