Alien Spouse

Kinetic Art.

Having moved from a one-bedroomed shoe box to a palatial two-bedroom-and-a-dining-room bread box we find ourselves suddenly feeling that the space is a touch spartan.  I mean we want it to be fairly minimalist, and we certainly don't want clutter - but Eva's room echoes because there are only three small pieces of furniture in there right now!

We are going to by a sofa/bed to go in there at some point in the next month, because otherwise where will Moth sleep when she comes to visit? (squeeee!) Before then though we have to do something to make the space feel a touch more inviting and fun for Eva; I especially thought she needed somethinbg entertaining to look at whilst lying in her crib.

So we bought her a mobile.  Not one of those sugary sweet nursery mobiles though, oh no, we went with a design classic that also happens to depict one of my favourite birds.

It's a Flensted Swallow mobile, and the minute I saw it I was like "Oh,  of course!  That!"

The shop we bought it from was the rather lovely Mod Sprog, and they had all of their Flensted mobiles on sale - So we also got this one for the living room.

 

This is the Flowing Rhythym mobile in red, which was originally designed in 1955 so, of course, it goes nicely with our current mid-century modern look AND our love of red home furnishings.

I knew exactly where this one was going to hang, because there was an ugly hook screwed into the ceiling in th ecorner of the living room, so I knew I had to put something there to at least excuse the damn thing.  The trick was going to be how to hang up the one in Eva's room, but the mobile is extremely light so I thought that I'd take the advice of the manufacturers and use a drawing pin (US Translation: Thumb Tack).  I got out the step ladder, grabbed a drawing pin and unpacked my new avian friends.

When I looked at the ceiling above Eva's crib I was surprised to find that there was already a drawing pin there in almost exactly the right position.  Dude, that's just spooky.  I mean it's not like there are drawing pins all over the ceiling here; there is just that one precisely where I wanted it to be.  Asheville just provides everything... (or, and this is just a crazy theory, that room has been a baby's room before and the crib is in the most logical place for it).

One of the lovely things about Asheville is that there are so many talented and creative people here, and they are so damned nice as well!

The shop stocks the work of several local artists, and I've always really liked the line of jewellery made by Amber Hatchett that we sell.  Amber creates sustainable jewelery from an eclectic range of found objects - Her pieces can combine vintage charms, chains, bullets, antlers (that were shed by the live deer!) or any number of other things.  All of her necklaces are gorgeous, but they are so very individual and unique, none of the ones we had in the shop were exactly right for me.  Fortunately I knew that Amber also takes commissions, and I had one or two lovely shiny things that I thought she could make me something from.

I selected a few items that I thought might work, and Amber agreed to make me two necklaces from them.  I was SO excited when she told me they were ready, and that she'd deliver them on Sunday!

This one is made from a glass button that fell into my lap when we went to see "Guys and Dolls" in London, it popped off Sarah Brown's jacket during the Cuba number.

The pixie pendant I've had for as long as I can remember, and I'm frankly amazed I haven't lost it.  My Mum bought it for me from a gypsy!

Amber added two tiny leaf charms, along with her signature touch of several different kinds of chain.

I love it!

The other necklace was made from a large glass brooch and the matching clip-on earrings; I loved these but they were so heavy they really did not work as they were originally intended. Now, with the addition of a gorgeous vintage Ulsner pendant they are the perfect statement piece.  If the statement you want to make is "Fabulous!", obviously.

A Damn Fine Breakfast.

It's Wednesday already?  Jeez!

Today Doc and I went to the Sunny Point Cafe, which we'd heard served the third best breakfast in America (I don't know who decided that though!) I cross-questioned the waitress about the maple syrup was real maple syrup or not, she was very nice about it and assured me it was.  With her guarantee on that important point I happily ordered waffles. It was a really good breakfast, Doc (who ordered sausage, eggs, potatoes and a biscuit) and I both thoroughly enjoyed it and it was only just over $20.

Eva had fun too.  She grinned happily at everyone else in the cafe and tipped a glass of ice water into her dad's lap.  Poor Doc had to sit through his delicious breakfast in cold soggy jeans.  I may have laughed.

Speed Mobility System - From Milan.

It is utterly bizarre to me that I have somehow stumbled into a life in which I am shopping for motorcycle accessories.  How the hell did that happen?

I bought a SMS Visione in pearl white with black stripes, and it arrived yesterday.  I am very happy with it; it fits snuggly whilst still being nice and light, and I love how it looks.  There is a definite hint of Princess from G-Force about it, now all I need is a pink dress, a white cloak and some high white boots.

Originally I was heavily leaning towards a sliver glitter helmet, which was rather stunning, but that didn't have a face visor and I decided that whilst looking like a mirror ball might be fun, it might also be a little over the top.  So I went with something classic (and a good $50 cheaper...).

The SMS website has the following information about their designers:

"SMS is an Italian designed helmet line.  Mr. Landi is the main designer behind these exclusive scooter helmets.  Mr. Landi lives and works in Milan, where he finds much of his design inspiration in this beautiful old European city in the heart of Italy.  Guiseppe is the other Italian designer, responsible for building high quality, safe helmets with a stylish look.  Together they have created this elite line of scooter helmets with a distinct European retro feel."

I love that!  Mr Landi and Guiseppe!  

A Statement of Intent with Regard to Summer Clothing.

2013 will be a momentous year.

It will be the year that I finally drive a motorised vehicle after passing my driving test twenty flipping years ago AND it will be the year that I wear a bikini for the first time in my adult life.  Not at the same time of course, that would be foolish.

This is my two piece of choice, and, as if it could get any better than it already is, it actually is an Esther Williams design.  I haven't bought it yet, because I'm still hoping to lose/tone a little more tummy before the summer.  This is where the newly re-started pilates comes in, along with some yet-to-be-done calorie counting

That's all I had to say today.  Bikini. Yes.

Blue and White with Chrome.

Well... I own a second-hand Keeway Agora scooter.  It's pretty cool looking, don't you think?

