French Chic

Sonata:

Husband goes off to his sister's in France tomorrow to prune vines , walk huge dogs and possibly even build things of a rustic nature .

But this cannot be done without the right clothes , which can only be found in the right shop , his all-time favourite emporium , "Welkoop ". Rolls of chicken wire , Nordic socks , stacks of bamboo canes , trellis , dungarees , twine and creosote , rabbit hutches , clogs and shelf after shelf of "what's this for ? " .

Till this week . Now Welkoop has let him down . Things are really going to the dogs when you can't rely on your home-from-home to stock the only sort of shirt to wear while fetching a baguette or downing a Pernod before a day spent reshaping chunks of Provence .

So the last remaining example , dug out of the duster bag , ...." what's this in here for ?? ".... must be mended by tomorrow .

Bearing in mind the Biblical stricture on putting new patches on old cloth ( or was it old on new ? ) I hunted through the vintage stash and beyond . Couldn't find any blue that didn't have teddybears on . I need Vyella , blue Vyella and the will to patch . Off to the thrift shop , then . Mind you Welkoop sells Duct tape .... too scratchy ?

I won't show him Wee Wonderfuls duck or he'll want webbed plaid socks too .

Jabs And Consolations

Sonata :

Stand still long enough in this town and you'll become an extra in someone's school project . Today , as I joined the aged and infirm in a queue that snaked right round the doctor's surgery and onto the main road , waiting for a 'flu jab , two young girls slowly panned their camera along our length . Old codgers noticeably brightened under the glow of the lights . What was the subject ? If it was about the Mexican 'Flu , they were a month early ....that's in November ....TWICE . As a diabetic of nearly 40 years standing , I'm used to injections , almost blasè , but the fact that the Mexican 'Flu vaccine involves two jabs , a fortnight apart , galls me . Less than getting the damn 'flu would , though .

Never mind , my heart was lifted by the arrival of Friend's contribution to the Innocent Big Knit and I sent them all off this afternoon . She'd made loads , including this shy charmer , looking sheepish among his beaded , buttoned and bowed companions .

What else has my butterfly brain been caught by this week ?

These somewhat spooky heads waiting in a Collector's Fair for a doll lover/restorer to buy them

and bring them back to life :


My new vintage fabric find

and new buttons ....

always buttons .

Darkening days in the garden

Smitonius:

I am way late on blogging, to the extent that Sonata, my mother, may disown me (we wouldn't want that, would we?). But there have been reasons, some work related and others not. The arrival of Autumn, with the crispening up of the air and the sun setting earlier each day, has brought a little sadness into the garden.

One of our resident foxes (many years ago a vixen made a fox hole behind the Hidrangea bush and, since then, cubs and others have rotated residency) turned up to drink out of the pond. Upon taking a closer look at him drinking, we noticed he was badly injured. A stressful call to the RSPCA followed, and the catcher arrived an hour later. Sadly, the fox was able enough to run away, because he really needed veterinary help.

However, some other residents, appear to be coping fine. The squirrels are madly burying their winter stores, and have eaten all the green tomatoes (so no green tomato chutney will be made in this house!); the birds are still flitting in and out to eat from the bird feeders; and this little chap popped in from somewhere....

Old Magazines

Sonata:

As promised , a quick look at the 1920s/30s Bestway Fancy Dress Pattern book I picked up last week .

I didn't actually didn't buy it for the pictures , so much as for the ads . James Hunter of Manchester has "all accessories and costumes for hire or purchase " and the lists of supplies one could order from have made me breathless with desire !

All this could have been mine : Crepe hair , all colours @ 7d. a yard . Tarlatan , organdie , Fairy muslin , Satinette , Tinsel gauze , Fancy prints , Rainbow gauze .... I could have ordered Ballet shoes , Swords ( long ) , Folly bells , Gypsy powder , Punchinella sticks , Noses ( turned up ) , Noses ( Turned down ) , Top hat ( with spring ) , a Full Face Punch ( sic ) , spangled trimming or a Cupid set , Floor polishes ( 1/- per bag ) or imitation swansdown . Were I in a hurry , I could have taken the Prêt -a Porter route and ordered The Peanut Vendor , Rooster , Mephistopholes or The Picador's Partner costumes . Given that it's nearly Halloween , I might have made this simple but effective Witch outfit , though the giant broom might have made me unpopular on the dance floor ,


But "Miss Santa Claus " would be surely be a winner on the younger woman .

