The Haul

Hello Lovely People!

As promised, I'll show you my recent haul. This is from a boot sale and a few charity shops.

A month or so ago, I didn't find anything at the boot sale, until I came to the last stall, I kid you not!
This isn't a find in the realms of a diamond brooch for 10p, but still, I didn't have one, now I do!
It's a 1951 Festival of Britain guide.

Then fast forward a few weeks and once again, I'm not finding anything, then half way through this beauty catches my eye and the lady selling was lovely. She said she found it at the back of her Mother's wardrobe when she was clearing out. What is "it"? A 1953 Coronation moneybox of course!

Then, when Ma was rummaging through a box of jewellery looking for another watch (seriously, how many does she need?) I noticed this brooch. It unclips at the back to become two clips! It's a bit tatty, but isn't she lovely?

Then coming to the end, I met a woman who I think is a star, not only were her prices reasonable, she even accepted my a-little-bit-silly offer! I'd noticed some brownish pattern envelopes in amongst piles upon piles of 1970s sewing patterns. I dragged them all out and this was my find:

Whilst I was cooing over them, the lady said they'd belonged to a seamstress and some of her magazines were on the next table... I grabbed the patterns and made a dash for it. Yes, a pile of 1930s magazines! I left the childrens, out-size and ones I already had (I'm thinking of heading back, don't worry!). One of the magazines doesn't have a pattern, one was missing the pattern, but the rest have their patterns! Yipee!

This is my favourite, the 1937 Coronation issue, add it to the sewing pile!

Then out and about round the charities, it's been a poor year for decent finds, or at least, ones I can afford! Is it just me or are the prices going up? Ma did find Series one and two of Upstairs, Downstairs for me the other month though (costume love!) - Thank you Mama!
I did find this on me holiday though:

I've never seen one like this before, so I'm a happy bunny. On the back is "Llandyssul". I was paying for this when I spotted my next item. I looked at it but didn't have enough money on me. So I continued round town having a think, then got the money out and made for the shop in question - It was still there, and now it's mine!

Not in the best of conditions, but it's a 1937 Coronation compact - Happy Jennie! The inside is a bit tatty too:

Then, last week I had a wander into my favourite antiques shop to annoy the chap in there! He'll usually charges quite a bit, but sometimes I'll get a bargain. Anyways, this little stunner was under the counter:

I know it's got bits missing, but isn't it lovely?

Then on Saturday I was given this box of knives by the lady Brother Elder lives with, I think they belonged to her parents.

I'm not usually one for collecting cutlery, and I'm sure Ma is praying I don't start! But I wonder if the rest of the set is out there somewhere...
I'm in complete love with this box though, the packaging is wonderful, but each knife still has his little paper sleeping bag!

Anyway, that's me done for the day. Off to do some work then get the polka dot dress of doom out to work on! Then I'm going to treat myself to a read of the ghostly tales book I picked up the other day.
Happy Bargain Hunting!

Jennie xx

Holiday At Home - June 2013 - Part Two

Hello fellow holiday enthusiasts!

So, last time we covered Monday and Tuesday... here

Wednesday (12th):

Before we'd even set off, this was the weather!

Off to Narberth, it's not too far from me and is a really lovely town. They occasionally have vintage fayres (unfortunately it's more candles in tea cups than proper vintage), but never mind! We went to the museum, which for some reason, we'd never been to. The staff in there are wonderful and the exhibits are really interesting. The collection of vintage shoes are a favourite, as are the samplers.
Like a plum, I didn't get any photos of the museum, but it really is lovely.

Narberth Museum

Then we headed to Newgale for lunch, I'm learning to love rabbit food (I'm a rubbish vegetarian, I'm just not a fan of leaves!) but this was a lovely salad, Thank you Mama.

And this was the view:

Then off we go again, up the coast road, eventually finding ourselves at the Solva Woollen Mill... I must admit, I was expecting an olde worlde mill chattering away. What we found was a tea room and shop. The mill does work (according to their website), I think that was the extension they're still building. It was all a bit confusing! Good points though; A family were taking a photo of their toddler (maybe 3 years old) wearing jeans with turnips and a tweed jacket, he was so adorable! And the mill had a cat, we named him Tiddles.