I chickened out of riding it home, which was probably a less than ten minutes journey, but I suddenly felt very aware that I haven't driven anything for twenty years.  Doc brought Eva and I home, walked back to collect it and then rode it home.  He liked it a lot - But he'd better not get too used to it, I tracked down a local motorcycle riding instructor and I've already e-mailed to set up some training.  Then those roads will be MINE!

Weekend of Contrasts.

The bad news is that I spent the weekend fighting off the cold that Doc C had, and I managed it fairly well - At the cost of needing to sleep for the majority of Saturday and Sunday.  Fortunately the Doc was better so he could look after Eva, and, even more fortunately, Eva doesn't seem to have caught anything.

On the other hand, the good news is that I got a call on Saturday to say I'd got the job!  Squee!  I start my six week trial period in a fortnight's time - It's just two days a week, but it is at my very favourite shop in Asheville!  I cannot believe my luck!  Squee, Squeee, Squeeeeeeeeeee!

 

Sound of Laughter

Today was pretty good actually - I got a call to set up a job interview, and it's somewhere I think I'd really enjoy working.  I was so excited by the phone call that I was dancing around the living room in a fairly silly manner, and that made Eva laugh for the first time!

Doc and I have been in friendly competition over this and I won. According to Eva I am hilarious, or at least my dancing is. We then discovered that if we put Eva on her play-mat and rocked her gently from side to side she laughed again, and we have video of that.

Please enjoy!

 

 

ARG! Milk!

It's Thursday?  Really?  How the hell did that happen?  Babies really are the most incredible time drain, who knew? (I know that really everyone including myself and Doc C "knew" that but we didn't really know that, you know?)

Anyway...

Today Doc and I went for our initial check-up with our new doctor, who seems very nice and we both got flu shots whilst we were there.  Obviously we had to take Eva with us, because Edith and Nancy are really not stepping up to the task of baby sitting in quite the way one would hope.  I prefer to take a bottle of milk with us to this sort of thing, so that if Eva gets hungry she can eat immediately.  To keep the milk cool I like to use the coozy we got at the first Appalachian Rollergirl exhibition we went to see.

So useful! So cool! Love it!

Christmas 2012.

Here is our Christmas!

Our (clearly fake!) tree is the tree from "A Charlie Brown Christmas", which we've had for a couple of years now.  It fits in nicely with the very simple decorations for this year, and I also like the juxtaposition of the sad little tree with the Queen's portrait in that corner.

One of the inspirations for the ornaments was our atomic clock, and I am pretty happy with how that wall looks as well.  I do sort of wish that first green ball in the photo was a touch more over to the right, but I'm not bothered enough by that to get the steps out again.

Bedecking on a Budget.

Today I decided to put up Christmas decorations, this necessitated a trip to the storage unit to collect our baubles and a visit to Target to buy a packet of ornament hooks.  

Every year I like to decorate differently to the year before, and this used to be much easier because I used to be able to just walk into Paperchase on Tottenham Court Road, get inspired and probably buy something fun (Actually I'd usually go nuts in the January sales and then hoard my new shinys for next year).  Doc C isn't against decorating for Christmas, but he is against spending "too much money", which I'm not 100% sure there is a specific figure for, but I am certain that this year I am well within it.  The total outlay for our festive flourishes this year was $1 for the ornament hooks.  Yes!  I win at frugal holiday trimming!

This year is additionally tricky because I decided against putting up fairy lights.  I love little white twinkly lights, so this was a tough choice, but we live in a small space with only a few electrical points in any of the rooms, and on top of that if you put some toast on all the ceiling lights in the flat dim slightly.  So no lights this year.

On the other hand we do have a really elegant picture rail around our living room, so I decided to just hang ornaments from that.  I wasn't sure if that was going to work to be honest, because I couldn't remember how many ornaments we had in storage; fortunately a couple of years ago we bought a pack of 48 baubles in four acid colours, and each colour has two different finishes (shiny, matt and glitter).  I hung them in colour sequence (pink, blue, green, silver), but put the finishes up in random order, if that makes sense.  (Clearly I will need to post photos, but by the time I put these up it was dark so I'll take pictures tomorrow)

It's starkly fun, and there is absolutely no chance of Edith knocking any of them down.  Although, now I've said that she will probably find a way.  Edith is resourceful.

Eight Weeks of Eva.

Evalyn Alice is 8 weeks old today - And look how much bigger and happier she is!

Also, you can tell that Doc C is out of town because there is no way he would allow her to be dressed in a black/grey striped onesie with black/grey leopard print leggings and hot pink socks (It's probably a good thing that you can't see her nappy cover, which is lime green).

I think she looks very fashion forward and adorable myself.

*** Post Script - I just spoke to Doc C, he said he saw today's photo of Eva and actually the outfit was kind of punk rock and cool! So maybe she will wear this ensemble a few more times! ***

My Coney Clogs.

Bunny slippers!

These are clearly fabulous, but they were chosen for practical reason honestly.  When none of the lamps are switched on our bedroom still has enough ambient light that I can see pale objects on the floor, so I picked these specifically so I can find them quickly at night without having to switch a light on.

I mean, ok, technically as long as the slippers were pale they didn't need to also be bunny slippers, but, given the choice between bunny or none bunny, why wouldn't you go with the rabit option?

Pink Baby and Tasty Raw Fish. Heaven.

Doc C's sister sent a crocheted pink hat with a pink ribbon and feather rosette.  The rosette is RIDICULOUS and takes the hat completely over-the-top from cute to infant drag.  It was already so pink that we couldn't resist pairing it with the sugary sweet white and pink dress(with embroidered pink ladybirds on it) and, finally, pink socks.  Eva was very possibly the pinkest baby in Asheville, which was in honour of our going out for sushi with our friend Laura.

