Last week, Leyla called up to ask where her school tights were, I said they had not been put away, but should she not where socks anyway since it was so hot, and unless she was planning on sitting on a chair outside a whitewashed house on some Greek island scowling at tourists she might eschew the tights for once.
Leyla "Baba* won't let me"
Me "why on earth not?"
Leyla "he says my skirt is too short, so I have to wear tights"
Me " Oh, well maybe trousers would be cooler"
This takes me right back to one of my first dates with Emin where I was castigated for wearing a short dress, I was in love and so went and bought some cycling shorts to wear underneath, coupled with my armour plated underwear I am often rather hot. Longer skirts require a slip so its a no win situation really.
So with a heavy heart and a sense of deja-vu, I bought Leyla some shorts. Problem solved? no she was teased because they thought she was wearing boys boxer shorts. So now I have bought her a knee length dress instead. bloody expensive summer this is turning out to be.
Now if you thought this was a cultural difference think again, last week Daisy told me she had seen THE most fantastic Mambo skirt in the sale, a bargain at £10, so she asked her father to buy it for her, he said no, why? too short!
* Turkish for Daddy
Tuesday, 13 May 2008
Never have too much pink pt 2
The Year in Pictures questions whether we can have too much pink, well I have been addicted, I think it has been a very good year for blossom, this is my final photo. The tree is just outside the school and emerges a luminous pink, over the last week the sun has bleached it white and like my Lilac finally frazzled the blossom brown. I never photo shop my work, I hate it, the colours really were that bright.
Monday, 12 May 2008
Marian Drew
Keeping the theme of rich and etheral art imitating life, these images from Marian Drew are painfully beautiful more here and thank you to the Conscientious for the link.
Ori Gersht
by Juan Sánchez Cotán
I love it when life imitates art, this image is by Ori Gersht, who has work showing at The Harris Museum
Other brilliant images by this artist can be seen on this web site mummery schnelle
David Peace
Reading the Guardian this weekend my eye was caught by this profile of David Peace, primarily because I am interested in the location he writes about. Growing up near Leeds all our lives were overshadowed by The Yorkshire Ripper. It shaped what was and what was not safe to do, the long walks up to University Library, coming home late after a gig at the Poly', so I was interested to read about the author of this book. I also like the idea of mixing fact with fiction and the way he collects pieces of writing is not dissimilar to my scrap books.
When I was asked to copy a piece of text recently to put on this blog, I was horrified how hard I found it to copy, it was only a few sentences but unless I kept checking, I would either completely rewrite them in my own words, or as you know, forget all the punctuation!
Peace responded to this discovery in the same way that he had responded to all literary discoveries since he was a child. "When I come across a sentence or paragraph that impresses me, I write it out. I'm not sure if other writers do it, but I suspect they do and it's a dirty little secret. It is like practising five-finger exercises. I thought Cormac McCarthy's The Road was a fantastic piece of work. But the only way I could really understand how it was done was to write some of it out. Francis Bacon's Popes were copies of Velázquez. The first piece of writing I copied was from Conan Doyle's A Study in Scarlet. But even before that, I had changed Roald Dahl's Fantastic Mr Fox into my own version called The Magic Fox."
Read the rest here
P.S the Guardian search engine sucks, seroiusly I do not know why they bother I found this via the Google search engine.
When I was asked to copy a piece of text recently to put on this blog, I was horrified how hard I found it to copy, it was only a few sentences but unless I kept checking, I would either completely rewrite them in my own words, or as you know, forget all the punctuation!
Peace responded to this discovery in the same way that he had responded to all literary discoveries since he was a child. "When I come across a sentence or paragraph that impresses me, I write it out. I'm not sure if other writers do it, but I suspect they do and it's a dirty little secret. It is like practising five-finger exercises. I thought Cormac McCarthy's The Road was a fantastic piece of work. But the only way I could really understand how it was done was to write some of it out. Francis Bacon's Popes were copies of Velázquez. The first piece of writing I copied was from Conan Doyle's A Study in Scarlet. But even before that, I had changed Roald Dahl's Fantastic Mr Fox into my own version called The Magic Fox."
Read the rest here
P.S the Guardian search engine sucks, seroiusly I do not know why they bother I found this via the Google search engine.
Summers here
The posts have been sartorially lite recently, so to update….
Last weekend I managed to find time to unpack the summer clothes and finally put away the wool and tweed, the problem with Linen, which is what most of it is, is that no matter how carefully you pack it away, it always looks creased when it gets unpacked again. Anyone who reads this will know that I have no ironing board and seriously cannot remember the last time I used the iron. So rather naively/ lazily I left them to hang in the wardrobe, but it has made little difference. So I will have to bite the bullet and get it ironed.
