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!