What I keep on my chest of drawers

It was reading a recent blog post by Beate HERE; where she showed a photo of her chest of drawers and what she kept on it; that inspired an idea for a blog round up of what we bloggers keep on our dressing tables and chests of drawers. I always find the bedrooms of people the most revealing when I look at interior design websites and photos - I do like a bit of interior design porn, I'm afraid! So, I'm sharing with you what I keep on my chest of drawers and hope you will join in and show yours!

This chest of drawers was bought in 2002 and has served me well. I'd love a dressing table; I've always wanted one but have never managed to find one with enough storage. I suppose I could put a free standing mirror on this one and turn it into a dressing table; but it would obstruct my earring display and reduce the space on top...which as you can see is already pretty cluttered.  I am so not a minimalist!

From the left hand side of the chest of drawers. Floral box; a Christmas present from my daughter.  I keep my post earrings in here, my watches, my jewellery pliers - good for fixing and customising earrings in particular; and a range of straps for my Fitbit. In front of it is a silver box bought at a car boot sale.  I keep all my real silver earrings in here; each in an individual pouch to stop them from tarnishing. The brush and mirror set was bought at Emmaeus for 1.00 a couple of years ago.  Behind it is a green earring display stand that I picked up quite recently in a charity shop. I keep my 'posh' earrings on here. They're a bit too dressy/sparkly for everyday; although I do wear the pearls quite frequently. 

The silver and glass tray was bought in the Red Cross Shop in town; and the Chinese lacquer box was a Christmas present from my daughter about 25 years ago. It's a jewellery box; I keep a couple of items in it that I inherited from my mum; along with a few kilt pins I found once on a rummage - I just need a kilt to pin them to! The two china bowls were charity shop finds.  In the smaller one I keep earring backs and in the larger bowl (from my Barnardo's) a small selection of dress rings.

The green glass box decorated with birds was a Christmas present from my eldest grandson some years ago. You can see the detail more clearly in the photo below. I keep the rest of my ring collection in it. Behind it, is a ceramic tray which commemorates the Chinese Pagoda from the 1909 International Empire Exhibition held in London. I found it in a charity shop; it's 111 years old this year. It used to be kept in the bathroom with tooth mugs on it; but I thought it would look better on my chest of drawers.

 On it are two plastic display hands (both charity shopped) with some of my rings.

 To the right of the photo is a 1950s or 1960s metal tray. I found it in the donations box at the 3:16 charity shop and replaced the base with some green spotted wrapping paper. I keep my perfumes on here and yes; several of them came from charity shops! The Estee Lauder 'Cinnabar';  'Eau Dynamisante' by Clarins;  Rock Rose by Valentino and the Estee Lauder 'Bronze Goddess'. You might just be able to make out a small gold topped bottle next to the Eau Dynamisante. That's an oil roll on version of the 'La Vie est Belle' and was a present from my son.  It has such longevity which I suppose is down to the oil. The rust/orange ball topped bottle is a perfume by Orla Kiely which I bought in a West Hampstead charity shop on my birthday trip to London in 2018. Very soon after buying it I dropped on the floor and the spray top bit has never worked properly since. I can only get a little out each time I use it and at this rate I 'll still have the bottle in ten years time! If anyone has any hints or tricks do let me know. I have removed the spray top bit and washed it thoroughly but it didn't solve the problem. The remainder of the perfumes were presents for birthdays and Christmas.  I love perfume and wear it every single day. Behind the tray of perfumes are OH's 2 boxes containing rings, cufflinks and his watches.

Two decorative empty perfume bottles (present from OH) sit behind the green bird box)

What you can't see beside the two perfume bottles is this silver plated portable ashtray which dates back to the 30s or 40s, I think. It was given to my mum by one of her clients when she was a home help in London so before 1972. In the second photo you can see the receptacle for the lit cigarette on the top and in the first photo the ashtray is closed. I have actually used this ashtray back in the days when I smoked. I gave up 14 years ago.

