Count Bin Space!

No, not Bin Face, Bin Space!
In my first little flat, I had a small kitchen bin, a wpb in the lounge, and a small fliptop bin in the bathroom. Over the years, my bin collection got larger...everybody had a wpb in their bedroom, and under Bob's desk we had a regular waste bin and a bin for paper-to-be-recycled.

Leicestershire was ahead of the curve with wheelie bins - outside we had bins for regular, recycling, glass, food waste, garden waste, battery bags... We acquired Cornerstones and I retired here with a definite surplus of bins [back there were no food waste facilities]

That's changed this month. We now have a large blue food waste bin outside, and a smaller 7litre caddy to go into the kitchen. I appear to have very little to put in it! Thus far it has nothing except empty teabags [the contents are put in the compost caddy] When we did the 2025 kitchen refurb, we bought two IKEA Hållbar bins, in a pull out frame. These are for 'general kitchen rubbish' and 'recycling'. So I now have four different bins under the sink - labelled carefully so we throw things in the right direction!

recycling, general, food waste, compost

I am hoping this system will work smoothly. We still have two bins under our shared deskspace. Outside two wheelie bins [regular and recycling] and the new blue food one. We decided we didn't need to pay £64 p.a. for a garden refuse bin.

But there is one other category of waste which was not being managed properly. The 'soft plastics' stuff - the crisp packets, plastic 'belly band' wrappers round food trays, cheap carrier bags, pouches and sachets. There is a lot of it about. My system was to put a carrier bag inside a small bucket in the Futility room, and squash stuff down- knot it when full - and drop it off at a supermarket when I went shopping. This was not ideal - I kept forgetting to take the heap of knotted bags to the store!

The neatly squashed and rolled packets often unfurled and popped out...The draining board was often bestrewn with Bob's Cheese and Onion crisp packets. I think I have solved this. I got a smart 10litre steel bin, which I line with a carrier. It sits tidily under the cupboard in the F. Room.

Like Count BinFace, I am working and hoping, for a better environment. Are you?

CBBBQ

Not a new kid's TV channel, this means Cornerstones Before BBQ! Bob thought it was about time we did another BBQ for all the neighbours, as so many have moved into the Close in the last couple of years. He produced an invite and I went round delivering them. 

We got the garden ready. The 'grass' is brown and crispy, like everyone else's. We borrowed the Shed Gazebo which will give plenty of shelter from bright sunshine or rain, whichever we have to deal with, and there's the summerhouse too...

Neighbours offered to bring food and drink - and Brian sent some of his humungous tomatoes - some were 7cm across! These have been sliced to go on top of burgers, along with slices of cheese. I made a salad, and some rainbow veg kebabs.

We seem to have plenty of garden chairs these days*. Some years back, we went to a Band Concert at Blickling and beforehand purchased some fancy blue folding chairs. They were not cheap, but Bob wanted ones which were comfortable for 3 hours of sitting, and would take his weight. We have been very pleased with them, and used them a lot [especially at the beach with the family as well as in the garden] On Monday we were at the 'recycle shop' at our local tip, and found this similar tan pair, for £5 only each

Like the blue ones, they have carrybags with useful shoulder straps, and can holders on the right hand side. One is slightly faded, but the do not look like they have been used very much. They have strong well designed frames. And their recommended max weight is 200kg! We are not expecting any 30stone visitors!

* 14 plus lounger, plus 3-seater bench, and if we get more than that, Gloria will pass some of her chairs over the fence. 

And then it was time for the event...

The 4 nearest neighbours arrived on the dot of 6:30, then the heavens opened and for 10 minutes we had rain and thunder. We sheltered in the summerhouse. Then it all stopped, I dried off all the chairs.  10 more people arrived and we had a lovely evening together... Guests brought some great salads and a selection of drinks. Hard work, but worth doing.

So different from last Wednesday's Eclipse Party

Not Exactly The Tardis!

A request from Manchester"When we get Norfolk, please can Grandad build us a time machine ?" No challenge is ignored by my Shedman. He worked out a design using the L-shaped box which had contained the new IKEA armchair. Bob explained to me there would be a seat inside, with a control panel and joy stick, plus a curtain to shield the eyes of the passengers whilst in flight. [I found suitable fabric for that] We printed off some stickers to personalize the box. And there would be a selection of items in boxes in the summerhouse - costumes, hats, crowns, wigs, flags, water pistols and bubble swords. 

