~Charity Shop Find and Tea!~

I know all us thrifty types have had a moan about charity shops that have had a retail make-over (usually involves installation of laminate flooring and a dubious 'vintage' rail) with their bizarre pricing structure and lack of real bargains.  However, in my usual *glass half full* way, I don't believe they're all the same; I have discovered the best finds are found in independent, local charity shops.  My latest thrifty find was from one such place, which I will share so long as you keep it quiet!
'It's Donated' is an independent charity shop that is absolutely packed full of treasures and well worth a visit if you're in York.  It's in 'The Groves' a residential area near St. John's Uni and the Hospital.  I think it's closed on Wednesdays.

Image from www.192.com

It's Donated, Lowther Street, York, North Yorkshire YO31 7NB

  01904 689689 

 I bought a book, a vintage piece of children's fabric and this  Bodum Assam Tea Press, in great condition, £2...I'm so pleased as new ones cost £24.

At my Macmillan event my friend S bought me this loose leaf tea from a gorgeous shop in London...
So tonight I'll try my  lovely Earl Grey Blue Flower tea from Camellia Sinensis www.camelliasteahouse.com which is a tea room and retail shop off Carnaby Street.
S is a very accomplished lace-maker, crocheter (is that a word?) and knitter.  Here is one of two tea cosies she donated to my Macmillan raffle...

Tea cosy expertly knitted by friend S. which was a raffle prize at my
Macmillan coffee morning - sadly I didn't win *sob*

(Oooh and another couple of good charity shops in York are the RSPCA one in Gillygate and the Salvation Army one on the corner of Gillygate, opposite Lord Mayor's walk...)
Back soon hopefully, as life is a bit manic,
Take care x

~York Minster Trip~

As part of her A level Textiles, daughter L is currently looking at the 800 celebrations in York (1212 - 2012) and has chosen to explore stained glass patterns, so on a (very) rainy Saturday morning we tootled off into York. Not living more than 45 minutes from York for all of my 42 years,  I am ashamed to admit I have never been in the Minster before, so I was quite excited...
  An entry fee has been payable for the last few years (although free to York residents).  This caused a bit of a hoo-ha when it was introduced as previously it was free to look around.  After visiting you do realise the enormous amount of renovation and upkeep that is ongoing (currently the Great East Window is removed for years of releading and cleaning) and I think £9 to visit the Minster and Chapter House was more than worth it.  We took advantage of one of the free guided tours, in a small group of 6, with one of the knowlegeable volunteer Minster guides.  This was brilliant for L, with lots of history, facts, figures and explanations about the stained glass windows...

                                           

                                                     The Great West Window known as 'Heart of Yorkshire'
                                       with the Semaphore Saints below

The Rose Window above the South Door
commemorating the union of York and Lancaster
and the start of the Tudor dynasty

Our 2 hour visit was also accompanied by the beautiful rehearsal of a choir and concert orchestra as there was  a Jubilee concert on Saturday night.

What a fantastic experience and very calming and uplifting it was too!

When we were soaked and in need of a hot chocolate we visited a little cafe behind the Minster on College Street; The Vanilla Cafe, where you can sit outside in Summer (haha if only) The sideways rain forced us inside - it's one of those places where you walk in and think 'oooh I wish this shop was mine!'

Illy coffee and Crystal teabags, homemade food and cakes, homemade cards, bunting and gifts...

Gorgeously decorated with floral wallpapers and green paint...

Vintage china for sale...

Even the loo had my favourite Cath Kidston wallpaper!

Good prices for a City Centre cafe too- there are a couple of additional rooms upstairs too with a sofa and lovely vintage floral pictures on the walls. Very nicely done. I will be back!

The Vanilla Cafe

Open every day from 10am

12 College Street

York YO1 7JF

~Time for Tea - March event~

So sorry for my prolonged absence - virus and problems with the PC, the screen took to switching itself off until it finally went *kaput* today.  We have no pennies to replace it sadly, it's an ancient 8 years in PC land, so OH has frugally rigged up a TV as a new display screen.
 Hope everyone is well - it will take me some time to catch up with my favourite blogs; but thankfully it's the Easter hols! Spring cleaning and sorting out cupboards and wardrobes beckons...
My tea event last weekend (24th March) went very well, 8 guests attended, 7 ladies and 1 gent, including some lovely ladies met via Twitter, Clandestine Cake Club and Blogland (you know who you are - thankyou for the lovely company!)
The menu had an Easter and Spring theme...

