At work today I wore a scoop neck black t-shirt, a black cardigan and grey tweed trousers. I accessorised with a pair of black converse, my new glasses and a double strand of oversized pink pearls.
If I'd worked at Sterling Cooper, I'd probably have worn the same outfit - just swapping out the trousers and chucks for a skirt and heels.
The only constants in my work outfit are my rings, watch, silver bangle and, first thing in the morning, a cup of coffee in a travel cup.
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!
Having tidied and re-organised the mezzanine before the Halloween party (although I'm not really sure why now because it's not like anyone went up there), we had a nice bit of open space that was just begging to be used. Three of my bookshelves are there and it's probably the warmest place in the house, so it made sense to make it into a designated reading area; which obviously required seating.
I fell in love with this chair from Urban Outfitters, not least because it looks like it fell off the set for "Mad Men", and was even more enamored when one of the colour choices was inexplicably reduced in price to $199.99. Stylish and cheap? For me! On pay day I went on-line to order it, and was annoyed to find that despite there being free shipping on anything over $50 that my chair had been tagged with a $35 overweight fee - Well, this threw my very carefully calibrated purchasing budget for the month right out of the window, so I decided to spend Saturday searching the local antiques shops for an alternative.
The very first shop I went to, out of all three in town, had a very plain upholstered rocking chair outside that I liked straight away, but I carried on looking just to be thorough and then came back to it. Then I called Doc C to come and look at it (oddly he hadn't fancied trawling the antiques shops for hours, so he went to his office to write job applications), he haggled a bit on the price because it does need to be reupholstered (I don't think we'll have the spare cash to get it professionally reupholstered and re-sprung any time soon, so I'm probably going to DIY a temporary cover to hide that faded green nobbly fabric) and then we went to lunch to think about it. After lunch I paid $135 for it and stuffed it in the back of the Mini, so now we have a reading chair. Yay!
The cats disagree; they think we have a new cat chair and one or the other has been sitting in it pretty much constantly since we brought it home. I think this is an excellent sign that I chose well, because, as we all know, cats are discerning connoisseurs of comfort.
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.
I love this! It's another gem from the retiring professor's office, and it's a plastic letter opener with a molded decoration on both sides of the handle. One side is a travelling saleswoman and the other is a travelling salesman, and just underneath both is the logo for Fuller's Brush Co. I adore the "Mad Men" vibe on this, but I especially love the travelling saleswoman and her fabulous outfit. I want that dress, and those gloves. Gorgeous.
Naturally I did a little google research, and I discovered that these letter openers were promotional freebies from Fuller's, which is just delightful. These letter openers aren't terribly collectible and they are easy to buy cheaply on ebay, so I'm thinking I might turn it into a piece of jewellery somehow. I think it's too big for a necklace, but maybe a brooch or a bracelet.
There were two main reasons for watching "The Lodger" (1944), first of all I watched the Hitchcock silent version a couple of weeks ago so I wanted to compare them, and secondly the police inspector in this version was played by George Sanders and I adore George Sanders.
I took screenshots of my favourite scenes - Sometimes because they were utterly ridiculous, but sometimes because they were really quite impressively atmospheric.
I'll continue after the jump because, whilst I think this is extremely entertaining, I do understand that not everyone wants to look at random still images from a film they probably haven't seen.
Please note that after the jump will be spoilers, but as there is absolutely no plot twist of any kind in the film I don't feel revealing the lack of them would actually spoil anyone's viewing experience. The thing with films made in the forties is that they were barely allowed to sneeze without the censors taking offence, so a plot that deals with the Jack the Ripper case becomes, well, a bit silly in places really and if the plot itself isn't being then the heroine is just wilfully good hearted and ludicrously trusting. There is being nice, and then there is just being bloody stupid.
Continue reading "The Lodger (1944) - Pictures with Notes!" »
This is our new dining table! Is it not magnificent?
