Blue blue, electric blue

After a busy day at work on Saturday (it's going fine, thanks for asking), I had a more leisurely time of it yesterday.

I know, I know. 

That coat and that waistcoat again. 

I'm not apologising any more for their repeated appearances. They're my favourites; whaddayagonnado?

 

I need no encouragement at all to support small, independent and local traders. And when there is a vintage and craft market in my local area, which is calling itself the Sheffield Antiques Quarter these days, I am more than happy to browse and do some Christmas shopping. 

The market was fun, and I actually managed to tick several friends off my gift-buying list.

 

 

 

 

 

Even better, some of the stalls were in the Abbeydale Picture House. It's another iconic Sheffield building that I have only ever been in once before.

 

It's thoroughly dilapidated, but still atmospheric in its ruined grandeur.

 It would beat going to a multiplex any day, but the resources needed to renovate the building are huge. 

 

 There was a massive pile of dusty seats...

...and gorgeous architectural details.

Saturday night at the movies was rather more sumptuous, back in Picture House's heyday.

 

1980s Windsmoor skirt and 1970s blouse - Ebay

Waistcoat, beret and bangles - charity shopped

Ankle boots - community fair

Tights - no idea, I didn't even remember I had them

Rudolph necklace - Patti's giveaway

Faux fur coat - vintage fair

 

 

 

I loved this 1950s singles case...

 

...which was still full of an eclectic mix of 1950-60s records, including Frank Sinatra, Cliff Richard and the Rolling Stones. And Wink Martindale. Of course.

As I walked home, the sky was doing all sorts of dramatic things...

 

...which led to the most beautiful sunset.

 

 

Gorgeous.

 

I'm doing the killer shift tomorrow, finishing at 11.15pm.  I may well not be smiling by that stage.

 

There's socialising as well as work planned this week. The Ladies' Purse are in quizzing action to celebrate Sue's birthday on Wednesday, and my friend Alison has invited a bunch of us round on Friday, with the exhortation to wear something sparkly. I'm fairly sure I can manage that!

What have you got planned for the week? 

    xxxxx

Don't f***ing swear

Ahhhh, that's better!

Going to my hairdresser's is such a joy - we chat, we laugh, I drink coffee and read ridiculous magazines, and she works her magic until I emerge, newly vibrant and sleek and feeling a million times better. 

I look rather ladylike in this ensemble. 

Which is totally misleading, since I am not very ladylike at all, as most who know me will attest. 

In particular, my language is not that of a Lady.

I swear. Rather a lot. It satisfies a need for emphasis, for drama, for humour; sometimes, only cursing like a navvy will do.

I know when not to swear, of course, and am perfectly capable of reining it in on occasions when it is not appropriate. But we have a fairly relaxed attitude to "bad language" in our house, including in front of the kids. They've have heard it all already from kids at school, and as long as they follow the golden rules (not at school and not in front of Grandma), we're pretty laissez faire.

After school, I usually ask the kids what sort of a day they have had; was it delicious Chinese; nice-enough pizza; or terrible mushroom? Yesterday, Seldom Seen looked rather downhearted, and replied it's been a terrible mushroom day. On further investigation, it transpired that he had been shown a red card. 

 

For swearing. 

 

Oh fuck.

 

It appears that Child R had been picking on one of SS' buddies, so SS told him to stop it, and called the kid an arsehole. Child R promptly went and told a dinner lady. The dinner lady issued SS with a red card for swearing. No contextual information was sought or given. Child R went away smirking, SS came home crestfallen.

 

Now I know he shouldn't have sworn at another kid at school. He broke our golden rule, and calling Child R a rude name was wrong. But the motivation, the urge to stand up for his friend, and name and shame Child R's bad behaviour was right. What he should have done, of course, was alert the dinner lady to what was happening, and let her deal with Child R's behaviour, in which case it would probably be Child R with a red card, not SS. 

But we live and learn. And Child R is indeed an arsehole.

 

 

 

 

1970s crochet dress, suede waistcoat and bangles - charity shopped

Boots - Ebay

1960s Tissavel cape-style jacket - gift

1950s scarf - flea market

Shiny red bob - courtesy of lovely Kirsty at Hair @ St Paul's

 

I always find parenting issues the most fascinating - and the most challenging - when they centre around helping kids to navigate the choppy waters of human relationships and communication. 

 

I could see immediately that there was a better strategy for Seldom Seen to employ; all he could see, at the time, was his friend in trouble, and another child behaving unkindly. He was cross, and he swore. I do that - all the time. And no one gives me a red card for it. 

 

We expect a lot from kids sometimes; we expect them to have a control, a sophistication, an ability to strategise, to step back and predict future consequences, which many adults do not possess. 

 

 

 

 

And sometimes, you just want to say arseholes!

I'm working tomorrow, and no doubt I will be swearing (in my head) throughout the day.

Hope you have a great weekend, whether it is accompanied by profanity or not!

xxxxx

Seasons change with the scenery

Brrr, it's been chilly. 

Colder inside our house than out, actually; the boiler broke on Monday, I had to keep my coat on all day yesterday. It's fixed now, and we're toasty again.

 

That's a relief, the temperatures are supposed to plummet soon.

Despite the chill in the air, I have a few roses hanging on in the garden, and my camellia is covered in buds, some of which are slightly open. Hope the first frost won't make them all drop off...