As you can see above  I have lots of hooks and racks for hanging my necklaces on - all bought in charity shops. The grid I use for the majority of dangly earrings; I bought from Argos about 10 years ago. It's supposed to be for hanging kitchen utensils on but I repurposed it! I want to draw your attention to the items on top of the Chinese Lacquer jewellery box. On the left is a piece of amethyst quartz; brought back from a school trip  to Dorset's Jurassic Coast by my eldest grandson when he was 9. On the right is this small silver box. It looks to have the initials HH or HAH inscribed on it.

My maternal grandparents emigrated to the USA in the 1920s; were married in Delaware, in 1926, but returned to Ireland in 1930 or 1931. This little box was bought there; but also sat on my granny's Rosewood Edwardian dressing table in the house in Ireland where my mum grew up; in Co. Leitrim. Can you guess what is in it?

This! 

According to my aunt; who gave it to me a few years ago, the rouge is the original one. She remembers it from her childhood and she's 80 this year.   I've even worn the rouge; but it's a bit waxy! An almost 100 year old pot of rouge belonging to my grandmother. It's among my most precious objects.  By the way, her initials aren't the ones on the rouge pot and I don't know what or who they signify. I'd love to know.

A jacket challenge and some other stuff...

I have a confession to make. I've been going to bed with another man for the past couple of weeks. I know, it's awful; but that's the way it is. His name is Thomas; Thomas Cromwell to be exact and he's the lead character in 'The Mirror and the Light' by Hilary Mantel. At 887 pages he's been keeping me company for a good while! Life at the Tudor court is simply fascinating...

To relieve the tedium that we're all facing  stuck at home; I thought I'd set myself a clothes challenge.  I've done dresses, tunics, maxis and skirts so that leaves jackets of which I have plenty. Currently there are 16 residing in my wardrobe - and there are several more stashed away with my summer clothes; I'll leave those until the summer; when I might repeat the challenges with my summer wear. Well, I've got to occupy myself somehow!

Just realised looking at these photos that petticoat under the skirt was not pulled down as far as it should have been - oops!

This skirt should have gone with the skirt challenge; but I bought it for 1.00 in the 3:16 charity shop when I had completed the challenge; and I was keen to wear it. It's by New Look. I had bought another tulle skirt  from a 1.00 rail back in the autumn; but it made me look like the Sugar Plum Fairy, (it was pale pink) so it got re donated. This one is a bit more grown up, I think.

Turquoise top 3.00 from a Stevenage charity shop and green and turquoise cardigan also charity shopped but goodness only knows where,

Shoes Primarni sale; 5.00 about two or three years ago.

All jewellery charity shopped except earrings from Sainsbury's.

I wore this outfit last Thursday. I went out to do my weekly food shop; I'll spare you the gory details only to say it took much longer than usual. Lidl had introduced rationing of essential items (biscuits? sweets? chocolates?) to a maximum of 2 each. I got everything I needed; but I did have to visit several shops to do so - including my local shop. I went into to town to run a couple of errands in the afternoon; mainly for the library. Everywhere was open except a couple of cafes. I saw an interesting crochet book in Oxfam's window so I went in and bought it! 

You might remember I was meant to lead a walk on Wednesday 18th. At about 4pm on the 17th the Ramblers decided to suspend all walks and walk related activities until the end of May. I had to go to the walk start on Wednesday in case anyone turned up and 5 people did. We decided to go for a walk, not as part of the Ramblers; but as a group of friends. We did 8 miles; saw the curly haired pigs and enjoyed mild, if grey weather.

On Friday, I met up with a couple of friends in Cambridge and we walked (at the required distance)  from Cambridge to Trumpington to Grantchester and back again along the river Cam and Grantchester Meadows. It was bright and sometimes sunny but the wind was very chilly. It was a brilliant walk and when we got to Trumpington there was a stall outside a community hall giving away free (pre-loved) wool so people could keep themselves busy during the lockdown period! I got a carrier bag full. When I was in Cambridge town centre there were almost no shops open except John Lewis; and a Black hair shop which also had berets in the window. As I had birthday money left I bought 3 berets; orange, green and yellow and wore the orange one on the walk! It was a 10 mile walk in total.

