Pussy cat pussy cat

Where have you been? I've been to London to visit the Queen. Well, actually, I zipped across the continent to visit my Mum, who lives on the other side of said continent. It was cold, 16C with wind and rain aplenty, but I managed to endure. So brave.

I lucked out on the way back, getting two seats to myself on the plane, an A330, which had EOD (which means, apparently, "Entertainment On Demand")... and it meant I could watch any move I liked from the somewhat sparse collection - and of course as a devoted lover of petticoats and bonnets, I chose "Young Victoria". Nicely done, they got most of the historical details right except at the very end, where they had her in mourning for dear departed Albert, wearing a blue dress.

Now, I'm the first to admit I don't know about a lot of things, but I do know a bit about the Victorians, a small obsession of mine for a number of years, and also about Mourning Dress - the Victorians had it down to a fine art, obsessed as they were by death (nearly as obsessed as we are with sex, just quietly)... and I know that a Victorian lady of quality, in the first year of her mourning, would never appear in any colour except unrelieved, plain old, black. Plenty of jet, sparkly black glass or sequins to catch the eye, but no colour. This particularly applies to the dear old Queen, who really drove the whole Victorian Mourning Clothing Industry by her somewhat obsessive "conspicuous" mourning for Albert.

It's also common knowledge that the present Queen always travels with a full set of mourning garments, so she can appear 'appropriately' garbed should the need require whilst she's off on a jaunt... so they certainly take it seriously... So, gentle reader, I was somewhat annoyed to see that they'd slipped up here.

Oh well, I'm just going to go off now & polish my collection of Jet brooches, and work on my letter to the producers - just kidding.

To give, or not to give, that is the question..

The lovely Jo, over at Diary of a Sad Housewife posted an interesting question today about homeless people... do you give them money or not?  Apparently one of our fair city's better known beggars (which these people are, let's not mince words here) is making $400 a day just by sitting outside one of our bigger department stores, asking for help.


I have no issues with the guy, I just wonder how he fell into the homeless hole & why he can't get out of it... and also I'm not going to pass any moral judgements, because I'm reminded of that saying about "never judge a man until you've walked a mile in his moccasins..." but I don't make $400 a day by working hard.  


Also, I'm amazed how it's always the people who can least afford it who give money to beggars.  Those of us with more than we need (and let's not mince words here either, that's me) do it the tax deductible way... the people who give him cash money get nothing except a warm fuzzy feeling.


Anyway, my experience was an interesting one; as a general rule I turn down people on the street who ask me for money, but about 5 years ago, on the 20th December (a day of some significance in the Golightly household), also the day of our office Christmas lunch, I was going to the dentist.  A man approached me and asked for $2.80.  I just said "no, sorry" and walked on.  Then I thought about why he was asking for such a specific amount, so I turned back & asked him.  He told me he'd just been released from Prison, had accommodation for two nights & was trying to get the funds together to stay somewhere over the Christmas break, and thought he'd have more luck if he asked for a small amount.  I gave him $50 without even thinking about it.  


My husband's boss says I was scammed.  I don't care, I have to say.  What do you think?

Gee, Gerald...

I just found this blog when the lovely (well, I'm assuming he's lovely) [and I'm assuming he's a "he" - are there any girls called Gerald?] Gerald left a comment on my blog, reassuring me that there is an audience, although somewhat lurkbound, out there... yes, yes, I just made that word up.


Do English people say Gee?  I know Aussies do, "gee, mate, your ute's had the bomb", or "geez, I rekkon the chooks turned into Emus & kicked shit out of your fowlhouse, mate" (translations required?...)  


I love the way Blogger underlines everything I put that extra 'u' in, the 'u' which differentiates us Anglos from our American cousins - but only for some words - colour and honour are two that spring to mind immediately, (also neighbour, rumour & labour), but it doesn't do it for 'dangerous', 'tedious', 'humungus' (is that really a word?) - note to self, look it up online (it's actually 'humongous')...) oh yes, where was I?  That extra 'u'.  I believe Ben Franklin is to blame, but I'll be looking that up too.  Wikipedia suggests that it's to do with the root of the word, French words retaining the 'our' and Latin words retaining the 'or'.  Well.  Now you know.


Anyway, back to Gerald.  Gee, I like his blog (see, I knew I could sneak it into a normal sentence!).  He has lots of those lovely cartoons I used to see in Punch (I miss Punch.  It was so English.)  and obviously he has a great sense of humour (ha!) - check this out - 


And then I wasted spent valuable sewing time yesterday rummaging round in the innards of an old computer, cannabalising it to make a newer one (see, all that paying attention in class paid off!), but only after I'd been up to that evil, evil shop again and bought another set of blues & whites for Deb.. and Kaz's comment set me to thinking about the blues & whites in my house - of course, I was referring to homewares, and she was thinking of shoes & bags, so there is room for a little confusion - but anyway.. the proof of the pudding is in the bowl its served in, I always say:

and then:

and then:

and on the walls:

and their partners:

which I bought at Artscrawl, the annual HV Art Festival, with her right by my side.  The plates were my grandmothers, possibly even my great-grandmothers - not Isabella, but the other one - and there was once a cup to go with each of them, but they have disappeared into the mists of time.  The plates are not particularly valuable, but they are precious.