Patti, I wore my branch necklace and thought of you! 

 

The kids think it looks more like an antler, so they call it my Rudolph necklace.

Winter sunshine and blue skies, beautiful.

 

I do love this dress, but haven't worn it all that much. Why is that?

As I have been working my way through my wardrobe and deciding what stays and what goes, I did consider selling this on, but that would be madness, surely?

 

Polka dots, lace, braid, flowers.

 She's definitely a keeper, and I hereby promise to wear her far more often.

You're going to get so sick of seeing this coat. I do have plenty of others, but I'm a bit obsessed with this one right now...

 

 

 

 

Windsmoor faux fur coat - vintage fair

1970s Rawe Rheda German cotton dress - vintage shop

Hat and belt - charity shopped

Boots - Ebay

Gloves - gift

Flower - gift from camper van queen Sarah

 

 

I probably won't be able to get a photo of my angels dresses in action, but I did see the kids heading for the hall this morning to rehearse, and they looked great. The teacher said the children were happy with them, and with the addition of tinsel halos, they did look very sweet. 

 

Haircut tomorrow; I can't wait. 

And... I think that's all. 

 

See you soon! 

xxxxxxx

 

On the wing and open wide

I wish you could have seen me yesterday, whipping up angel costumes at a furious pace! My sewing machine has never rattled along quite so quickly, there's nothing like a deadline to stop me from farting about...

Anyway, I made them, all 10 of the little darlings, complete with vintage lace trim round the hems and sleeves. Naturally I delivered them to school this morning without remembering to take any photos, so you'll just have to take my word for it, and make do with this vision of 70s chic instead.

This is another of my £2.50 Baklash buys, a 1970s dream from C&A. Does any colour combination speak of the early 1970s quite so well as brown, orange and yellow?

Because it's the first of the month (or it was when I took the photos), it's time for another Hat Attack over at Judith's. I'm going; why not join us?

Still learning to love that profile... Getting there, I'm getting there.

The dress is that annoying not-quite-maxi-enough length on me, but I was pleased to discover a big turn-up so I'll let the hem down, when I remember...

As it is, I rather liked wearing the dress as a long waistcoat/tunic kinda thing over trousers...

...a bit like this, only more towelling, less woolly rug. 

1970s C&A maxi dress - Baklash vintage shop, Nottingham

Top, belt, trousers, bangles and hat - charity shopped

Boots - community fair

Necklace - gift

I'm no great believer in karma, but after I had sweated over my sewing yesterday, look what arrived in the post today.

I won Patti's giveaway, a beautiful silver branch necklace by Blue Nile.

It's gorgeous, thank you, Patti - now we're necklace twins! Whenever I wear it, I will think of you.

And speaking of the ever-hospitable and oh-so-stylish Patti, she is having her usual get-together for Visible Monday, so I'm taking my bold 70s print over there. It's well nigh impossible to be invisible wearing this dress!

Hope your weekends were fabulous, like your good selves!

xxxxx

 

              

The sun shines brighter on the other side

Given that I am someone who rather enjoys inactivity and sometimes struggles to walk and chew gum at the same time, the increased demands on my time and energy are proving a challenge.

What did I say? It's only moss? Who knew moss could be so tricky to manage?

 

I seem to be in a green mood this week - in keeping with that armful of moss, I guess.

Work is fine really, it's only a handful of hours, but I've found it tiring.

And this week is especially busy because of all the school Christmas fair prep too.

This 1970s dress is one of my Baklash purchases from Nottingham. To think I nearly left it behind! The girls encouraged me to include it in my fill-a-bag-for-a-tenner deal, and I'm so glad I did.

It's a perfect fit, it sparkles with lurex-y goodness, and has a mysterious painterly landscape print. And it cost £2.50.

1970s Mackerness dress - Baklash
1960s faux fur jacket and boots - Ebay
Hat, scarf, most of the bangles - charity shopped
1970s apple necklace - vintage flea market

I'm at one with my garden - russet and green.

And look, fluttery angel sleeves, lovely!

Angels are on my mind;

 

I found myself offering to make 10 angel costumes for the Year 1/2 Christmas concert at school (they had some, but can't find them.) The teacher I am working with this year has a big old armful of moss of her own to deal with at the moment, and I wanted to reduce the load for her a little. 

 

So despite not being the best seamstress in the world, I will be attempting to create a heavenly host of white angel-sleeved tunics. By Monday. And I'm working tomorrow and Saturday. Hmmmm....

 

 

 

 

Venus in furs. 

 

This Venus needs a damn good haircut, and soon.

 

1970s maxi skirt - flea market
Top, suede waistcoat and bangles -  charity shopped
Boots - Ebay
Windsmoor faux fur coat  - vintage fair (told you I couldn't wait till Christmas...)
Green leather gloves - gift

Another Venus in fur.
Rainwater flavoured with leaves, mmmm.

I've been guilty of moaning a little this week.

I'm tired. Work is hard. I've got loads to do. I'm studiously ignoring the fact I've got a cold. My back aches. I'm missing a much-anticipated blogger meet-up tomorrow.

Poor poor me, blah blah blah.

I heard this song by Petula Clarke on the radio this evening; it's perfect for celebrating Thanksgiving with all my friends in the US.

And I really have nothing at all to complain about, and plenty for which to be grateful.

xxxxx