Ridgeway Cottage anyhow

Discovering Shopping Lives , a blog which simply concerns itself with found shopping lists, has had quite a profound effect on me. It was possibly intensified by a chat with my sprightly neighbour (age 76) and her quaintly old fashioned view of life. She talked of going into town to get out of the house and how meeting or visiting friends takes up a good part of  the day. She lives alone in the house she was brought up in which was bought as a new build by her father in the 1930s. Just like the author of Shopping Lives I wonder about the lives of the writers of shopping lists and can't help but think that many must belong to ladies who were raised in a different era. My Grandmother would not dream of going shopping without a list and one of her collection of shopping bags. Then today in a charity shop I discovered a little thing that I felt was so poignant and representative of these ladies of the past that I had to buy it for the princely sum of 1p. It's no secret that I ha...

It's been a day of firsts. I have been feeling a little bit under the weather and after being sick this morning I did not want to sit in the car for hours. So my husband and children have gone to visit my family without me. This did make me so sad but as there was nothing I could do about it, I thought I would just do my best to enjoy having time completely to myself. I have never been alone in the house over night. People have been away and I've been away but I have never had the whole place to myself for the whole night. I've finally got to grips with instagram and how the liking and the following and the whole thing works. I even got my first ever like which was so exciting. I'm guessing it's pretty addictive. Who should I follow? Where do I find people who love the same things as me? I think I still need a bit of help. And for the first time ever, an ironing board has been the object of my desire. I don't think that it even crossed my mind that ironing...

This really is a simple way to turn some cheap earrings into something much more special. They can be made in less than an hour to match a new outfit, would make a lovely present and totally support my reuse, reinvent, relove philosophy. You will need: A crochet hook Some beautiful yarn Cheap hoop earrings (I got mine in the TopShop sale for a very reasonable price) A needle to sew in the ends of the yarn The method is exactly the same as the method for the crochet bangles that I made here . I might even get my little film maker to help me make a quick video later. Watch this space. Anyhow back to the earrings and how they turned out because I forgot to take photos whilst I was making them because they really were that quick to make. If you would like to buy these earrings, please check out the listing in my Shop   I would love it if you could leave a comment. Please give it a go, I'm working on making it easier and it really does make ...

By the time it comes to tea time on most days, my brain has pretty much turned to mush. What with getting up early, work and the battle of the school run, I am not really capable of any in depth thought, even after a cup tea. That "What's for tea?" question used to give me a bit of a panic attack but then I sorted out a menu planner. I wouldn't say that I was exactly qualified to give good mummy advance but when you have an eating machine like my Charlie, being a little bit organised seriously reduces the amount of stress. If they want to know what is for tea, I look on the fridge and that is what's for tea, no discussion, no negotiation and no arguing and because my husband is such a complete star and does the shopping, everything I need to cook what the fridge tells me, is in fact in the fridge. There is a little bit more to it than that, like deciding what meals are going to go in the menu planner and writing the shopping list, but I am so grateful to have the ...

Last night was our first general meeting for the Jubilee WI and there alongside almost 100 like minded women, I felt utterly proud to belong to an organisation that has been running for close to 100 years. As part of last nights refreshments team,to be pouring tea from an over sized brown enamel tea pot through a serving hatch in what I feel I know must call my WI dress filled me with such a sense purpose and belonging, that I truly wished my beloved Grandma could have been there. There were two lovely lady speakers and although I appreciate the necessity of reading the minutes of the formation meeting, it did not capture my imagination or heart, like the history f the WI speech by . In particular, the story of one of the founders Adelaide Hoodless. The love a mother has for their child is one of those things that simply bonds mothers around the world and that devasting heartbreak of loosing a child is a heavy weight that never lightens. Just knowing that she lost her own son who wa...

Last night was our first general meeting for the Jubilee WI and there alongside almost 100 like minded women, I felt utterly proud to belong to an organisation that has been running for close to 100 years. As part of last nights refreshments team,to be pouring tea from an over sized brown enamel tea pot through a serving hatch in what I feel I know must call my WI dress filled me with such a sense purpose and belonging, that I truly wished my beloved Grandma could have been there. There were two lovely lady speakers and although I appreciate the necessity of reading the minutes of the formation meeting, it did not capture my imagination or heart, like the history f the WI speech by . In particular, the story of one of the founders Adelaide Hoodless. The love a mother has for their child is one of those things that simply bonds mothers around the world and that devasting heartbreak of loosing a child is a heavy weight that never lightens. Just knowing that she lost her own son who wa...

It's not often that I get to write about a finished project, especially one that has taken me so many months like a quilt and then delete the whole post accidentally whist trying to link it to a linky party. I am pretty new to the whole linky party idea but I do get so many ideas from my time spent perusing other people's blogs that I thought it might be nice to give a little back. I loved making this quilt and I think the main reason is because it is for my lovely Josie. Every scrap that I have used has been part of another project or came from a bag of scraps that we picked up at a quilt exhibition last summer. Every tiny bit is a memory and the squares I embroidered along the top and bottom are moments captured in time; Josie's hand print from when I started the project, the hop scotch that is chalked on our path and washed of by the rain and even the sandcastle that I did at the beach. So it is with great thanks that Ican link to the inspiration for the q...

There is nothing more relaxing for me than wondering around a car boot sale looking for treasure. Car boot sales are one of the few places left, where you can guarantee to find products that  are "Made in England". It would be almost impossible to write about the decline of the British manufacturing industry without wandering where it all went wrong and who was to blame. However considering the political implications of these questions and because the purpose of this post is to be a celebration of "Made in England" as opposed to damnation of the rich and greedy corporations profiting by exploitation of the people who aren't protected by EU legislation........ I do actively seek out things that are "Made in England" because they should be saved and I am proud of our manufacturing heritage. After all for some of my teenage years, I lived in the Black Country where I went on school trips to learn about the role the local community had as the heart of th...