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Tuesday 8 June 2010

In the pink with books and polish

Here I am all togged up for my trip to the supermarket (note small boy swim trunks on radiator, a reminder that it was once hot and sunny). It is diddling down with rain here today, so I felt a cheerful raincoat was required. You know what they say about buying clothes the same colours as the ones you are wearing for your shopping trip? I have taken this a stage further.

Look! Matching loo cleaner!

I was thrilled to get this, as it is a Limited Edition, so there is bound to be a run on it - er, not a good choice of words in this context - it is bound to be sold out soon, just like Chanel Particuliere. Remember ladies, you heard about it here first!

Also, it promises a "Fruity Burst" so was worth buying just for the hilarity it will provoke in the Blighty household (obviously not Boy 1 and Boy 2 as they are really quite mature now in their humour and well past that lavatorial stage, but me and Mr B will be giggling and going on about it for hours, like geriatric Beavis and Buttheads).

Oh dear, let's move swiftly on to polish and books.

The book: Diary of a Provincial Lady by E.M. Delafield

This had passed me by until fairly recently. Now it is one of my all time favourites, up there with the Nancy Mitford novels. (Delafield was a contemporary of Mitford). It started life as a serial for a magazine and is written as the diary of a wife and mother trying to keep her household under control in 1930s Devon. The diarist has two lively children and a husband most often to be found hiding behind the newspaper. She is always worried that her cook is about to resign, and she has to juggle bills to keep afloat. She has a lovable but sometimes tiresome French governess, prone to either unencouraging or wildly sentimental comments in French, and the Vicar's Wife always turns up at the wrong moment and stays for hours. Her son's school is obsessed with building projects (no change there then!). Though sadly I have no cook and governess (I know, Mr B is a beast), the book is strangely reminiscent of my own life (for governess substitute my mother, sorry mummy!). Also, Provincial Lady is how I would like to be: for all her muddles and worries, she has a kind heart and never seems to get cross with her children!

The edition I have is another Virago 30 year anniversary one, and the cover is designed by Cath Kidston, using one of her fabrics called "New Rose Bloom".
I am a big fan of Cath Kidston and have a lot of her stuff around the house, in an attempt to pretty it up and fight against the testosterone fuelled Lego and plastic tat mountain.

Above is another edition of Provincial Lady. I don't like the cover at all as the woman on the right does not look like a harassed mother but rather a Vogue model. But this edition (again Virago Modern Classics) contains not only the original book but also all the sequels: The Provincial Lady Goes Further; The Provincial Lady in America; and The Provincial Lady in Wartime. I am in the middle of the first sequel, and can't wait to get to bed each evening to read more (Mr B found me there at 6pm the other day while the boys happily soaked the bathroom floor).

Matching nail polish to the cover was a challenge and so was taking photos. Still my fingers look like wrinkled sausages! I have immense respect for the Swatchaholic, that girl takes nail polish seriously and is a superb photographer. When I first discovered her blog, Mr B had to prise me off the computer at 11pm, so mesmerised was I. (I love the post where she tries to get a colour match for the Tiffany eggshell blue, just thrilling)#. Go check her out, she's on my blogroll! #OOPS HAVE JUST REALISED THAT IT WAS POLISH HOARDER DISORDER THAT DID THE TIFFANY THING, SHE IS V GOOD TOO; SORRY POLISH LADIES! Swatchaholic did marvellous colour comparison of Particuliere lookalikes!

Above, from left to right, OPI Tropical Punch; OPI La Pazitively Hot; OPI Conquistadorablecolour; Rimmel Pro 295 Fancy Fuchsia*


In the end I went with the Conquistadorable.

*Mr B has told me to stop name checking FF all the time as it is sounding stalker-ish, also FF's lawyers have sent me some sort of letter about an injunction, but this really IS the name of the polish.

Must go now introduce pink loo cleaner to loo, ooh fun!




18 comments:

  1. I hope I can find those books over here in the Colonies. Surely you and FF's lawyers can reach an out of court settlement.

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  2. Dear Deb, lawyers working on settlement as we speak, I am allowed to visit her blog but in no circs must length of my comments exceed length of her post; also I must stop sending her roses every day.Bx

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  3. hi blighty,

    i have just ordered the book from my library, i'm so excited. it sounds like an entertaining read. i've never thought to match my clothing with my cleaning products, you are such a trendsetter!

    ~janet

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  4. Success!

    Ordered KK designed book on Amazon.ca for $6.10 cdn. No idea on currency exchange with pound. BTW, stick with the pound people!

