Not too sure how many of you know that one of my hobbies is glass-painting (staining) which I have been doing ever since I got a glass painting kit for Christmas back in 1977 and I have been hooked ever since! Now if I am honest here my house is over run with the stuff so yes...you've guessed it...I have listed a painted jar of mine on ebay!!!
I felt myself cringing while I was listing it as I get very embarraced about my ...errr...."art"...and it is one of my basic pieces with abstract painted shapes as opposed to the celtic art that I usually do on glasses and jugs. The Celtic art takes an absolutle age to do and realy makes my eyes ache so I am very reluctant to part with it so I just listed the basic jar....its wont sell....its rather silly realy...I even said it would look good on a sunny shelf filled with dried flowers!! LOL!!! but if it does sell even just for pennies, I will be very impressed. Infact I will be impressed if it is viewed at all!!!!!!!!! Its biggest selling point I suppose is that its unique and there is not another like it in the world, so I hope just that fact alone will interest some folks! So if you would like a look at it and perhaps a laugh please log onto my ebay page:

roundtheworldgal

I am listing some more stuff today, and my ebay fees are getting higher and higher which is a bit of a pain....My Troika Penny Black coffin vase still hasent arived from France which I am miffed about too...the guy who I bought it from sent me tracking details but the site is all in French, and my very basic school girl French isent good enough to inderstand it!!! UGH!!! and I still have my close eye on a chimney vase for £159 without any bids yet...emmmm....we shall see how it goes!
WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My Dr Who "new Doctor" magazine has had a bid of 50p!!! Yippeeeeeeee!!!

From about 8am this morning I have been listing a heap of Dr Who books, annuals magazines and all kinds of stuff and I now have achey fingers and a slight head ache, so I have given up for now and have taken a couple of Neurofen with a cup of tea!
My love affair with Doctor Who might actually be at an end, as I have been listing things I would not have drempt of a few years ago! I think from now on my love of Doctor Who will just be relegated to a pleasent childhood memory...and its about time I grew up! LOL!! Also its not just my Doctor Who collection that has had a bit of a bashing of late. I have even listed one of my treasured Peggy Nisbet Royal Dolls!! Horror of horrors! I listed Kathrine of Aragon the older (I have kept the younger version as its worth more) and she has a couple of "watchers!" but no bids as yet! and if I still had the boxes for them some of my Harbour Lights lighthouses would probabally go too!!
Why all this selling? I hear you ask!...is she realy that skint??
Well my passion for Troika pottery has been fired "again" with a relitivly cheep peice I got from ebay recently...My Nan had a Troika coffin vase when I was a child and I was absolutly fascinated by it!!! The odd shape and the texture as well as the earthly colours!! But as I grew older I found it difficult to collect as its just soooooooooooo expensive! To date I only have 3 Troika pots (small ones) but while I was ill in bed I was watching one of those daft auction programmes you find on dreadfull daytime telly and my old pal popped up!!...Troika!! So I decided then and there that I was going to see what the going rates are for the stuff on ebay, and I must say I was pleasently surprized! Perhaps the credit crunch has its uses afterall as I was viewing pages of lovely troika art from less that £100!!!! and my fingers started itching!!....so thats what all the selling is about....Its now my intension to invest in some of this gorgeous art, and belive me its a very good invenstment!! My favorite Troika artist is Penny Black (yes its a lady and not a stamp LOL) and her work can sell for up to £1,000...now I can't afford that but I can certainly look for the smaller peices like wheel and coffin vases!
...for now, I shall need all the luck in the world with my selling....and keep dreaming!!

love Vix x

Yes!!!
the time has come folks!!
But I thought I had better mention it here incase anyone wants to see my stuff on ebay!!! My ebay name is:

roundtheworldgal

I am not getting rid of anything deeply treasured....just things that I have two's and three's of and I am even considering getting rid of my full battles in time collection as now it is compleate (without super rose) its just stuck in my kitchen cabinate...and if I am honest here I have quite lost interest in collecting the new stuff anyway!!! I am tired of making excuses in Woolworths of "Oh my son collects this stuff" when its realy for me...some of my auctions may even include annuals that I have doubles of, but I certainly wont be parting with any of my vintage who things, apart from a pair of gloves from 1984, that are just collecting dust!!!
Also I dont realy have the space anymore...and more and more of my collection is being relegated to my garage!

So if anyone is looking for anything spacific, please let me know and I will see if I have got it, before I list it!

