" 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 .......

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"  .

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 .