This and That

A week or so ago we had a bit of this.

 

I dressed up like a baglady, it was so cold. I am wearing 4 jumpers in this pic, no kidding.

I realised I had to put in place a winter warmth strategy. Comforting soups and casseroles? Hot water bottles? Wooly hats? Thermal underwear? Thick socks?

NO! Instead I bought this. Obvious, really. Nothing better than a silk scarf to keep out the cold.

 

It's Hermes Groenland, who could resist a scarf with husky pups and polar bear pups on it?

 

 

Study this pic carefully.  Do you see the tiny rip in the sofa cover? I know, it's hard to spot.

Someone who shall remain nameless, MONTY DOG, did that.

 

With all the cold I am dreaming of summer and this.

From here

 

And I have been trying out this, very woody and exotic, love it.

Tom Ford, Bois Marocain

 

I am going to be Talitha Getty in Marrakesh, but without the youth, good looks, money and the sad ending. Or indeed Marrakesh.  I expect we will go to Bournemouth.

The best exotic North African perfume I have tried is this. Divine.  What about you?  Tell me your perfume secrets!

Andy Tauer, L'Air du Desert Marocain

Last night we finished watching Series 5 of this.

What a ride! And I now know the French for a "grass" which I am sure will come in useful. 

Look!

That is what my sweet husband gave me for Valentine's Day.

This is what I gave him. That man is a saint to put up with me.

In my defence it does look just like Monty Dog.
 

And that, as they say, is that. Or this?

Hairy Maclary and Other Clothes

Cold today.  Plus the Apple logo appears to be floating over my garden.

Luckily I am prepared, as have found a fashion blogger in Alaska

copyright High Latitude Style

 

It's a fascinating blog, fashion plus a insight into life in a very different place - things we never think about here, like how cars often just won't work when the temp drops below minus 40; the skill of driving when bundled up in coat and gloves and snowboots; the high cost of goods as most things are imported and many companies won't deliver to Alaska.  Plus it came in handy when Boy2 had to do a homework on a cold environment.   It may be the first time a geography project has been lifted from a fashion blog. A refreshing change from the old Wikipedia cut and paste.  Might need to prune the paragraphs on layering while maintaining a slim silhouette...

Already had to rein Boy2, as he was very taken with the "non-contiguous state of the US" thing and so launched into a description of the other non-contig state, Hawaii.  I am not an expert on climate but possibly Hawaii was not what the geography teacher had in mind. But don't worry, Boy2 is irrepressible and, deprived of his exposition on Hawaii, he bounced back with facts and photos on polar bears.

And the actual caption Boy2 used: "These 2 polar bears have developed a very good sense of smell so they can find food in the cold climate"  Just these lucky 2 bears, no others!

Another fashion blogger I discovered recently  is Silk Path Diary

She is so cute, elegant and well-dressed, with an amazing collection of vintage Hermes bags, scarves and some beautiful classic coats.

copyright Silk Path Diary

 Inspired by her I bought this on eBay.  At the bargainous price of 40 pounds.

Jigsaw, wool and cashmere, ideal for muddy dog walks. I am totally on message re buying clothes for your real, not your imaginary, lifestyle.  

 

But then I went off piste and bought this.  Hairy Maclary.  A bargain at 4 pounds and real suede and Mongolian whatnot.

But really, what was I thinking?

To wear this you need to be 

a) Kate Moss; 

b) at Woodstock in the 1970s;

c) in The Gruffalo: the Musical; or
d) all of the above.

Should I give it a deep conditioning treatment or comb for nits?

I don't know whether to take it to the hairdressers or the dog groomers, I have tried smoothing it down and rearranging it but ended up with an unflattering centre parting...

copyright Lynley Dodd

In other news,  a friend posted a link about Mikhail Baryshnikov on Facebook (thanks M) and that sent me off down memory lane.  Did you ever see this?

  I love seeing classically trained dancers cut lose and dance more modern styles. Misha is such a great dancer, such charisma. And may I must add, PHWOARRRRRRR! Thank you, just needed to do that.



 Has any one read this? 

  I really want to read it.  Gelsey partnered with Misha, back in the day, on and off stage.