Did I take snaps of the mill? No, but I did take one of their sign! Their website is here

The off we went again, a bit down but not quite out! Off to St Davids. Now, I've been to St Davids once, a bit shameful as I used to live just down the road! I had never been to the Cathedral or the Bishop's Palace, so that was the aim.

We had a lovely look round the Cathedral with the little map provided, it really is stunning. One part of the ceiling is like York Minster, though not half as bit - The painted bits I'm talking about. Can you tell, I don't have a clue what the names are for everything! My teachers are probably have fits right now!

You have to pay to take photos inside... so we didn't. We were going to have tea in their tea room, but it was jammed - So I imagaine it's good stuff! Now, a bit personal, but I'm still amused by this (it really doesn't take much!) - If you visit, use the facilities - They're very plain, though very clean, but it amused me to think you can wee in the Cathedral and not get kicked out... See, simple pleasures!
Free to get in, but they do say it costs £2,300 a day to run, so have a donation box near the door, so pay however much you wish to.
This is what St David's Cathedral looks like from the outside:

It's down in a dip, and utterly massive. Their site is here

Then road the back is the Bishop's Palace, you do have to pay to go in... £3.50 for the pleasure! I really do hate paying to look at a ruin, there are some stairs and wheelchair lift and even those talking guide boards, but I was less than impressed, sorry.  I'm thinking it's probably much better on a nice day? But they do use the site as an open air theatre, which is a nice idea.
Anyway, partly why I'm such a grump about the place was that my white tennis shoes are now brown! It was very puddle-y, and my feet were soaked!
Here's how she looks (not me, the snap of me would scare Marilyn Manson!):

And the Cadw page of the Bishop's Palace is here

Thursday (13th):

Off to my "go-to" place when I want an afternoon out. The National Wool Museum at Drefache Felindre  is a wonderful place. They have various exhibitions on throughout the year and a craft fayre in November - No, I don't work for them, I'm just in love with this place!
They are currently displaying knitted bits by Kaffe Fassett, not really my sort of thing as I think they're a bit dated, but if you like his stuff, do visit!
In their display room they also have some stunning outfits, be prepared to swoon!
It's just up the road from me so a really easy place to visit, plus, it's free! Parking is free too! The reason for this is that it's a National Museum of Wales, like St Fagans - Yay!

We chose a good day to go (not realising it beforehand) as they had the mule going upstairs and they were weaving in the shed opposite. The mule is a gorgeous bit of kit, I'm on the look out for one on eBay now... Now, if I can just repair the barn...
They also sell their blankets in the shop - Swoon! I'm saving up. They also have atea room area, which is usually packed and everything smells so good.
The staff need a special mention, they are always good and don't seem to mind a numpty like me wandering around!
Oh, and the wheel!

A true action shot! The museum page is here

Anyway, after this we went off to West Wales Museum of Childhood and had lunch in their car park. Then we went in and paid to have a look around. The £5.00 entry fee is a bit steep, but upon meeting the couple who run it, Paul & Hilary, you will just hand over the cash - They are lovely.
So off we went, round the outbuilding packed with toys - I'm a collector, but this is something else!
Photos are allowed, though it's rather dark so good quality photos are hard to take...

This was one of my favourite cabinets, I would happily take everything in there!
Proof of their sense of humour was this sign:

I saw this and had to take a snap for Miss Tupney, (you do have some sailor dolls, right? I'm not thinking of someone else?):

It's such a poor snap, but that cheeky little sailor  asked me to take one anyway!
Anyway, go and visit them, look round the museum and buy a magnet, they're only 99p!

Their website is here

Then we popped off to Newcastle Emlyn, the bestest town around, though I'm not quite sure why I love it so!

Friday (14th):

We spent the day at home, watching DVDs and drinking cocoa, we were exhausted!

