I'd like to thank my producer, my family, my dog etc.

I what has been an epic busy week, (more of that in a later post!) I have been given a blog award and tagged too.
Firstly thank you to Emma Bear Forever for giving me a Liebster award.

 

Secondly thank you to Elise at Foof&Faff for tagging me. The rules are:
 

1) You must post 11 random things about yourself;

2) Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post;

3) Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer;

4) Go to their blog and tell them you've tagged them;

5) No stuff about 'you're tagged if you're reading this' - legitimately tag people.

So, 11 random things about me that I haven't already said in my blog
hmmm.

1. I can read roman numerals, something I needed in my previous life as a librarian. Not a very exciting skill but useful for being able to know what year an old tv show came out.

2. I always pour equal measure drinks out, no matter how drunk I am! By that I mean in one go, so no going back to the first glass and topping it up so it is the same level as the rest, I just seem to be able to divide the amount of liquid out evenly from the start. I have no idea why I have this skill but it is one of my proudest ones. 

3.I don't like rice, yuck, yuck yuck.

4.I haven't driven a car for 20 years. I never intended to leave it this long between vehicles and I do intend to buy a car again.....one day.

5.I am a big fan of yoghurt, I eat it every day and if a miss a day I start to crave, though not as much as if I go short on tea. It's not pretty if I don't have tea.

6. I have to do something when I watch tv (clear those filthy minds please!) so I sew or knit otherwise I can't keep still, I jiggle my legs as my mother puts it which used to drive her demented when I lived at home.

7. I hate horror films but will watch real life programmes with graphic crime scenes. Himself cannot get his head around that, he thinks it's mad, which it probably is. I also have no problem watching operations.

8.I have always wanted to be able to dance but I have two left feet and no sense of balance so sadly it's not to be.

9. I never have and never will understand the big attraction of reality tv.

10. I am claustrophobic and scared of spiders and both of these fears is down to my dear brother.

11.celery is the enemy, the salad of the devil and must be avoided at all costs.

Elise's questions are:

1.What's the best job you have ever had? 
working in a plant nursery that also had a small garden centre. I LOVED that job.

2. Your favourite item of clothing?
god that changes all the time when it comes to things I wear day to day. Otherwise it is my vintage dinner jacket and waistcoat (100 years old this year!)

3. If you could be anywhere, where would you be? (in life or location)
I would be in my lovely white Art Deco house by the sea.

4. Something you have always wanted but never got?
A lovely white Art Deco house by the sea.

5.The first movie you saw at the cinema?
I *think* it was Bambi or possibly The Jungle Book. We used to go to one of those Saturday morning cinema clubs as kids and they showed a lot of Disney stuff!

6. Your top played song on i-Tunes? 
not sure off the top of my head but it will be a song by Bowling for Soup!

7.The most practical/useful thing you own?
My handbag.

8.Would you rather be taller or shorter (if you HAD to chose!)?
Taller I guess, I like being tall.

9.Your longest standing hobby?
Gardening. I had my own patch from a very young age, I love it, it's how I unwind and de-stress.

10.If you had an hour to kill what would you do?
If I was out shop!, if I'm at home read.

11. The best thing that has happened to you so far this year?
Getting my tooth fixed is high up there!

1. Favourite flavour of ice cream?
2.What is you most beloved accessory?
3. If you were a cartoon character, who would you be and why?
4.What is your first memory?
5.What is your favourite website?
6.If you could go on holiday/vacation tomorrow where would you go?
7. What is your favourite time of year?
8.What was the last thing that made you jump out of your skin?
9. Where is your favourite place in the whole world?
10. Bread or potatoes?
11.If you could do it all again would you?

I tag :
dee dee's vintage retro delights

peetees palace

Pretty Little Jewels

spiffing sporadics of a vintage girl

Tickety Boo Tupney

This week has been all about Brooches.

and so it has. It's been positively spring like this week which has meant by Tuesday I could get out of the millions of layers I have been wearing for work and breeze in in nothing more than a cardigan over a dress or blouse.
I honour of this fact I decided I should wear a few of the many, many brooches I have in my magpie stash and here they are.

                                                                  Tuesday.

 

                                                                Wednesday.

                                                                   Thursday.

                                                                    Friday.

