Saturday 27 April 2013

" Our House , In The Middle Of Our Street ..... "

Sonata:
There's lots to see in our street ..... nothing wildly exciting , it's true  , but I'm not sure I could cope with daily gangland shootouts , Morris Dancers or Knock Down Ginger any more .
Still , there's the odd traffic jam 



there's the  luckily-not-right-next-door neighbour who can whistle any tune you care to mention ( please don't ) ,   the daily airing in wheelchairs of ancient inmates of the care home on the corner ,  Meals on Wheels vans in the morning , pizza couriers in the evening ( doesn't anyone cook anymore ? )  ,  flurries of German , Chinese and Spanish students chatting as they rush up to the college , traffic wardens and cats ,  dozens of cats  .......

 It's funny . We only moved a five minute walk away but the cats have all changed colour ... there they were nearly all ginger or white . Here they're an odd shade of sandy pink tabby . I must cross the river and see what they've mutated to there .

When I'm not gawping out of the window , there's pottering in the kitchen




, solving crosswords .... did you know that an anagram of fortyfive is over fifty ? .... and unearthing slightly elderly treasures from storage boxes . This dratted thing not only didn't interlock , it had no picture . It became a matter of honour to complete it  




rather as the opening of this milk carton did later .


 
 
Talking of elderly treasures , you'll be pleased to know that I didn't buy a thing at the Collectors' Fair , though I was tempted by a small wooden toy horse till I discovered it cost 75 Euros , and  it didn't have any wheels .
But tomorrow I will be at the Fabric Fair with a duty to buy . We need cushion covers .......

Thursday 11 April 2013

Picking Up The Threads

O.K.  I've had The Cold and The Cough . Nef and I have sewn the curtains .


 .
 There are even elegant little extras like towel rails and loo roll holders installed . So it was time to rejoin Society . .
Last week I went to an exhibition of late 19th , early 20th century paintings at the Groninger museum ... a sort of Carl Larsson + affair which was rather nice , if not earth shattering .This painting definitely struck a chord !



A spot of shopping and seafood noodles at Wagamama rounded it all off nicely and reminded me just how nice it is to Get Out . Both winter and the move have gone on quite long enough .  So much so ,that  Friend and I are going to the Collectors' Fair in Utrecht this weekend  , having sworn to each other that NOTHING will be bought , however tempting . We'll see ... I've never yet  left this event empty-handed .
Oh yes ,and I'm  getting to know our new neighbours . The 80 year-old next door apologised if she was keeping us awake at night  .... she didn't sleep well herself ,  she explained ," so always took her boombox to bed with her"  .