Interestingly for me, with my summer clothes the trouser/skirt ratio is far more evenly spread. I have a ‘thing’ for wide legged linen trouser which are much easier to find than the more structured winter ones. So with my new set of cardies I thought I was good to go.
Then as usual the English climate threw a curve ball and we have gone from 10 degrees to 27 degrees. Last year I sold the bulk of my camisole top collection on EBay, beautiful though they were, I have decided that after the age of 45 bingo wings should be neither seen nor heard, so having thought I had all bases covered sartorially speaking, I now realise that I have far too few hot weather tops that are suitable for work, and unlike so many people I know, I do not work in an air conditioned office and it can get incredibly hot in this room during the summer.
So it’s back to the high street for me then. I find it very difficult to find smart hot weather tops, weekends I can slob around in floppy T shirts, but my skirts need something more structured/ fitted. I did find a nice short sleeve grey cardie this weekend from M&S of all places which is perfect, but a couple more would be better. Needless to say they only had it in grey and as for the colours of their T shirts, not in Paris, so not for me either. I did think of another dress code apart from, Is it good enough for Paris? and that was, Is it good enough for a Gallerina? I have always loved the clothes people wear at Art fairs sort of edgy with a twist and that too creeps into my Psyche as I shop.
Most of the female population of the South East seem to have embraced the T shirt and swishy skirt combo. After a tricky week where most commuters still clutched coats and wore boots they have finally got the confidence to embrace the sunshine, and so they should because once Wimbledon arrives it is sure to pour. So the hunt is on.
Last weekend I managed to find time to unpack the summer clothes and finally put away the wool and tweed, the problem with Linen, which is what most of it is, is that no matter how carefully you pack it away, it always looks creased when it gets unpacked again. Anyone who reads this will know that I have no ironing board and seriously cannot remember the last time I used the iron. So rather naively/ lazily I left them to hang in the wardrobe, but it has made little difference. So I will have to bite the bullet and get it ironed.
Interestingly for me, with my summer clothes the trouser/skirt ratio is far more evenly spread. I have a ‘thing’ for wide legged linen trouser which are much easier to find than the more structured winter ones. So with my new set of cardies I thought I was good to go.
Then as usual the English climate threw a curve ball and we have gone from 10 degrees to 27 degrees. Last year I sold the bulk of my camisole top collection on EBay, beautiful though they were, I have decided that after the age of 45 bingo wings should be neither seen nor heard, so having thought I had all bases covered sartorially speaking, I now realise that I have far too few hot weather tops that are suitable for work, and unlike so many people I know, I do not work in an air conditioned office and it can get incredibly hot in this room during the summer.
So it’s back to the high street for me then. I find it very difficult to find smart hot weather tops, weekends I can slob around in floppy T shirts, but my skirts need something more structured/ fitted. I did find a nice short sleeve grey cardie this weekend from M&S of all places which is perfect, but a couple more would be better. Needless to say they only had it in grey and as for the colours of their T shirts, not in Paris, so not for me either. I did think of another dress code apart from, Is it good enough for Paris? and that was, Is it good enough for a Gallerina? I have always loved the clothes people wear at Art fairs sort of edgy with a twist and that too creeps into my Psyche as I shop.
Most of the female population of the South East seem to have embraced the T shirt and swishy skirt combo. After a tricky week where most commuters still clutched coats and wore boots they have finally got the confidence to embrace the sunshine, and so they should because once Wimbledon arrives it is sure to pour. So the hunt is on.
Saturday, 10 May 2008
Meme once more
Having just barely finished one meme, I got tagged with another one last week, byMaterfamiliasknits
1. Last movie you saw in a theater? Oh it has been so long I have forgotten. I am officially ashamed.
2. What book are you reading? The Virago book of The Joy of Shopping, yes I know, still, but I am going to the library tomorrow.
3. Favourite board game?No, not ever, hate them I could not possibly sit still for that long.
4. Favourite magazine? Selvedge, Vogue (preferably foreign) Australia Vogue Living, Interiors.
5. Favourite smell? Flowers; Osmanthus, Lilac Roses, Lilies,Jasmine Daphne, I could go on. Strawberries, coffee, babies, cut grass, fried onions from a burger van, down stairs in Boodle-am, Leeds, last but not least my Grandad's greenhouse on a hot summers day, the smell of tomato's growing is just divine.