 This is 'The Old Vicarage' in Grantchester. Home to Rupert Brooke (First WW1 poet) and now home to Jeffrey and the 'fragrant' Mary Archer. They had some wonderful sculptures in their garden including a very well endowed naked shepherd! That's Rupert Brooke's statue in the top right photo.

Top L and R; the River Cam; bottom L the Corpus Clock in Cambridge (read more about it HERE and see the grasshopper  - which you can't see very well in my photo) and bottom R; an information board about The Grantchester Group who met in 'The Orchard' tea rooms next door to the Old Vicarage. We stopped there on our walk for  a cup of tea which was served outside.

I went to spend the day with my son on Saturday and wore this. Everything charity shopped. Top by Mango bought in my Barnardo's last Monday. Jeans by Gerry Weber charity shopped in Donegal and boots by River Island; my Barnardo's. It will be a while before I'm able to spend the day with him again; it makes me very sad. Eldest grandson has set up a family What'sApp group so we can all keep in touch and post some of the hilarious videos  and jokes that keep appearing about the Covid-19 crisis Thank God, human beings have a sense of humour!

Scarf and all jewellery charity shopped.

I found out on Saturday via email that both my charity shop and the food bank would continue to open. On Sunday, my daughter and I walked to the Danish Camp in Willington along the river and back. It was a really lovely day once the cold wind died down and we walked 10 miles altogether. I love walking but I will miss my swimming...

Jacket Challenge - Day 1

On Monday, I went to Barnardo's as usual. The manager said she thought we would be told to close and at 11.15 the call came through. Closed until further notice. We had just put out boxes of paperback books and games at really cheap prices, too. I was so sad to go and who knows when I will next be there?

Skirt by New Look; birthday present from OH; jacket 1.00 rail my Barnardo's; top  1.00 rail charity shop in Melton Mowbray.

Boots by Primarni; and all jewellery charity shopped.
This skirt is no more. OH was chopping wood in the garden; the skirt was on the line; a gust of wind blew the skirt in the trajectory of the axe and before OH knew what was happening it had a huge slash in it. Almost the whole length of the skirt and it is beyond repair. Damnation!

I did buy a few things at Barnardo's before I left. It might be a very long time before I can go rummaging again! I bought a raincoat and three pairs of trousers for the summer; a summer top by Marimekko; a scarf and two necklaces. Panic buying! It felt weird to be at home on a Monday so early. and no school run..

Jacket Challenge - Day 2

This was what I wore to the Food Bank on Tuesday. There were only three of us in (this was a deliberate strategy) so we were able to practise social distancing. It was a very busy morning and members of the public kept coming to the doors with bags of food donations. Thank you!

Everything charity shopped except boots; present from daughter. Trousers by Zara; 3:16 charity shop; top by M&S; 1.00 rail my Barnardo's; jacket by Honor Millburn, bought somewhere but can't remember where.

All jewellery charity shopped.

I got an official letter from the Food Bank legitimising my right to be 'out and about' in pursuit of assisting the vulnerable members of our society.  The news today was that people can be issued with a 30.00 fine for not following the government guidelines on staying in and social distancing. In the afternoon I went out for a 6 mile walk. What a beautiful day it was - warm and sunny with very little breeze.

 I don't fear the lockdown; I have plenty to read, plenty of wool to do projects with; there's a tapestry frame and kit waiting for me and I have a few mending projects I could do. There's also sorting out stuff at home ( drawers/cupboards/collections/clothes), batch cooking (unlikely in my case!); blog reading and writing; podcasts; TV and radio and of course walking! I've also volunteered for a local community support group to assist the vulnerable and those self isolating who live alone. This was organised by our local Labour councillors and there is one at the local council level, too.

Jacket Challenge - Day 3

All jewellery charity shopped

Jacket; and trousers by F&F,  both from the 3:16 charity shop 1.00 rail. The trousers have a tie front which is what was dangling down like a cod piece...I think I'll have to fold it in along the waistband the next time I wear it.