Doc called me at mid-day and he'd been able to borrow a truck, but we had to go right then. So we did, and there was a parking space right outside the shop, which was remarkable, and very fortunate indeed. It turns out that chrome and laminate dining tables are quite heavy, as are chrome and vinyl chairs, particularly when carried in stacks of two.
We got the table set up at home and then had to race back to work, so I am really looking forward to playing house when I get home. I may have a tea party with the cats, just so I have an excuse to set a couple of places.
Now I know you'll be looking at the photos and thinking to yourself - "That is an epic dining set for $250, but does it really go with the $50 tartan sofa? Or what about that mustard coloured armchair and ottoman?" I cannot lie, it all clashes horribly.
Fortunately, after three progressively uncomfortable years, we already had plans to change the sofa this summer, so now we can try and find one to co-ordinate with the table. I also loathe the tables that the TV are on, they are beyond hideous and I want them gone, so they are also on the hit list to be replaced with red lockers from Ikea. Whilst we're in Ikea I think we'll try out some armchairs for the living room, and move the current armchair and ottoman to the study or the mezzanine.
In other words, this summer we are not planning to travel anywhere or eat anything other than beans on toast because we are resigned to spending all our money on getting furniture that is actually comfortable and looks co-ordinated.
I am delighted to be able to report that Ruby is fine. The first thing the vet did was check her teeth, and she has gingivitis; so she's probably been avoiding eating because her gums are sore and that has run her down. Poor cat! I thought her breath was terrible, but I didn't realise that was the main thing that was wrong with her. I held Ruby whilst the vet took her temperature, so she wouldn't associate Mum with that indignity. The vet gave her two injections (which she hated), and prescribed some pills for her to be given. I'm already playing the bad guy, what with the trimming of claws yesterday and the holding down at the vets today, so I shall probably give her the pills as well. May was well be hung for a sheep as for a lamb, I s'pose.
We dropped Ruby off back at home, and went into Norwich so I could take a skirt back to M&S that I bought in the haze of the fifty percent sale. This time I tried on a white skirt with blue and indigo bird silouhettes on it, and two pairs of lovely shoes embellished with gorgeously shiny beads; they were very tempting but I decided that they weren't really the best use of my limited suitcase space - so I resisted. sigh. Being a grown up is very tedious.
Marks and Spencer's food hall is the stuff of dreams, my actual dreams when I'm back in NC and just a pleasantly euphoric bubble of browsing now I can really truly visit one. For starters they have supplied the Battenberg Cake I've been craving, and that will be sliced up tomorrow to star in a very special photo shoot with a cup of tea. As if that were not enough they have all of the Easter and Mother's Day chocolate and cakes out now, and they are adorable. For example it is simply ridiculous how cute this white chocolate Hello Kitty is -
Her dress is made from SPRINKLES. Look at that! I'm smitten.
After getting sandwiches from M&S (Prawn for me), we went to John Lewis and I spent a good deal of time stroking all of the yarn. It is a magnificent selection of colours and textures at very very reasonable prices. I was most tempted by a gorgeous merino wool in what can only be described as a Bagpuss colourway, maybe that would be fun to make into a fake fox stole? Or would that be weird? Hmmm...
Mum had a meeting this morning so she took me into Norwich with her, and turned me loose for two hours. It's always disconcerting to realise how much a city has changed, but I could still find my way around without too much difficulty.
One of my first stops was Waterstones, where they had a Dalek plonked next to the escalator apparently browsing the Classics section. He was suitably grumpy, and threatened to exterminate me, which was thrilling. There was a sign taped to the front saying to please be gentle with him because he was very old, but I don't know why he was there or if he was an original cast member or anything really. Still, a DALEK!
Then I went to the bank to see if I could remember what the PIN for my cashcard might be. Now sometimes when one is writing a blog one has to consider the likely audience, and I know this week that Doc C will be reading this, so I'm almost reluctant to blog about this... But I thought it was funny, so bugger it!