Now it's Friday evening and I can loll around again ....my main ambition in life these days , I fear .

But first : Every week in the winter , it's some charity's turn to go door to door collecting donations . Tonight a young mother and her small daughter appeared and I went to find some cash . Little girl rattled huge tin busily and beamed , "This is Daddy's Piggy bank " . Mortified mother and I laughed like drains , child looked offended .

In answer to "31 giraffes ? ": this Sunday it's Animal Day here , rather on the lines of Mother's Day . We thought giraffes might make a nice change from pets for the preschoolers and I got landed with most of the cutting out . And no , not all the 40 are in the same group !

And finally . "An exciting , tasty Weekend Lunch "from a 1950s mag. " Cheese salad : Make a pretty arrangement of leftover cold cauliflower florets on a large plate . Decorate with sliced tomatoes , sprinkle liberally with mature grated cheese and salad cream . " Or there again , maybe not .

Taking It Easy .

Sonata :

Reading all these posts I'm always agog at what everyone does . They look after their families while working , crochet while in the Lotus position , whip up gourmet meals while finishing off their umpteenth quilt , spin their own wool from a pet Llama , grow pumpkins and make pickles , knit at traffic lights .... and all at the same time .

Not being of the same calibre , I've cut 31 giraffes out of yellow card , sewn two little drawstring bags , made a very nice pot of Lentejas ( lentils , preferably Puy , cooked slowly with a couple of pork ribs and chorizo ) . I went to a very pretty exhibition http://www.schervenengeluk.nl of china chosen by couples over the last hundred years for their wedding list with a photo of each couple and a sample of their choice

and walked through a little local book fair and admired this

while purchasing a vintage Bestway Fancy Dress pattern book ( I'll show you another time , I promise ... it's got a few must-haves in it ) .

And it's taken me all WEEK !

Mind you , what I lack in boundless energy I make up for in cunning and I've enrolled Friend , the demon knitter , in the little hats project for the Innocent Big Knit . So I'll still have a little time to

Ancestral dogs don't bark

Smitonius:

One of the lines in my family tree connects with Walter Glynn (1837-1905), a shipowner from Liverpool, who lived in his later years with his family between two properties. One of them was called The Lydiate, in Willaston (Cheshire), which is now converted into luxury flats.


The second property was called Bryn Hir in Criccieth. This is the one we managed to see on our recent trip. It is a listed building, and I think belonged to a local land owner called Owen Jones Ellys Nanney, from whom Walter Glynn must have rented it. It is, in fact, much larger than these photos can show - if only walls could talk! It looks as though the ballroom (or billiard room?) will have been built whilst they lived there. Clockwise: front porch of the house with the ballroom or billiard room on the right; a glimpse of that room through the window; one cobweb covered lion on, perhaps, the kitchen door?; the top of the porch door. The views must have been marvelous, though it is impossible to know as the gardens are so overgrown now. It is rumoured to be up for sale soon, but I don't have a spare half a million pounds (or whatever it may cost)!

Although they only rented it, the property must have meant a lot to the Glynn family. One of Walter's sons (Walter Samuel Glynn) had a kennel called 'Byn Hir Kennels'. He bred Welsh Terriers and Welsh ponnies. In fact, one of his champion dogs, for he did well at Crufts, was stuffed and mounted after death and donated to the British Museum. He is now displayed in Gallery 6 of the Natural History Museum in Tring. I think I must pop over and pay a respectful visit.

Wales... tea, sunshine and steam trains

Smitonius:

Just back from North Wales:


Clockwise: The coast line near Criccieth, where we hunted ancestral homes (shhhh... actually crept into the grounds of an empty property to take photographs!These particular ancestors actually had a ball room... imagine); a stained glass window at the tea shop where we stopped to have.... that cup of tea; the steam train that took us from the bright sunny coast to a dour Welsh mining town, but the views up and down were fantastic (nice sheep too, kept gazing a them longingly: not only do they produce wool, but they taste nice too!).