Belfast Welcomes the Giro D'Italia

Hello!
This weekend sees the Giro D'Italia sweep through Northern Ireland. The race starts in Belfast and to welcome everyone taking part the city has gone pink crazy!

These have bloomed! Perfect timing!

Oxfam vintage on Botanic Avenue

A friendly Italian who didn't mind me snapping his jacket

Pink bikes are everywhere, these ones outside Filthy Mc Nasty's pub on the Dublin Road

Our pink buses, always pink not just for the Giro

The famous red benches at The Duke of York pub are now a pretty pink

Bumping into a pretty pink haired girl! Very Jem!

North Street graffiti

I called in to see my sisters where they work and to have my costume fitted for Saturdays performance, I'm Prince Charming in the Lisburn Lord Major's parade! They already had a Cinderella, raging!! Rummaging through the rails of the costume department I spied this fab vintage pink dress, teamed it with the perfect pink curly wig and Tah Dah I am Gina D'Italia! 
Have a great weekend everyone!xxx

It never rains but it pours

Hello!
You know the old story....I only went out for milk (how many times have I started a blog with this line!) It's just that the shop selling milk happens to be slap bang in the middle of a street full of charity shops, trying hard to remember Stelios's walk on advice, I'm weak and head in just for a wee look. You know the saying wait all day for a bus and then three come at once, well that's kinda what happened except it was umbrellas. I'm forever getting completely soaked, so when I spied three vintage designer umbrellas in the corner I snapped them up, they were a bargain too £3.50 each. My only saving grace is that these are an extremely useful buy and they feel really sturdy, ok so they don't fit in your handbag but when it's not raining they double up as a walking stick for me(I'm 5ft 1) I tested the pretty red one of Monday and as my sisters new pink brollie blew inside out mine stayed strong,  they don't make brollies like they used to. 

All that said, I really hope it doesn't rain!

Have a great week everyone!! xx

The big lads birthday surprise

Hello!

I turned 34 last Tuesday. The big lad had said he had outdone himself this time on the present front and I thought things couldn't get any better after the sandwich ring at Christmas well I was wrong. What does someone get the girl who has everything and wants nothing? So... I love Channel Four's programme Hoarders and the psycotherapist Stelios Kiosses who helps people realise their hoarding ways and enables them to transform their lives for the better. If you have read this blog from time to time you'll know about my collections, but sometimes I feel overwhelmed at how much I have, I bought a lot last year, feeling unhappy in my old job was a great contributor to how much I was buying I realise that now. Now I'll ask myself do I really need this? Can I afford this? Joy is in people not in things! Don't get me wrong I still love nothing more than a mooch in the charity shops but I don't feel the need to "rescue" every bit of vintage I see. Anyhow.....to cut a long story short, the big lad emailed Stelios and he sent a signed picture to wish me happy birthday!!! Eeeekkkk!! Literally the best present ever! Thank you to Stelios for helping the hoarders of the world and for sending the picture and thanks to the big lad! How will you out do this one? 

Here's a little picture of me age four, pictured with my older sisters Barbie collection, I could never keep my eyes open in photos!

And thirty years later age 34, eh almost still have the same hair do!

Here's to being 34!

Have a great weekend everyone xxxx

Made by Mum

Hello!
I've just spent a lovely Saturday thrifting with my mum and sister. We all love a good bargain! Mum, who loves charity shops will happily tell everyone who comments on her fabulous outfits what she bought out of a charity shop and how much it cost. Mum has a magpie eye for spying the perfect necklace that she'll team with her outfit, she's always so well coordinated! My mum's a super crafty lady, back in the day mum used to make her own clothes, she would crochet, do needle point and macrame, she loves her garden and is a great baker, I think mum has had a very strong influence on what I love to do! I have a few things around my home that mum has made and I thought I'd show them to you.

A seventies sunset, the centre piece of living room wall

Still going, mum's crocheted sausage dog draft excluder

pretty crochet flowers hanging in the hallway

A bright granny square blanket makes the perfect headboard cover

Mum, if you're reading this, you're great!  A very talented lady!

Hope you're having a lovely weekend! I'll share my purchases on the blog this week, but not all of them! say no more, say no more xxxx

If you go down to the woods today

Hello!
We've had a great weekend mostly spent outside enjoying the good weather and celebrating a couple of birthdays. It was the big lad's birthday on Sunday, we packed a picnic and spent the day walking in the forest and yesterday we went hill walking in Rostrevor. We ended up getting a bit lost and walked for over three hours, of course without sunscreen or a hat so my nose is bright red, will I ever learn? 34 today and still none the wiser! Yes, it's my birthday today and the big lad has almost certainly out done himself this time, I will share all later on in the week!

 There's an arrow coming out of my armpit.

Have a great day everyone xxx

Happy Easter!

Yesterday I spent the afternoon reinforcing the chicken coop after I caught the chickens enjoying a dust bath in the middle of the veg patch. They've been escaping a lot recently, a neighbour found one of the girls in her front garden and another said he had seen one of them standing in the road! I don't want to come home some day to find them gone, chicken wire, staples and a few extra nails here and there and I don't think they'll get out again. I cobbled together a veg patch cover out of some old floorboards and left over chicken wire too just in case.

The girls have nearly been with us for two years now!
Hope you're having a lovely Easter break xxx

It's a hard life!

Hello!
What a busy week it's been! I don't know wether I'm coming or going. A few days off for Easter are very welcome, I'm looking forward to having nothing to do, Mary has the right idea.

It's a hard life!

Happy Friday everyone xxx