The time travellers climbed into the machine, and the curtain came down. To give the impression of "Time Travel", a portable speaker played the proper Vworp!Vworp! noises and other ethereal music , whilst the everyone else dressed up in random costumes to represent different times and places. Then the curtain lifted and the traveller met them- friends [with bubble swords] foes [water pistols] or flag wavers [either cheering or demonstrating - who knows?]

Utter madness and mayhem, much fun had by all - Jacob was particularly taken with the red curly wig and the Captain Kirk wig. Jess enjoyed being a Chinese flag waver.  Steph wore capes and hats - I have no idea who I was meant to be. The bubble wands were by far the most successful accessory [£2 each, a bargain] We had a couple of days of riotous fun dressing up, brandishing weapons, and declaiming...

A box of costumes, and a reclaimed cardboard box gave us hours of fun. It was good to watch the boys decorating the box before the others arrived, and amusing to hear them all role playing their characters. And the cousins were so good at taking turns inside the time machine. But that was all over a week ago. The costumes are packed away, the boys are back inn Manchester and the time machine will be going into the recycling bin. If TARDIS means "Time and Relative Dimension in Space" what is ours called? 

How about TIC-TAC ?
"Transportation In Cardboard - Timetravel At Cornerstones"  ?

Stitching Old Things To New Life

I grabbed this one in the library on the way to the
checkout machines, it was on the end of a shelf and I liked the cover. But I never looked inside till I got home. And found it to be a lovely read! How serendipitous is that? 

Molly Martin tells how her favourite socks wore out, and her Mum showed her how to mend them 

using a darning mushroom. And she loved the idea of reinforcing the thinning stitches, restoring the socks to a new life. She has been stitching and mending ever since. She became an artist and textile repairer, and now works with the company TOAST to teach others to mend. 

This book is a distillation of all she has learned about mending, told through the garments which have been restored. 

Mollie brings the global vocabulary of mending to us - Japanese wabi-sabi [beauty in imperfection] 

and boro [tattered] where patches of fabric are stitched, layer upon layer

to make stronger, padded garments. Mottainai [not to waste] Then there is the Sanskrit word kantha - layering old saris and dhotis to make quilts. The old English word hussif - a contraction of housewife meaning a portable sewing kit [first on print in 1749] These were  used by men as well as women, 

notably soldiers across the world - from the American Civil War, through the Crimea, WW1 trenches and the Vietnam War.  And back to Japan again for sashiko ['little stabs] a reinforcing technique - and to Levi Strauss, who realised that adding copper rivets to his jeans meant they would last longer and could be patched and mended over and over again.

Her book is filled with stories of special garments mended by herself, or by friends. It is beautifully illustrated, and she devotes lots of pages to describing tools and techniques, so others can do mindful mending. And this slim volume is peppered with great quotes about repairing and restoring. I have copied them all down in a pretty notebook Kirsten sent me, and will be sharing them with you sometime. 

This book is a joy - learn about Mindful Mending - the history, the vocabulary, the techniques, the pictures, the stories. Even if you do not sew yourself, reserve it from the library to enjoy the read! *****

A Drink Of Water

I have been aware for the whole of June how blessed I am to have fresh water freely available - it started at the end of May when the water main burst - but we were able to fill our bottles from the tap at Liz's cottage.  The following weekend I waited in A&E for 5 hours for treatment [I'm OK now, don't ask for the gory details] it was hot and crowded, and my bottle of water was so important. The Dr impressed upon me that it was essential I stayed properly hydrated and drink lots of water. And then it got so hot -stiflingly hot [the old word round here is swullocking]🥵
A guy came to the door on Tuesday collecting for a hospice charity. I explained politely that we already supported our local hospice, and asked if he knew about Dame Cicely Saunders. He didn't, but promised to google her later [every day's a schoolday at Cornerstones!]

"Would you like a drink of cold water from the fridge?" I asked "And what about your mate across the road?" He was genuinely surprised at my offer. "We are not allowed to ask for a drink, but if someone offers one, we may accept" he said. So I gave him two paper cups of chilled water to take and share with his colleague. "Pop them in a recycling bin when you have finished with them" 

I try to avoid disposable cups, but if I do get one, I bring it home, and wash it very thoroughly and carefully. Here's my stack. Then I can happily give it away. This past week, I have offered water to any of the workmen or delivery guys who are out in the Close.
It is a small thing, but an important aspect of my faith [Matthew 25 "I was thirsty and you gave me a drink"...]