Tuesday was also Valentine's Day. Now I like Valentine's Day. There seems to be a big backlash against it at the moment with people saying it's too commercialised, which is true, or why do we need just one day a year to show our special someone we love them? we should do it all year round, which is also true.
However I believe, like Christmas, that it is what you make of the day.
Himself and I spent 4 years living a long way away from each other so it used to be a time for us to send each other silly cards, messages and little gifts, then have an extra special weekend together afterwards. We still give each other two cards just because and our tradition now is to go to the cinema that night and have a bottle of fizz when we get in.
Himself also bought me a lovely bunch of orange roses on monday.

This year we went to see The Muppets, my choice. Himself wasn't overly keen but thankfully enjoyed it so all was well (after last years True Grit fiasco I was determined to choose better!) It was a fun film and I have to say it was worth every penny of the ticket money for the chickens version of 'C L Green's - Forget You' alone. I also heart Dave Grohl just a little bit more if that is at all possible for having a cameo in the film.

Yesterday I had a lovely afternoon of food, tea and crying with laughter with my best friends Jenny and Soo.
Soo has a big birthday coming up, (I am far too polite to say which one), so we have treated her to a mushroom forage on Hampstead Heath.This may seem like a strange gift but there are reasons for it and I'm happy to say she was thrilled with it. I am going as the plus one so there will be a blog after the event I'm sure!

In the evening Himself and I went to see one of his favourite comedians Richard Herring on his tour 'What is love, anyway?'. It was a great night, very funny and on top of that the venue served a particularly good Sauvignon Blanc, double win.
I wore one of my january sale Pearl Lowe dresses.

 See how one of the ribbons on the sleeve is undone?

 Himself tied that bow, not once but 3 times and each time it came undone. Sometimes I wonder how he manages to dress himself.

Look, look at my lovely tights! Now as anyone who knows me will tell you I am crap with tights/stockings. Seriously I just have to look at them in their packet and they ladder.
I often used to go out with 2 or 3 spare pairs in my bag and come home with only one pair left and they would inevitably have a hole in them.
So for many years now I have worn fishnets and only fishnets because they do seem to manage to last more than one evening in my company! I found these star print ones in the sale at Debenhams and wisely bought the last 3 pairs on the rack.

I Love Dolly Cool and It's all Helga's Fault!

Other than my charity shopping adventures I also had some rather wonderful post on Saturday.

Firstly The very talented Clare from Dolly Cool had put her latest designs on her website and I was about beside myself with excitement when I saw her octopus design. I knew I had to have one so I placed my order and he arrived on Saturday. As you can see I have a very similar t-shirt that I love.

He seems very happy to see the necklace and so was I.

I know I shall get a lot of wear out of him. Thank you Clare for a speedy delivery and also for being so darn clever!

My second parcel is all Helga's fault!
I was suffering serious frock envy for her delicious green lurex number see here.
So I got it into my head to hunt down a green dress of my own.........
It's nowhere near as stunning as Helga's

*but*

I liked the look of it so I decided to take a gamble.

The only downside was when it (finally) arrived it nearly knocked me flat with the smell of 'Febreze' which can only mean one thing, it's either 'Handwash only' or 'Dry clean only' and the previous owner couldn't be arsed to clean it so they gave it a damn good dose of Febreze instead to cover the fact!

Thankfully for me the dress was handwash only so I gave it a good soak and now it is ready to wear. :-)

Who Cares About the Snow When There's Shopping to be Done?

So on Thursday night it snowed again. When I went to bed it was snowing very, very hard, this bothered me for two reasons. Firstly Himself was away and was due to travel home on Saturday and secondly my bestie Soo was due to come over for some quality girlie time round the charity shops. Thankfully it clearly stopped the minute I drew the curtains because when I got up in the morning there was only a couple of inches of snow to be seen.
This meant the roads were pretty clear come the weekend making travelling and shopping possible, Huzzah!

Soo, (who I must point out is never, never late!) arrived right on time as ever, despite having to hack ice off the inside as well as outside of her car!
We fortified with tea and gossip and then hit the shops.
Both of us found bargains and both of us were stunned to silence not once, but twice. The first time was by the dress below and the second by a woman wearing the most monstrous coat your minds could ever imagine. By the time I had recovered enough to find my camera she was gone. I am gutted I wasn't able to sneak a picture, not only to share with you, but just to remind myself of how truly terrible it was.
                                                          However behold 'THE' dress

I feel no need to say anything more about this frock.............