I put my card into the ATM, and typed in the PIN that I thought was most likely. The machine happily brought up the screen asking how much money I wanted, I decided on £50, whereupon it told me by card had expired and spat the thing out. Oh. Hmmm. Good thing Doc C gave me his cashcard and PIN before I left, eh? That worked beautifully, so I do have access to British currency whilst I'm here. Hoorah! Iknow that Doc will now fret about what i would have done had he not lent me his card, but I'd have been fine. If necessary I was thinking I could have transfered the money into Mum's account and she could get it out for me. No problem, just a touch more complicated.
How great is the cover art for the Criterion Collection's DVD of "Green for Danger" (1946)? The reason I mention it is that Netflix has just suggested I might like to watch it.I have to say Netflix is completely correct in that speculation, because I happen to be very fond of that film!
If you've never seen the film it's not life changing, but it's certainly well worth 91 minutes of your time. It's a hospital soap opera, crossed with quirky detective drama, and a WWII spy thriller. What is not to like? AND it stars Alasair Sims, Trevor Howard and the fabulous Megs Jenkins.
Even better Netflix has it available to watch instantly on-line, that is absolutely perfect viewing on a wintery Saturday afternoon with a fire, a cup of tea and some knitting on the go. Ooh, lovely! (Yes, I'm an 75 year old woman trapped in a 35 year old body. What of it?)
This is the best time to buy Christmas decorations because they are usually all discounted by a ridiculous amount to get them off the shelves. I love it! Shiny things on sale? For ME!
Of course the only problem then is that you have to wait a whole year before you actually get to use your new treasures. I'll have to make sure I put these fabulously cheesy baubles with the rest of the decorations when I get home, so I don't squirrel them away "somewhere safe" and then forget I bought them for the bargain price of $7.
Are they not deliciously awful? I feel a childish delight in their glitter encrusted charms I have to say. These are part of a anniversary release apparently, and are based on vintage designs from when the company first started.
I also bought a box of Halloween decorations by the same company for $6, so I only have to wait ten months to hang these treasures up.
I think my favourite of these is the happy ghost with a pearl sheen, but the cat has really good fangs and the details on all of them are quite charming. I'm obviously going to have to hang the crossed bones beneath the skull, and I think they will all look great on my mini black tree. I cannot wait for Halloween! As ever!
I was really tempted to buy this book, purely because of the fabulously camp cover art. A questionable red head, wearing an acid-yellow off-the-shoulder dress AND holding a freaking spear gun? That is just the epitome of pulp fiction, isn't it?
In the end I settled for just snapping a couple of shots, because after I'd read the back cover blurb I knew I wouldn't actually read the book itself, and I didn't want to deprive someone who might appreciate that pleasure.
The second day of classes was still pretty damn hectic, but I surfed the wave of questions and it was invigorating.
The best part of the day was a present from one of the professors! It was to thank me for scanning the hard copies of her notes for the semester after her computer's hard drive became corrupted and ate them all.
I actually was really interested in her class, so I very much enjoyed doing the scanning, but a beautifully wrapped gift was the quite literal ribbon on top.
It was a Smart Women stationary desk set, with just the most fabulous retro artwork on it. I love how it looks almost authentically fifties, until you notice little details like the blue anchor tattoo on the leg of the lady sitting at her writing desk.
I particularly love the eraser:
Look at the hair and the specs! Both of those women could have walked right out of the Sterling Cooper Draper Price typing pool! SO fabulous!
The book table in my office hallway, where people leave books they wish to release back into the wild, hasn't had anything new in a few of weeks. However there was one particularly splendid piece of cover art that I spotted a while back which I finally remembered to take a photo of this morning.
As I say it's been there for a while, so I thought that I would be able to come back later and note down some of the plot points from the back cover blurb - But, when I did, the book had gone.
I could probably look up the synopsis on-line, but in the meantime, and purely based on the cover art, don't you think the title should have been "The Dead Mardy Queen"? She looks like a right madam, mind you Prince Valiant doesn't look like a ray of sunshine either; so they are probably perfect for each other, but refuse to admit that until around page 117.
I can see that I'm going to develop quite a habit working in the English department.
