Okay, so I have some pretty amazing, generous and kind readers. Thank you all for your sweet get well soon wishes, and what do you know? They worked.
Well, they did in conjunction with some very delicious veggie chilli (so good we're had it again tonight), some Sambucol, some Floradix, some Echinacea, some ibuprofen, some vitamin C and some Vitamin B12. All topped off with an early night. I feel so much better.
Not well enough to leave the house exactly, but well enough to sew a ribbon back onto a fur collar, make a feather garland and carve my first pumpkin. Remarkable, eh?
My pumpkin carving was quite hard going. Pumpkins are tough. But I avoided serious injury (several times)and tried to make peace with my constant search for unattainable perfection (yes, I'm no Martha Stewart). I'm going to have another go tomorrow (at unattainable perfection, I never learn).
A progress shot..
And Iris did declare it beautiful (several times), and really, that's cool with me.
Now, I also have some recommendations for you.
Firstly for the best and spookiest look at Halloween in the olden days, check out this AMAZING flickr set and also this set from last year. Gives you the chills, eh?
There's a good interview with the collector, Steven Martin, here.
He says he's a obsessive compulsive collector, so you can see why I like him.
Now your nerves are a-jangling, you may be searching for something unsettling to watch (that pretty much defines my viewing habits all year round) so you could do worse than seeing if your local video store has this film. It's eerie and compelling.
So, happy Halloween! Hope it's super-spooky!
p.s. One of my plates in this Etsy Treasury.I don't really know what that means, but I like it. (Is it like a favourites list?)
Oh dear, I am feeling enfeebled again, my sore throat from two weeks ago has slowly mutated into a cough and now I seem to have a new cold developing. Blee. And ergh. So I am feeling extremely sorry for myself, which, as you can imagine, makes me a lot of fun to be around.
Iris and I went to town this morning (in more ways than one) ostensibly to buy a pumpkin for me to carve into a super-fancy lantern like these ones, or these ones (found via Fieldguided) - aren't they incredible? We actually came home with four, all different kinds and shapes, so hopefully, I will feel more like doing it tomorrow.
Today, I did manage to make a couple of Autumn garlands, a fancy name for tying pretty leaves, acorns and suchlike (which we had gathered on our morning walk) to a length of thread. But they look sweet and give the impression of falling leaves.
I also got some great blue and white stripy braces with leather ends, you know proper braces that you button onto things, I'll be sewing buttons onto everything I can tell you.
And a great 1980s book on Blondie so I'll leave you with a few of my favourite photographs, she's a real beauty in my eyes, a wonderful mix of vixen, Marilyn Monroe and punk. As ever there are a few more on my flickr.
Right, I'm off to make a big vat of restorative vegetarian chilli..
p.s. I am beside myself with excitement - I have almost 100 followers! Eep! Cough! Whoo! One more to go! So if you're a lurker, a first time reader or an occasional visitor, what are you waiting for?
Make my day!
So, this weekend saw the official end of British Summer time. Pfff. It always creeps up on me, I don't like it when it gets dark at 5pm. *stamps foot* It's really maddening and I wish we'd stop it and just leave the clocks alone, dammit. Sorry - I have been waiting to get it off my chest all weekend. Give us back our rightful daylight! *shakes fist*
Sorry - I am a peaceable sort really. This weekend has been really quite busy, we escaped the rain and drear on Saturday and took ourselves off for a bit of ill-advised shopping. Ill-advised as we're fairly broke at the moment. But Iris needed new shoes and trousers and although I try to borrow things from friends and seek out second hand treasure wherever possible, sometimes, you just have to go to the big shops. So we did. And it was fairly hellish, busy, Iris uncontained and excitable. She saw Reiss and said, can we go in there'. I was obviously impressed and said, 'yes!, of course' and then ALL she wanted to do was go upstairs and look at the menswear and sit next to the plastic mannequin. Not quite what I had hoped for.
Then we went to Topshop, H&M, and Zara. It was fun in Zara, there was the endless riding on the escalators (Iris), the trying on of expensive boots (Iris). Again she sort of impressed me, she fixed her gaze firmly on Paul as he helped her into a pair of soft back fancy boots and said' I need these'. I like the courage in her own convictions. When it comes to fashion anyhow.