Welcome drinks - Yorkshire Forced Rhubarb, Orange & Ginger Cordial (Country Cordials, Hovingham)

Sandwiches - Fountain's Gold cheese with Caramelised Onion & Rhubarb Chutney (Bracken Hill Fine Foods, York)

Jo's Special Cucumber sandwiches

Savouries - Homemade spicy sausage rolls

Cakes - Lemon Layer Cake with homemade lemon curd

and passion fruit cream

Fruit scones, clotted cream & homemade red berry jam

Chocolate macaroons

Mini simnel cakes

Unlimited tea and coffee  



Mini-Simnel cakes - with 5 balls of marzipan as I couldn't fit 11 on!



Amaretti Chocolate macaroons



All that was left of the lemon layer cake decorated with crystallised primroses

 I am now having a break in my tea events until September when it will be an informal gathering for Macmillan fundraising - date to follow if you'd like to attend.
I have lots of exciting things to share over the next week, including swapping my car for a bigger engine/diesel model that - yay!- is able, and hopefully will very soon, be towing a caravan!Hurrah! Lots of vintage finds too to share, and some projects I have managed to get finished!

~Time for Tea - Feb event~

Yesterday's afternoon tea theme was Berries, Cherries and love, in honour of Valentine's Day. 6 ladies (and one baby nephew) sat down to tea at 2pm, following a welcome drink of homemade pink lemonade.

The table theme was red, with gingham and roses cloths, matching vintage china and table gifts of mini-heart candles. Have used a photo of the table setting for my new header - I used L's swanky camera and did a bit of editing with special effects. Her camera is tons better than mine!

I was ably assisted by daughter L and best friend J in the tea-making and serving of the cakey delights...

I made some mini-bunting for the cherry and almond cake.  The double choc brownies with macadamia nuts were lovely.  My favourites were the homemade jammie dodgers, which turned out really well and were yummy. I added some custard powder to the mix, which made them a lovely yellow colour.  I sieved homemade raspberry jam for the filling.

Next event is in March, with a Spring themed menu (yet to be decided on!).
Some of my guests brought me a thoughtful gift of rhubarb from the Rhubarb Festival in Wakefield, which Anne at Marmalade and Catmint posted about yesterday. A bunch of Oldroyd's rhubarb tied with green ribbon - more attractive and delicious than flowers I think!

I'll be making a crumble with it on Monday morning. Thankfully I've got a day off on Monday to catch up with domestic stuff that has accumulated over the last busy week.

~Time for Tea - Jan event~

Six ladies sat down to tea today, for a lovely afternoon where we all tried (hard) to forget about diets just for a couple of hours...
Thankyou to all who attended and of course J for her help and donning her trusty apron again! Guests included Anne from Marmalade & Catmint blog, who has taken some photos and posted on her blog too here... Thankyou for the tulips Anne, seen on my new header, and also the wine encased in a cosy garter-stitched jumper!
The table was set with a red and green theme, using some of my favourite china and linens, including this Woods ware green cup and saucer.  Thankyou to Teapigs tea for their support too - guests took some teabags home too, along with polka dot packets of veggie seeds and leftover cake.

The theme was 'Comfort Food', so I had to include my favourite nostalgic treat - Battenburg!

Also a very rich Brownie Cake...

I ended up substituting Yorkshire Fountain's Gold cheese for Swaledale, also from Yorkshire and still as tasty with the green tomato chutney.

Looking forward to February's event - time to get my thinking cap on!

~Secret Dining Tearooms & Supperclubs~

 Time For Tea @ Lavender Attic, my pop-up tearoom is taking place on

 Saturday Jan 21st 2pm - theme Comfort Food

also Saturday Feb 25th 2pm

and Sat 24th March 2pm

I seat 8 at each event. For availablility and tickets (£12) visit the supperclub website here or click on the link on my blog sidebar.