Every so often the table in the hall way mysteriously becomes covered in second hand books, and they are there to be taken, who could resist that? Today five large cardboard boxes appeared whilst I was at lunch, so I have no idea where they came from, and I had a good dig through the contents. I found lots of interesting titles, but I limited myself to carrying only 6 books back to my desk where I perused them and then chose to keep only two; this is impressive restraint on my part I'm sure you will agree.
The two books I chose were "Mark Twain's Best: Eight Great Stories by America's Master Humorist" and "Animals in Translation: Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animal Behaviour" by Temple Grandin.
I didn't bring "The Master and Margarita" home, because it looks depressing frankly but I love the cover art. I'm assuming that the woman is Margarita, and she looks really annoyed about something. Not, I would imagine, her fabulous hat though.
The second hand bookshop that we really love in Asheville has a small bowl of badges (American Translation: Buttons or Pins) next to the till, and all these badges have photos of authors on them. I usually take a moment to rummage through the bowl, and usually only recognise a couple of the portraits, and then it's never anybody I enjoy reading.
Except, on this last visit, I found Dorothy Parker.
I did double-check with the booksellers that it was actually Miss Parker before I bought it, although who else could it be really? She looks both hungover and world weary, with a distinct air of sarcasm in her pose.
Did you know that D.P. left her estate to the Dr Martin Luther King jr foundation? And her ashes were not officially claimed for 17 years and were just sort of kicking around the place, including being stored in a filing cabinet in her attorney's office, until the NAACP claimed them in 1988 and designed a memorial garden for them outside their Baltimore headquarters. Isn't that great?
In my quest to find some fun podcasts to listen to I found Strange Tales on Relic Radio, which I really liked. It's vintage sci-fi American radio dramas from the 40s and 50s, and when I went to the Relic Radio website I found they have ten other programs to subscribe to. I'm probably going to get hooked on the suspense, thrillers and horror shows, but I am particularly intrigued by the whole archive of Orson Welles' radio performances.
Also, Meg at Quiddity linked to a rather fabulous vintage-style DC character posters:
After I'd saved Batman to my iPod to use as a wallpaper, I followed a link from that page to the twitter feed of the artist, Michael B. Myers, and from there I went to his website. I really like his series of illustrations of Lost characters as well, but I think I'd probably be more likely to put the DC posters up on my wall at home.
Post Script: Late breaking squee of joy for this terrific Dexter poster. WANT!
I have no idea who owns this car, but it is often parked on campus and it is just as awe inspiring in real life. My favourite part of the whole car is the hood ornament.
We went for a drive this afternoon to a town even smaller than the one we already live in, because we've heard that housing is very cheap there and we fancied a nosy around.
The town itself proved to be absolutely tiny; but still manages to have better shops than we do and a gorgeous 50's looking cinema that screens things in 3D. We wondered into a really nicely stocked boutique which just had beautiful clothes and accessories, along with lovely bath things and other nice stuff. It was intoxicating, I could have spent an absolute fortune without batting an eye. Luckily for Doc C, I remained calm and merely stroked all the pretty things I could get my hands on.
Even better across the road was... a second-hand bookshop! I was thrilled.
Once we got inside we discovered that a good 3/4 of the floor space was devoted to the Mills and Boon type of romance novel, but I gritted my teeth and plunged through until I tracked down the mystery section; where I found two Dorothy L. Sayers and a copy of "Rebecca". I didn't even really look at the covers until I was at the till paying $8 for the lot of them, but the "Rebecca" is a particularly pleasing find for the artwork alone.
Personally I'd have liked to see Mrs Danvers lurking around somewhere, but that's probably a little bit greedy.
We went to feed friends' cats whilst they are away, and stopped at the chemist (American Translation: Drug Store) to get some vitamin A and Zinc, because I read they can be helpful with Mono.
They have a great range of Halloween stuff there, so we browsed that as well. I had noticed last time they had some cheesy looking CDs and DVDs on offer at $3-for-2, but I hadn't really looked at them because how good could they be? Um, AMAZING!