This was the first time I've had proper sushi since I found out I was pregnant (I did have crab stick sushi, which is a mediocre counterfeit).  I had the sushi deluxe plate, which has several different types of sushi and rolls, and a special order of crispy salmon skin rolls.  Crispy salmon skin is my favourite type of sushi and I have been thinking about it for months.  It was utterly delicious.

All in all a very fun evening.

 

Cheese-Fest.

Doc C has to go to campus tomorrow for some start-of-the-semester stuff, so he had to make sure he'd done all of his homework today.  Whilst he was doing that I read and tried to find a comfortable position to sit in, because my lower back is killing me.  Ahh, the last couple of weeks of pregnancy!  So much fun!

The book I grabbed off the shelf was Jacqueline Susann's "Once is Not Enough", and it is unbelievably tacky and entertaining.  There is more plot in the first fifty pages of this paperback than in a year of any soap opera you care to mention, and I've just discovered there is a film version starring Kirk Douglas!  OMG!  Well, I'm going to have see that now clearly, I can't imagine it being anything but fabulously dreadful.

Thirties Style.

I keep forgetting to say that we met one of our neighbours, Steven (and his very sweet dogs Twiggy and Coco), from the rather nice house next door, he told us that he had a friend who had lived in our house decades ago.  Apparently it was built in the Thirties and has always been appartments.  Fascinating!

There are several elements, like the living room's light fixture, that are clearly original features, and it also explains the layout and design of the flat itself.  All of the rooms, including the hallway and except for the bathroom, have a large cupboard built in; it makes so much difference, and I don't understand why more modern houses forego this type of functionality.  Well I suppose that it must be much cheaper to build that way, but why don't people insist that houses need proper storage? 

There is never anywhere to keep the ironing board or the vacuum cleaner anymore.  Actually, in this appartment we have an original murphy bed style ironing board in the kitchen which I would have tried using, but Doc C thought it would be a little bit impractical as it butts up against the gas stove in the kitchen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Still, isn't that fab?

 

 

Bag Packed (Finally)

When we went to the baby safety class yesterday, as always with these type of things, the instructor went around the room asking everyone's name; she also asked whether people were expecting a boy or a girl and when they were due.  When she got to us and I said that the due date was 26th of August, she joked about us having left the class until the very last moment - so I didn't like to add that I didn't have a birth plan printed out and laminated (or, ok, actually written out), or even my hospital bag packed yet.

It's weird at this point of the pregnancy because people keep telling me it could happen ANY moment now, but if I say something like that then they, and often it is the very same person, will chuckle knowingly and tell me that first babies are usually about a week late.  And why if I do something now, like take a baby safety class or try to book a tour of the hospital (the only tour they have any space left on is two days before my due date - So either pin-point perfect timing, or utterly useless!), do people act like I've been lollygagging around doing nothing much for the past nine months and should have done this earlier?  Actually having moved house so recently is a great explanation for leaving all this so late, so I'm cutting off a lot of tedious conversation with that!  That sounds a bit mean doesn't it, but at this highly visible late stage of the pregnancy I am getting a lot of unsolicited advice, and some quite personal questions that I'm just not that inclined to answer fully, so saying "Well, we have only just moved here so we still have a lot to get organised!" really helps for some reason.  Anyway, if I'm not meant to be taking my pre-natal classes now (and ok it is a bit late in the day for some of those), then what exactly am I meant to be doing now?  Mostly, according to the books and the websites, it seems I'm meant to be resting and pampering myself, which sounds great in theory but gets old pretty quickly if you ask me.

Today, spurred on by the it could happen ANY moment thought over the more likely three weeks from now thought, I packed myself a hospital bag, and one for Eva as well.  Mine has clothes, snacks (which seems odd, but all the books & websites are most insistent on this point - I've got a box of cereal bars, some plain oatcakes and a handful of green tea bags), toiletries and various types of pad (again - Odd!) Eva's has clothes, a sun hat, one of those "My Birth Books" (which we are filling out only so we can cull the information from later and make a new one which doesn't have teddy bears and bloody duckies all over it) and two blankets.  One of the blankets is a thin swaddling blanket and the other is a slightly thicker cotton blanket which I'm bringing just in case there is a really sudden cold snap (unlikely), but mostly because the fabric is a Keith Haring design and the idea of wrapping my baby up in modern art pleases me.

Isn't that fabulous, with a nice twist of the 80's to it?  This side is clearly Haring's signature Radient Baby whilst the other side is black and white radient hearts with the occaisonal red heart.  Evalyn is going to be surrounded by good design and aesthetically pleasing objects from the moment she is born, and that's all there is to it!

A Portrait of the Queen.

We've been meaning to get a portrait of the Queen for a while, and this week we actually got it organised. 

First of all we found a portrait of the Queen that we liked on-line (It's a Dorothy Wilding photo, that was hand-tinted in those gorgeous fifties colours), downloaded it to a zip drive and took it to Staples to be printed on shiny card stock.  That cost a dollar.

Today we went in search of a frame, and we very specifically wanted something a bit tacky.  In one of the local antique markets, after some thorough searching of the aisles, we found a faux mother-of-pearl frame of exactly the right size for $6.50.

It's so fabulous, it goes with our red mid-century modern living room beautifully and it cost us under ten dollars.

 

An Afternoon in the Arboretum.

This afternoon we decided to go to the North Carolina Arboretum which us about twenty minutes drive from our flat.

It is amazing.  If you ever come to visit Asheville I would highly recommend spending a few hours here, for one thing the only charge is $8 for parking a car so it is a veritable bargain.

We started off in the exhibition center which is currently hosting an exhibit called "Wicked Plants" which was just like Halloween in July - So, clearly, it charmed the hell out of me, and convinced me that every plant I saw after that was going to seriously maim me.  Fun!  The exhibit was set out as a haunted house, with family portraits of the anthropomorphised plants and different rooms illustrating the various ways that plants could take a person down.  It was just so well done, and had so many clever details; it made me quite jealous, because I realised that I would love to have a job as a designer of exhibits like this!  How does one go about doing that?