I hope to help out!

love Vix X

Its a heck of a drive from here, but as Derek decided to take the week off to look after me, he suggested it the day before yesterday, and I heartily agreed!!!
So at a little after 9am yesterday morning we packed a few bits and bobs, including Sirius's travel water bowl and 2 litres of water for him, and a can of Irn Bru fresh from the fridge for me!! Now in the old sports car a trip to Aldeburgh would have only taken about 2 hours, but our new "little" car took about an hour longer, but it was a pleasent day so it was a nice drive! Sirius is as good as gold in the car, but I have now bought him his very own car harness so he is safe with his own seat belt...but about 5 miles out from the town he started to wimper for a wee, so we had to stop in a grassy layby so he could do his buisness and have a drink of water.
Aldeburgh is a delightful place!! Its tiny, but boasts the finest fish and chips in Britian (well in my opinion!) and as I had not eaten properly in over a week, the prospect of some Aldeburgh fish and chips seemed like a crock of gold at the end of the rainbow to me!! Oddly enough though I had forgotton how much my tummy has shrunk with not eating properly so I only just managed some lovely Cod and mushy peas!! YUMMY!!! I am feeling almost human again! Anyway Derek took Sirius for a walk along the beach and I opted for a short walk into the town where they have some interesting curio shops and antique shops as well as second hand book shops which I love! But oppps....when I got out of the car I felt about 90 years old as the muscles in my body still ached dreadfully and I had to stretch to get them working...its realy odd how having a cold or somthing realy makes your muscles ache..??
Well when all said and done we had a lovely day out, and I realy do think the sea air has done me good, becuase I feel much better this morning, so I have been ebay listing again!!!
I just hope I can make enough money for my next Troika wheel vase!!! LOL!!!!
Hope everyone is well and enjoying the early Autmn sunshine!!!

love Vix xx

Some up dates for you as some things have gone from bad to worse, as last friday saw me back at the Doctors where I discovered I have Laringitius (not sure how to spell it, but its the one that effects the larynx in the throte) so basically I fell like somthing brown and smelly and I have compleatly lost my voice....also I am on some weird medication which makes me feel very tired...saying all this though, I point blank refuse to stay in bed so I have been catching up with some much needed Tudor drama, and drinking gallons of squash, when I am not yawning my head off....and squeeking like a derraged mouse!!!
I consoled myself last night in the form of a little treat from ebay....
A Carn pottery vase in the style of "Trokia" which I love!!!
I hopped in and dropped a last second bid with just 4 seconds to go!!!! Naughty me! its gorgeous though, and will post a piccy when I get it!

Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible folks! x x

But I nearly wasen't.........
My Birthday bash with Mum got a little out of hand!!
I got absolutly PLASTERED!!!!!..........and I spent an absolute fortune in Beatties (House of Fraser) which included some majorly expensive bags, and a pair of impossibly high heels from Faith! They are a bit too high to wear but I like them just the same, so I will probabally just look at them! Well I am silly like that! LOL!!!!
BACK SOON FOLKS!! x x

Now with our shopping baskets getting more expensive by the second, I thought it would be a good idea to ressurect some of my old cooking skills in an effort to save some pennies! I learned to make pastry at school from a lovely teacher called Mrs Cartwright (the only school teacher I ever liked) and pastry making, which sounds daunting to some, is indeed very easy if you follow some simple basic rules like keep your hands cool, only use iced water, and let your pastry "rest" in the fridge for 15 mins after making it!!!....and belive me when I say pastry made by yourself tastes a lot nicer than the pre-made pastry you get in the shops...AND once you know how to make pastry you can do all kinds of dishes like steak and mushroom pie, chicken encroute and just about anything realy...so firstly a very basic recipie for short crust pastry!

You will need a mixing bowl, rolling pin, small glass of iced water, a drop of milk, and a pastry brush, kitchen scales!
The is a rule to the ammounts of things added like your butter and lard should be one half to the ammount of flour used
Example:

8oz Palin flour
2 oz butter
2 oz lard (and a pinch of salt)

And this is the ammounts I have used for this recipie!