Shoes online retail some years ago.

As it was another lovely day on Wednesday; I spent most of it sorting out the garden. Usually it's OH's domain but it's been neglected lately; and he's still working so I got cracking. I'm much more ruthless than he is when I garden; I cut back a huge and woody lavender bush that he wouldn't cut. I also cut back (pretty savagely) our wisteria. It has had one bloom on it in the seven years we've had it: it was a case of put out or get chopped! I moved the now dead Christmas tree away from its current position and found my poor magnolia behind it trying to bloom. I hope it will be ok now it's got more light. I also re-planted some pansies to a pot at the front and two geraniums that have sat waiting to be potted for 2 weeks now. The garden is looking a lot tidier and hopefully OH will get out there at the weekend, too. I risked a trip to our local B&M store as they have a garden section. They sell foodstuffs so I'm guessing that's why they are allowed to open. I bought some food items and some plants which I potted up when I got back. We have a small, paved, courtyard garden with most things growing in pots; but we also have a buddleia tree, a hibiscus tree/bush,  a grape vine, a honeysuckle, two clematis, the magnolia and a rhododendron bush; all planted in the  narrow perimeter of earth that surrounds the garden on three sides.

On Thursday, I had planned to replant the two front window boxes; one with ranunculus and one with fuchsia but I didn't have enough time! Daughter had to go into work (she's a teacher) so grandson was here. We did a workout with Jo Wicks on youTube at 9am for 30 minutes. Daughter and grandson have been doing this since Monday; the first day of school closures. We then did SPAG (spelling and grammar) work, comprehension and reading which took us up to lunchtime. I went to do the weekly shop and it was a much better experience; no queues; no rationing; well stocked shelves and not too many people. Grandson got on with BBC Bitesize maths whilst I was out.

Everything charity shopped except boots; present from daughter. Trousers by F&F; top by G21 and kimono bought in a Donegal charity shop.

All jewellery charity shopped.

In the afternoon grandson and I went for a walk to our little nature reserve. It lies between the back of houses and the cemetery in Bedford Park. Grandson's task was to find 5 different types of leaves. We stopped at the pond and saw some frogspawn and some tadpoles. There were two Peacock butterflies flying around; it was another lovely warm, sunny day. Grandson found holly, ivy, hawthorn, sycamore and alder leaves.

Left; frogspawn. Top R a water snail and a tadpole. Bottom L; a Peacock butterfly with its wings closed! Grandson took these photos on his phone.

We passed this beautiful blossoming tree on our walk.

At 7pm I had a 'virtual' drink with the family courtesy of eldest grandson via the 'Zoom' app. We all raised a glass and caught up with each other. My two other brothers and son don't do internet stuff so they weren't able to take part. We're going to make it a regular weekly date!

At 8 pm that same evening we did the 'Clap for the NHS' accolade from our doorstep. All the neighbours were out and some had pots and pans which they banged to add to the noise. Charivari, I believe, is the old word for it. They deserve all the praise they get; NHS staff and all other the other workers doing the essential jobs that keep society going. Let's hope they get their just monetary reward (they're all underpaid) when this is all over.

I finally replanted the front window boxes on Friday. The rather leggy geraniums they had previously contained were re-planted into three pots and were cut back quite viciously. They'll either survive and flourish or they'll die. We'll see.

Jacket Challenge - Day 4

Scarf and all jewellery charity shopped. Brooch bought on a recent trip to Stamford.

Vintage home made jacket; charity shopped from the Salvation Army; green dress; can't remember, floral leggings; my Barnardo's as were the boots.

This is me ready to set off for a walk although I changed into my walking boots and socks. Raincoat by John Lewis bought from my Barnardo's.

