Sunday 31 May 2015

Things I Loved, May 2015.



This month I've loved, 

* time off work * weddings * cutting my hair * watching Doctor Who, series 9, Peter Kay's Car Share and No Offence * 2 year anniversary with my boy * reading with my lunch * planting seeds * pancakes * Lush bathbombs * pain au chocolate * epic date day, including seeing Avengers Age of Ultron at the cinema, eating chips and bhajis, walking by the river and seeing Kate Rusby (we were making up for hardly going out since buying the house and spending all our time/money on it!) * washing my hair with aloe vera, it's a revelation! * my little nieces, the littlest one is nearly always asleep when I see her, the big one ventured in for a visit to my new house and managed not to touch any wet paint, found a dirty old brush to play with and ran round and round and round * my mother in law's tongue plant flowering *  painting our new hallway 'Bumblebee' yellow, it's sooo yellow! * 

I started a facebook page for my blog, you can find it here.

Hope you've had a lovely month too!?

Saturday 30 May 2015

Retro Seventies Crafts #1. Animals, Dolls and Creatures.

I found some craft cards from the seventies while I was tidying and packing things in my flat.  They're so cute and funny and bonkers, I had to share some with you! 

The cards were published by Hamlyn in 1979.

My absolute favourite pattern is 'Blondie and the Spaceman', I love the wallpaper in the background, and Blondie's lace nipples!

Retro Seventies Crafts,  Animals, Dolls and Creatures Blondie and the spaceman. secondhandsusie.blogspot.co.uk

Retro Seventies Crafts,  Animals, Dolls and Creatures Hand puppets, sock puppets.  secondhandsusie.blogspot.co.uk

Retro Seventies Crafts,  Animals, Dolls and Creatures.  Papier Mache owl and pussycat.  secondhandsusie.blogspot.co.uk

Retro Seventies Crafts,  Animals, Dolls and Creatures.  Felt Theresa the tortoise.  secondhandsusie.blogspot.co.uk

Retro Seventies Crafts,  Animals, Dolls and Creatures.  Bean dolls.  secondhandsusie.blogspot.co.uk

Retro Seventies Crafts,  Animals, Dolls and Creatures.  Retro lion.  secondhandsusie.blogspot.co.uk

Which is your favourite?

Linking up with Flaunt it Friday.

Wednesday 27 May 2015

Gardening, May 2015.

I can't show you progress photos of our new house yet (It's still in the 'it gets worse before it gets better' stage! It will get better, right? Right!?) but progress is definitely being made in the garden.

I can't do painting or sanding, because I have pretty bad asthma, so whenever Joe or my mum are at the house doing painting I come too and do a spot of digging.

My main job has been digging out the grass and weeds that had grown over this raised bed thingy.  I've nearly finished the first half, there's more weeds out of shot on the right hand side of this photo, but I'm going to dig them next year I think.

Garden bed secondhandsusie.blogspot.co.uk

I even did my first bit of planting, some mini-pops baby sweetcorn and some chives.  I started making a wigwam for sweet peas to grow up too.

sweetcorn minipops & chives.  secondhandsusie.blogspot.co.uk

I want the garden to be mixed flowers and vegetables, not in rows, all mixed up.  I can't find any online photos or inspiration for this though, only the book The Edible Garden by Alys Fowler.  If you garden this way or can point me in the way of more info or inspiration I'd really appreciate that!

I've been kept company by this baby blackbird, mummy and daddy blackbird, and lots of robins.  Also a huuuge rat, but I'm trying to poison her (I don't usually mind rats but this one is huge, not scared of humans and comes too close to the conservatory doors for my liking!).

baby black bird.  secondhandsusie.blogspot.co.uk

There's a lovely white lilac at the end of the garden, and this pink flowery tree I can never remember the name of (it's something that starts with 'ooo' or 'yoou').

white lilac secondhandsusie.blogspot.co.uk

blossom secondhandsusie.blogspot.co.uk

I spent a long time sorting this honeysuckle, that had completely slumped over and taken the trellis off the fence with it.  Once I'd cut it back a bit, I found that there was a rose under it!  I've put wires on the fence and I'm trying to train the honeysuckle to cover it.  I found a neglected clematis in a pot, and some ivy so I've planted them too to cover the two tone fence. 

honeysuckle and rose.  secondhandsusie.blogspot.co.uk

It's funny, cos someone obviously loved this garden once, there's a shed full of tools, piles of pots and canes and some lovely plants hidden under the weeds.  The only things we've bought for the garden have been a lawn mower and some seeds, the rest has been provided for us by the ghost of gardeners past.  It's sad that it's been neglected for a while, but I'm enjoying making it look like a proper garden again.