Before you begin fill a small glass (about 6oz) with water, and sit it in the freezer! (small coffee cup size)

Sift the 8 oz of flour into a mixing bowl with a sifter. Next take out the measured ammounts of lard and butter and slice it into the flour into small pieces as this makes the "rubbing in" easier! and add a small pinch of salt...Before rubbing in (which takes about 5 minuits) make sure your hands are cold by running your wrists under a cold water tap! Then take your bowl with the mixture and go and sit down infront of your favorite Dr Who story! heheheheh...but this works, because if your relaxed, your pastry will taste better!...gentley but firmly rub the butter and lard pieces into your flour, with you cool finger tips, and as you rub, lift your hands high over the bowl, to get as much air into the mixture as possible. This makes your pastry lighter...after about five mins when all the butter and lard pieces have vanished, the mixture will have a "loose" texture, so you are now ready to add your iced water!!! Make a hole in your mixture, like a kind of well, and take your iced water from the freezer and pour it into the mixture!! Your dont need much to start with! Just pour in a little and fold the mixture into the water. If its too dry, just add more iced water and if you make it too wet you will need to add some extra flour...but its best to go slowly with the water so you can build up the right consistancy yourself!!! Finally you should have a ball of pastry and if you have made it well the bowl will be dry of mixture!!!! So give yourself a jolly good slap on the back and put the ball of pastry in your fridge for 15 mins to "rest"...and go and watch some more Dr Who!
So thats your pastry sorted!
Pastry will keep for up to 12 days in the fridge, or you can freeze it for use later, but before you use it make sure your pastry is at "room temp" before you set to work pie making!

FILLING!!!! Apple and blackberry!!

1 large Bramley apple (or two med size)
small punnet of blackberries............HOLD IT!!! This is the season for blackberries so why not go out and pick your own, because blackberries cost a small fortune in the supermarkets! My garden is full of them at the moment, and this is what set me off on this recipie realy!!
Ok, about 4 ounces of blackberries! (rinsed)
a mug of water
level tablespoon of suger!

Now here your aim is to make a kind of "fruit stew"
Fill a medium sized pan with your cup of water, and set it to boil, add suger. Peel and core the apples and slice them thinly into the pan! Wash your blackberries and rinse them and add these to the pan also...Just before the water boils, turn the heat down to a simmer and add a lid to the pan...DO NOT boil the fruit! the trick here is to simmer, gently for about 20 mins. After this time is up set the pan of stewed fruit to cool...
PIE MAKING!!!
You will need a medium sized oven proof dish! I find that a pyrex lid from a cassarole dish to be good for me! "Grease" the inside of the dish carefully with butter. This is so your pie wont fall to pieces or stick to the sides! Your ball of pastry needs to be rested at room temp for about 20 mins before using! Now roll it into a ball shape and cut through it, 1/3 will form the lid of the pie 2/3 will form the base!! Obviously you need more pastry for the base!!! Roll out the base piece first! To begin with dust your work surface with flour and place your "base" half of the pastry in the middle...flour your rolling pin too, before you begin to roll...and roll out the pastry untill it is about 1/3 bigger than the dish! When it is large enough fimply fold the pastry in half and place it in the dish! Open the fold and gently push the pastry into the dish with you fingertips. Next pour your, cooled fruit stew into your pastry dish...then as you rolled out the base pastry, do the same for the lid!! Once you have rolled out the lid (and before adding to the pie) pour some milk into a saucer (your cat may get jealous here) and take a pastry bush and paste the milk around the top of the pie where the lid will join the base! This helps to seal your pie!! and finally add your lid!! YOUR ALMOST THERE!!!! cut off eny excess pastry from around the pie with a sharp knife, slicing away from you, and then "pinch" the pastry top together with fingers and thumbs all around the top edge of your pie. Also take some scissors and cut 3 or 4 snips into the pie middle as this helps the pie to "breath" while being cooked, lastly brush some milk over the pie top, to brown it............Pre heat your oven to gas 6 or 205 electric and cook your pie for 40 to 45 minuits!
Take out your friut pie and allow it to cool before serving...a little warning here!! NEVER serve fruit pie straight from the oven, and the fruit will literally burn your tongue off!!!
Fruit pie is best served slightly warm with a dusting of suger and a huge dollop of Devonshire clotted cream!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
...or any kind of cream realy, or if you prefere, custard!! Hot or cold!!
Your pie will keep for about 10 days in the fridge (I can gaurentee it will be eaten long before this) or you can even freeze it!!! if you want to use it later!
Baking is such great fun!! and both me and Sirius alway end up covered in flour!! we love it!
Good luck!! x x x x x