The arboretum itself is spread over 434 acres, and 65 of those acres are arranged as gardens and hiking trails - So we definitely only saw a fraction of what there is to be seen.  Doc C was particularly charmed by the bonsai garden, which was just stunning.

After a noce lunch in the education center's cafe, we strolled around the Stream Garden and the Quilt Garden before heading home.

We both had a lovely afternoon, and discussed buying an annual membership because it is so close to our new home and it is so very lovely.  I can't wait to take Eva there for an afternoon, and my Mum can almost certainly expect to be taken there when she come to visit.  Bring your walking shoes, Mum!

The Proverbial Till.

I promise that I was only inside the Franklin Fountain long enough to order a ice cream sundae, have it made for me and then pay, before heading to the tables outside to eat it - So what's that? Probably less than ten minutes? Not long anyway, but it was thoroughly enjoyable to be in a place where there was so much to look at and admire for it's charming attention to detail.

Even the cash register was appealling - and inspired a short photo essay!

As you can see it's a gorgeous vintage till, with pressed tin sides and a big glass display for the prices - except the prices on the tabs have been removed, so instead when your total is rung up you get a proverb! The family standing a couple of people ahead of me in the queue got "Search Others for Virtue, Thyself for Vices".

The men in front of me (covered in tattoos and clearly both tough as nuts, but still in the mood for some ice cream with hot fudge sauce) got "A Penny Saved is a Penny Earned"

Mine was "Talk is Cheap Because Supply Exceeds Demand", which I quite like.

I also very much like the soda jerk uniform for the Fountain, although I feel bad about referring to them as "Soda Jerks" because everyone there was lovely despite a line of customers going out of the door meaning they really didn't have a second to even turn round between customers! Still, aren't the uniforms great? I particularly love the classic combination of the little hat and the bow tie.

Literature and Vintage Bling.

This photo combines two of my very favourite things, which are reading and shiny things.

As you can see my Kindle is clothed in it's own leather case, which just happens to be a muted green. I was hoping when I bought my bag that the two would match, or at least co-ordinate, but actually the different shades of green hate each other and clash in a rather sickly way. No matter, I am still fond of both of them. 

As I am sure I've said before (and will probably say again), it took a while for me to come around to the idea of a Kindle, because I adore books as objects almost as much as I love reading them. However, my Mother was right to suggest I would like the format and the Kindle is a prize above rubies for a voracious reader.

Of course if I were to be offered rubies in addition to the Kindle I would not turn them down, because PRETTY!

Kindle and Bangle - Action shot.

I am extremely fond of classic jewellery, and I sporadically, as dictated by my bank balance, collect vintage costume jewellery. This bracelet is a thin slice of tortoise shell plastic (probably it's lucite, definitely it's man-made & not real tortoise) with a simple pattern of diamante studs on both sides.  It's unusual to have the decorative edge be the one vertical to the wrist, whilst the edge which is horizontal to the wrist is so slim and plain; this means it would get lost in a stack of bracelets but works really well alone for some under-stated glitz. In other words, it is dreamy and it was only $18 on Etsy. What is not to love?

It's surprisingly difficult to get a good photograph of a bracelet whilst you are wearing it, so I thought I'd take a picture of the bangle held up to the light to catch the textural translucence of the lucite. Isn't that lovely? 

Accessorises.

I bought this vintage Samsonite travel bag on Etsy specifically to use as my carry-on luggage when we flew to Vegas. After we got home I simply never transferred my stuff back out of it again, so it's become my everyday handbag.

It's ironic that I think this bag is so fabulous when it is only a shade or two brighter than the green that made my school uniform so very hideous and despised. Seriously, who dresses an entire girl's school in mushy pea green blazers and skirts?

The shades have long been a favourite of mine, but I could only wear them when I had my contacts in - until I got prescription lenses put in! Also just in time for the Vegas trip! 

Rosemary's Baby (1968).

The DVD of "Rosemary's Baby" arrived from Netflix yesterday, and we started watching it the minute we got home. What a great film! Of course we spent a good deal of our viewing time admiring their apartment and I drooled over some of the fab outfits (not that red velvet trouser suit though. Ugh.) that Mia gets to wear through out. Naturally we had a brief discussion about how on earth the Woodhouses can afford such a great apartment in the Dakota, but Doc C's theory that Guy's acting career was doing reasonably well is spot on the money according to an IMDB commentator's exhaustative comparison of the film to the book. 

Doc C mildly suggested that, perhaps, we should stop watching films about evil babies now. I don't know about that, if only because we've got so many more to catch up on! I also realised that although Rosemary is bearing the child of Satan, which can't be any fun at all, she clearly doesn't have to worry about maternity leave because she's not working, or the cost of health care, or any of the stuff that I'm trying not to stress out about (Stress is bad for the baby, as we all know, and yet there is a surprising amount of it waiting to nobble you when you get preggers.) One of the few things I'm really not worried about producing an evil kid, so actually some demonic gestation drama is a pleasant change of pace to the real life boring nonsense.

As some of you know I've long held grand plans to dress as a heavily pregnant Rosemary Woodhouse for Halloween, but now I realise that her third trimester is during a blazing hot New York summer so I'd have been running around in a thin cotton dress in October. Good call on my kid's part to be a summer baby and therefore avoid that freezing debacle.

Las Vegas Recap.

As you can see Edith felt very strongly that she should be coming to Las Vegas with us, and attempted to pack herself in to my suitcase on Thursday evening. She would make a fabulous show girl actually, with that plumey tail and gorgeous figure (it's hard to believe she's had kittens).

I didn't really take many photos over the weekend, because all the suff I'd want to have a picture of was either something I was prohibited from photographing (for example Doc C intentally scrutinising our crime scene at the CSI Experience) or something I didn't think would photograph well without some professional level lighting equipment (for example the jellyfish display at the Mandalay Bay Shark Reef Aquarium).

It was obviously imperative to take a photo of our hotel at night, because it was a quite ridiculous fake castle with turrets and other such nonsense.