This was my birthday gift from Steph - she was on a work trip to Amsterdam and went in the Good News Coffee shop. She knew how much I would love one of their flasks. It is brilliant - easy to carry, and it keeps coffee hot, and cold water really cold for hours. 
There's a Bible story about refreshing water in the middle of a hot day...good news indeed

Jesus, tired out by his journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.  A Samaritan woman came to draw some water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink of water.” The woman answered, “You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan—so how can you ask me for a drink?” (Jews will not use the same cups and bowls that Samaritans use.) Jesus answered, “If you only knew what God gives and who it is that is asking you for a drink, you would ask him, and he would give you life-giving water.”

“Sir,” the woman said, “you don't have a bucket, and the well is deep. Where would you get that life-giving water? It was our ancestor Jacob who gave us this well; he and his children and his flocks all drank from it. You don't claim to be greater than Jacob, do you?” Jesus answered, “Those who drink this water will get thirsty again,  but those who drink the water that I will give them will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give them will become in them a spring which will provide them with life-giving water and give them eternal life.”  “Sir,” she said, “give me that water! Then I will never be thirsty again”
[words John ch 4, The Good News Translation, picture from GNT by Annie Vallotton]

Waste Less - Waist Bigger

 

So my lovely Orvis skirt was way too tight - in the CS shop it was stretched on a wooden hanger. I got it home, and it had pinged back to shape - a 24" waist! I have not had a waist that small since before Liz was born [40+ years ago]. Not a casing with a circle of elastic inside, but like many pjs, the elastic was sewn in with 5 rows of machine stitching. And very tight when contracted. Not easy to enlarge, but I needed some wriggle room!
Solution - 
Cut a 2" slit down each side, and open up into a straight line, bind these raw edges with binding. 

My waist is around 30" now [oops!] and once I tuck the elastic inside [as I did as a teenager] the skirt sits comfortably just below my waist and is the right length.

I have been living in this skirt for the past week, so cool and breezy. It's been complimented too, which is pleasant. And it goes well with lots of different plain teeshirts and vest! 

Half A Century Later...

I have always loved Peanuts cartoons. As a teenager I collected the books. A friend gave me a lined Jaeger skirt when I was 17. It fitted perfectly, but was mid calf length on me. I shortened it to mini-length, and made a pocket with the trimmings, on which I embroidered Snoopy sleeping on his doghouse. I adored that skirt and wore it all one summer. [I had slim, tanned legs back then!] Sadly no photos remain. 
When I was 21, a friend sent me a Snoopy Teeshirt as a birthday gift. In 1981, there was a hitch with a house move. I rang cousin Gill and said "Everything is packed in teachests and I just have an overnight bag. I'm running out of clean clothes" The next day, a large envelope arrived containing two pairs of pants and a Snoopy Teeshirt. I wore the tees often and treasured them both. But after having children, I never got back into size 10 tops, they went into a memory box. At the last Winter/Summer wardrobe swap I took them out. My granddaughters like Snoopy too. So Rosie now has the pale lemon one, and Jess has the white one [a little big, but it will make a good summer nightie]

"Look after it!" I told Rosie "I have had it for 50 years" She knew about Gill, Julian's Mum - but enquired about the friend who gave me the lemon one. I said I hadn't seen him for a number of years- but that he became a Baptist minister like Grandad, and is also retired now. And that  when he gave me the teeshirt, it was originally a custardy yellow colour! These were among the oldest items in my wardrobe.

The sweatshirts from the 70's and 80's were recycled into a blanket 35 years ago, 

I repaired that during lockdown and it's still in use as a garden blanket inside the teepee.
I do try and squeeze as much use as I can from my textiles!
Do you still have any garments from decades ago?
Have you recycled them into other projects?