Anyway, the point of this rather rambling account is coming. It is.
I was waiting to pay for a grey cardigan (v-neck, very on-trend) for Iris, when I caught a tiny fragment of conversation.
A woman, talking to a small boy. I didn't hear what she said, not all of it, just one word really. 'Hector'. As I lifted my gaze, I saw the woman has very long thick blonde hair. Was it? I left the queue and went over. They were engrossed in their world, she was holding his hand. I said, 'Laura?' and then a little louder, 'Laura?' She looked puzzled, quizzical, all the while Hector was hiding and peeking from behind her legs. She may even have blushed a little. 'It's Natalie', I said encouragingly. Then realisation (hers). She said Nath! Then in a rush, we laughed, embraced and talked excitedly. Paul and Iris came over, I said 'Look, it's Laura from Cloud-Fishing!' and then I think I even pinched her gently. It was and she was. Read her take on it here. Maybe it seems silly, but it was such a perfect fateful sweet encounter. And makes me think that Anais Nin quote is even more pertinent.
Oh and I found a lovely vintage dress this weekend. I love it (even though it needs taking in before I can properly, officially, wear it. It looks really nice on, and the bottom part of the dress is that really nice swishy light wool gabardine. The bodice is lined with a pinkish silky sort of fabric and the sleeves are lacy so your skin sort of matches the bodice lining and the effect, is, um, quite alluring.
That's it for now - we're off to an Island today. On a boat. More later.
I'm having the morning to myself. Which is a rare treat.
Been pottering about doing domestic things, like the laundry and the breakfast dishes. Tidied one of my kitchen cupboards, you know that kind of thing.
And taping some little drawings and postcards up on the wall in front of my desk, it's meant to look scruffy with the masking tape, reminds me of college. The woman on the postcard is Anais Nin! I love Anais Nin. I found it at the weekend.
This is a quote of hers;
"Throw your dreams into space like a kite, and you do not know what it will bring back, a new life, a new friend, a new love, a new country."
Blogging can be a bit like that. Throwing your ideas, dreams and makings into the ether and somehow, wonderfully getting something back.
Last few evenings, I have returned to work on my plates. Tried out some new gold decal (er, not actually pictured). I am pleased with the way they all look, but am sharply reminded that it could all go rather pear-shaped in the kiln. i hope, hope, hope they turn out okay.
I have also been looking through a couple of catalogues that plopped invitingly through my letterbox this week, Toast & Green Baby. I have turned down many corners in the Toast catalogue, but as ever, it's the shoes and boots that really capture my heart.
These boots - sheepskin lined, mmmmm. Want.
And these shoes - as pictured, in deepest violet.
And I like these.
And then, while you're about it, I might as well have these too.
Iris and I looked through the catalogue together yesterday, or rather I did beside her while she watched The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and she kept saying that the model with the dark bob was me (instead of red, I kind of went dark brown with my recent adventures in home hair colouring). Ha! I wish.
This is a good look. Yes.
Also listening to the new Phoenix record on Spotify. Yeah, check me. I'm so modern. It's quite good, not as good as Alphabetical though.
Right, I had better look busy, I'm back on duty soon! Happy weekend!
I love spending time outside in the Autumn, making the most of sunny crisp days really gladdens the heart.
We're so lucky to live near the beach and sometimes we get (or make) the time to bunk off early and spend a little time, walking, paddling and making tomato soup out of mud and sticks (yeah, that's obviously Iris, right?).
We also are so lucky that we have a Steiner Kindergarten relatively close by. Iris starts in January, but until then we attend a Pre-Kindy group once a week that meets in this beautiful room for songs and a little bit of craft and some snacks.
I said to Iris, 'Oh, you must come and look at this tree' and as I lifted her up to the window, she said 'the golden tree?', and i said, 'yes, the golden tree'. Not even three yet and she just gets it.
Yesterday, we visited the newly harvested pumpkin (and squash) patch and marvelled at the incredible patterns and colours. Amazing.
So, we're lucky and right now, I need to remember that a bit more. What's gladdening your heart right now?
