'Time for bed' said Zebedee.............and my voice is back!

Welcome to new followers and thank you to you all for nice words.

Sorry that in previous post I was less vocal than usual - voice back now though!  Thank you for your exceptionally kind comments on that previous post - perhaps I should be voiceless more often (less is more....).  As always I am a little behind in replying to comments but I will indeed be doing so.

So here we are trotting down memory land YET AGAIN.  This time we are tra la la'ing with 'The Magic Roundabout'. 

BOING! 

 This fabric is a wonderful crisp cotton -  having bought it a few years ago I finally did a bit of loin girding and chopped into it (I did indeed hear the fabricos give a little gasp).

My favourite character was/is Brian - a cheery fellow with pithy words and one-liners.  I was never fond of Dylan - he was far too slow for my liking and something of  a dullard in my 9 year old eyes.  I now find that I am a bit slow and an occasional  dullard....how times change.........

I also thought that Zebedee was slightly sinister

 I have gone on about bottom alignment on more than one occasion over the years : I am sorry if you have still not learnt this lesson as it is one of life's fundamentals.  Here I am AGAIN showing how your bottom should be fully aligned in order to achieve that Zen-like state we aspire too!

Om............

The lining is some 70s fabric which I thought suited the 'groovy' feel of the purse ('Is she of this present age'?).

The wallpaper?  Well, this was bought from a local shop a few years ago and I use little bits of it now and again.  When the occasion demands a: '70s, zany, daisy, yellowy/browny, swirly/curley' backdrop this wallpaper then swings into action at a moments notice............

Some of you may recall this old photograph of mine from Flickr where, on the HOTTEST day of the year, I decided that it would be a great idea to go into Bronte's bedroom (AKA GREENHOUSE) and paper this chest of drawers.  The CoD was ours as children (one drawer per child) and  it was painted many times....if you look inside one of the drawers you can see my graffiti from circa 1972.  This was the wallpaper result:



Note that I made no attempt to match up the pattern - a step too far in the heat that day.  An acquired taste I think and some of you might be reeling at this point!


A suitably old matching lampshade.  .

I think that I have mentioned before that the decor becomes more 'modern' as you progress through the house with the top bit being more 1970s than 1890s (as seen at the bottom).

 Other 70s wallpaper moments from the house ( Bronte's bedroom)  can be seen here and below:

The PS section of this blog is usually an optional extra - do not feel obliged to read as it is often more of a ramble, veers off piste to a subject far from the original posting's brief and where I get things orf my chest.  It less of a PS and more of a........

PS: I recently sold an embroidered  purse for £7.99 (I have deferred the early retirement plan, delayed the Med.Cruise which I had promised to the children and informed everyone that it is going to be a lean Christmas.....).  Anyway I carefully refunded  60 pence overpayment on the postage only to find.....some time after the event....that I had refunded the entire payment.  Completely my fault of course but yet another nail in 'The Custards Empire' which has been carefully constructed over the preceding decades.

PPS: In my efforts to recycle  and save the planet single handedly I recently offered our old guinea pig hutch on Freecycle -  within a few hours several people had asked if they could have it.  Yes indeed - though it would be ideal if it could be picked up today thank you (space needed for other 'objet' which I will share with you another time......).  One person was very keen but was not able to lift. 'Please keep it for me - we always miss out on these as they are so popular').  The messages became increasingly demanding and ended up being of the: 'If you want me to take this away you will need to lift it  into my car' type.  Hang on a minute I thought that I was doing you the favour!  What HAPPENED THERE!  I found myself calling Dom at work to check that he would be able to lift it by himself (it was wooden and double height) as I was at work when it was being collected ('I am in a meeting but don't worry Jenny I appreciate that the Guinea Pig hutch is the priority here').  I had half a mind to hide in the hutch and then do an Trojan Horse exposé at the recipient's end.....  'Tis a funny old world. Gift Trojan horse....mouth.....

PPPS: Similarly you may recall the purse which I made for the manager of a charity shop.  Well when I went back to pick up the cupboard (which you may also recall) the manager appeared saying that she was glad to catch me as she wanted me to make some cushion covers out of an old Chinese silk dress which was hers in the 1950s......'Yes that would be fine....I have nothing else to do at the moment.......' I replied (my teeth might have been 'gritted' at this point.....).  'Don't be silly, they won't take long, of course I don't need paying for it' (passive aggressive....!).  The manager requested two small 'boudoir' cushions with full use of  existing Chinese embellishments thank you.  I did emphasise that silk was tricky to sew with (had she not watched The Great British Sewing Bee) and I DID NOT POSSESS AN OVERLOCKER...HINT....HINT.  I was assured that would be all fine.