Caps, Crafts, Clare

I think the first time I came across the word forage was as a child, when my Dad put on his Boys' Brigade Officer's Uniform - he added badges to his suit lapels and put on a navy woollen cap, which he referred to as a forage cap or Glengarry. The word  comes from the Old French fourrager - which meant 'plundering, or hunting for fodder'. Soldiers would wear a soft fabric cap rather than a fancy military helmet when they were away from the battle and doing other jobs, particularly looking about for food for their horses. Being soft, these caps could be folded and put in a pocket or backpack. A Glengarry was the name given to this popular style of forage cap developed by a regiment of Scottish 'fencibles' at the end of the 18th C. It was adopted by the BB who began in Glasgow in 1883.
But I later learned that forage could mean 'to hunt about for things' or 'to scavenge'. To look for 'wild' food [eg mushrooms], or for things to use - often at no cost, because they have no value to others. 

So when I spotted this book on the library shelf, I grabbed it. Firstly it is by Clare Youngs, one of my favourite craft authors, second, I love recycling, and finally, if the foraged resources are free that is even better!
There are 35 projects in three sections - foraged 'natural' materials, paper & card, fabric & thread. Clare makes decorations, clothing, gifts and useful objects - using new ideas, fresh twists on old techniques, and traditional skills.

 

covered buttons, boro stitched jeans, painted pebbles, stitched denim sashiko coasters, pressed seaweed cards, foiled leaf garlands, and loads more... coasters, cushions, dolls, gift tags, stationery...with CYs precise instructions, clear illustrations and accurate templates

Lots to copy, or to inspire you - adaptable for all ages and skill levels. Another *****
Have you read any good CY books, and would you recommend them?

I Have Seen The Golden Sunshine

🌞Wednesday dawned bright and sunny. It was a rare Wednesday-Without-Shed day, and Bob was eager to get out and enjoy the weather🌞 I'd had a bad night, and woken with a headache. After he'd brought me breakfast in bed, it seemed churlish to say "I need to stay home and do housework"

🌞We got in the car and drove up to Deepdale Market on the coast. We stopped briefly en route to investigate a sign saying "Bric-A-Brac - Everything £1" I bought a sign which amused me, and Bob bought a filthy pair of pincers. We drove on to Burnham Deepdale, the sky was so blue, and the countryside so green...

I do love the mural in the alley way to the pop up craft shops. Not much of interest, but two lovely ladies were selling handmade jewellery and knitted accessories in aid of Duchenne UK. They were sisters, and one was the gran of a boy who has DMD. I treated myself to a kilt pin brooch for £5 - decorated with sewing notions and a Manchester bee. 

After a jacket potato lunch we drove home stopping in Fakenham, for milk in Lidl and a mooch round the Sue Ryder shop. I found a book

A simple cover, with fantastic contents. Years ago I got this from the library and knitted Steph the fingerless gloves for her birthday, then made half a dozen pairs as Christmas gifts. The book is divided into four sections with seasonal items to knit, sow, bake,craft and grow... 

Here is a photo of Steph's gloves from 2009

I shall enjoy reading this book again, and maybe I'll have time to do more of the projects. Some are pictured below. The illustrations are clear, with good templates and photos. Worth £2 I think. Altogether I spent £8, plus my spud. A good day out. I'm deciding where to put my sign, Bob polished up his vintage pincers the moment we got home. They look splendid. 

"o

I am not sure why we should" beware children playing". I think "be aware of children playing" probably would sound a little kinder. But the sign made me smile, and I love that children come and play in my garden.

This week's sunshine has been lovely. I hope the weather is kind where you are.

The Chapel At Easter

The windowsills at Chapel were well received. In previous years we have had bunnies and eggs and chicks and jars of fresh flowers. But as I seemed to be without helpers, I took the line that less is more. I made some green fabric runners from the Great Stash, and then each sill had a couple of pot plants, a card with a Bible Verse or two, and either Willow tree figures or a cross. I prepared everything at home, and took a photo beforehand, showing which verse went where.

The plants looked so pretty in their wallpaper collars. I did discover that every window is a different size [the building is 200+ years old!] but the one sill I had measured was fortunately the largest, and folding, pinning and using blutac kept everything looking good.

Maybe less 'busy' than previous years, but I think they did the job.

Bob made the stands to support the crosses [which normally hang on our study wall] I created an Easter Garden on the platform. A cloth covered the table, and at the top was the cross draped with purple ribbon and a crown of thorns. Below, fresh plants, and an empty tomb. Not sure if the brief video will show the flickering tealights inside, which reflected beautifully against the gold foil. 

