Here Comes the Sun.

It is impossible to describe just how much I LOVE Spring.

The sun is out and it feels wonderful. I spent most of the weekend outside firmly resisting doing anything much to the flowerbeds, it is just much too early.
The temptation when the sun shines and has some real warmth in it is to get stuck in, but by next week we could have thick frosts and cold winds and all those delicate plants you have exposed will be damaged, so the messy dead old growth is staying for now.

I did tidy the front garden which was an shameful mess and full of other peoples rubbish. I filled a whole carrier bag full with sweet wrappers, crisp packets and the like and it's only a tiny garden.
 As it happens the bag I conveniently found in the flowerbed so I thought I'd make use of it!  

Today I nipped down to the shops to get a new cold frame and doormat for by the back door. I then spent the rest of the afternoon pootling about outside, bliss. It was so lovely to get a whole line full of washing out too.

Other than that it's been a quiet week. We had a bit of drama when it seemed the boiler had conked out, thankfully anything gas based can only be fixed by a registered engineer. This meant the rental agency were able to send someone out the same day without having to go through the crazy fiasco of trying to get hold of the landlady in Italy, followed by her sending in her cousin, to decide when he finally bothers to show up that he can't fix the problem!
As it turned out it wasn't the boiler but the thermostat in the hall and the thermo-pump in the airing cupboard both breaking at the same time.

We went to see The Book Thief for orange wednesday. There were some seriously strange people seeing the film that night. One woman in particular caught my attention. She refused to let anyone else sit in the same row as her, spread herself out over 4 seats, and then spent half the film bringing containers of food out of her many bags and eating them quite noisily. She then gathered everything up and left! I swear she just came in to eat her dinner and not watch a film.

Anyway the film was brilliant and I highly recommend it.
It's about time the story of the average German got told too. Sometimes it feels like people think it was only the British who struggled and were bombed out of their homes, whilst the Germans sat back drinking champagne and giving evil laughs.
The average German struggled, starved and was bombed too, the vast majority didn't want the war at all, it's nice to see that story being told.

My Mum and Dad got married in the 60's and my Dad's family got sent anonymous hate mail when it was found out my Mother was German. Yet the true story was my Mum's family lived in a tiny village on the Dutch border, indeed half the family were Dutch.
The horrors and deprivation they suffered you cannot begin to imagine, yet as far as those haters were concerned, she was the enemy scum and should be strung up even 20 plus years after the war had ended. Nice.

Anyway on a happier note I did a little shopping last week!

A vintage style frock for 99p plus postage. I took a punt on it as the picture was really out of focus and I'm very glad I did, all it needs is a good wash and press.

A Hello Kitty shopping bag for a fiver. result.

Now anyone who has read my blog for any length of time knows I love boiled eggs and all things to do with them. I spotted a fab brooch made from an old wooden jigsaw piece on Etsy and ended up buying a couple of others too.

The egg, elephant and sailor boy came from the same seller, beautifully wrapped and in a little handmade purse.

The swallow came from another seller, took forever to arrive, wasn't as well made and when it did finally arrive, came with a somewhat patronising note.
Now if the seller had bothered to check at all I have been a seller and a buyer on Etsy since 2010. I really don't think I need to be told, among other things, that by buying through Etsy I was actually  'supporting handmade in England companies' and therefore  'you are helping creatives and individuals' I felt like I was being patted on the head as I read it, and you can imagine the kind of voice I heard saying the words as I read it!