Happy Christmas!

It's here!

Christmas 2013 and what a year it's been. 

I had a visit from Hey Homewrecker! and both of us have the cold. Linda was headed to the Chinese for a

Curry chip and although I was repulsed, I, too, found myself hanging round the Chinese for a 1/2 rice 1/2 noodle job with no sauce.  

Never seen this place so busy. (Actually being serious)

 

They have a fabulous wee tree up: 

It's a sad Christmas this year but  still looking forward to my Christmas dinner. Just has to make a dash to the shop for frozen roast potatoes after remembering that the rest of the family are having duck fat roast potatoes. Gross. 

Belfast has been quite festive:

And I won £5 on a scratch card. Twice. Today. 

Now I feel sick after eating all that so I'm off to lie down. 

Hope you all have a lovely day. Value your families.

Xxx

Beach Days

The weather was lovely today, no sign of the impending snow in fact you'd think Summer was round the corner!  Blue skies and warm sunshine. So what do you do on a day like this? 

Well Hey Homewrecker! suggested a trip to the seaside!

Off we went, with Pen in tow. 

Helen's Bay

Lots of Birdies

Sadly Pen lost her red ball to the sea but, thankfully, quickly forgot about it. 

We wandered up to the cafe and had a coffee and maltesers. 

The lonely Malteser

It was a good way to spend a Saturday afternoon and I really enjoyed it. Pen is fast asleep - bonus. Bonus bonus bonus. 

Hey Homewrecker! and Pen

Look out for our next trip, coming in the next decade!

10-4. 

Kinder Surprise!

Don't be jel! But here is my Kinder Ring:

Amazing. Kinder Eggs, at the moment, have pink or blue wrappers. I gravitate towards the pink and get awesome jewels. 

Also got a brooch and a lock. 

Wow. 

Opportunity Frocks 2013

On Saturday evening I went to see someone be crowned Miss Opportunity Frocks 2013. The winner was Miss Anna Rexia. 

Here are some photos:

I didn't stay forever because I got bored of the show pieces. I was all dragged out. 

The bitchiness was unreal. A few wigs flew and there were bodies on floors but other than that the weather was OUTRAGEOUS. 

My coat, somehow, ended up on the floor, covered in booze. I had to brave the storms home in a sparkly leopard print cardigan and skeleton shoes. 

No photos of those (Sorry Bartlam) YET! I'm actually blogging from my mobile telephone whilst listening to Dream Theater and Queensryche (Geoff Tate) duetting on 'Comfortably Numb'. 

I wish Geoff would play nicely. 

Watched Avengers last night. Thor is so cool. Whilst I'm an Iron Man fan I think Thor was my favourite, Captain America was at the bottom. Sorry. 

So yeah!

I'll write better soon. I miss Google Reader and having a decent laptop. 

Invasion of the Fun Guys

In both gardens, front and back, there has been a fungi invasion!

Depending on who you ask they're either a good thing or a bad thing. 

 

 

This one (above) reminds me of some 70s nature book. 

Just had to share these with you.

P.S the only blogger that sort of works at the moment is my iPhone app so excuse the crappy quality etc. 

Della's Lounge Revamp pt.II

This is Della's new addition - string lights!

In the dark....

With a light on...

Fantastic!!

Nope - she was more interested in the Sellotape. 

One day...

The Demise of the Tablecloth

I was having a good browse in people's handbags via Tumblr and made a rather boring  interesting observation.  When people display the contents of their bags or what they would save if their house was burning down, look at what they lay their stuff on.

Americans seem to favour the mat on a wooden floor whilst the Europeans are inclined to lay their precious items on cloths or blankets.

Which brings me to my question;

Where are the tablecloths!

Exactly! Where are they? Does no-one use a tablecloth anymore? Why? I fear it could be a lot to do with the decline in family dinner around the table. I remember reading somewhere that a percentage of families don't even have tables preferring, instead, to use their knees.

Have family meals gone out of fashion? (06)

1 in 10 Families never have an evening meal together (10)

Anyway let's take a moment to remember the fabulousness that was the daily tablecloth with images from Google:

Gaudy but perfect for hiding those gravy stains

This is an example of how serious the tablecloth was.

 

Ah! The oilcloth. Perfect for people like me who are prolific messy eaters.

The beautifully draped tablecloth, familiar at weddings and floor length to hide the horrors that lie beneath - the no-screws-required MDF job.

Ah oui! A common sight in (French-style) bistros everywhere!

And there you have it.  Take a moment to remember the once popular tablecloth.

Tablecloth Wiki (note the issues message)

10-4.

Pom Pom!

I was thinking that Della needed her lounge area brightened up a bit:

Yawn. A selfie, cat toys and dreamies. She is demanding.

Taking inspiration from Hey Homewreckers Poms I think I might win some brownie points! The colours aren't ideal but that's all the shop had.

