Withered old and terrible gaunt" describes me well , at the moment.Not because of the move , though it wasn't something I'd ever want to repeat , but the building of an Ikea chest of drawers .
The lovesome , huge and capacious Malm , to be precise . Arriving in two hefty flatpacks , which turned out to contain lots of heavy , precision cut slabs of veneered chipboard , it seemed simple enough to construct . And then I unearthed the bag of fixings .... 267 screws , nails , wooden plugs , plastic locking affairs , runners , minute plastic whatsits to stop the drawers making a noise as they shut .... it was endless . As was the construction itself . Like everyone else , I've put together a Billy bookcase and a table and was game to expand my repertoire .
Well , we survived . A Malm chest of drawers is ours and I'm sure , with a bit of a rest and some feeding up , I'll look my old self in no time .
The quote ? W.B. Yeats , of course .

All change, please....

Smitonius:

Sonata has moved, and though she remains unconnected to the internet or the phone my little sister texted updates on the move day. I am sure Sonata will let us now what it was like for her, but what concerned her three daughters was the potential loss or damage to the crocodile skull in transit. Yes, you read correctly, we grew up with skeletons ON the cupboards (no doubt there are some rattling in them too). It only seems odd in retrospect, but at the time a crocodile skull on top of the furniture, the elephant's molar propping up the books, the bows and arrows in the corner, the red and black beads in a woven box, the Zebra skin on the shop's wall, and African carvings meant we were home. Sonata's other half spent time in what is now known as Zaire and these have travelled to wherever home might happen to be....

Ages and ages ago I seem to remember telling you all about our adopted cat Toots, brought home from Battersea Cats and Dogs home. We knew we were taking a risk to feel more heartache as she had a heart condition but - hey - none of us come with a guarantee.

Unfortunately Toots passed away in October suddenly. She had been a very loving companion who loved being with us in the kitchen in the evenings (we all played musical chairs), had a penchant for shortbread biscuits, and adored playing with silver chains. For a few months we thought we would not get another cat for a while. But, cat lovers know how it is.... driving past Battersea on the 5th of January we stopped off to re-register. One thing led to another and we walked out with not one cat but two:

Reputedly father and daughter combination (though the vet is very skeptical indeed), Mr Bo(jangles) is about 6 years old and his 'daughter' Suki is about one year old. He is an adorable nutcase who likes to wake us up at 7.30 am precisely by jumping onto the bed from the top of the cupboard. She is a little princess of a kitten and by far the bravest of them both. They get on well, and he encourages her to wash herself as it does not appear she lives up to his standards of grooming. They have just been introduced to the garden, though Mr Bo spent two days watching her explore through the window before venturing out. Suki has taken her first (unintentional) swim in the pond. Toots is sorely missed, but it is wonderful to have feline companions again (though given how much they eat, they could well be miniature horses).

Gosh , that was fun ! But let's not do it ever again ...

Sonata :
 Husband and I are moving house . In fact , we've been moving for the last three weeks and , were it not for Friend , we'd never be ready . She's a decorating demon and has tirelessly stripped vile bumpy wallpaper and friezes like technicolor roadkill , replastered and sanded and painted till she dropped .... and mercilessly bullied me into conquering my fear of the steam wallpaper-stripping machine and given master classes on filling holes in walls . And all with great charm .
The new flat , with a view of the river

a lift for Husband's sore knee and wrap-round cosy central heating now also has soft ice cream coloured walls ( not quite as pale as shown here ) and we're packing boxes as fast as we can

So think of us on Saturday, it should be huge fun .... the man moving us has announced that his two young stagaires this year are from a training course for youngsters with ADHD so it won't take long

Sonata : Sorry ! I seem to have stopped blogging altogether but , having lolled about all winter , I just don't seem to have a spare second at the moment . It's only temporary ... normal idleness will resume shortly . At the moment , though , I could do with a PA . Younger Grandson is shaping up nicely and once he's absolutely sure about the difference between the computer mouse and the 'phone

he can come over and be a great help . Though I may have to explain that the house's dress code only allows Casual Friday ... .

the rest of the week trousers are worn .