Saturday (15th):

We we popped over to Lampeter to visit the Welsh Quilt Centre, which seemed to be a shop downstairs are a display upstairs, which we had to pay to see! I can't remember how much it was, but I'll put it this way, I won't be going back!
They have an exhibition of Kaffe Fassett quilts right now, but what I went for were the vintage quilts, but there weren't as many as I'd expected.
I took a snap of the display room, there were some quilts in the stair well too, but this is the bulk of it:

Had it been free, I couldn've enjoyed it much more - I'm so mean! But this is the website

We then had a wander around Lampeter, which for some unknown reason, neither of us had ever visited before! But while you're there, do go into Calico Kate - This is THE shop if you're into sewing! She has a bit of wool too, but it's eight rooms of fabric! I could hardly breath. You'll need to bring a list of what you want, otherwise you will get carried away! Her lovely website is here

And that was that! I know you may not think it was much of a holiday, but it was the first holiday we've had in years! I picked up a few goodies during the week, which I'll show off with some other things I'd found the week before, and since.

So what have I discovered? I still love the wool museum, I've found another favoured place in St Fagans and I love Calico Kate!

See you soon!

Bye for now

Jennie xxx

Holiday At Home - June 2013 - Part One

Morning All!

How lovely it is to be back in the blogging chair (the voice-over says "post 68 and Jennie's in the bloggin' room").

I was going to share a few snaps from a car show I attended a few weeks back, but I can't find them! So the posts may not be in order of date, but I have to share them as I found some goodies and saw some stunning cars.

So for now you'll have to make do with my holiday snaps! We didn't go away, but instead, visit local attractions - It not only saved money, but I now have an even greater love of Wales (if you ever thought it possible?). So on with the show:

Monday (10th):

St. Fagans - To my shame, I'd never been. As it's a National Museum of Wales, it's free entry, but you have to pay for parking - £3.50. We also bought a guide (of the paper variety!) for £3.00 and I seriously recommend getting one at the front desk, it provides a lot of information and a map.

I could share a photo of every building, but I'll spare you that! I've chosen just a few of my favourites:

This was inside Llwyn-yr-eos Farmstead from about 1820 but set in the late teens/early 20s as if the son was just come home from the war. I forgot to take a photo of the Welcome Home flag, so you'll have to visit to see it! This farm is also original to the site, rather than being moved, like most of the others!

They also have animals outside, the porker was a particular favourite, when we were stood there cooing over him a German woman came up and said "How many pork chops?" Although I laughed, I did find myself thinking "don't say that in front of him!"

Workmen's Institute (1916) - Look familiar? It was featured in Doctor Who (Human Nature / Family of Blood) where David Tennant (yes, David Tennant!!!) went in here to go dancing. He also saved a baby outside Gwalia Stores... You'll have to watch it, then visit!

There were many places inbetween, but the next snap is from the school (1880), which is set around 1890s but reminded me an awful lot of my primary school. Here's a snap from just inside:

The smudge on my chin is actually from the mirror... not chocolate.

I'll quickly mention my outfit. The skirt is modern, though I've had people commenting they like my retro skirt, so all is well with the world. The jumper is from a 1941 pattern, the date maker jacket is from a 1940s pattern and the bag is vintage.

The prefab! Though they chose to close it on the day I visited! No idea why though, it wasn't mentioned on their leaflet of closed buildings, neither was the saddlers mind. It's a 1948 Type B2 from Gabalfa, Cardiff. I went all that way to nose about in a prefab and they closed it - tut!

Mami is hoping to become Miss Universe...