I am now the proud owner of the following classic B movie horror double-bills;
So that is 8 fabulously tacky creature features for $6, and all of the DVDs also have a cartoon too.
My office was recently given several boxes of second-hand books for the lobby library, and inside one of them was a vintage Get Well Soon card. The printed sympathy verse is sentimental and seems very dated, but I do love the hand tinted graphic from the top of the card.
Isn't that gorgeous? Those colours would make anyone feel better.
Have I mentioned the incredibly retro feature wall in my office?
It's the only wall that doesn't have a window, and it was largely covered by my enormous desk until I reorganised the furniture. Now my desk faces this wall, and I'm thinking I need to put up some art because otherwise it's a bit oppressive in a Pink Floyd "Another Brick in the Wall" way, you know?
There already rawl plugs in some spots on the wall, so it wouldn't be too difficult. Well, accept that all of the existing rawl plugs were seemingly put up at random, so none of them are central and all look to be at least a foot lower than I would want to display art at. That sort of thing really bothers me.
Anyway, I'm thinking that I might get some new art from the University gallery, but what I would really like is to put up a "Keep Calm and Carry On" poster in a nice soothing colour-way. Personally I'd like sea green with off white or, maybe, charcoal with duck egg blue. Something soothing and reassuringly vague, in a nice British way.
I've finally got my suitcase back from Nancy, but only because I gave her one of her own. I was inspired by both her love for my suitcase, and a number of very cool pet beds that I'd seen on-line made from recycled retro suitcases. My original plan was to find a nice piece of second-hand luggage, but I couldn't find anything I liked. Then I remembered that we have three large wheelie suitcases that we bought for about 50p in Hackney when we needed to lug stuff over here in our move. Not quite the look I really wanted, but it was exactly the right size and you can't get much cheaper than simply re-using something that's been shoved in a cupboard for a year.
I also had an old hoodie which I started wearing when Doc decided it was getting too scruffy, so it is really beaten up now, and I turned that inside out to use as a case for a nice comfy pillow. This means Nancy has her own bed that smells like her people, which she seems to find comforting.
Naturally Nancy (who by the way, is looking so pretty at the moment! Look!) is totally blase about all of the carefully planned luxury elements, she's all "Yeah, yeah, yeah, I am comfortable, that's great and only to be expected frankly. Stretch. Honk-shu, honk-shu...", but she adores the zips on the edge of the suitcase and rubs her whiskers against them with great gusto.
Of course now Edith's nose is out of joint because all she has is her woot! cardboard box. And the fleece blankets on the sofa. And the armchair. And the ottoman. And the bookshelf. When what she really wants is her very own suitcase with a pillow in it. It's a tough life for a demanding floofy madam of a cat.
When I was 9 I suddenly developed a taste for Agatha Christie novels. I'm fairly certain the first one I owned was "At Bertram's Hotel", but I don't remember if I got that before or after seeing the BBC adaptations of the Miss Marple stories. I could still hum you that theme tune, and for me Joan Hickson is the definitive Marple.
I must have been about 12 when the film "Agatha" (1979) was shown on TV, but I was thrilled to be allowed to stay up and watch it with my parents because I was fascinated by Agatha Christie's 11 day disappearance in 1926, which she never really gave a proper explanation for. Dad teased me that there was bound to be a sex scene in the film because it starred Vanessa Redgrave and Dustin Hoffman, and, as I was a very pure minded 12 year old, the mere suggestion was completely outrageous to me! I don't actually remember much about the film now, except for the main plot twist, and it being the main reason I developed a distaste for Timothy Dalton that I've never quite got over. He's probably very nice in real life, but as Archie Christie he was a cad and a bounder so I could never buy into him being a romantic lead after this.
Last week I spotted the book that the film was based on. It was published two years after Agatha's death, so she didn't have a chance to respond to the solution posed by Kathleen Tynan. I'm only on chapter three, so she's only just vanished mysteriously and there isn't any indication of where she might have gone.
