What's in my bag?

I love these sort of posts as I'm such a curious nosey mare!  This was the topic today for the Instagram #JanuaryPhotoChallenge but I thought I'd share it on here for those of you not on IG.

A lot of posts like this consist of very neat & tidy bag contents.....well mine today was basically full of crap, crumpled up receipts & fluffy mints included!!

Today, I was using my lovely Nica bag that I bought in John Lewis last November.  When I carry a larger bag like this, I tend to chuck everything into my lift-out organiser from Primark, it's so handy!  In this, I always keep a notepad, pen, tape measure, tissues, paracetamol & mints - standard bag contents really!  My friends take the mickey out of me for carrying a tape measure but I can't tell you the times it's come in handy.  So much so that's it's falling to pieces!

My Cath Kidston pouch contains Kiehl's lip balm, Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream, Cath Kidston mini hand cream, plasters, my library card, a perfume sample & 4(why?) lipsticks (Revlon Lip Butter in Candy Apple, Clinique Chubby Stick mini in Super Strawberry, MAC Brick-O-La & Plumful)  

I've also got a sample pot of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Graphite that my friend had picked up for me the other day.  My new bar stools & bedside tables are going to get a hit of this!  Oh, and of course my phone (Samsung Galaxy S4 mini), my keys & my purse - which for some reason I forgot to add in the photo.

Please tell me I'm not the only person who has a stack of old receipts & fluffy sweets in their bag!!

Lately

The weather here this last week has been utterly mental - beautiful sunshine & bbq weather one day & then torrential rain & woodburner-going foul weather the next!  It's a well known fact that you can experience 4 seasons in one day in Scotland - and we do frequently! - so when we do have a lovely day, we just have to get out & enjoy it.

We're so fortunate to live in a lovely village with a huge country park just a 2 minute walk from home so this is where we usually head with smallest child on his bike & mad hound in tow.  Conveniently, it's also the walk we have to take en route to the pub, not that it's been warm enough to sit out in the beer garden yet!

However, Murphy (aka Turtle, for some unknown reason!) is happiest just sat at my feet as I sit in my office typing out my blog posts & updating the school website I run (www.monikieprimaryschool.co.uk in case you want a peek!!)

I've been feeling like a need a project to work on again since finishing the school library & after talking to my friend the other day, we've decided we're going to start restoring & updating furniture again.  She used to do it years ago before she had children & I used to do it when we lived in France so we've decided to join forces & start up a wee enterprise.  When I think of the beautiful old pieces I used to find in brocantes & vide greniers, I could cry that I'm so far away now!!  My speciality back then was to revamp old beds, particularly lits corbeille & lits bateau.  I loved transforming  them from manky old pieces that looked like they were fit only for the bonfire to beautiful, repainted & reupholstered beds.  I'll try & hunt out some old before & after photos.  I also had some stunning old armoires too but unfortunately, when we moved back to the UK, we had to sell most of the pieces we had, booo!  I also did an upholstery course years ago but I might do another course to refresh my memory.  I've still got the kit though so I'm part-way there!

Anyhoo, we've stocked up on our first few pieces of furniture, fabric & Annie Sloan supplies & tomorrow.....we paint!!  I'm actually really looking forward to it & just from talking to a few friends about it, we've already got 3 people interested to see what we do & one lady has specifically asked if we can find & restore a dresser for her!  

So watch this space folks, there could be a new business about to be born!!  Exciting stuff......!