And I used lots of wallpaper to create the stone surround, and the green frieze in front of the plant pots! After the service, the small plants went into little paper carriers with cards ["These Easter flowers come with love from Foulsham Baptist Church. Christ is Risen!] for distribution to other. I have already had two messages of thanks from people who were really touched to have been remembered.

Now get on your way quickly,  and tell his disciples and the others that Christ is risen!

  

HOW Many???

Last year I went with Bob to collect some materials for a Men's Shed project, from a local decorating supplies firm. By the door was a large bucket with a sign saying "FREE!" It would have been rude not to check it out. It had some 2m lengths of wallpaper. I grabbed a couple of William Morris designs. A week later, I gave one to a friend who needed to cover a large gift box. In January, we went back again, and I took just one piece. I went to the counter to wait for Bob. "Can I help you?"
    "I'm with him - but can just I say thank you, for these lovely free samples of wallpaper"
"We will be getting rid of the big sample books soon, would you like some?"        
    "Yes please!"
"Give me your phone number and I will call you- I will be really pleased if you can use them, we usually just throw them in the skip outside"
And so a couple of weeks ago, she rang, and I went early next morning [they open at 7.30am for trade customers] I left Bob at home, preparing breakfast. The woman remembered me, and said the books were behind the counter. 

I said I would like to make a charity donation, and while she was getting them, I put a couple of quid inside the pink elephant box for the blind children.
"Here you are, where's your car?" The woman, plus another assistant helped me carry the sample books out to my car. There were TWENTY of them. She insisted that any I left would go in the skip, and I couldn't let that happen, could I? Bob was a little taken aback when I got home. "HOW many? Ang, will you use them all?"

We lugged them into the lounge, and stood them up against the sofa. A real mixture - patterns, plains, textures, stripes... Most from a French company, Casadéco, one from Crown.

I enjoyed going through them as I sipped my coffee, muttering "Ooh look! Isn't this cute? I can make use of this one..."

Later in the day, I took the Nursery Patterns Book, and made an Easter Card and a new baby card for my latest nibling.

I used a rabbit design, mounting the pictures on the co-ordinating golden polka dot paper. There are lots of great patterns in this book [animals, trucks, dinosaurs...] which will make good cards for children. I am planning to use one of the other books to mount displays for the Easter windowsills at Chapel.

And Bob is right - twenty is rather a lot. I took some to my good friend Val a few days later. Val has been a friend since 1981, when we lived in the Medway and Bob was student minister at her church. Teacher, Girls Brigade Officer, crafter - we have heaps in common and have been firm friends for 45 years. She still lives in the Medway with her husband Philip [like Bob, former employee of Marconi, and into woodworking etc] They were on holiday in Norfolk, it was lovely to catch up [now we are both mothers of two grown up daughters and we have grandchildren] I gave Val the books, and she gave me a jigsaw and a striped teeshirt! [Thank you Val, it fits a treat]
I gave three more to my young friends who are home schooled. And when I told the story to my old school friend [who is sadly back in our local hospital again] she laughed, and said "Please can I have one when I get home?" So that is one third of the hoard distributed... and I have so many ideas in my head for papercrafts! Look at these gorgeous pictures from the Casadéco website...

Let's Raise A Glass...

 ...to Simple Things magazine, and the Friends of Glass UK [here] who just sent me a very generous shopping voucher.

The story began in December. I read Simple Things online, and noticed they had a feature promoting the benefits of glass. It is infinitely recyclable, and much better for the planet than single-use plastics. They asked readers to nominate businesses local to them which make good use of glass, and said FoG were going to give some prizes.

 I decided to nominate Dann's. They are the local dairy farmers who make splendid ice cream, and also sell delicious milk in refillable glass bottles from a wonderful DIY dispensing machine. It is five years since I first blogged about them I was astounded to get an email saying I was one of the winners!
Not that my answer was any better than any other - they had so many entries they just selected five at random. 

"Look out for the April edition when we will have a further feature on this" they said. Well the latest edition is just out. They have the promised article, but have only mentioned five largish companies [Yet again, Gü Desserts, who were in the original article] I had hoped Dann's would get a promotion. The ice cream is yummy, and their cows are very photogenic!

The shopping voucher arrived, and has already been spent. Thank you to the FoG, and to the magazine. A lovely surprise