The Italian gardens are stunning, but my snaps don't do it justice. You can go inside St Fagans Castle (it's big Elizabethan house) but they'd only let us look downstairs, no idea why. The gardens are amazing, I'm hoping to do something like this in my back garden:

And that was about it, a lot to see, even if I don't show you everything. I have to warn you mind, it really does take a day to go round. We arrived at 11.14 and only left after kicking out time - 5pm. Next time I go, I'll be there for 10am, when they open and I already have the guide!
More details of events etc on The National Museum of Wales website - Here

On the way home, which was an odd road system which had us heading off to Cardiff, we saw the Millenium Stadium, I think it was anyway, it was a distance away but I took a snap just in case I got the right one:

Tuesday (11th):

We were very tired from St Fagans, so kept it local-ish. Off to Pendine! We got into the car park then discovered that even between us we didn't have enough cash for the machine, so Ma drives round the corner to make change in the shop. She bought a very expensive Kit-Kat (65p!) and drives back to the car park, counts out the change and walks over to the machine and discovers it's not even working! Oh how I laughed!

After I'd stopped laughing (as much) we went into the Museum of Speed, which is also free! It's not a huge place, but some lovely bikes are in there. When we went in it was packed full of coach trippers. The reason we went was to see the one and only, Babs!

Then off again into the lovely weather...

Saundersfoot, I'm going to be polite and just say there's not much to do there unless you have a boat, want to eat or go into the games arcade place - Or at least, I couldn't find anything to do. The tourist info is a nice one though! Last time I was here was on New Year's Eve, they put on quite a fireworks display. But I did take a snap, just in case you wanted to see a bit of it:

Then off to my love/hate places - Tenby. I love how lovely the buildings are stunning and the people are friendly. I even like the bucket, spade and rock shops... But it feels a bit too touristy, in a modern way. But it is a lovely town!

They do have a lovely lifeboat station, rather modern, but very well designed. You can go in and see the whopper of a boat they have and read about the history of the RNLI in Tenby, oh, and they have a gift shop! The lady who works in there is lovely, so do go and say hello and buy a fridge magnet or something. This is what it looks like (the station, not the magnet!):

It's down a path and next to the old station, which I think is now a private house (lucky bug.. people!). Also went to see Prince Albert:

As I mentioned, so stunning buildings, just look at this bit of stained glass, the other side is also nice:

And, last one for the day, I swear!

This is Albert's view... Not bad, huh?

And here are a few links from Tuesday:

Museum of Speed
Tenby RNLI - And the RNLI page for Tenby is here

That's quite a long post now, so I'll leave the next few days for another post. Hopefully you might some to Wales for your next holiday?

Until next time

Jennie x

I'm Back... Again!

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Mornin' Ducklettes!


It's been far too long, and I've missed you all so very much. I had every intention of writing, then something would come up. So I'm just going to do a quick run-down of the main events in the past three months:

My Uncle B. passed away.
I had a virus thingy (dizziness, light headedness and a feeling of flying...).
Ma had the virus thingy.
I finally finished the knitting of my middy, long story but I found some wool. Just need to sew it up now!
The sun shone in Wales - It does happen!
The fallen willow is still alive! We were ready to chop it up when buds appeared... Very lucky tree! We just have to right it now... Any volunteers?
I found some long-lost fabric.
I almost missed V.E. Day... I'm not good with dates!
I changed the address of the blog to jenniecharm.blogspot.com - Much easier for me to remember!

Anyway, there are more things, but those can be covered in seperate posts.

I've signed up to Blog Lovin' - Something is happening with Google, and everyone on the blogs are signing up, so I have too... Should maybe find out what's happening? Not sure if that link at the top will do anything, but they told me to put it there!

So, I'll be back. I really do have some gossip to share. Not least some of the trips out - A really not so good day (quite pricey too) and a trip which has me giddy with joy!

Speak soon

Jennie xx

Sun Suits And Series News

Mornin' All!

You've caught me in a particularly good mood this morning, not only did I not need to get out of bed until 7.45, but the sun is shining (still bleeping cold though). Oh and the best bit... Yesterday I had a rather marvellous idea (well, I think so!) and so I'm putting in a bit of time for research then I'll be able to host a rather fun blog series - I truly cannot wait, but in the meantime, research and knitting!

Speaking of knitting, I popped into a charity shop yesterday and picked up two patterns, one of which is this one...

Isn't it just lovely? The owner taped it up to keep it together, but it's still complete. I just couldn't resist that little face! The pattern I really fancy making is the one in the middle (on the right hand side) - One day maybe!

