Frump to Fab - A Whole New World.

sugarbaby125

Hello Ladies, 
I will not be joining the hordes of shoppers who were queueing up outside of shops in Oxford Street in their hundreds waiting for the non essential stores to open.    There were very few people in those queues willing to adhere to any kind of social distancing.   I cannot understand why anyone would be willing to take the risk of getting up close and personal to a stranger just to go and buy 'stuff' that they most probably could easily do without. For now, I will be sticking with online shopping until the madness has calmed right down. Why the mad rush to return to Primark?  

I bought lots of new basic t-shirts from Primark last year and none of them have lasted. They were strictly for home wear and I was not expecting them to last for years, but they have all developed so many holes in them, that I have had to bin the 2 worst specimens today.   I have never had this problem with Primark t-shirts before, but it has put me off buying basic t-shirts from Primark in the future. 

I am treating myself to some quality t-shirts from Marks & Spencer to replace all of the Primark t-shirts. There were some good bargains to be had in the T-shirt section. I got 6 short sleeved t-shirts for myself on 3 for 2 and a selection of short and long sleeved t-shirts that were on sale. 

It is now mandatory to wear either a face mask or some form of face covering on all forms of public transport in England, so I bought myself a washable cotton face mask from Groupon and wore it today when I went to Lidl in Camberwell Green. 

None of the local charity shops have yet reopened. I only have a few bags of books waiting to be donated, so I can be patient until they finally reopen. 

chanie

Hello fabbers,

today is the first day of me being unemployed.  I have a couple of weeks annual leave, so am calling the new few weeks a ‘holiday’.  I have plenty to do whilst I’m not working and have written a to do list to keep me occupied, whilst I look for a new job. 

 I have avoided the shops today, but will probably need to pop out towards the end of the week to get a few bits, including Fathers Day this weekend. 

chanie

....forgot to say welcome back Sashybo.

savingfortomorrow

welcome back sashybo! 
Sugar I totally get the flustration with primark. It flustrates me because it takes ages to pick out an item for it not to last. Some brands like fruit of the loom used to last years and now just are so poor quality. 

LL did you have solid wood doors and kitchen or was it an mdf? Did you use a primer? I have a horrible laminate kitchen and honestly it is so dark. I dont have the budget or inclination to decide upon a new kitchen. Did it take you long to paint the kitchen?

I don't like big crowds of people and flee shops if they are too packed. It is a horrible place to be with shoppers crowding in, I start looking for exits. There is no chance that I will be queuing up for stuff i don't really need. 

helensbiggestfan

Hi SFT. 

Yes solid pine.  I used a primer called Zinisser 123 which is a special stain block, to seal it and stop the wood resin weeping through. Very common when painting over wood, especially knotty pine. It is also used to cover water damage staining to walls etc. It's quite thick and dense so gives a good coverage for  covering up dark colours. I did either one or two coats of zinisser, followed by either one or to coats of all purpose primer/undercoat and then either 1 or two coats of top coat.  I used satinwood rather than gloss because I think a less shiny finish looks better and it's probably easier too to do a good looking job and get a nice finish. I cannot tell a lie, it was a slow laborious process but it was well worth the effort.  Saved a lot of money and if I say so myself I've made a decent job. I'm very pleased.  I'll take some photos tomorrow and post them so you can see.  

You can paint laminate effectively.  You will need to use special paint but if you look in the diy sheds you will see there is plenty of choice, lots of colours these days. Paint technology has really improved these last few years and you can now paint just about any kind of surface.  There are specialist paints for everything.  Take a look at B&Q or Homebase.  Paint for laminate is quite strong and a bit smelly so it's probably best done over the summer when you can have the windows and doors open.  

A couple of tips, things my father taught me.  He was very good at decorating, a real perfectionist.  He always said don't use cheap paint, it's false economy, and don't try and take shortcuts......Good preparation of the surface is essential if you want a good finish. So a thorough clean and degrease before you even start sanding etc.   And of course it's much easier if you remove the doors, avoids drips. 😂. Also you might find you get a better finish using a sponge roller, the sort you use for gloss paint, rather than brushes. 