It was annoying that I couldn't get a shot of both The Excalibur and New York, New York's Faux Liberty without the walkway's guard rail in it, but I think you get the point. Ridiculousness.

Face Off.

I have to go to a dermatologists appointment at 7 o'clock tomorrow morning, so naturally Doc and I are unable to stop watching a TV show we happened to TiVo amarathon of.

"Face Off" is a reality contest for special effects make-up artists. It is impossible to stop watching this marathon! SyFy is evil! Evil genius!

Just Ducky.

For Christmas the Assistant Chair of my department gave me a spa set, which is bubble bath, body cream, an eye mask and DUCKY SLIPPERS - I hadn't previously thought of Ducky Slippers as being a staple of a good spa, but now I shall demand them!

I'll give you two guesses which of the cats is a bit freaked out by these, and is very much on her guard whenevr I'm wearing them.

Toning Down Christmas.

It occured to me this morning that I had not yet decorated the house for Christmas, but at the same time I'm right in the middle of reading "Miss Minimalist" (on my Kindle) and it just feels wrong to glitter the whole house.

So I compromised and hung up the faux vintage ornaments I bought in Boston last year on the twig arrangement from Halloween, then I added in a couple of other ornaments to balance those out and that's that.  

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

 I love the faux vintage ornaments almost more then I did when I bought them last year, they are delightfully tacky and rather adorable in their own very plastic way. Doc C is a particular fan of the angels, who are all holding their hands out in front of them in the manner of fisherman describing the one-that-got-away. They also all have black eyes, which gives them quite a creepy alien-being ambience.

Finally, on the dining table, I've put up the sad little Christmas tree beloved by Charlie Brown and all those who get a bit tearful when watching "A Charlie Brown Christmas" (1965) ...*cough*Doc*cough*...

Vintage Crime Spree.

One of the joys of the Kindle shop(Oh hey, have I mentioned that I have a Kindle?) is that there are vast quantities of Victorian and Edwardian detective novels available for little to no cost and that means I will never be short of something to read.

I downloaded half a dozen of them only yesterday, and I anticipate going back for more once I've skipped through these.  I selected these six with a very definite research purpose in mind; I read Agatha Christie's "Partners in Crime" years ago, which is a cracking collection of Tommy and Tuppence short stores, however each story pays homage to a popular fictional detective that readers of the period would be familiar with. I wasn't, and I know I missed out on some of the references. So I pulled up the "Partners in Crime" Wikipedia page and systematically went through the Kindle bookshop looking for the authors and detectives being pastiched - And I found all of them! Usually for free, but in one or two cases I had to pay a whole 99 cents. 

I'd already downloaded volume one of the "Dr. Thorndyke Mysteries Collection" and I've just finished "The Red Thumb Mark" the first book in the series. These are a delightful mix of very precise scientific analysis of the fictional evidence and a less condescending version of a Holmes and Watson pairing.

The primary function of all fiction is to furnish entertainment to the reader, and this fact has not been lost sight of. But the interest of so-called "detective" fiction is, I believe, greatly enhanced by a careful adherence to the probable, and a strict avoidance of physical impossibilities; and, in accordance with this belief, I have been scrupulous in confining myself to authentic facts and practicable methods. The stories have, for the most part, a medico-legal motive, and the methods of solution described in them are similar to those employed in actual practice by medical jurists. The stories illustrate, in fact, the application to the detection of crime of the ordinary methods of scientific research. I may add that the experiments described have in all cases been performed by me, and that the micro-photographs are, of course, from the actual specimens.

Freeman, R. Austin (2008-09-05). Dr. Thorndyke Mysteries Collection, Volume One (Four Books in One Volume!) (Kindle Locations 3110-3116). ignacio hills press (TM)IgnacioHillsPress.com. Kindle Edition. 

(I also LOVE how easy it is to pull nice chunks of text from the Kindle, with the source reference already attached. Happy sigh.)

And the Kindle edition still has the illustrations! Yay!

 

Happy Martini Haze.

Well personally I like keeping the gin in the freezer, it produces a perfectly chilled martini that definitely softens in flavour as you drink it and I rather liked that. This has a dash of Angostura Bitters in it, and that is just delicious.

Doc C made this for me, because I was covered in sleeping cats and he then brought it to me in the living room. This then presented somewhat of a problem; how to get a decent photo of the drink with out distracting background clutter and with out leaving my station as comfy cat bed. Fortunately one of the pieces of clutter on the coffee table next to me was a sheet of crumpled red tissue paper.  I put the glass on the paper and held that up as a backdrop with my left hand whilst taking the pictures with my right hand.

I'm just as pleased with the photos as I was with the chilled gin. A successful set of experiments all around!

Freezing Gin.

Late last night the wind really picked up and the door to the outside cupboard was banging, and that cupboard is directly behind the fireplace. Edith has been obsessing over the fireplace for the past couple of weeks, we think because of the mice but who knows with cats; anyway all this noise meant she became very excited. This led to much zooming around and that woke us up.

Doc C went downstairs to see what was going on, and then went outside to shut the door, but the damage was already done and Edith was more convinced then ever that there was something of interest in the fireplace. She carried on dashing around crashing into things, so then I went downstairs and cleared the fireplace and surrounding area of anything breakable or loud. At this point it was 3:30 and when I got back to bed I discovered that I couldn't sleep, so I did some important research on my iPod.

Mostly I was trying to work out how to make myself a nice cold martini without having to waste ice and dirty the cocktail shaker, because it seems a bit fiddly for just the one glass. Knowing that vodka could be stored in the freezer, I thought what about gin? It may interest you to know that there are competing views on this subject, because gin is a botanical spirit and so some people think that freezing it will dull the aromas. I can't honestly say that my palate or nose is particularly refined, so I think it's worth the risk of losing some of the aromatic experience in exchange for a cold martini with minimum effort.

