Fab, Feisty and Sixty (ish)

Last night I went to see, with much anticipation and excitement I might add   'The Vagina Monologues'.  I had no idea what to expect, apart from a ton, nay several hundred ton of women, much raucous laughter, and probably much use of the word vagina and many other well used descriptive nouns for this, well yes l guess, well used part of, and I know you know, of course you know, the female body. These nouns included the vagina being referred to as  a tamale, a monkey box and a coochi snorcher , as well as many other  naughty words which I do not feel brave enough to repeat here tonight. Although I did last night and in mixed company I might add! The monologues were compiled by more than 200 interviews conducted by the playwright Eve Ensler about  their female experiences. The monologues were recounted last night with much effort, detail, sound effects and accents to entertain and enlighten us. Facts about the vagina from all over the world were proffered. Now I live in Carli...

thanks to Shrinky & Suldog for the enormous fun that was had by my inner child this is my super hero!! why not have a go yourself HERE

Having children makes you no more a parent  than having a piano makes you a pianist. Melanie Levine

When reading someone's latest post, I often feel that they must have been inside my head and written out my thoughts for all to see! But in a more succinct and beautiful way than l ever could. Yesterday the wonderful Erin posted about our yesterdays and talked about living with one foot in the past and one in the present.   I let her post wash over me. I questioned myself and then l sighed. I inhaled her words.   I felt that she had walked the halls of my yesterday.  I do seem to live with one foot in the past. I tend to hanker after a simpler life, a world where I felt safe and sound, without a whiff of responsibility. Although I surround myself with furniture and bits and pieces I feel I can't part with. This is I think the way I fill the hole inside, it may replace the missed feeling of security that we children have when young and are rotected by our families, by our environment and by our parents. Some of us have been lucky enough in this world to live with the two pare...

Fhina challenged me to this 'meme'... I Am: Moody, high or low, nothing in between I Want: always  to do the right thing I Have: the children I yearned for I Wish: I could live forever I Fear: only fear itself I Hear: myself sing in tune not unlike La Streisand, I KNOW that I don't I Search: f or a spiritual enlghtenment and fullfillment I Wonder: what it's all about I Regret: too much, then regret that I even bother to regret, I'm getting over it I Love: My children more than life itself I Always: wear red lipstick & dark glasses, a silk scarf on my handbag I Usually: take my watch & bra off when I get home I Am Not: all that I could be, yet I Dance: in my dreams I Sing: in the car I Never: r efuse good food, walk past a charity shop or book shop I Rarely: do anything without a list I Cry: when I read about something happy, something good, something sad or watch an old movie, l'm a sucker for them. I Am Not Always: good with money I’m Confused: abou...

I love people. I love my family, my children . . .  but inside myself is a place where I live all alone  and that's where you renew your springs that never dry up. Pearl S. Buck Faraday '06

For other participants in  Dot’s  concept, go to  Sky Watch HQ . In the last week alone,  it has been almost daylight,  then more daylight, each evening and when I've finished after work  I have been able to take Pippa for a good solid walk Come on woman!! Always looking up and NOT at me! I continue to be mesmirised by the naked branches reaching ever upwards

... but as I have only been blogging on my Vintage blogs Sara's Attic Blog since 2005 & more recently Handbag Diva , the subject of 'blog guilt' hasn't raised it guilty head. Until I started my FFF blog that is and joined the generic blogsphere as a regular blogger! Over Christmas the posts are a tad thin on the snowless ground and are mostly of a festive nature, then when the very last cracker is pulled, the last mince pie morsel- ed(I know that isn't a word!) and the last decoration boxed, we tentatively start to think about a new post. Inspiration is seemingly lost along with the post seasonal humour and general bonhomie. There has been a plethora of meme's doing the rounds and whilst I do enjoy responding to them, I find I feel I have to complete them it bugs me. (Meme; I still don't know how to pronounce this, except that it is a french word, which means the same and that resonates with me as appropriate, a meme is just that, non?) so befo...