It's not a difficult job, just time consuming.  But if you take your time you should be fine. 

 I have decided I am probably going to paint the floors too.  They are ok, in a reasonable condition but again very dark.  The kitchen floor is tiled and the dining room floor is laminate so I will paint them both.  I really don't want to replace the flooring, They are big rooms and it would cost a lot of money.  I have some nice neutral rugs in shades of white, grey and black so I'm thinking of a pale grey.  The radiators are also looking a bit shabby so I will paint them too.  So still plenty of painting yet.😂....but I'm just having a little break.  Concentrating on the garden for a while.  

sashybo

Hi all, thanks for the welcome back. 😊 

Savingfortomorrow - have you looked at using laminate wrap for your kitchen? My sister used it on her cupboards to change the colour - much cheaper than a new kitchen and it just sticks on. It actually looks pretty good but I haven't tried it myself.

Candy, some photos of DD taken on the day she was born. She had so much thick black hair!

sheilavw

Gorgeous baby girl, congratulations x

sugarbaby125

Sashybo your daughter is beautiful  

helensbiggestfan

Beautiful baby.  

maman

Thanks for the photo sashy. She's gorgeous.  

Well done for making a 'to do' list chanie. Normally, when you have a bit of time off for yourself you line up some treats. Shame you can't do that as much.

I'm another that certainly won't be found queuing outside Primark! I've always found that, like TKMaxx, £ shops or CSs you need to browse when you have the time. Sometimes you'll be lucky other times there's just tat. The current arrangements certainly don't allow for that. We went into the city centre on Sunday afternoon. We decided we'd have our walk there as it would be the last opportunity to walk around the streets while they were fairly empty. It's been a strange sight.  

There are a few things I could shop for but not hugely urgent. I need to visit the phone shop as I want some advice on changes they're making. It's something I could do online or on the phone but I find it better in person. The call centre for my phone seems to be staffed by people who just shout speak rapidly and follow a script rather than listening and answering specific questions. I find the young people in the shop far more knowledgeable. DH is involved with a local history project that's planning a display for later in the year (hopefully). I've promised that I'll dress a model in 17th century clothes so I'll need to raid the CS for that. I agree about cheap tee shirts. All my favourites are either Jack Wills or White Stuff. I'd buy a couple more from Jack Wills but I've been put off by the postage costs which makes them even more expensive. I must check if they do click and collect if the shop's open. I wear my tee shirts a lot because they make ideal tops for dancing with a skirt. These are my favourites.

https://www.jackwills.com/SearchResults?DescriptionFilter=Fulford T shirts

Yesterday I washed 9 cardigans! I think I plan to keep them all but the ones I wear most (the short black ones) probably could do with replacing at some point. My plan is to carry on through my wardrobe (starting with the everyday wardrobe in my bedroom), washing things and deciding whether I'll wear them again. Even if I don't donate them until the autumn/winter then at least I'll know they're clean and ready to go. I know I have clothes I haven't worn this winter/spring but this year's not been normal.  

All the cardigans were dark and I used the dark washing liquid for them. I remember when sugarbaby told us about the Woolite liquid in the £ shop. I stocked up but it's all gone now. I've got Waitrose own brand but it's quite expensive so I try to keep it for when I'm washing dark jeans as it really does help to keep the colour. 

Has anyone been watching the Salisbury Poisoning programme on BBC? It's mainly based on the public health response and has strong parallels with aspects of how to treat a pandemic. Funnily enough, I had a lunch party for my birthday the week after it happened in 2018. Everyone was teasing my friends who live in Salisbury with poison jokes. I think the same happened with covid to begin with, it wasn't  recognised how serious it was and what drastic steps needed to be taken.

It's dull and overcast here with a promise of rain so no washing today but perhaps some sorting. I'll walk to the Post Office too as I have a birthday card that needs to get off today. I keep forgetting that the majority of pillar boxes are now a 9 o'clock collection.