Instead will show you my bargains :-)

 These trousers are a win because they are very long and they were a bargainous £1. The downside is they are 'dry clean only'. However on checking the label and seeing that they are made from a wool mix with polyester lining I took the risk and stuck them in the wash today on a delicates cycle and as you can see they survived unscathed.

                                       Little fawn shrug,also £1. It's a bit bobbly but I can sort that.

Pressed glass jug for £2. I just really liked this. Possibly because my Nan used to have one similar that she used for serving custard. I could do the same, but as custard rarely makes it as far as anywhere other than straight into my mouth from the saucepan I will probably use it for flowers!

This little chap was 99p and I think it was the bowtie that sold him to me. I should have done a before and after shot, because he was seriously filthy dirty. This is the 'after', a damn good scrub with an old toothbrush and he is a completely different colour, as Himself said it does make you wonder where on earth he was kept to have been so very dirty........

Yet another glass bead necklace, at 49p it would have been rude not to!

A lovely lampshade for £2. Sadly it doesn't actually fit my bedside lampwhich is where I need a new lampshade but I'm sure I will find it another home!


Finally I spotted this black cat for my sister. I am saying nothing, other than I know she will love it!

After all that shopping we went for some much needed food. Soo ordered the soup of the day and I ordered a tuna melt. After an extraordinarly long wait for two such simple food items, our fayre finally arrived. I picked up my sandwich to find it was basically 2 bits of toast with warm tuna between them. I took it back to the counter and said
'excuse me, but I ordered a tuna melt and there is no cheese in it'  The man took my plate, and without a word disappeared into the kitchen!
  I sat down again and about 5 minutes later he reappeared with my plate, I got up to meet him and he said 'Sorry it doesn't come with cheese' then tried to hand the plate back to me. I was somewhat confused by this and replied
'but it's meant to be a tuna melt, a melt has cheese in it, in fact it's the cheese that makes a melt a melt'.
To which he replied 'Ok madam I'll get you some cheese added' and vanished yet again with my plate.
I have to say when I did finally get my tuna melt it was delicious, but seriously, has anyone ever come across a melt sandwich that doesn't have cheese in it??

Guest Post by Jackie Clark : Power, Beauty, Strength and You.

I was recently contacted by Jackie Clark to ask if I would allow her to have a guest post on my blog. Jackie does outreach work for the Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance writes a blog for them as well. You can find it here
Having just lost a good friend to cancer I was a good person to ask.

Power, Beauty, Strength and You

By: Jackie Clark

Take a moment and look down at yourself right now. What do you see? Do you consider yourself beautiful? Do you see deep inside of your soul and ignore that beauty that is trying to push out of you?

Chances are good that if you have been dealing with doctors or mesothelioma cancer or any other health problems that you are looking at some of your oldest and rattiest clothes. You may have gotten up this morning and thrown on the same clothing that you have been wearing for some time now, convinced that it doesn’t matter what you look like. For some women, this is a self-defense measure, for others, it is a gesture of despair.

It is true that you do not owe the world beauty. Too often women are told that they need to be beautiful for the sake of others. The truth of the matter is that you should try to be beautiful for yourself. When you look down at yourself and see that the clothes you are wearing are the ones that suit you perfectly, and when you look down and see colors that you know give you a wonderful shape and silhouette you will be happy. It doesn’t matter if you are wearing your favorite sundress or your favorite power suit; clothes do make the woman in many ways, so consider what your choices are telling you.

Cancer and other illnesses can make you feel guilty for thinking about things like fashion or makeup. You may feel that you need to be serious all the time and that worrying about fashion is frivolous. In fact, thinking about fashion and makeup is a way for you to take care of yourself. You may not be able to control how you feel or what shape you are in, but you can always decide what you want to wear. This gives you something that you have absolute control over, something that no one else can take away from you.

Think about your favorite clothing and think about the last time you wore them. Were you out with someone that you love? Were you out having a great time with your friends? Think about how excited you felt when you put on your favorite outfits and when you were ready to have a great time. There is something to be said for anticipation and excitement, and when you dress up again, you’ll find that there is a great deal of emotion tied up with simply taking care of yourself in this way.