The Culture Vulture

Sonata :
Actually , it would probably have been quicker if I had been a vulture since the trip involved around six hours on trains and an hour on buses , but it was well worth it .
I'd seen that there was an exhibition of late 19th/early20th century posters in a small Lithography museum www.steendrukmuseum.nl near Eindhoven so took some sandwiches and a good book and set off . And I'm very glad I did ... though half way there , when it started to snow , I did wonder whether I'd get back .
As well as the posters , they have the limestone blocks and printing machines , a couple of fascinating short films and a lovely selection of items made using chromolithography . There were soap and chocolate wrappers , cigar bands , maps , book covers and puzzles but no holy pictures , despite having a  few printing blocks  

but then , perhaps collectors like me have got them all .
I can't show you most of the posters , since they were behind glass that fiercely reflected every light however dim  and made photograpy difficult ... though the reflection did amuse me on this one

All those who find the feeble light cast by the new "green " light bulbs irritating might agree  ! and the Mucha of Sarah Bernhard was striking .

As I was leaving , the rather elderly volunteer who was on duty asked if I'd mind filling in their survey to say how I'd found it all  . When I handed it back , he glanced at it and seeing that I'd ticked the 65+ box for age , he exclaimed "Surely not ! " . So I'm inclined to recommend the place ... and it's staff ... highly !  
Not so Eindhoven , I'm afraid , it's very modern and bleak and rather windswept . Though , if you're passing , do try to pop into the Heuvel Galerie shopping mall . There's a lovely Carla Rutgers statue paddling in the fountain .

Beginning As I Hadn't Meant To Be Going On ...Wittering And Photo-less

Sonata:
I wish I could show you my wonderful vintage ad. of a ballerina twirling round her kitchen holding a saucepan on high , and say that I , too , was leaping round like a gazelle , thanks to a week of Pilates and a startling variety of vegetable dishes . But I can't . Blogger won't let me and besides , I'm really just feeling girlishly lightheaded and giggly because it's not raining at the moment and there seems a possibility that Winter will one day end . A feeling shared by two magpies who strutted about outside yesterday afternoon , thumbing their beaks at a rather dopey ginger tom who probably knew that he'd never be able to pounce on them but felt he had to try ...
As for the unusual vegetables ? Well , I'm doing my best .  Husband  decided that he really prefers his Brussel sprouts lightly boiled and tossed in butter and really didn't seem overwhelmed by the offer of the countess's  Brussel Sprouts Au Gratin or a Pain de Choux de Bruxelles ( a sort of savoury Bread Pudding containg a kilo of pureed sprouts , stale bread and eggs and baked in the oven for an hour before being served with a cream sauce ) . Still , true to the spirit of more adventurous eating , I did put a discreet amount of fresh ginger in the red lentil soup at lunchtime and it was declared the nicest for a long time . Stealth is apparently called for ....
I see other people are busy with their New Year resolutions , too . This morning a very little boy came whizzing round the corner on his tiny two-wheeler , followed a second or two late by a puffing father in a track suit , rather niftily combining babysitting with taking more exercise  , I thought .
Oh , and in case anyone's wondering if I've abandoned my knitting , not at all ! I had to stop for a couple of weeks , having suddenly received an order for a second doll's quilt to match the one just bought by someone decorating her new dolls' house . But it's been sent off now and I'm ready to start up again . A turquoise mohair cardi. is nearly mine .
Anyway , any lingering temptation to stay online ,  reading everyone's blogs , is quashed by the yowling of next door's cat , who's just the other side of the kitchen wall . A cat on heat makes a startling amount of noise ,  we're finding .
edited ( with a smirk .. and fingers crossed ) : I've just followed the instructions on a Google problem solver and hope that works . Let's see ....

Room For Improvement

Sonata:
I've got a lamentable record as far as keeping New Year Resolutions , so this year I've rethought the whole thing .
I've decided just to concentrate on a couple of things where there is room for improvement ( yes , I know there are several areas that could be tweaked ... but to have any chance of success it's better to be realistic ) . So here goes ....
1 ) Remember this at all times , flossing with fervour every night , even when on holiday 

2 ) Play that wretched Pilates DVD at least once and remember that a lady never slouches

3 ) Surprise family and friends with unusual vegetables

Oh yes , and
4 ) Read even more vintage cookery books . These illustrations , from Economical , Easy & Tasty Fish Recipes and Countess Morphy's veg book , came in a packet of four such treasures from Smitonius and Partner , beautifully wrapped for Christmas .
Meanwhile , A Happy New Year to you all from Smitonius and me ! I hope 2013 is kind to us all .