Sunday 21 August 2016

SUNDAY CATCH UP

Well the clearing out is going slower than the arriving... but it is happening. I've not sorted out any more doll related items to sell lately but have made a start on the bigger items of furniture and possessions.

We are really doing two things at once, clearing out what we no longer need or have room for and also getting in the things we need for the changes about to happen. So the new radiator for the bathrooms arrived and the wood etc for the new front porch and internal walls will be arriving on Monday. all of which we are having to find places to store.

Paul re sanded the top of the new pine kitchen table and gave it a coat or two of oil and finally it was time to bring it into the kitchen. A simple task you think, no first we had to take apart our old kitchen table and then wash the kitchen floor so all was lovely and clean, then a trip into town to buy some new oil cloth to protect the table, since the oil cloth we had was far to small for the new table.

Then Paul and myself had to carry it from the carport through the back gate across the patio and in the french doors! It is very heavy and hard on the hands! But finally it was in place and it fit!

When we decided to get it two weeks back we forgot that little fact of making sure it was not too big! Paul is very good at knowing whether something will fit due to working with sizes all day and he said it would be fine but when it was delivered it looked so much bigger than I remembered!  Luckily the kitchen is a kitchen breakfast room so big but still we should have checked just in case!


 So here it is along with the new oil cloth.


I was just about to buy the same blue with white spots that I'd had before but the blue did not really match the cupboard doors, when I saw this atlas cloth and decided to go with this instead.


Functional and also educational at the same time!!


Plus the sea blends with the cupboard doors really well! So a good result. However being a lovely big table and our last table being under half the size we only had four pine chairs to go round it ! So off we went back to the place we bought it and purchased another four chairs, we bought two chairs back with us and will collect the other two today. It will save us when family or friends come from having an assortment of chairs gathered from around the house to seat everyone.

Now today I am going to clear out lots of my bed linen..... I hope .... does anyone else have lots of bed linen more than they would ever need but in such perfectly good condition you cannot bring yourself to give away to charity or recycle? Well I am hoping by the end of today I will own only what I truly need ...... I tried this last weekend and only had three fitted sheets in the get rid of pile and a cupboard full to over flowing!

Now a few dolls left but a few dolls have arrived ! None of which are Sasha's so you won't be that interested. However I have purchased a couple of items of Sasha clothing which is going to arrive next week, so will show off the things I am keeping as a couple of them are for the raffle at the Chat n Snap in October.

Well I'll report on if I managed to clear out most of the bedding etc next Sunday, the weather here today is glorious, windy ( I love the wind) but bright and sunny too! So hoping you all have a great week ahead, I'm off to sort linens....


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15 comments:

  1. A LOT of BIG spending happening over there then! All looking good and colour co-ordinated! looking like you are still planning some big family gatherings? NO downsizing in this department then?
    I've never owned a table oil cloth as have never had a kitchen table as such, only ever having a dining table in a separate dining or dining /living room... as my kitchens have never been big enough (plus tend to usually be cluttered with piles of dishes/pans waiting to be hand washed...as I hate the loading and empting of dish washers!) ...but have to admit that your new one looks very educational and, as you know, I'm very keen on education!!!

    Not sure that I like the sound of 'OTHER' dolls coming in, being only a Sasha Doll lover. Hope that there isn't going to be a time in the future when the 'Sasha' word from the 'Sasha Village' will have to be removed!

    Can't say that I've never had excess bedding linen as have only ever had ONE duvet cover (as always use a flat top sheet between this and the fitted sheet so that the duvet doesn't require washing on a weekly basis as it’s such a struggle to get it back on with my hands) and just TWO sets of sheets/pillow-cases to each bed (clean set on as the other comes off to be washed)...due to a lack of storage space...and maybe the extensive Sasha spending!!! Well one has to get one's priorities right!

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    1. It's true a Lot! That's because it the year of the house! and it's finally going to get a few things finished.
      We need a large table due to having three daughters two of them having partners, so if everyone's here that's seven for dinner and if the eldest brings her step son along that's eight! a full table.
      Paul uses the dinning room to work in, so we only put table in there on certain occasions.it is a very educational oil cloth I should learn a lot! :)
      Sasha Village will always be for my Sasha's, my other dolls have their own website although on occasion the odd one or two may appear to help with a story line.
      Being a lover of fabric bedding is just another way of indulging that love , so I have quite a few duvet covers bought over the years and since I always like the quality makes , they are still just like new. But there really are too many sheets and I could maybe move a couple of quilt covers on.. just need to cut that particular fabric loving cord..... and there's always the fact that I could buy another if I find once they've gone I'm running short..... ;)

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  2. What a gorgeous look! I am struggling not to be envious as we have taken to calling our little abode Grot Hall recently.
    The map tabe cloth will be wonderful for Lucas to play on. It reminds me of those road and farm play mats my children had in their bedrooms. Jake would have loved a map one even more. He was a pirate fanatic long before anyone had heard of Jack Sparrow and had tiny galleons that could have sailed on it!