And the fabric?  Well, I will confess to a little more blue-and-whitery, just so I can add a little variety to the placemat set - and I love these:

I think the one on the left would make a stunning tablecloth, or even pillowcases.. then I went a little mad with some linens:

And some more of that fantastic blue & orange floral for the lining, and then I bought a bunch of 'little girl' fabrics - the sort of thing you used to see kids in before everything went pink lycra & sequins:

and finally, here they are drying on my rack outside in the lovely dappled sunshine - spring is here!

And now, gentle reader, off, to the ironing board!

housewarming gifts

My friend Deb is in the process of buying a house, well, she will be when she can find one she likes - boy that girl is, well, not so much picky, as particular... I've seen about 10 houses in the last two months, but when you're buying the house of your dreams, you want it to be

absolutely perfect... so I thought I'd make her a housewarming gift... for the house that will eventuate!

So, I've bought some of this:

and some of this to go with it:

and I think they're gorgeous - but I've always had a bit of a blue & white fetish - one of my oldest possessions is a blue & white batik bedspread I bought in 1979, when I was in high school - it's only a double-bed size, so it doesn't go on the bed much any more, but it always looks so smart... and Deb has one of these large blue & white ginger jars which will look perfect with some cushions made from this, or maybe some placemats and a table runner?

Of course if the house doesn't come off, I can always keep the fabric for myself... just in case...

I made it myself...

I made a couple of these little guys for some people I know - one for my lovely friend GMcD, whose birthday it was the other week:

And one for Jo, at Diary of a Sad Housewife; I feel for her, she's in a crappy situation & sometimes the small things can help to cheer you up:

I love that each one of these guys has their own personality, their own life, and even though I cut them all from the same pattern, they all come out differently (and so cute!!!) - but how creepy is it that their eyes follow you round the room?  Just kidding.  Although the day they start talking back, I'm in trouble. 

I also got these in the mail:

 

& I'm trying to decide if it's okay to make frogs with fabric with owls on it - I guess it is - who's going to tell on me?  Aren't these gorgeous?  Suggestions please!

Oh the pain, the pain of it all...

So, yesterday with our friends K & O (you know who you are), we went out to lunch here, it was really nice, and they bought along their photos of their holiday to Paris, Moscow & St Petersburg.  Nice, very nice.


Today I was given the somewhat rare treat of complete peace in the house, MWH going off to the football & leaving me alone with the sewing machine, my MP3 player and several loads of washing.  Generous to a fault... so I cut out & made the black silk clutch, and broke five, yes five needles in the process.  Apparently size 70 Schmetz needles do not like encountering beads.  Unsurprisingly, they break.  Wouldn't you think after the first two I would have figured out to put something a bit firmer in the machine?  But no, I persisted with the 70s, and that has now joined the list of things to get on Saturday at the haberdashery store...


Anyway, cleverly remembering to add two tags for a strap of some kind, I finished the clutch.  It's tiny.  I might offer it to MWH's niece, Alex, (she's 11) & see if she would like to have it for the wedding (or whatever) - but it's no good to me apart from a lipstick, a car key & maybe a comb?  Oh well.  Another trap for young players there - check out the finished sizes before you start...


Oh, you want a photo?  Next week.  I've also managed, in the middle of busily knitting a cardigan for my friends S & T, who've just had a baby, and also a hat for my friend Karol's niece who's pregnant, to acquire tennis elbow.  I had it once before about 4 years ago & it is such a nuisance - I can't straighten my arm, and I certainly can't hold anything with my arm straight - even taking clothes off over my head is problematic - and it's all down to the knitting... so although I probably could go & get the camera &  take the photos, I'm going to rest my elbow for a week.  Or two.


I am also considering one of these, from Rowena at Red Ruby Rose - I bought one to go with the outfit I wore to Arthur's 60th birthday - they are so beautiful, in every sense - beautifully marketed, made and packaged - if I had a zillion dollars I'd buy every one in her shop!

Anyway, 10.52pm Sunday means sleep.  More, later.  Dismissed.

Fame, remember my name(2)

Just wanted to say how excited I am about getting 'pinged' as we computer geeks say (what's the difference between a geek and a nerd, in computer terms anyway?) by Jo at Diary of a Sad Housewife - I made her list of her favourite 9 blogs - wow (this is me rendered speechless here).

Sometimes I wonder about the impact of the stuff I write, because I have been known to rant a bit about the injustices of life, you know, where corporate giants exploit people because they can, where people are selfish and thoughtless, where scumbag lawyers make bad situations even worse by not caring, that kind of thing... and then I'm glad I blog, because even though most days this is a brain dump for me, and nothing more, occasionally I do want to make a point (even though most days I have no idea if anybody even reads this stuff) and I want to make the world and the people in it, better. And today, Jo made me feel like I might have. Nice.