If you are ready to take control of your life and to show the world what kind of beautiful woman you are, it is time to look at your own personal fashion and your make up options. You can be yourself again in this respect, and you can even bring in your loved ones to help.

In Praise of Teddy Bears and Vintage Hats.

I was reading a blog a little while ago, sorry I can't remember who's, about vintage hats and whether to store or display them. The author of said blog was in favour of displaying them and so am I.
My old 80's cowboy hats, fedoras and the obligatory holiday sombrero are artfully stacked on top of the wardrobe, the rest are displayed in the front bedroom (which conveniently also houses my makeup and other hair accessories!)

Now I'm sure I'm not unique in my method of display but I will say that is it very me!

                      Bagpuss gives a whole new meaning to  Hollywood Glamour Puss!

                                                      Leonora fascinates in lace

                                              Snoopy does 1950's sophistication
                     (or maybe it's the fact that he's a boy that is making him hide his face?)


As you can see the front bedroom is also home to some of my fuzzy friends, the larger of whom are very obliging when it comes to hats it must be said.

I'm well aware that soft toys are not to everyone's taste and that some would shrink in horror and even disgust at the idea of a woman my age having them at all, but you know what? I couldn't give a shit.
I know there are those who take it to extremes and perhaps if I walked round with one in my arms all day or talked to them as if they were real, people might have a right to be horrified.
However having grown up as a very shy and insecure child my beloved Tedted (bear) and Benjamin (bunny) gave me the courage to be brave go to places and do things if they were with me. They have seen me through a lot of ups and downs over the years, and whilst I don't need them in the way I did when I was 5 years old they mean certain things to me, and it is for that reason they now sit in splendour on their very own chair in our bedroom. Along with Himself's two childhood companions they are referred to as the old gents.

                      My two are also imortalized in this picture that hangs in my kitchen.

                                                                Friendship.

I'm a great believer in having things in my house that make me smile and make me happy, and as the soft toys I do have count on both scores, long live the Teddy bear says I.

Holiday! Celebrate! etc.

Yes I am currently singing Madonna and circa 1980's Madonna at that!

Himself is out at the cinema so I have taken it upon myself to book holidays!
ahem.
I have made noise about the fact that I want to go to Edinburgh in December this year and as the reaction from Himself was not negative I have gone ahead and booked......

I have also arranged dates with his sister so we are also going to Torquay at Easter. Strike while the iron is hot and all that. :-)

I am very excited about both, now lets just hope the film was good and he comes home in a happy frame of mind! 

Other than that I had my first dental appointment on Monday (after last week's powercut) . I was in a highly nervous state I have to say, and having a girl sat opposite me praying fervently over a rosary and saint on the way there didn't help that highly nervous state much!
It was as awful as I expected but as it turns out kind of good too so maybe the prayers worked. The appointment after mine which was also the last of the day, had been cancelled. As the work was going better than expected the dentist decided to crack on and finish the nerve/root canal drilling and prep work which means not only did I not have to schedule in another appointment to make up for the cancelled one last week, but more importantly the horrible stuff was all done in one hit. I'm not ashamed to say it took all I had to stay in the chair for so long and I was actually shaking by the time he'd finished but I am so very relieved the worst is over. I only have 2 more appointments left, huzzah!
One to make casts so a new crown can be made and also tp fit the post it will be attached to, and then the last one to fit the crown.
Plain sailing in other words!
In some ways I wish I could have been outside of myself and watching. The proceedure was so hi-tech with gadgets a go-go. I am currently sporting a very nifty gel temporary tooth, made to be a perfect fit via a rubber cast of my teeth that was made when I first arrived! I can't eat with it mind, but it looks very spiffy.

Other than that I was out with the girls last night for the most amazing cocktails I have ever tasted at 'Moya' on St. Clements, truly, The Pink Russian was sheer heaven and the Daiquiri's beyond compare.

                                                                  MOYA

These were followed by the most delicious Italian food at 'La Cucina' also on St.Clements. I highly recommend both if you are ever in Oxford.
We had a fantastic night, but really, going out drinking on a school night tut tut.Better not mention I am out on the Raz on Friday night as well then.

*goes of whistling*