    I am trying to get my mother to part with bed linen. Oh dear, she's a hoarder of ancient sheets that were sides-to-middled in WWq and nobody would CHOOSE to sleep on, bedspreads that haven't seen the light of day in decades and duvet covers that don't fit her duvet!
    My own downfall is the pillowcases my two grandmothers made and either embroidered or enhanced with deep lace of their own making too. They are pure cotton, cool and beautiful, even if I do have to starch and iron them. Oh and the linen and the twill sheets too. I'm old fashioned when it comes to bedding - still do blankets and eiderdowns.....I am not of this century! But, apart from the children's bedding when they were young, I've never actually bought any - the old stuff lasts forever. What I'd LOVE would be a proper linen cupboard to store it in neatly, with sprigs of our lavander to perfume it. But I'd probably fill any such cupboard with Sashas, if I had one!

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    1. Done it again - clicked to publish without proofreading.WWq? It was meant to be WW2. Ignore the other errors too - I'm remarking A Level papers next week, and I'm so glad I opted only for geography this year and left the English to someone who notices such mistakes....

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    2. The kitchen/breakfast room is south facing so we gets lots of wonderful sunshine which brightens the room wonderfully.
      I have to confess I'd not thought of Lucas using the atlas cloth for play, but a very good idea ! :)

      If my sheets and pillow cases were family heirlooms they'd be staying but they are , the sheets at least, just those bought over the years to go with different bedroom schemes, so it's time for the lemon and blue ones that have seen better days or even not to move on. Now the duvet/quilt covers will be harder to part with as I love them all and they are good quality and just as new, but if i'm not using them and don't need quite so many.. well I do need them gone.. I'm selling my linen cupboard Jenni, it's very big and well made.... I once took the doors off the top and used it for my Sasha's ....
      I saw a lovely duvet cover in John Lewis today...
      I won't worry about typing mistakes I make them all the time because I forget to check before I press publish/comment! :)xx

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  3. Oh well done! Your new kitchen table looks fabulous and I love that cloth so much! Good luck with the rest of the work going as smoothly as this all did.
    And I think this must be the 'Year of the Clear Out' I have been doing the same here myself all summer.
    All my spare sheets, sheets that have been sides-to-middled (I have those too Jenann) duvet covers and towels are in a pile in the conservatory waiting for me to get a new car and take them to my local zoo. The great apes are always in need of new bedlinen so the zoo is always just so grateful to get them.

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    1. Thanks Jane. I so hope it goes as smoothly too! I wonder if it is the year of the big clear out as there are a few of us out there it would appear.
      I wonder what the great apes use them for? I can just seen them patiently folding them from corner to corner and making a pile , then unfolding them and starting again!
      I take my old towel's to the vets who always need them.

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    2. At the end of the day you can see the chimpanzees making really comfy nests with them......taking their time to get rid of any creases or folds. And then when everything is perfect, they snuggle down in them for the night. I love watching them do this *happy sigh*

      And I hadn't though of the local vet needing towels (I don't have pets) so thank you for that. The next lots of old towels I get will go to my local vets.

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    3. That's sounds a wonderful thing to see ! I wonder if all zoo with apes in have sheets for them to bed down in?
      There is always a sign in my vets asking for old towels.I'm sure your local vet would love to receive any you no longer need.

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  4. Your kitchen diner looks lovely - French farmhouse I think. The first photo with the light coming in is so pretty.
    We too have been having a clearout - my son finally decided he could get rid of old toys and school notes. You don't mention if your girls still store their stuff with you so I assume they cleared them out long ago.
    I no longer have my grandmother's sides to middle sheets nor the ones made from flour bags - thank goodness, you can get a rash from sleeping on those! But I think I have a box of ancient curtains somewhere, can't think there's any point in storing those any longer.
    I have a mental image of Jane's apes all tucked up in bed - that'll amuse me all day!

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    1. Thank you Rosie. The light is always great in that room.
      It's half the battle if others in the house decide to also have a clear out! I have to confess , it's me that keeps their old school work and paintings and reports! lol
      And I'm sure there are things, toys etc , belonging to them in the loft but I'm leaving that area for a year or two ,there's more than enough down here to deal with!
      It's funny what linens, curtains etc that we keep in case they come in handy but they rarely do! I found my old front door curtain,we've been here eleven years and it's never been put up but it's now two small for the new to be door, so that will join the pile to leave.
      I love that image of the apes all snug in Jane's sheets dreaming of... dolls... lol

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  5. Dee, I love your new table! It is so nice and big and welcoming! I especially love the atlas oil cloth and would love to have one too. I have always favored maps both reading them and decorating with them. A great step in your re-decorating direction. :) xxx

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    1. Thank you Ginger, it definitely looks a good place to hang out with friends and family :) I was so pleased to find the atlas oil cloth. Maps are such fascinating things to read and explore.
      It's ice to actually see it starting, just need to keep it going! :) xxx

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  6. The kitchen looks great with the new table Dee, and I love the new oilcloth (I nearly typed 'loincloth' then!!!!) I like anything with maps.
    xxx

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    1. Thanks Sharon :) Mmmm Loincloth.... maybe a little small ;) xx

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