I've planted some seeds in some pots full of weeds I found at the back of the garden (I removed the weeds first!).  In the pots below there are sunflowers and livingstone dasies, courgettes and competition sunflowers (that's not the variety, me and Joe are having a competition to see who can grow the tallest sunflower!).  I've got a mini nursery in another corner, with kale, cabbage, lettuce, broad beans, garlic chives and borage sown, so I have seedlings to plant when I've finished my last bit of bed digging.

Sunflower, courgette and livingstone daisy sparkle mix seedlings.  secondhandsusie.blogspot.co.uk

What's happening in your garden this month?

Sunday 24 May 2015

Photo an Hour, May 2015.

The day set for #photoanhour in May was Saturday 23rd.  Photo an hour is organised by Louisa and Jane.

7am - The view from my bed, I really didn't want to get up this morning!


8am - The view from my window today.


9am - Waiting for the bus to work.


10am - At work!


11pm - Still at work. 


12pm - Still at work, I'd done all the shelving once, but there was a last minute rush of customers just as I was about to close.


1pm - Waiting for the bus home again.


2pm - On the way home I had a look round the charity shops and bought a set of glass storage boxes (3 for £1.99, which I'm really pleased about as I've been buying pyrex ones for about £6 each!) and some snacks.


3pm - Watching Father of the Bride 2.


5pm - A dandelion-y walk to mum's house.


6pm -  Dinner.  The tray my plate is on was a wedding present to my mum 40 years ago, I have my eye on it!


7pm - Watching a programme called Ninja something, at mums.  It was quite entertaining to be honest.


8pm - Pudding is served.


9pm - Still at mums, watching Eurovision.


10pm - Still Eurovision, I liked this lady's outfit.


11pm - Checking in on my snaily-pal Fluffy.  He's been hibernating since about last October, so mum bought him a heat mat and he seems to have woken up a bit since.


Did you take part in #photoanhour this month?  Let me know, I'd love to check out your day! 

Wednesday 20 May 2015

Vegan Junk Food, Goody Good Stuff Vegan Sweets (Review).

Goody Good Stuff recently sent me some sweeties to taste test, to celebrate the fact that their whole range is now suitable for vegans.  They've got rid of the beeswax coating on their jelly sweets and swapped it for coconut oil.  Yey! 

Goody Good Stuff vegan sweets secondhandsusie.blogspot.co.uk

I've always liked the cola bottle ones, but there are lots of other flavours to try.

Goody Good Stuff vegan sweets secondhandsusie.blogspot.co.uk

Clockwise from the top are Strawberry Cream, Sour Fruit Salad, Tropical Fruit, Sour Mix Match, Summer Peaches, Cheery Cherries, Koala Gummy Bears and Cola Breeze. 

Goody Good Stuff vegan sweets secondhandsusie.blogspot.co.uk

Goody Good Stuff are free from dairy, nuts, soya, gluten and eggs.  Perfect for me as I have an intolerance to soya, as well as being vegan.  My favourite flavours are Cola Breeze, Sour Mix Match and Sour Fruit Salad.  All of the sweets are chewy, it seems silly to say but some of them are a bit sweet for my personal taste, but they're generally yummy and I'm sure lots of vegans will be rejoicing that there's more choice for us in the sweetie department!

My resident sweet expert (aka boyfriend) says he likes that there are lots of unusual flavours (banana, pink grapefruit, pear, peach) but he said the textures were a bit funny (he's used to Haribo I guess, he's not vegan).  He likes the Sour Mix Match best.  He also says the banana sweets (from the tropical packet) taste very banana-y and the peach ones are very peachy.  

Goody Good Stuff vegan sweets secondhandsusie.blogspot.co.uk

What are your favourite vegan sweets?

Disclosure - I was sent some Goody Good Stuff sweets (and a cute koala bear) to taste test (the sweets, not the koala, he's too furry!).  My opinions are, as always, my own. 

Sunday 10 May 2015

I Found it by the Bins #1.




This big lantern was just sitting by the recycling bins, hoping someone would take it home.  So I did!  People are always leaving things by the communal recycling bins by my flat.  Sometimes it's just plain fly tipping, but sometimes there's treasure to be had! 

I don't know whether to use the lantern as a mini-greenhouse and put a plant in, or decoupage the outside of the glass with a patchwork of retro fabrics and put a candle in.  

Do you find yourself unable to walk past a likely looking bin or skip?  Or is it just me?!

Saturday 2 May 2015

Easy Eco Actions, May 2015.


Here's this months round up of easy, eco-friendly actions, 

Sign Sum of Us' petition asking Sainsbury's to stop selling krill oil supplements, harvesting it is damaging the ecosystem in Antarctica. 

CPRE are asking you to contact your MP and ask them to stand up for the countryside

Check out the theme for Zero Waste Week 2015, there's a fab video up on Youtube.

Ask your election candidate to make the 'Frack Free Promise' using Friends of the Earth's online form. 

Another of Friend's of the Earth's campaigns is asking your MEP to reject the TTIP trade deal

And take part in the Great British Bee Count!