6. Favourite sounds? Bird song, the girls laughing, water lapping, the clanging noise sailing boats make in the harbour,,
7. Worst feeling in the world? Same as LBR, helplessness, I am so tired of man's inhumanity to man.
8. What is the first thing you think of when you wake up? Oh bloody hell Emin, let me sleep.
9. Favourite fast food place? M&S
10. Future child’s name? Indigo, of course, sadly it sooooo is not going to happen.
11. Finish this statement. “If I had lot of money I’d….Get a room of ones own.
12. Do you sleep with a stuffed animal? would it be man slaughter?
13. Storms - cool or scary? Cool.
14. Favourite drink? Tap water, Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc fromNew Zealand, Chilled Rose from Provence, ice cold cider, Latte.
15. Finish this statement, “If I had the time I would….”? Paint
16. Do you eat the stems on broccoli? Yes, peel and boil.
17. If you could dye your hair any colour, Iwould be the same colour as Daisy.
18. Name all the different cities/towns you’ve lived in? Cambridge, Reading, Nr Leeds, York London.
19. Favourite sports to watch? Football, preferably Millwall but if not Leeds. Live of course.
20. One nice thing about the person who sent this to you? Do I gush here? Wise Warm Witty the www at its best.
21. What’s under your bed? A roller draw with my summer knitwear in plus 3 baskets of underwear.
22. Would you like to be born as yourself again? Yes,with a stronger jaw line.
23. Morning person, or night owl? Morning, once I'm up
24. Over easy, or sunny side up? Sunny side up.
25. Favourite place to relax? The girls bedroom, even when they are not here.
26. Favourite pie? I do not like pastry but if pushed Lemon meringue
27. Favourite ice cream flavour? Again do not like it, but I did quite like Carte D'or Coffee in France, Some orange flavour in Brussels
28. Of all the people you tagged this to, who’s most likely to respond first? Oh I am so behind with Memes I tag anyone in my Links list and I hope Gwen and A Spoonful of sugar are tempted again!
1. Last movie you saw in a theater? Oh it has been so long I have forgotten. I am officially ashamed.
2. What book are you reading? The Virago book of The Joy of Shopping, yes I know, still, but I am going to the library tomorrow.
3. Favourite board game?No, not ever, hate them I could not possibly sit still for that long.
4. Favourite magazine? Selvedge, Vogue (preferably foreign) Australia Vogue Living, Interiors.
5. Favourite smell? Flowers; Osmanthus, Lilac Roses, Lilies,Jasmine Daphne, I could go on. Strawberries, coffee, babies, cut grass, fried onions from a burger van, down stairs in Boodle-am, Leeds, last but not least my Grandad's greenhouse on a hot summers day, the smell of tomato's growing is just divine.
6. Favourite sounds? Bird song, the girls laughing, water lapping, the clanging noise sailing boats make in the harbour,,
7. Worst feeling in the world? Same as LBR, helplessness, I am so tired of man's inhumanity to man.
8. What is the first thing you think of when you wake up? Oh bloody hell Emin, let me sleep.
9. Favourite fast food place? M&S
10. Future child’s name? Indigo, of course, sadly it sooooo is not going to happen.
11. Finish this statement. “If I had lot of money I’d….Get a room of ones own.
12. Do you sleep with a stuffed animal? would it be man slaughter?
13. Storms - cool or scary? Cool.
14. Favourite drink? Tap water, Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc fromNew Zealand, Chilled Rose from Provence, ice cold cider, Latte.
15. Finish this statement, “If I had the time I would….”? Paint
16. Do you eat the stems on broccoli? Yes, peel and boil.
17. If you could dye your hair any colour, Iwould be the same colour as Daisy.
18. Name all the different cities/towns you’ve lived in? Cambridge, Reading, Nr Leeds, York London.
19. Favourite sports to watch? Football, preferably Millwall but if not Leeds. Live of course.
20. One nice thing about the person who sent this to you? Do I gush here? Wise Warm Witty the www at its best.
21. What’s under your bed? A roller draw with my summer knitwear in plus 3 baskets of underwear.
22. Would you like to be born as yourself again? Yes,with a stronger jaw line.
23. Morning person, or night owl? Morning, once I'm up
24. Over easy, or sunny side up? Sunny side up.
25. Favourite place to relax? The girls bedroom, even when they are not here.
26. Favourite pie? I do not like pastry but if pushed Lemon meringue
27. Favourite ice cream flavour? Again do not like it, but I did quite like Carte D'or Coffee in France, Some orange flavour in Brussels
28. Of all the people you tagged this to, who’s most likely to respond first? Oh I am so behind with Memes I tag anyone in my Links list and I hope Gwen and A Spoonful of sugar are tempted again!
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