The art work on this is particularly 70's film tie-in, isn't it? Hideous, yet intriguing. Those are great portraits of Redgrave and Hoffman, but it's a weirdly composed image and I have no idea why they are peering off in different directions through wet glass. I'm pretty sure that doesn't end up being a plot point, but I could be wrong there.
By way of contrast with her companion, Nancy has claimed my suitcase as her bed and just spends large chunks of the day looking adorable.
When you go into our bedroom now, she'll open up her big green eyes and just watch you, but if you say "Hello Nancy!" she will chirp and coming running over. This is your cue to immediately sit on the floor and fuss her, or suffer the wrath of a shy small grey cat. This usually involves a disappointed squeak, and a return to the suitcase, whereupon she will turn her back on you.
I still haven't fully unpacked the suitcase, because that's what is making it so comfortable for Nance. My plan now is to buy a cheap vintage suitcase, one of those nice old-fashioned rigid ones that are actually a pain in the neck to travel with, and make her a proper bed from that. I'll probably use old t-shirts that Doc and I have worn for a while, because I think what she mainly likes is the smell of her people. What with one things and another, Nancy is an altogether endearing little creature.
Doc's wedding ring has been through some more changes.
The story so far is this:
What to do next? Obviously I turned to the internet, it is the modern "Enquire Within Upon Everything", and I discovered that you could blacken silver by putting it in a ziploc bag with a hard boiled egg.
I had to try that one out! I mean how could you possibly read that and not want to see what happens, but I kept forgetting about it; until last night. I was already in bed (watching "Death Note" on Hulu. Ohmigod, I love Hulu!), so I shouted down to Doc. He promptly hard boiled an egg, cut it into quarters and put it into a snack sized ziploc with his ring. This morning I got up to feed the cats, and I retrieved our little experiment from the fridge to find:
Wow! I would definitely call that a successful result.
It's the sulphur in the egg that reacts to the silver and blackens it, which is the scientific explanation for what is otherwise clearly MAGIC!
I rinsed off the eggy smell before presenting it to Doc, and he was very pleased with the effect. I particularly like the one little blob that didn't turn, I think because it was actually touching the egg.
Doc is wearing it as it is already, but I'd like to polish the inside of the ring back to silver, and maybe lightly rub the outside with some wire wool to get a brushed effect. Whatever makes my Sweetie happy really!
We picked up Doc's wedding ring from the jewelers today, and it fits him now. It only cost $6, which is really good, particularly as the jeweler had done a great job. In fact he'd even filed the edges a bit to make them a bit more rounded, so it will be more comfortable to wear every day.
The only problem is that the jeweler had polished it. Which I think looks lovely, but Doc C wants it to tarnish as quickly as possible. We may have to bury it or something.
I also asked the jeweler to look at the setting on my engagement ring, because I'd noticed the central collet was missing a little bit of silver. He put on those bionic magnification goggles and had a good look for me, and said it looks secure to him, which is good to know.
I'm going to take in my other diamond ring to be reset, because they seem to know what they are doing there and I want to support independent local businesses, particularly at the moment.
The cats both love the ottoman, which was exactly what we predicted the moment we saw it with the chair in the shop. Nancy was slower to try it out, because Edith is the dominant feline and staked her claim early. However once Edith had vacated the new comfy, Nancy tried it out and she refused to move for the rest of the evening. Edith even tried jumping up there and biting Nancy to make her move, but our little Nance was immovable.
So they ended up sharing, and they slept there all night. This morning they were outside our door as usual, but after they were fed they went right back to the positions they had slept in last night. These are before-and-after shots taken when I went to bed and then again when I got up. Don't the pusskies look comfortable?
Today we went back to the shop to see if we could fit the chair into the back of the Mini. There was a moment or two where we thought it wasn't going to work, but as it turned out the chair fitted perfectly.
We've reorganised the living room slightly to accommodate the new furniture, and so far either me or the Doc have been sitting in the chair, so the cats haven't colonised it yet. Nancy is sitting on the arm of it right now though. She seems to like that a lot, and it's very cosy.