You can attend as a lone diner, or in pairs or groups; all that's needed is a willingness and desire to meet and chat with fellow guests and enjoy sandwiches, savoury treats and cakes.  I create a lovely relaxed and nostalgic atmosphere with vintage china and linen, fairy lights, bunting and music.  

As I've written before, I'm a member of http://www.supperclubfangroup.ning.com/ where you can locate all the secret supperclubs and tearooms around the UK and beyond. This growing phenomenon is a fab way to eat excellent food for a reasonable price if you are at least a bit adventurous and like meeting people, and having a nosey at other peoples houses!  People that attend are usually like-minded foodies who are secret-dining their way around Yorkshire and beyond. The OH and I attended Dinner at The Manor in Leeds prior to Christmas for a Delia-Christmas food night, which was our first supperclub visit, and turned out to be a real treat. We bumped into Jini, who I'd met previously at Clandestine Cake Club. I never got round to writing about it before Christmas, but there's a good review of the evening and photographs of the food, which was delicious, (especially the broccoli soup and the pheasant terrine!) on Jini's blog - The Munchy Medic. Jini also explains a bit more about how supperclubs operate.
Tonight the OH and I are zipping over to York for an Italian-inspired meal at The Tin Duck Supperclub including beef shin ragu with homemade pappardelle and plum and almond tart with vanilla mascarpone cream. I promise I will take my camera and write about our evening. I am driving but the OH will be taking a nice bottle of wine to enjoy.

~Thrifty weekend & joining a knitting circle~

I've really tried to cut down on my food shopping bill - which is hard with a hungry OH and 2 growing children-  but I do try to take on board all the fab advice from frugal and thrifty blogs.  I'm not brand-loyal or supermarket-loyal; for a big stock-up shop I just go where's convenient at any one time, or as I see special offers.  However, for the last month I've had Sainsbury's vouchers for £8 off a £40 shop each week.  I've used the voucher every Saturday and have concentrated on spending as near to £40 as possible, on some fresh items, staples such as tins of beans and tomatoes and also Christmas food & wine that has been on offer. I've used the local Sainsbury's in Tadcaster, which is only small but costs me less in petrol.
On the Christmas pressie front, I've used my Boots Advantage card points to pay for aftershave to give as a present. I'm still on with my knitting too...if I know you and you're female, then you're either getting a homemade teacosy...



Another Christmas Pud cosy made from leftover wool, machine sewn felt holly leaves and felted holly berries.
On a vintage thrifted teapot.

 ... or wristwarmers (I've made a few pairs now).  Also this weekend in the supermarket frozen raspberries were 3 packs for £5, 1.2kg in weight. With a 1kg bag of jam sugar and 300ml of port, I've made lovely festive jam, by the method I've blogged about before,  in the microwave - quick and easy.    It made 6 and a half small jars which will be presents too.

I also resisted the temptation to shop, albeit at a Vintage Fair in Leeds.  Even though I love this particular fair I stopped myself by thinking about the cost of petrol, frosty roads, needless spending on stuff etc. 
Instead I did something good for the soul and went along to a knitting circle whilst I was in Tadcaster, at Needlecase . I'd chanced across this lovely wool and craft shop last month...

Needlecase is run by Jean and Judith, who are mother and daughter, and are passionate about knitting and needlework.  They also offer crochet and knitting workshops see here.

 Lots of lovely yarns and patterns, plus haberdashery, kits and craft supplies, and some ready knitted items to buy...

I had a lovely chat, cake and cup of tea and did a fair bit of knitting (only went wrong once because I was nattering) and will definitely go again.

Needlecase Limited,
22 Kirkgate, Tadcaster LS24 9AD
01937 830 422 
Open 9.30 - 3.30.  Closed Wed and Sun.

~Fat Quarter Giveaway~

After a busy week last week I finally managed to finish off my Christmas pudding tea cosy.  As I knitted it in moss stitch, it hung off the teapot like a poor-fitting frock in need of support.  Foundation garments in the way of wadding and lining were needed! I bought this 1940s fabric at a Vintage Fair, and have wondered what to do with it as I didn't want to waste it. So it now has a purpose - keeping my Christmas brew warm.

I'm hoping it will become a tradition to get it out every year. Maybe it will become a family heirloom!