This morning, whilst making my breakfast, I was already thinking about having a cocktail after work, so I put the gin and the vodka into the freezer, and the vermouth into the fridge (where it apparently should have been all along). We have a mostly empty freezer, so I also put in the cocktail shaker because that was another tip I found in my internet searching.

I'll make myself a drink at some point later this evening (the hour after we get home from work is cup-of-tea-and-a-snack time) and we shall see what my verdict is, I hope that it will be a blissed out martini haze.

4 Dance.

Students are always losing stuff, usually water bottles, books or coats, and this particular note must have fallen out of someone's bag when they were in my office.

I think it must be a comment card for a dance class, but I'd love to think that there is some random person wandering around in nightclubs (not that we have any night clubs here - that's where this daydream really loses touch with reality) and critiquing their fellow clubbers.

Either way I'm keeping this on my desk in case the student who dropped it comes back for it. If it were me I'd want documented evidence of my excellent lip syncing skills.

New Vintage Make-Up Case.

At lunch time yesterday I had a couple of things that I had to do in town, so I walked over from my office and on my way I decided to briefly stop at the large antique shop on the high street. Well, it says antiques over the door, but really it's a flea market and that's actually fine with me because I usually want something vintage and cheap, not appraised and expensive.

I was looking for something to store my make-up in, because proper make-up cases are ludicrously expensive and I really couldn't leave all of that stuff sitting on the side in the bathroom anymore. It was taking up all the space, and there was always the risk something would get splashed with water and ruined. I'd tried organising my cosmetics collection into a vintage thermos lunch tin, but I wasn't 100% happy with that. Anyway, at the antiques shop I found a number of oddly expensive lunch boxes, but none with a print that really spoke to me; a large vinyl doll case full of battered barbies that smelled strongly of stale tobacco smoke and then I found the Ugly Kitten Box.

It's another doll case, this one is designed like a small steamer trunk in tiffany blue enameled metal with white plastic edging, and metal corners. Gorgeous! The enamel is nicely beaten up, and the corners have a charming rusty patina to them.

I'm sure you'll be wondering why I call it the Ugly Kitten box, and I think that's a fair question. Let me show you:

!!!

It really could have been such a tasteful box, but then someone slapped a cartoon kitten with a bunch of daisies on the lid! I love it!

Plus all of my make-up fits inside neatly, but with room for my collection to grow and it was only $10. Happy sigh.

Decorating for the Holidays.

Sorry! Can't blog - making Halloween!

Kitty Pride.

I read recently (on Wikipedia) that the reason Sanrio don't usually give Hello Kitty a mouth is because "without the mouth, it is easier for the person looking at Hello Kitty to project their feelings onto the character" and that "the person can be happy or sad together with Hello Kitty." I've just never pictured Hello Kitty as being a great solace during times of difficulty myself, but maybe she is to somebody.

I think the addition of the glasses make Hello Kitty look more scholarly, but also as if she will not take any nonsense. A fine role-model for any professional woman I'm sure you'll agree.

Today I am wearing jeans and a t-shirt (that both fit!) topped off by a waistcoat with a Nerd Hello Kitty badge on it. I happened to be wearing almost exactly the same thing when I was in a slightly awkward situation a week or two ago and I must say that I felt equal to the challenge because I had Nerd Hello Kitty in my corner (not to mention I was better dressed - Which I hesitate to note because it sounds a bit self-congratulatory, possibly outright bitchy, but, none the less, that was my honest opinion).

Red and Black.

You have got to appreciate working in an office where people bring you flowers.

One of our faculty has a side line in floristry, so these were originally bridesmaid's bouquets from a wedding this weekend. I do think this arrangement is lovely, but I will admit that the minute I saw the red and black colour scheme I knew that I would be using them after they had wilted as part of my Halloween decoration scheme.

Yay for multi-tasking flowers!

Face Paint.

I've recently been updating my make-up collection, in particular I'm adding more colours to my eye-shadows and I have bought actual proper brushes with which to apply the cosmetics once I've got them. Today, as you can see, I've gone with a simple pink wash over the lids with an asphalt grey shadow as an eyeliner and black mascara.

My main problem with every day make-up is that I get raccoon eyes from my mascara, yes even water-proof, but the very nice lady at Sephora in Charlotte (Hi Cindy!) gave me a sample of Urban Decay's All Nighter setting spray and that plus a mascara primer seem to have sorted me out.

I ran out of the sample on Monday, so I ordered a full-size bottle but went with De-Slick in the hopes that will also keep my t-zone in check. When I mentioned that I'd just ordered some more stuff from Sephora, Doc C asked what I'd bought. I hesitated for a moment, then said that I didn't want to tell him because most (straight) men don't understand make-up and he wouldn't get why I needed it. He laughed and admitted that was probably true, and that his question had been prompted by thinking that surely I had enough make-up already.

Ha! Poor fool! Enough Make-Up? There is no such thing as enough!

 

I Wear a T-Shirt Now. T-Shirts are Cool.

I love this Threadless t-shirt design, and I am seriously thinking about buying one, but how much more would I love it as actual wallpaper. I wouldn't do a whole room, that would be a bit much, but an accent wall in Tardis flock (or foiled!) wallpaper? That would be epic!

Maybe I'll get the t-shirt, but, if it doesn't suit me, I could then stretch it over that spare canvas I have knocking around.

 

Mannequin.

This window display in Asheville makes me happy.

That is all.

Eye Shadow Tester

I had another delivery of make-up from Sephora today, I'm experimenting with my day-to-day look. Today was sort of thirties-slash-sixties so it was all about the red lip with my new bob; tomorrow I'm thinking a really bright eyeshadow with a clear lipgloss.

After work I get changed out of my office clothes and take off my make-up before doing some sort of exercise (at least that's what I'm supposed to do, it doesn't always happen. Mostly, but not 100% always.) This evening I kicked gladiator arse for twenty minutes, then I zumba'd for 25 and then I flopped sweatily onto the old yoga mat I keep for just such a purpose. Doc always retreats to the study when I'm exercising, so when it was all quiet he came back out. He came over to congratulate me on my 3 gold stars for beating Giselle, and then he asked "Did you put fresh eye make-up on before you worked out?"