I went out for a walk on Friday; 5.6 miles just to the village of Biddenham. It was very eerie as there were so few people about. I find the day flies by. By the time I'm up washed, dressed and made up; had my breakfast; tidied up; put a wash on and pottered about; it's almost the afternoon. I'm usually awake around 6.0 - 6.30 am and get up around 8am; in case you think I lie in bed until noon. I wish I could; but I get stiff if I stay in bed too long! And talking of being stiff, my goodness I was stiff after yesterday's workout; I didn't dare try and do another one in case I caused myself serious damage! I might try again at the weekend. I thought a walk would be a good antidote to the stiffness and it was. I had a hairdresser's appointment on Friday but of course all that sort of thing is cancelled. I may have to grow my hair now!

Jacket Challenge - Day 5

Everything charity shopped. Boots and trousers several years old and I can't remember where they came from.

The checked jacket is by BHS and was found on the 1.00 rail at the Salvation Army in Melton Mowbray on our recent trip away for my birthday. The top is by M&S and bought  in the Day Hospice shop in their 1.00 sale.

All jewellery and scarf charity shopped.

Saturday was a bleak day; very cold and windy. The bursts of sunshine were few and far between. I'd got used to sunshiny days. I ventured as far as Sharnbrook to pick up more coal and kindling supplies and decided to devote the rest of the day to starting a new crochet project. I had been working on a blanket with a pretty simple pattern; it had got to about the size of a cot blanket when I realised that the sides weren't equal.  The blanket was wider at the top than the bottom; a trapezoid shape instead of a square! It was a basic error on my part and as I'm an experienced crocheter I shouldn't have made such a rookie error. Unless I ripped it apart it wasn't possible to correct it so it will go to a charity when all this is over. My new blanket of choice is the 'Neat Waves' pattern (again thanks to Attic24 HERE). I've made this pattern before about 5 years ago for the youngest grandson (see below). I still have a fair bit of blue wool to use up and  an almost full basket of green so the blanket will be a mixture of those colours.

Lazy Waves or Neat Waves blanket for Amari 2015


Jacket Challenge - Day 6

Sunday was the usual housework and cooking Sunday dinner and I finally finished 'The Mirror and the Light'. Goodbye, Thomas.  A brilliant read. Nuff said.

Everything charity shopped except leggings; retail; Joe Brown. M&S boiled wool jacket 1.00 rail; White Stuff dress; my Barnardos. All jewellery and scarf charity shopped except brooch; bought in Donegal Town and is the work of an Irish jewellery maker.

Brown boots charity shopped in my Barnardo's.

Jacket Challenge - Day 7

All jewellery charity shopped.

Monday's outfit. No charity shop to go to. I'm wondering if I'll start to get withdrawal symptoms with no charity shops to rummage in but on the other hand I'll save quite a lot of money!
Everything charity shopped except these old grey boots; online retail. The trousers are by Next and came from The Day Hospice Shop in Kempston; animal print tunic (Scandinavian label)
and jacket; both 1.00 rails finds. The animal print tunic has been re-donated; it was way too itchy!

I went for a 7 mile walk in the afternoon; it was a chilly windy day and it did rain briefly; but as I hadn't walked over the weekend, I needed to get out of the house for a few hours. Not many people about, but an increased police presence; several cars cruised past me; but as I was going like the clappers and wearing walking boots and socks I think it was obvious what I was up to...

Today it was the food bank as usual. Just the three of us again and making up crates like crazy. Apparently at one of the distribution centres the demand for food parcels had increased by 50%.

Everything charity shopped except the boots.  Handmade African print trousers from the 3:16 charity shop bought for 2.50.  I wore thermal tights underneath! Top by M&S and cardigan from 1.00 rail in the RSPCA,Ampthill. Scarf from my Barnardo's.

All jewellery charity shopped.

My bags for the charity shop are filling up. I'm on the second one at the moment and have nowhere to store it so I might have to keep it in my car boot. So far, I haven't had any longings for a rummage and even if I do I'll just have to curb them!  The birds in my garden are busy nesting; lots of twig carrying and their appetites seem voracious. As fast as I top up the feeder they empty them. This afternoon I intend to get on with my crochet; start another new book and generally potter around. I may even get out for a walk.

Stay sane and safe my friends and I'll see you all in a fortnight!
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