Before you were conceived I wanted you Before you were born I loved you Before you were here an hour I would die for you This is the miracle of life. Maureen Hawkins

Not having the amount of personal free time to indulge myself in spa weekends nor painting holiday for one, I have honed my list making skills and created my own library of simple pleasures. There were some quiet moments yesterday in the Museum and more by boredom than curiosity I spent some time jotting these down, as I always have pen and paper in pocket during this much appreciated thinking time, which by the way is crucial to my sanity. As I have been actively aspiring to be more a glass half full than an empty kinda girl, I try to consciously be more thankful and grateful for the little delights in my life on a daily basis. I wondered how many every day pleasures I have that I fail to notice, that are just a part of my day to day existence. I quite surprised myself and here are some of them... The washing line - neatly hung washing drying in the wind, slapping and cracking themselves dry is so satisfying to watch, hear and see. The smell of the wash dried in this way is heaven....

To all my blogtastic pals on Valentines day that is to say anyone who ventures here please take this heart from me, with love X To cement a new friendship,  especially between foreigners or persons of a different social world,  a spark with which both were secretly charged must fly from person to person,  and cut across the accidents of place and time. from The Ape in Me, 1959 -  Cornelia Otis Skinner

Hosted by  Cecily  and  MamaGeek the winter of 1964 was a hard one, here is the evidence My father - JP- le bodger and I are walking  along the Hampton promenade in Herne Bay in Kent the sea is frozen Butch our lovely Jack Russell is on the left enjoying the ice Dad and I Hosted by  Cecily  and  MamaGeek

May I introduce my new baby! HANDBAG DIVA  I have many bags, handbags, purses, totes, clutchs and shoppers. Mostly all Vintage pieces but not all. This addiction went into overdrive when I launched my online vintage clothing site Sara's Attic  in 2002, each time I bought a bag for the site, I decided to keep it .  They began to mount up. I don't know how many I have, perhaps this wee project will 'out' me! After we moved home 14 months ago most of i them have been rehoused in clean, dry plastic boxes and are stored under the bed, in the wardrobe and five are displayed out on a shelf, gathering deadly dust and for a handbag it can be deadly, so I only display my Lucite pieces (plastic to you and I) on the book shelves. They all used to be displayed inside three old 1940-50's glass fronted china cabinets in my bedroom, next to my desk and I could admire and rearrange them to my hearts content, but now I no can do. Out went the old cabinets in came the storage containe...

I like to think l know a little about the online territory. I do feel comfortable here, I am self taught and apart from an early home based Amstrad, I  have been on a computer since 1986. When I left Debenhams and retail management (for a while) to set up a training sales dept in a local Itec. This was the then hobby horse of government, a YTS scheme with a potentially money spinning sales division ready to be developed. That's where I came in, to set it up. It was grand while it lasted, I got a choice of company car, an expense account, when these were still perks or add on's to the basic salary, not heavily taxed like they are now.   It was an exciting time, as we were sponsored by Eurotunnel and so corporate exec's were often down for a day or so in the provinces and a lunch out.Those were the days. I'm digressing, but of course! Sorry. This job as it was IT based, I had to be taught about my product, so I attended some crash courses on MS DOS (arghhh!!) and lots of ...

Following on from my post last week about the talented but troubled Amy Winehouse, I am saddened by the terrible news about Jade Goody. It seems her illness has worsened and if reports are to be believed the outlook is now bleak for her.  Jade is a celebrity created totally by the celebrity/reality culture we live in,particularly in the UK. We created her by watching these programmes and though I do not feel guilty for having watched my share I do feel it is awful they way 'we' can create a celerity for celebrity's sake and then just as easily aid their apparent fall from grace! Jade made mistakes but didn't shy away, she faced them head on and apologised and learned from her mistakes. Considering her background I think the girl done good! Jade has grabbed  her  15 minutes of fame with both hands and  through hard work and by her optimism and  perhaps the freshness of her naivety has become a self made and wealthy young  woman. Through this illness she continues to wor...

Not one to beat about the bush, nor have I been known to sit quietly and bite my tongue unless under pain of death. So let's get this out of the way. Life is too short to IRON!  I fold most items very carefully, after they come out of the dryer having used  a tumble fresh as this stoops creasing ... then sort out all  the lightweight cotton things together and then place on top of the pile a very heavy ART book... cookery book will suffice. If items still lightly warm all the better, that is  the laundry not the book. Put all absolutely necessary items to iron, like work tops, school shirts, well only the cuffs collars and bits that are seen, as the creases fall out when the heat of the body warms the fabric, that's whats great about poly cotton!! Ha! Sheets..well fecking hell they will be slept on, so only iron the top pillowcase, not the one underneath, whose gonna see it? only the Sandman for god sakes! These are NON IRON items, and yes my pal Lynn used to iron these until I...