Note those little plucked eye brows - They could of course be natural, in which case I'm rather envious.

Right, back to it! Thank you for your knitting pattern orders, it's really wonderful to think that other people will get some use out of these patterns too.

I'll be popping back soon with some knitting - I've finished half of it, now I'm about to start on the second. Which reminds me, I must order some wool so I can finish!

And then the new series which should be along next month or so!

Ta-Ra Chuck!

Jennie xx

P.S. Ma's camera packed up the other week and is beyond repair, so she's thinking of getting a GE X400 - Does anyone know if they're any good?

The Charming Pattern Shop Is Open

'Noon

So, how you diddling?

Big news day. You may well know about my knitting pattern collection and the amount of room it takes up, well Ma has nagged me for a long time to do something about it. We compromised on the idea of me selling copies... That was about 3 years ago, well, after a request for a few patterns the other day I finally decided that's now's the time.

However, Sally Scanner wouldn't talk to Larry Laptop, so I thought about doing some photocopies. It was a Saturday. Many of you may be aware that in many small towns out this way, shops are closed on Saturdays, at least in the afternoons. So the printing place was closed and I was feeling glum. So I decided to just go and get a new scanner, so off to one of those big retail places that I hate so much as they're ruining the high street.

I came home with a Scanner/Printer/Copier which was almost half price and after setting it up - Less than an hour! - I was good to go.

I've now been spending all my free time scanning patterns and PDF-ing them. I've bearly touched the mountain, but I'm having fun with my new toy.

So should you wish to purchase a PDF of one of my many patterns, I have a "shop" page at the top of this blog (under the banner). That just a few patterns in, but I'll be adding to the page and also setting up a proper shop, maybe Etsy?

But in the meantime, if there's anything you're looking for, do say and I'll get my mountaineering equipment on and go off and take a look for you.

Anyway, to new adventures!

Jennie xxx

How Many Inches Did You Get Over The Weekend?

A proper Good Morning, I'm now feeling bright and breezy thanks to Lucy... Thank you!

So now I'm getting to grips with Picasa Web Albums - Yet another thing I will struggle to use and will probably forget how to by next week! But never the less, let us enjoy this blog, it's been in the pipeline since Friday, and it's such a relief to be writing it and knowing that the chances of adding snaps is very high!

So... A bit of the white stuff (snow!) of Wednesday evening just to remind us what it looked like, then I awake not-very-bright and early (7am, I ask you!) on Friday to discover we were snowed it - Glorious stuff!

Charlie was not best pleased, but at least he was warm in front of the Rayburn!

It's just started snowing again, just as it looked like it was melting away - When do I call Ma to inform her to get back home? I'll leave it a bit, it's still light and not sticking. Anyway, Friday morning, there were a few inches, about five or six, and then it continued!

This was about 8am on Friday, just before the farmer down the lane called on us to make sure we were alright - Bless.

The weekend as a whole was wonderful though. Hunkered down in front of the woodburner watch Pride & Prejudice (with Colin Firth thank you very much, the only version worth watching!) and also North & South, with the delectable Richard Armitage, swoon! That accent gets me every time, by 'eck it does!

And as a thank you to dear Lucy, who saved this blog and my sanity, here's some knitty news:

I've been knitting a 1937 something, it's day 14 today and I'm loving the pattern, the instructions are easy to follow and the wool is lovely - But it feels so slow! I've completed the back, and I'm half way up the left front - Bet you don't know what it is! But I'll add one more thing, I had to knit in a pocket, which provides me with endless joy (yes, really!). But I'm not even half way done, there's loads to knit and a few more balls of wool to buy.

But here's a picture of the pattern. The colour is gorgeous on the photo, but it's not true! It's actually a claret (between a deep red and brown), not the purple it appears to be. But nice detail?

So that's me done for the day, I'll be finishing up my hot chocolate and hoping for enough snow to keep me indoors with Middlemarch, Emma or Wuthering Heights - Decisions!

Keep warm and take care

Jennie xxx