After work today Doc C collected me from the office and we went over to the vintage shop to pick up a chair that we have been stalking. It's a sixties classic in dark wood and mustard upholstery, and it has a matching ottoman.
There was no way we were going to be able fit the chair in the Mini, so we will have to see if we can borrow a bigger car from a friend to transport it.
However we could bring the ottoman back, so we did, and within perhaps 90 seconds of it coming through the front door Edith had staked her claim.
She loves the ottoman. It is her new throne, and she only got off it when Doc made her so he could try it. And, even then, Edith jumped back up and wedged herself on the edge of it.
I can only imagine how excited she will be when the actual chair arrives.
This morning we had run out of porridge oats, so we went into town for breakfast; I had an omelette, Doc C had eggs benedict. It was delicious! The place we like to go for breakfast is furnished with vintage furniture, and they use some vintage crockery too, on this occasion Doc C had a particularly great milk glass mug for his coffee. I was so taken by it, that we decided to stroll around the local antique shops to see if they had a set of anything similar.
We found some really cool mini snifter glasses that will be perfect for port, but we had no luck with the milk glass mugs.
That was ok though, because I had found a vintage Ker-plunk set for $10 (it say's 1967 on the box). The art work on box was just so cool that I immediately picked it up from it's shelf, and announced I was having it. On the same shelf was a five hundred piece jig saw of a painting depicting the underground railway, I left that where it was.
When we got home I immediately set the game up and Doc watched me, because it turned out he had never played Ker-plunk before. Can you imagine that?
Today we went into town to have some breakfast and wander around the shops. I bought polka dot knee length socks, some great books (including a signed copy of "Torch Song Trilogy" for $6! OhMyGod!), several different colours of cotton yarn for crocheting amigurumi and a great vintage brooch, with blue diamante stones, in the shape of a "J". We also had a late lunch of delicious noodle soup and I had a cupcake too.
Tonight we are going to go out for a curry, and then tomorrow I think we are planning to have a late brunch and see "Milk" before we leave.
Right now we are back in the hotel to recover from all the excitement of spending a whole day in a proper city. I am lying lengthwise across the bed, whilst Doc C is resting his eyes in the arm chair.
I was thrilled when I saw these in a record shop window the other day. They are, respectively, the soundtrack to the classic vampire time-travel soap opera "Dark Shadows" (I've only seen the remake, but I have heard tales of the originals genius) and a sound effects LP full of bloodcurdling! Terrifying! Horrific! "Sounds to Make You Shiver".
As it happens Doc C had the sound effects album as a kid and loved it, which explains a lot about his lack of reaction to horror movies. I also know someone in London who would probably love the "Dark Shadows" soundtrack on CD, but I doubt an LP would survive the journey, even if he had a record player to spin it on.
I also can only apologise for the glare, Picnik helped dissipate the worst of it but I was craning around a rack of second-hand coats and just could get the right angle to eliminate the glare from the sun altogether.
On the way home from work Doc C and I stopped off at the local bakery to buy some sourdough bread. Do loves sourdough, but when he tries baking it he can't get it quite like the bread we buy from this bakery; so he asked how long they left the dough to sour for. The girl on the till didn't know, so she nipped to ask the baker, who said they'd started the starter dough when the bakery first opened seven years ago and it had been kept alive ever since. That is pretty impressive!
Whilst The Doc was getting baking tips, I was looking at the display of vintage glasses they had on the windowsill. They were small molded juice glasses (about twice the height of an egg cup), which I thought were just lovely and Doc agreed. They were only $1.75 each (That's less than a pound each), so we carefully choose six that we liked.
The owner of the bakery saw we were buying the glasses, and came over to tell us how much she loves the ones she's got at home because it's so easy for everyone to keep track of which drink is theirs and they are really sturdy. She does use them to give her children juice in, but I think we'll be using them as slightly over-sized shot glasses.
I have no idea when we'll have six people in our house all sipping whiskey, but when we do I think I'll be using the glass second from the left which has a row of tiny stars around the rim.
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