Tuesday, July 20, 2021

And so the day begins

I sit here, writing in 'Nanum Gothic' by the way, pale and grey it is like a thin drawing pen.  The dog, Teddy is sleeping on the bed behind me, and I am worried a bit, for Teddy often goes round clad in a nappy, he is incontinent at age 13 years old, a black sleek whippet with a grey face and not much sense between his two ears.

The house has an eclectic mix of furniture, paintings and loads of cacti everywhere!  The kitchen has a Mexican theme, bright and colourful,  Frida pokes her face in and there are graceful depictions of Mary, mother of Jesus.  No, religion does not grace this house but it is a particular hobby of my daughter to collect.  An Aga stove in the kitchen keeps the house warm and the water boiling hot but not particularly welcome at the present time.

Once I hankered after an Aga, they were so 'in' at one time, the heart of the kitchen, etc, etc.  Great heavy beasts of course, I am worried this one will fall to the basement below.  It takes about 15 minutes to boil the pretty pink kettle, and toast is a bit of hit and miss affair but the ovens look good.

I am trying to place their point of popularity, could it be the Laura Ashley time when women played with the pretty flowered patterns of material and went round dressed in long skirts, a sort of walking folk's art of self sufficiency on the farm.

Those days have gone, as has Laura Ashley, who slipped on the floor of her very gracious house and broke her neck.  Fashions change, my daughter can mark most fashions by age and time, her knowledge of makers and materials leaves me quiet, no wonder my granddaughter is setting off into the world of fashion.

Anyway I have fallen into her hands and am being 'redone', or at least smartened up, an M&S visit next Monday, an argument is already starting over what I should wear in the future!  I am living with people who go to nail shops, it seems to me a waste of time but someone will glue extension nails to your original ones, and then you can go around with any length of nail.  You can see not many gardeners live in towns ;) 

Must admit I have left myself short of clothes, no waterproof or jacket, but I did remember my umbrella. Shoes are another problem, all packed away, all 3 pairs of them, I don't acquire stuff like others do.

Dominic Cummings is spilling the beans again, nothing like an old bitter friend turned foe to demolish our prime minister, and who better than the po-faced astringent Cummings?   So welcome freedom day, luckily we are all arriving at our own interpretation of freedom as to how we want to dice with death.

14 comments:

  1. Oh Thelma I miss my Aga in my farm kitchen everysingle day - cakes, casseroles, toast, kettle always singing, But the lady who lives there now hates it!
    Lovely to hear you seem to be settling in - sorry about the dog and nappies - I will keep my fingers crossed.

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    1. Well the kettle sings here as well, and I have coped with a Rayburn in the past, coming back at lunchtime from work to feed it coal and walk my Labrador over the Essex countryside.

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  2. Shopping for clothes - I pity you that trip! But try to enjoy it...

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    1. Manchester of course, hopefully the weather will have cooled down by then, we seem to be going for very high temperatures.

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  3. I miss our Hergom stove (though couldn't cook IN it since it was converted to oil) but oh gosh it was the heart of the house.

    Don't envy you the clothes shopping - what I occasionally need gets bought from Cotton Traders, which says a lot about my "style"!!! Practical.

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    1. I know Cotton Trader and Damart to go for shoes and outerwear, never quite living up to what you want but practical ;) Any large stove brings a feeling of warmth and security of course, when I was a child we had one of those old fashioned Victorian black stoves, which had to be fed and then along came central heating and suddenly no work heating!

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  4. It takes time to get used to living with others after you have been on your own. They are nice to care for you and welcome you into their home. Hope all goes well.

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    1. Everything is going well Ellen apart from a leaking shower and of course the heat but settling in with my family is not too difficult.

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  5. I would loathe to clothes shop for myself with anyone else in tow.
    I have an ancient degree in fashion and textiles and that seems to keep preolple from telling me what to wear!

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    1. I had given up clothes shops and just like Jennie catalogue shop, when you age vanity goes out the window!

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  6. I've not been in blogland as often as usual recently, so don't know if your daughter's home is your ultimate destination or a stop for regrouping. My daughter has always been quite vocal re my choice of garments, many of which don't suit her sense of what I should wear. She once gifted me a visit to a nail salon where my fingernails and toenails were coddled and fussed over. It was a rather soothing experience but within two days I quietly removed the pale pink nail polish and got on with it. Noticing the artificial nails on others I wonder how they can 'work with their hands'--let alone afford the repeat visits to keep the nails immaculate.
    I hope the emotional/physical 'dust' from sorting/packing moving begins to 'settle' a bit for you.

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    1. H Sharon, no it is not my final destination (actually that is the grave;) I shall be looking for somewhere to rent soon but for the moment will explore the area. I suspect having your nails buffed and polished is a bit like a massage very relaxing, it could take two hours though and I would be twitching in my seat.
      As for the dust settling, should have put a few more things in my suitcase to bring with me I think.

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  7. The Laura Ashley look is coming back. A quick glance into the window of a middle of the road shop for women of a normal size will show you that.

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  8. I remember it in Bath, too fussy the clothes for a person like me. And Conran shop on the corner, funnily enough my grandson Ben is doing some sort of training in Conran in London.

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