Well yes, actually, I did.

One of the things I ordered was an eye make-up primer, which I was somewhat sceptical about, so I decided to put it through it's paces. I put the primer on my right eye lid, but not on my left, and then I applied stripes of the lime and black eyeshadow on both eyes.
Once I'd finished jumping around like a hyperactive flea, I compared the two eyes and the left eye had practically no lime green left where as the right was still glowing. Clearly the primer works! Hurrah!

Asheville Feeds Me.

I always book my next haircut with Naomi on my way out of the salon (Ananda - Who are lovely by the way), that way we have our next trip to Asheville set up before we've even left town, and when I booked my haircut last month I happened to choose the weekend that the Americana Burlesque and Sideshow Festival was in town. That sounded like our idea of a good time, so the Doc booked a hotel and I threw an evening dress and two bags of make-up into an overnight case. However, we couldn't find out if there would definitely be seating at the main show at The Orange Peel on Saturday night. I know that sounds a bit needy, but really I don't want to be standing for three hours at the best of times and it would really kill Doc C's back. We really did try to find out, we scoured the website for clues, and asked at the box office on the day, but no-body seemed to know and we didn't want to plonk down $25 apiece on the off-chance we'd be able to snag a chair.

So we got dressed up anyway and went for a curry at Mela. There was considerably less nudity on display, but the Malai Kofta (Ground almonds, cashews and paneer cheese formed into balls and cooked in a rich almond spice sauce) with a Mumbai Mojito was so delicious I barely noticed that. I am a girl who liked her food, it makes me very happy to eat a really nice meal.

Speaking of which, we went to Table for brunch this morning. You know when I say it like that it sounds easy, but we weren't at all certain they would be able to fit us in because we didn't have a reservation. To be sure of a tasty breakfast we got there half an hour before they opened and made sure we were the first people through the door. They hadn't even printed off the day's menus, that's how ahead of the game we were this morning!

Doc had a breaded pork loin with a fried egg and avocado, which was delicious; at least that's what he tells me, personally I was too focussed on my bagel with lox, goat's cheese and a hard-boiled egg to really pay any attention to anything else. So delicious. I'd already eaten half of the bagel, all of my salad and a good number of smashed-then-fried potatoes before I thought to take a photo.

So delicious.

happy sigh.

Terribly Comfortable.

Today was super exciting because I had been waiting all weekend for the post office to open and release the delivery of make-up that I'd ordered from Sephora. Doc C went to get the post mid-morning and brought it to my office, where I tore open the box in a frenzy and many exclamations of glee.  It is no exaggeration to say I immediately ran to the ladies' loos to put on my new red lipstick.

This might not have been the best of moves, after all I have worn neutral or rosy pink lip-stick for several years now, so it has been quite sometime since I put on a really red lippy. Plus I'd ordered this particular lipstick on-line, without seeing the colour in the real world before hand. Plus it is actually more of a lip stain, that promises to stay put for a long time, and I was going to be at work for another 6 hours, and I don't care how understanding your boss is, having a lipstick emergency is never going to be a good enough reason to leave work early.  Even if you do look like an unfortunate clown lady. These things can happen.

So, all things considered, it was very fortunate that this particular lipstick turned out to be exactly the shade of red that I wanted. I took a photo and posted it as my Facebook profile picture, where it garnered several encouraging and complimentary comments from kind friends and family.

What was really funny was that no-body mentioned the tiara that I was also wearing, because, OF COURSE, I'm wearing a tiara around the office on a Tuesday morning. What is more normal than that?

(Oh, they also didn't mention the black bar because that wasn't there. My super secret blogging identity must be maintained, blah, blah, blah, you know the drill.

An added bonus to the black bar is being able to quote "The Princess Bride" in my post title:

Fezzik: Why do you wear a mask? Were you burned by acid, or something like that?

Man in Black: Oh no, it's just that they're terribly comfortable. I think everyone will be wearing them in the future.)

Cold Snap Saps.

It's been cold and rainy all day, and that sudden change in weather has made me really tired. I mean it's only just gone 9 and I've already brushed my teeth and got into bed.

Admittedly I have commandeered Doc's iPad (he was given it by his department, but only after I convinced him to actually accept the thing) to watch "RuPaul's Drag U".

Still tomorrow will be warmer, apparently, and then maybe I'll find some energy.

A Really Great Sunday.

Today has been very exciting, which considering I spent most of yesterday either asleep or washing my clothes, would have been exciting had we only gone out for lunch (Oh, and we also went to see "Thor" in 3D, which looked great, was very well cast and yet was somehow clearly not that memorable. Huh.) However first we went to look at the Radio Flyer I had noticed was sitting outside one of the local antique shops. It was in pretty good condition but it was still a bit rusty; so we thought we may as well explore and started getting excited about the dining tabls they had. I particularly liked the vintage enamel tables, but none really spoke to us.

Then we went to walk dogs at the Humane Society, and, as is becoming somewhat of a habit, I fell deeply in love with the most adorable little puggle (Pug and Beagle mix) called Roxie. She is just so sweet, she loves humans and her ears are the softest things in the whole world. sigh. Doc managed to drag me away somehow, and we went to get lunch. I had heuvos rancheros with a pint of guinness, and it was delicious.

Since we were already in town we went to check the other antique shops, especially a particularly great swivel chair I had seen in a shop window. Which was still there, still great and now I knew it was way out of my price range. We moved on to the next antique shop, and went straight to the basement where they display all the furniture. Doc was examining something or other when I turned a corner and saw the most ridiculously fifties dining set I had ever seen. It was magnificent and had a bakelite tabletop in marbled white with red detailing, plus it came with two leaves and a matching set of six vinyl upholstered chairs in the same colour scheme.  It was just fabulous, and cost $250 for the whole set. After some examination of the table and chairs, we decided it was too much of a bargain and we HAD to buy it. There was no chance of us getting a dining room set in the Mini, so we'll have to borrow a van sometime this week to get it home.

