A Snowdrop walk at Brodsworth Hall

My WI had organised to meet at Brodsworth Hall to do a Snowdrop walk this morning, but the weather was so bad, that I decided to postpone my arrival until later in the day as I didn't want to get soaked.

By the time I arrived, the skies were blue and the weather was great for wandering around the gardens.
The hall is closed until Easter time, but you can look around the servants quarters, shop and the tea rooms are open too.
The topiary in the gardens ensure that there is enough interest at this time of year when flowers are few and far between.

It looks as if the snowdrops are all recent plantings - they are fairly longed stems ones.


I took my mum along with me and was surprised when she said that she hadn't been before. I promised to take her back when the house is open.





The grounds close at 4pm at the moment, so it was a bit of a dash round. It will be no hardship to go back another time though - and its only about 15 minutes from home.

Swishing at the WI

Last night 2 friends and I visited the very young and trendy Seven Hills WI in Sheffield. They were holding a swishing party - you can read all about it HERE

Success

Well today was the day of our first village fair - and it seems to have been a great success! I didn't get chance to wander around many of the other stalls, but I am assured that the quality was fabulous and most stall holders seem to have done well. We were blessed with great weather and we got a fair few visitors too.

Initially, I thought that I would have 50p, £1.00 and "Individually priced" tables for my Vintage/Bric-a-brac stall (we didn't have room for the handmade stuff in the end), but after a rethink, i decieded that everything would go for 50p - because, a - no one brings a lot of money to these kind of fairs and b - hubby threatened to leave me if it all ended up back in the garage again!
I love stalls like this - they are fab for people watching. Even when we got to the end of the day and were charging 10p for our quality goods, some people were still haggling! Anyway, I managed to raise over £96 for the WI so I think that they will be pleased.
I thought you might like to see that I was visited by characters from Toy Story too!
But the very best bit of my day was being visited by 3 bloggers/bloggy lurkers. Many many thanks to Carol, Mister D and Nic for turning up and saying hello. I already know Nic, and it was lovely to meet the other 2 in person. Thanks for making the effort to come - I really appreciated it. xxx

Our first village fair- and you are invited.

I don't do much crafting in Summer - I prefer to be outdoors exploring and making the most of the longer Summer days. However, I have indulged in a little bead work - since I became obsessed after a class at my W.I. group. My lovely bloggy friend Rosie had given me a great selection of Jewellery making paraphenalia when we met up, and this set me off making earrings.

I love earrings and feel naked if I leave the house without a pair.
Ive also found some lovely beads on my travels, and used some broken jewellery that I had too.

Don't forget that it is our village fair this Saturday - 3rd September. It's the first one that we have ever held, so I hope it will be a success. I am manning the W.I "Homemade & Vintage " stall - and I can promise you some excellent goodies at bargainous prices (it will all be priced to sell as hubby wants his garage space back!!!). Ive got loads of lovely very vintage china. One of the ladies has given me her Grans tea sets to sell - the lady who gave it to me is over 70 years old herself, so the set must be over a hundred years old! I have LOADS of gorgeous new fabric - some great Winter weight baby cord in lovely autumnal colours which I will be sellling for around £1 per piece - so you could end up with several metres for a £1!!! I have also got some vintage textiles, vintage jewellery, loads of books, some great kitchenalia, beautiful antiques etc etc The fair is to be held at Thorpe Hesley Community Centre which is right next to Holy Trinity Church, Sough Hall Road, Thorpe Hesley - Just off Junction 35 of the M1 motorway, and it opens at 12.30pm. I'd love to see you if you can make it - and bloggy pals get discount! xxx

A bad idea!

I have been "de-cluttering" my house - very unsuccesfully for the last few years. I am a hoarder. So why did I think it would be a good idea to organise the WI "Vintage and Homemade" Stall? I am like a kid in a sweet shop whenever someone gives me a box for the stall.

I think I shall be buying the green tea service!

And if hubby asks, I have had it yonks!

Bits and Bobs

A few pincushions made with some appropriate and very gorgeous linen. These will go on the WI stall at our village fete on 3rd September. If you are interested in coming along, let me know and I'll email you the details. FYI I am securing some amazing "vintage" items that I am pricing - "to sell". I already have lots of cut glass, vintage pearls (in their boxes) and the promise of 2 x 70 year old full tea services! You are not going to want to miss it! I thought I would show you my attempt at being a cartoonist. We had a visit from a talented cartoonist at our WI meeting last night and he didn't just talk at us, he gave us all a sketch pad and made us join in.

As you can see - I shan't be giving up the day job!

Male Stripper at the W.I.

I knew that would grab your attention!

Today, I attended the Spring Council meeting of the South Yorkshire federation branch of the Womens Institute. This was held in the gorgeous Art Deco hotel - The Earl of Doncaster, a fabulous building with some great Art Deco features.

We listened to some of the issues of the WI in our region which was a bit of an eye opener, and in part very humorous. A lot of it put me in mind of a Julie Walters sketch!
They had some great little stalls and I came away with a new chutney to try, a chocolate fudge cake and several 2nd hand books!

We had a very lovely lunch, and then it was on to the highlight of the event......

A talk by the wonderful Costume Historian, Gillian Stapleton entitled "Undressing Mr Darcy". Gillian has probably the best job in the whole world. She advises films about historical costumes, hand sews all the costumes for her talks, and gets to undress, garment by garment, the very lovely Mr Darcy - who on this occasion was even more handsome than Colin Firth. As well as being extremely funny and highly entertaining, the talk was historically educational. Gillian and her accomplice - who I think was called Oliver - read us passages from newspapers from the period and quotes from times too.

I couldn't get close enough to take great photos. He looked utterly magnificent in his costume and top hat......

but I stood up and threw caution to the wind when he got his kit off! Well, I have to keep my readers happy!!!

I am still very much in love with Mr Darcy.

Sadly, Gillian isn't doing anymore of this talk, but I would love to see the other talks she does.

A new obsession

I attended a jewellery making class organised by my W.I last night. I really enjoyed it. Apart from having a great natter with the ladies, I was really pleased with the results.

Only the fact that I had to start painting the kitchen kept me from visiting a local craft shop to purchase all the new equipment I need!!! Like I needed another hobby!