Some time passed............

Making two cushions out of a cheongsam style  dress was difficult - the cut of the dress meant that there was actually not that much continuous fabric (which was beautiful by the way).  I made one cushion cover (having bought a cushion filler and zip..that was ok as I had bought lovely curtains from the shop...£3.99), took it along to show the manager: was it of the standard required and did she want me to make another in the same style..............

BUT the manager was no longer the manager and had left

I dutifully left my telephone number and asked the New Manager (NM) if it was possible to contact the Old Manager (OM). Funnily enough the OM had been ringing up asking the NM if I had been in.  Whilst I trotted round the shop.... the New Manager (NM) quickly telephoned the Old Manager (OM) to present the cushion update .  The NM returned saying: 'The OM says 'Yes' she wants you to make another cushion'.  I did emphasise to the NM that this was not a business transaction, 'I want doesn't get', it was a favour and it may take a little while to make as I DID NOT HAVE AN OVERLOCKER (HINT, HINT ). I may not have relayed all of that information but I left assured in the knowledge that the OM had my telephone number and would of course be calling upon receipt of the one cushion made so far.    No telephone call but a week or so later I cycled along with the other cushion tucked under my arm and presented it to the NM.  There were three assistants gathered around at this time and all of them said how the OM had been waiting for the other cushion.  The cushions were in fact a NEWS item.    That was all a few weeks ago and I never heard from the OM again.

Is it me?

PPPPS: A recent case manifesting increasing 'Dylan behaviour' was demonstrated in the Co-op the other week.  I had completely forgotten the type of tea I usually buy therefore asked the assistant where I could find the 'Far Trade tea please'.  Now if you say 'Far Trade' out loud you will discover (as I did at that exact moment in the beverage aisle) that you sound very much like a BBC news reader circa 1948.  Give it a try now....I will wait for you ...................

See!
 If you did not perceive any difference it might be because:
a) YOU ARE a BBC news reader from 1948
b) You have retained your tight grip on the Queen's English in spite of the ravages of time
c)  You are John Snagge...(least likely option)

Have you seen the Pathe news reels - ruddy marvellous viewing for someone like me!.

What was more of a ruddy wonderment is that the poor lad in the beverage section humoured me: 'Far Trade...hmmmm.... I am not sure if we stock that let me find out..I'm more Tetley myself..'. I was slightly embarrassed when I spotted the 'Fair Trade' label on some Lapsang Souchong and had to bid a hasty retreat.  Extra wonderment is that I knew 'Far Trade' did not sound right at the time (I was thinking: 'What on earth has happened to my voice - Far Trade sounds so very upmarket') but as the tea trade is far away I made a connection so pursued the Far Trade option to the nth degree.  In my work parlance this might be a 'mild' case of cognitive dissonance (willing to debate this of course).  After this event I complied 'The Beverage Report' (another in-joke for a specific possible reader)

PPPPPS: Bronte has informed me that for certain words if you replace an 'a'  with an 'e'  you will then sound like a BBC news reader from 1935.  For example: 'badminton' becomes 'bedminton'.  This is how we pass the time in our house : jolly japes re-enacting Pathe news reports on the  Bedminton horse trials and drinking Far Trade tea!

PPPPPPS: Many years ago I was asked to be interviewed for a BBC Radio 4 programme - that's fine I thought, being used to the televisual medium the radio would of course be a walk in the park.  It was being recorded 'live' but  how else might a programme be recorded!  Kindly a car was offered to pick me up from home and take me to the BBC studios in London, The Aldwych.  Recording would be at 20.00 (I think - cannot quite remember) -  car pick up at 19.00 but by 19.30 no car so I rang Beeb HQ.  'Oh dear - can you please drive yourself and try and get here on time'.  I raced into action and swept into the BBC car park (electronic gates being opened at my command - fancy for those days!) at 19.50, followed by a quick hello and I sat down in the studio.  Thought it a little odd that I could now hear the voice of Brian Perkins reading the news...how lovely to hear Brian, the voice of my childhood....hang on.....that news only happened this morning....there was a red light in the studio....hold those horses .....by 'live' they mean LIVE.  'Could I please give Dom a quick call so that he might capture the moment'........  I have a recording of that programme, I am the heavy breather with lots of 'hums and ahhs'. 

Good times

This is my mug shot!

Normal embroidered service resumed next time perhaps!  

If requested I will also inform you of a curious turn of events with the Gas Man

Thrills and spills with my blog

Thank you for popping round