Memory lane again : a 1000 years ago Grandma Whacker and I saw old Nureyev dance Romeo and Juliet at Covent Garden, then hung around the stagedoor as he swept past in fur hat with ballerina in tow. "Not tonight" he exclaimed imperiously to the autograph hunters.

Right, now I have ended up in Memory Lane it's time to embrace the present.  Maybe I'll take Hairy Maclary to the vets for his injections.

Menopaws and the Scottish Play

Dahlings, hello! Thank you all for your nice comments after my whinge about follower decline....I think that's done the trick - no one has dared unfollow since! Welcome to Hotel California Blighty - you can check out but never ever leave (is it just me or is that song really creepy? )


It's all going really well so far today - I have completely traumatised Boy 2 (aged 10).  Last night I watched him and his classmates prance about in black T shirts and trousers doing highlights of Macbeth.   As usual I was stuck in the corner, behind the father who used to play rugby and the father videoing it all. I couldn't actually see Boy 2.  Jeez, what if I got the night wrong and went to the other class's performance??  I am pretty sure it was Daphnes4Boyz though, what with the state of the art mini-theatre complex, complete with hospitality suites, private boxes (for parents with over 4 boys at the school), crush bar, sur-titling facilities and the sponsorship of Kleinwort Bunsen ("Sponsoring education since 2001: our financial products are like your children - expensive and impossible to understand!").

This morning I got all YouTube-y and showed Boy 2 the Polanski Macbeth beheading scene.  I remembered it as very jolly, especially as Macbeth kept saying his lines as his head bounced down the steps.  Boy 2 however burst into tears and I had to go and confess to his teacher what I had done. Note to self: if any doubt remains about my suitability as mother/primary teacher/any situation where tact and sensitivity is involved, it has now finally been removed. At this rate I could be an MP or a tabloid journalist..

Shakespeare aside, here spring has sprung and naturally my thoughts have turned to getting a cat.  What?????!!!

pic from Cats of Australia!!

Yes, suddenly last week I was consumed with the idea of a cat and before I knew it I was in talks with a breeder, as I have fallen for British shorthairs. It turns out that the breeder  has a lovely, grown up cat she is looking to re-house, as she is giving up breeding.  He is a retired stud, which you can imagine has created great scope for jokes. She was explaining how proud he had been of his "pompoms" and it took me a minute to realise what she was talking about - the old chap has now been neutered.  Poor Mr B is in shock (and not just about the de-pompom-ing) and I am dragging him off to see The Old Stud Sans Pompoms this weekend.  I think it all may be my hormones - The Menopaws  -  to be honest, anyway we shall see! In the meantime I have been looking at Lovely Jublies blog, which is great fun of itself and now has the added attraction of her two beautiful cats.

In other news I read this which was beautifully written but very bittersweet, in fact sad.  Great review of it here

Pic from Booksnob blog

I am now reading this.

pic from Amazon

 I am rather sated with all my murder/detective novels and have been casting around for some more light hearted, soothing reading, with some decent prose and some light decapitation.  The Elizabeth Taylor book made me realise how most of what I read is very plot driven but often with quite ropey writing and very little in the way of serious beheading.

What do you chaps turn to, to cheer you up?  I mean BOOKS!! I do not want to hear your sordid tales of vodka, Mars Bars and Dennis Quaid in the Big Easy ! (oops, actually that's me).

Watch out for the gator baby!

I had a lovely look at the Persephone website. They specialise in 20th century writers who have fallen out of print. So the hope of some charming writing and plus, the covers and endpapers are lovely.  Tempting.  I just happen to notice they have a shop in Covent Garden, London....

Pics from Persephone website

Better go, Grandma Whacker is coming to stay.  Another reason to regret the Macbeth beheading upset.  Better go wipe my YouTube history and get Mr Quaid off pause..or should that be "paws?"

10 years later

Dahlings how are you?

As predicted Boy 2 returned from his school trip and had the Tantrum of All Tantrums.

Maybe he is affected by the break up of Girls Aloud.

I know I am.