Yesterday I felt absolutly terrible!!
I was sick, had a severe headache and a fever too as sweat was pouring off me but the living room was a normal 22 degrees!
Also I remembered what had happened when I had the infected ant bite in Thailand, and I had exactly the same symptoms! You see, if you get an infection your body goes into fever mode because its trying to rid itself of the germs...and yesterday I was convinced the huge gash in my lower lip that I sustained from my argument with my stairs (the stairs won!!!) had become infected because I am syphoning water with my mouth to clean out the baby fish box!!...So yesterday evening while cleaning my fish box and watching Coronation Street I decided to try some Bongella! Remember, the stuff thats for mouth ulcers! so I went to the bathroom and got said tube, pilled down my lower lips and filled the hole with the stuff!!! WOWWW...OWWwwww!!!!! Crikey!!!! it realy stung!!! It brought tears to my eyes and several uninteligable noises from me! But half and hour later it felt miles better, so I put some more in the lower lip hole before bedtime!! and I feel much beter this morning!
Mum is coming for the week at the weekend.........so I must make sure my oven is spotless!!!!
Mum has a thing about my oven!!! UGH!!! And last time she came I had scrubbed it so clean it was gleaming....just one day later I caught her in the kitchen in my pinny and sporting yellow Marrygold rubbergloves, cleaning my oven!!!
"Mum!!! its clean!!!" I had exclaimed! "go and sit down and have a cup of tea!"
"It gives me somthing to do!" she had said "I can't just sit about!! I get bored!"
But why my oven, I have no idea!!! I clean it once a week myself anyway!
I just wish she would pick on my garden instead!! I realy do need to do some gardening!! LOL!!!
The only difference this time is that she is bringing her two Persian Cats, Whisky and Sooty!!
Now a while back when we went to Souter Lighthouse, Mum had left her cats in the care of her neighbour! Mum had even paid this neightbour to look after them but she dident, and when Mum got back the poor cats were in a heck of a mess!!! Her neighbour had been feeding them but that was all!! She had not emptied the cat litter box in a week, and the smell left me gagging!!! Also mums flat was a compleate tip!! So since then my Mum has sworn never to leave her cats with her neighbour again, so that why this time she is bringing the cats!! Oh crikey this is going to be fun!! 74 fantail baby goldfish, two cats and my loopy dog!!!
*hides*
Anyway Derek is going to pick her up with said moggies on Sunday morning, so at least I have some time to get my home in order....AND clean the oven, as well as planning things to do (she loves shopping and Harry Ramsdens fish and chips) which shoulden't be to difficult...but I shall be realy looking forward to getting out on my own for a change!! I can hear TK Maxx calling me in my dreams!!!
LOL!!

Last week I had a wee bit of an acident that has made me look as if I have gone two rounds with Mike Tyson!!!

The thing is I am rather clumsey and on Friday morning I was up stairs sorting out and tidying up Mums room because she is coming to stay next Sunday....I also was expecting a delivery (my Daleks still haven't arrived from Forbidden Planet)...it was about 10am and I heard the doorbell ring so in a fit of excitment I dashed down stairs only to slip on one of Sirius torn up slippers, and ended up crashing to the bottom in a heap!!! I was very lucky I dident break my neck!!! I did have bad concussion for the rest of the day though, and there was blood everywhere as I had split the inside of my lip very badly and I couldent stop it bleeding...needless to say I dident answer the door, and my post lady pushed a parcel collection card under the door. Derek picked up the parcel on Saturday but it was something for him and not me!!! Now back to my injuries. My clumseyness (and impatience) has cost me a huge split lip. Its slit horizontaly on the inside, but I think I have cut a nerve because my chin is still numb, and I am lisping! I have a large scrape on the left of my forhead and a bashed up left knee, with a bruise that all the coulers of the rainbow!! and smaller gashes and bruises elsewhere!
Now why couldn't I have done this while drunk? as it woulden't have been so bloody painfull?
And I am still in pain with my chin this morning!!
So basically I have had to have a break from my blog to recover!! Sorry folks
My baby fish are still struggling along and I have had a couple of fatalitites! One of the dead fish had a weidly curly tail, and the other was very underdeveloped!!! Also I have been "hand filtering" the water in the tupperware box...I take my vacume gravel cleaner which is basically like a long clear plastic tube. Suff the wider gravel end (the end that goes into the water) with aquarium filter wool, and then syphon the water through the filtre wool by sucking the other end of the tube myself to cause a vacume. Water then flows freely into a plastic jug below the height of the tupperware box and hay presto!!! Filtered water, which I then pour back into the box!!! I have been doing this at several hours a day untill they are large enough to be used with my smallest filtre!!!
Pheeeeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwww!!!!!!

In other news, I have decided to take up baking and cookery again!
So yesterday I took a trip to home base and bought lots of essencial cookery things like a large sive, mixing bowls, and a pasty brush to start with...and todays first pastry will be a chicken and sweetcorn shortcrust pastry pie!!! I have decided to make my own bread too...I just can't justifie paying over £1 for a loaf of bread, when I can make it myself for next to nothing!
I will post some of the recipies I am trying later on!!

see you soon! x