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  5. Matching clothes to loo cleaner - Eeek! I am SO far behind the cutting edge of Blighty fashion styling that I still haven't managed to match a nail varnish to my recent reading - both books feature luminous green on their covers. (Well they are murder thrillers!) And funnily enough my new bathroom tile cleaner is in a lime green bottle. So will be dashing out to Oxfam's sale rail for a co-ordinating raincoat and over to Boots for the nail varnish.Sorted!

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  6. How stylish of you - so cutting edge. Now I need to go and find a loo cleaner that matches one of my coats. Or maybe just go and buy a new coat and new loo cleaner. Any excuse to shop me... The diary looks wonderful - will have to seek it out. I imagine there is loads of helpful advice on keeping house in it...

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  7. Oooh La La Blighty - gorgeous pink coat (not to mention also gorgeous pink loo cleaner too - what fun!!) The book sounds great - will investigate Melbourne libraries (books ridiculously - out of all proportion Expensivo here in Oz I feel so use Library A LOT)... and am off to enjoy/waste a few more hours of the day looking at Swathaholic's blog - thanks for intro! x

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  8. Hilarious! Gawd......fruity burst (don't worry this is the sort of mature humour Mr Mouse and I also find beyond hysterical)
    Re proposed Intervention Order sought by FF...maybe you could give an undertaking without admissions?
    And on yesterdays post....YES....I do have trouble sleeping...maybe you could send recordings of Mr B discussing his thermostat...or better still I'll put him onto Mr Mouse and they can both drone on.....but warning to Mr B....don't get Mr M started on ASKO washing machines...or evaporative cooling (let alone campagnolo group sets..)...unless you want Mr B to nod off.
    Have added Provincial Lady books to my Amazon wish list!

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  9. PS you look super glam for trip to shops!

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  10. Blighty,
    In awe of the loo cleaner. The best I could do is panadol capsules that match my winter coat... long story.

    SSG xxx

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  11. Pls never stop name checking me I LOVE it! or as my Hungarian friend would say I LUFF IT!!!!!

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  12. Dear Ladies, so nice of you to take the time in your busy lives to comment on my ramblings!
    Dear Debbie, do hope you like the book!
    Dear Janet and SEP, I love our local library, I only re-discovered the library habit after children, before that it was 1.buy book; 2.read book; 3. take book to charity shop or foist on friend/mother. Now can borrow for no money all sorts of stuff and love swooping down and getting the newly issued books (nicer than the well read ones with the pages stuff together); are libraries free in Aus? What about America? We can even get Vogue and Tatler from our library but I suspect that may cease as gov now preparing to make savage spending cuts to try to reduce our huge debt, and don't think me being able to read Vogue for free is really essential service, surprisingly.
    Elegance, so it's you who swags all the cool stuff at Oxfam before I get there! Love charity shop hunting - mmmm, feel a post coming on
    Kylie - sounds like Mr B and your Mr M would get on like a Mouse on Fire. Sorry you can't sleep, is it stress of being a lawyer? What on earth are campagnolo group sets?
    SSG - please tell all re coat and Panadol
    FF - thank God, my blog would totally lack any glamour credibility otherwise.
    Bx

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  13. Blighty,
    Great book suggestion - the "Diary of a Provincial Lady". I will have to source this one. How on earth does she never get upset with her children? For example, one night of homework with mine and I need therapy for a week. Then again, if she has a governess that might explain it. Sigh...
    I need to find a governess (aka: "Tutor") fast!

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  14. Dear Metropolis Girl, I know, last night Boy 2 decided to read the words in his reading book in reverse order, in groups of 5, it was beyond annoying; then he switched to squeaky Dalek voice, also annoying. And they wonder why mothers drink? Bx

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  15. hi blighty,

    yes our local library is FREE. and it's drop dead gorgeous. better than barnes and noble. it's about 110 years old and has a magazine reading room with huge skylights and french doors that look out onto a garden. old marble slab floors with big wicker chairs and comfy cushions and shelves and shelves of current magazines. all that's missing is a cappucino machine.

    ~janet

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  16. Dear Blighty,

    Aw, the matching loo cleaener got me laughing out loud, hilarious! Love your blog, you are the funniest x

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  17. I feel famous - I have the same nail polish as you Blighty! (Fancy Fuschia) I quite like it and also have Riviera Red in the same range.

    x

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  18. Thanks for the shout-out! Don't feel bad for getting the two blogs confused. There are so many of them! :)

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