And this means we will be able to have people over for dinner! And board games! And tea parties! And poker! And we can eat breakfast at a table! SO exciting!

Of course now none of our furniture even remotely matches, so I think we still need to go to Ikea and find a sofa that will look good next to a vintage dining set. I'm thinking something in white leather with red cushions and a grey cat or two.

Power of the Pumps Walk.

On Sunday we got up reasonably early to finish cleaning the house, and then went for brunch with Randy and Laura before heading to a local park for the Power of the Pumps walk. This was a fund-raising walk for a local charity specifically focused on helping women, so all of the men were supposed to walk the mile long course in women's shoes.

Doc was on a team with three other professors from his department and one guset walker; hence the name - Team Philosophy and Religion. I was particularly impressed to note that theirs was the only team to fulfill the shoe requirement according to the spirit of the thing, and they all actually wore women's shoes; they didn't wimp out by stringing a pair of heels on a ribbon and wearing them around their necks or by spray-painting a pair of old trainers hot pink. Doc C had the advantage of being married to a woman with the same size feet as him, so I was able to lend him my lovely blue-and-white striped wedges (I love this photo, but the grass means you can't really appreciate the height of the wedges. They're about 2 inches high). And I painted his toenails red to add just a touch more glamour.

The other team's all covered the course much faster, but it wasn't supposed to be a race, so I was very glad when the event organisers gave Team Philosophy and Religion an honourable mention. To top that Team P&R won the bronze for fund raising, and had both the winner of the highest heel (Jack) and prettiest shoes (Kern). Doc came in a close second on both of those categories, and also got a bronze for individual fund-raising. Doc was beaten on the technicality of his wearing a wedge, whereas Jack was wearing an actual heel, so Doc's were higher but were deemed easier to walk in; as for the prettiest shoes, well, I think that was because Kern had done his own nail varnish and so his salmon pink open-toe shoes had camoflaged toenails peeping out. The nail-varnish on both of them went down particularly well with some of the smaller spectators who ran ahead of them yelling "All Hail!" for the nail-varnish men! 

The whole event was in the afternoon, and so Doc was probably wearing and walking in the wedges for two hours at the most. His legs were still aching when we went to bed, and when we got up this morning he was asking what he could do the make his Achilles tendon feel better. This did cause me to laugh and laugh and laugh, but I haven't teased him too much, because, to be fair, I barely ever wear heels myself.

I'd been careful to lend him the shoes least likely to also give him blisters or take all the skin off his heels, but I agree with him that heels do indeed suck to walk in, make your calves burn and throw you off your natural centre of balance. That's why I am so very proud of him (and his team mates) for actually doing the thing properly.

A mile in HER shoes indeed. 

Middleton-Windsor.

When I got up this morning Nancy was meowing and meowing and meowing, so I turned on the television for her so she could watch the Royal Wedding. Nancy loves the Windsors. I watched it with her whilst I had my breakfast, and I saw Kate arrive at Westminster Abbey before getting ready for work.

At work the Royal Wedding was a very popular topic of conversation, so I ended up looking up all sorts of stuff on-line to properly perform my duties as resident British person. I found photos of everything - the dress (gorgeous!), the earrings, the bridesmaids, the cake, the cake from a different angle, the guests, the guests' hats, and the crowds. It was all quite lovely I thought; not necessarily the best use of several million pounds, but quite an impressive bit of pomp and pageant.

My opinion is that Kate seems like a very nice girl, and I also think William has done rather well. Also I think this whole think this makes me feel old, because I remember going to London for the day with my parents to see Charles and Diana's wedding. And that was 30 years ago.

Pearly White.

Pearls make everything more fabulous, and, in my opinion, it's particularly fun to pile on loads of the finest plastic pearls. These are two strings of faux pearls that I bought from H&M for about $5.

Ironic Bunnies.

Mum gave me these diamond bunnies magnets for my birthday about five years ago, and I think they go particularly well with the "Irony is Not Dead" magnet on our fridge door.

A Day Out in Aldburgh.

We got a whole bunch of things ticked off my "To-Do whilst in England" list today! This included some of the more important items, such as a visit to a Norfolk beach, have fish and chips on said beach, go for a walk and then have a cream tea in a proper tea-room.

The picturesque seaside town of Aldeburgh provided all this and more, and it was a lovely place to go for a stroll with my parents. The tea-room was even having a tea-cosy beauty contest, but fortunately they were a bit too busy to press us for our votes because it would have been a very difficult decision.

I also managed to track down a Vivian Westwood t-shirt printed with a picture of Blackadder's "absolutely divine and regal, and yet and at the same time very pretty and rather accessible" Queenie, and a Liberty print silk scarf; both of these delightful items are on sale to raise money for Comic Relief's Red Nose Day next week. I'll definitely wear the scarf, but the Queenie t-shirt is going to be stretched on a canvas frame and hung on the wall when I get home.

Speaking of Elizabethan beauty, here is Aldeburgh's cinema and gallery which happens to be housed in a gorgeous Tudor house. I've always liked the incongruity of that.

 

 

A Toaster's Wake Up Call.

This alarm clock is £14 in the Habitat sale, and it is quite clearly a Cylon alarm clock.

I have thus far restrained myself from buying it, because I don't really need it myself, but should Doc C want it he need only say.

Shopping.

I bought two really great sixties style dresses from Next today, I got them in navy blue - So when we have that "Mad Men" party just be sure to get the red or the camel; that way we'll co-ordinate but not match. Perfect! It'll be like that restaurant scene in "Down With Love" (2003) when Barbara and Vikki swan in looking fabulous together.

I also bought pewter ballet pumps, a red patent shoulder bag and a navy duffle coat. My wardrobe for 2011 is shaping up to be navy blue with beige and red.