Anyway, Giveaway time again - this time it's fabric from my stash.

To enter the draw to win a fat quarter of pretty craft fabric, please leave a comment below before 10pm on Friday 18th November, stating which fabric you'd like...

Navy sprigged cotton (left) ...or the cotton lawn (right)

P.S. Good luck all!

P.P.S. Many thanks and welcome to all the followers of my blog x

~Time for Tea anyone?~

I hope you will forgive me a bit of blatant self-promotion! I'm not sure whether you've gathered I have a healthy appetite for all things bakey-cakey, vintage china, fairy lights and doilies...Maybe you've read about my 'Time for Tea' underground tearoom events before here & here and also about attending Clandestine Cake Club here.
I'm a member of http://www.supperclubfangroup.ning.com/ where you can locate all the secret supperclubs and tearooms around the UK and beyond. This is my avatar below if you have time for a look...

a thrifted teapot with a handknitted cashmerino wool tea cosy!

I would love to welcome you into my home for my 2012 events. I have tickets for 3 dates available - Saturday Jan 21st 2pm

Saturday Feb 25th 2pm

Sat 24th March 2pm

I can seat 8 at each event. You can book tickets via the supperclub website or click on the link on my homepage.

A great place to read about the growing popularity of secret dining clubs is Kerstin Rodgers' book SupperClub - Recipes and Notes from The Underground Restaurant

I did wonder whether it would be a lovely opportunity to meet up with some of you out there in blog-land; a kind of bloggers AGM perhaps?!?

You can attend as a lone diner, or in pairs or groups; all that's needed is a willingness and desire to meet and chat with fellow afternoon tea guests, and of course, a love of CAKE!

~Great minds think alike!~

Anne, a colleague of mine from a few years ago who keeps in touch, has a lovely new blog called Marmalade & Catmint, which I know some of you have already visited. Reading Anne's posts about vintage treasures (I love it Anne, you blog just like you're talking to me - fab!) I realised we must both be feeling nostalgic at the moment. I read a bit further and realised - crikey - Anne had made this...


Anne's Tea Cosy

This Christmas Pud Tea Cosy is for S (I think she will be very pleased!)  Read about it here

So what do you think...strange but true I finished this 2 days ago...



My Tea Cosy for Christmas tea drinking



Great minds think alike!

~Nostalgia - Dylon Dye~

The last time I used Dylon Dye was in the 1980s when I dyed all my clothes black (even the black ones) during my obligatory teenage goth years.  It's been around since 1946 but appears to have been given a revamp and relaunch see http://www.dylon.co.uk/  I came across it in a local shop, and bought a few packs.
The colours have all been 'sexed up' with more appealing names and package designs...

Dylon Handwash Dye - I paid £3.35

 I set to work dyeing doilies Powder Pink and Tulip Red - so many not-quite white crochet doilies languishing in my sewing room...time for a bit of make do and mend!
Best results are on cotton, linen and viscose, with a paler colour take on other fabrics. (I also dyed a thermal vest, which has turned out a lovely pale pink).

I prefer the Tulip Red result; very seasonal doilies I think...

But the Powder Pink is very pretty too...

They'll brighten up the table when I host next year's Time for Tea events.

If you're not familiar with the Underground Dining & Tearoom movement visit http://www.supperclubfangroup.ning.com/

~Time for (afternoon) Tea - 2nd event! for Macmillan ~

What a busy weekend...After baking on a hot Friday afternoon I welcomed very generous guests to my kitchen (and garden) where we had alfresco tea and cakes, with all proceeds from the afternoon tea and the raffle going to Macmillan Cancer Relief. I loved the Fountains Gold  cheese sandwiches with homemade (and homegrown) green tomato chutney. Dry cure ham sandwiches were delicious with homemade piccalilli too...Fine Yorkshire fayre!

St. Clements drizzle cake with candied lemon peel...

Mini Victoria sponges...

Scones with cream & local tayberry jam and cherry bakewells...

Pretty vintage china...

Crocheted doilies in pinks and greens...

A lovely time was had by all - and we raised £130.86 for Macmillan.

Many thanks to my friends, family and work colleagues, and special thanks to my lovely friend J for helping on the day and being prepared to wear an apron and a flower in her hair!