From the Guardian on-line

Girls Aloud is about the same age as Boy 2 -  I used to sit on the sofa feeding the baby Boy 2 (I know, TMI)  and watching Popstars the Rivals, which created Girls Aloud.  So I feel a link between them and Boy 2.

And I have lived it: the tears, the laughter, the arguments, the nightclubs, the footballers, the tattoos, the dodgy singing.. and that's just Boy 2..

In other news I am trying to understand the Harlem Shake meme.  This article explains it.
 here.  The latest is the sacking of the librarian at St Hilda's Oxford for failing to stop a Harlem Shake in the library.

In Haircare News, I have bought this.  Excellent for de-tangling.






And this.  To deal with the ever present worry of Colour Fading/Brassy Tones.

From look.fantastic.com

I know you all will be very relieved, my haircare issues must have been keeping you awake at night.


I read this. It is really quite horrid.  Only read if you really have to, and preferably on hols on a sunbed.  Not on your own, late at night.





I enjoyed this more - Linda in Chile has read it too.

I have done a new whatsit on my sidebar showing what I am currently reading.  I stole the idea from Mrs Peabody and the other book bloggers.  See, I wanna play with the grown ups too.


I am busy preparing for my trip to Paris with Faux Fuchsia by watching this tough French cop/lawyer drama, Spiral 4.

Spiral 4 - from BBC Four websiste

  I can now say in French "Shut up punk, spread them, it's the slammer for you" which should come in handy in Hermes (those sales assistants can be very uppity).



Juge Roban is my favourite character, he is very tall and thin and dinky in a very French way, and look at his hair, I bet he uses Aveda shampoo too.

From BBC Four website

Finally I am LOVING this Twitter thing - makes me laugh till I cry - the spoof prison diary of Chris Huhne (probably not of interest to non-UK readers, he is the ex-Cabinet Minister recently jailed for perverting the course of justice by getting his now ex-wife to take his penalty points for speeding...)


Bye for now, stay strong, Girls Aloud may have broken up but there is always One Direction....yes, quite.

Blighty fights back against Dr Spamkenstein

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Techno Blights and Other News

Hi there Dahlings! Now, try not to be too jealous of my exciting lifestyle, but this week I took delivery of a brand new vacuum cleaner. Yes, glamour, find it here.

To my horror it arrived unassembled and I had to read the manual and fit it together myself.  I always feel that reading any product manual is a sign of defeatism, but needs must.

It was a tense moment but I managed. I expect to get a Nobel Prize for Science soon. Or at least a request to help out with the Hadron Collider.

And look - a warning about rip off bags.  I thought one only had to be careful when buying Louis Vuitton or Chanel but apparently vacuum cleaner bags are equally tricky.

In other news, now the snow has gone I am back to embracing my midlife crisis, fashion wise.  (Is the new vacuum cleaner another manifestation of this, most people buy  Meno-Porsche but maybe the new cleaner is the nearest I can get? I did enjoy taking it for a drive yesterday, it certainly has good revs).

Look, dodgy camo trousers.  Boy 1 was HORRIFIED. "Are those Army trousers you are wearing?" he asked, in shock.  Note also the studding detail on the pocket.

 

 

And look, dodgy pixie boots.  With studding.

 

 

 

And yes, Converse All Star hi-tops.  With leopard trim.  And studding.

 

 

 

It seems that studs are Key to a midlife crisis.  Also, I seem not merely to have embraced my Midlife Crisis but to have taken it out to dinner and bought it champagne.


Meanwhile I have read this.  It's very good, a murder mystery set in West Virginia, in the Appalachians.  Unfortunately I guessed who the baddie was early on.  Because I am a Smartass.  Who has read too many murder mysteries.

Finally Mr B and I are having Quality Couple Time watching this of an evening: Scandi Noir drama, The Bridge.



 



 It's brilliant!  And I really can't work out who the baddie is .  I love Saga, the blonde woman detective.  The Guardian have a very good blog about it, all the comments and speculation are very entertaining.

 

Right I'm off to watch Boy 2 play football for the school.  Wonder who will have more studs on - the entire football team on their boots, or me, in my Midlife Crisis Fashion Outfit?