Can't wait to see her face. =^._.^=

Having issues with newly acquired Firefox. Going to have to clean up netbook and use that.  I thought I had fixed the problem but evidently not as the last blog post didn't publish!

Hope to be back soon waffling!

10-4 xoxo

Reading Blogs and the Apocalypse

I am loving the updates but still have mega issues finding something comfortable to read them on.

Today I found gReader. It's almost totally like Google Reader except it's not really.

I really hate Google for closing down on me.  I am a part-time creature of habit, particularly when it comes to reading blogs.

I can't even upload photos to my blog posts anymore, using my Nexus 7.

It's like the world has turned against me and decided to make things that little bit more bloody difficult.

I have lots to talk about! I can't do it today, I have to put up pictures.

I shall return on form soon and hopefully Bartlam will also be as accessible as I am.

Love you guys.

10-4

Selling up and moving away and sending postcards

Nope, not me. A seemingly lovely couple called Andy and Elena.  I read about them in today's Sunday Times magazine.  They sold everything they owned down

to hinges for the washing machine and leave the UK on the 13th September. First stop Hanoi.

Andy and Elena will send you a post card from their destination if you will pay p&p.

I have already ordered two, one shop bought from Elena and one hand drawn from Andy.

Visit them at Postcards From Us

I love sending and receiving postcards and recently read that postcards are still very popular when informing people of your holiday destination and stuff.

10-4

The Old Artistry

I made some new friends through mutual friends etc via social networking and all that in the 21st Century.

I couldn't go to London and NOT call in to The Old Artistry. For a start, for those in the know, it was in E17 (I loved Terry - I still don't know why), Walthamstow. Like proper East London.

Secondly, I love vintage, art, markets and nice people so you know, ticked all my boxes.

Lucy and Jessica are the proprietors and they sell vintage items from clothing to cabbage pots and Lucy's artwork!

Check out:

The Old Artistry 

The Old Artistry

See? These people are fabulous!

From the outside of TOA - Paintings on wall for sale

I loved how everything was quite random

It's a little treasure trove in here

Fantastic signed prints (can be got online)

How COOL are these!

TOA also doubles up as Lucy's studio

(LtoR) Jessica, Lucy, Pembe, Kati, Aaron!

I absolutely loved The Old Artistry - the market that it's in, Wood Street Market, is awesome.  The individual little shops sell everything and anything and not at the inflated costs of the central London markets which are full of Hipsters and more for 'looking cool'. Wood Street is a proper market with fabulous prices and seriously underrated.  I have to go back to visit The Old Artistry again and to buy some tiny fuzzy elephants with the balloons on them from a shop next door. See? You can get ANYTHING there.

Find them on:

Facebook:   The Old Artistry

Twitter: @OldArtistry

(Competition on TOA via Twitter as of 13/09/2013 - retweet their tweet and best profile picture wins)

Email them at: TheOldArtistry@gmail.com

and visit them at E17 Wood Street Market

Don't be a dickhead, go visit and get some genuine vintage  items and art.  It's very easy to get to from Walthamstow tube (Victoria Line) message me and I can tell you in less than 160 characters. Bet you a tenner.

Be cool.

Bartlam - E17/East 17 were the 'Bad Boys of Pop' in the 90s who wore odd clothes and sang shit songs but I still loved them and only recently bought the Ultimate East 17 album.

Hyper Japan 2013

**FYI** I apologise for the delay. I have been to hell and back with technology lately and it's only today that I've got a temporary solution. God am I WEARY (did that sound dramatic enough?)  ANYWAY - London was fabulous, plenty of random waffle and photos to come but first...the very reason I went:

HYPER JAPAN!

 Hyper Japan finally arrived at Earls Court on 26th - 28th July 2013:

The weather was glorious and the queue was enormous. Have a ticket? Join the massive, longest queue you've ever been in.  2 hours in the blazing sun with only a black cardigan to protect my delicate skin.

Once inside we saw things like Sushi Making:

Puzzle Boxes:

Kawaii stalls:

Weirdo Doll Heads

*SCREAMS!* MY LITTLE PONIES!

Kawaii everything random at high prices

And the best part, the costumes:

This one was my *gasp* favourite. She moved about like she was gliding. I was in awe and almost turning into a stalker:

MESMERISING <3 <3 <3

So cute!

It was roasting in the queue - Latex might be too warm but at least she just needed to remove her coat.

There were some fabulous costumes there but this one really does deserve a special mention...in fact, these two do:

I just loved him.

*THE* piece de la resistance:

*silence*

OK MOVING ON SWIFTLY..

I met...the one and only...Godfather of Sudoku. The actual inventor. He's so cute and his glasses were lime green.  I'm a little enthusiastic here but I was slightly amazed that this fella made Sudoku. OVERWHELMED:

Big Love to you Godfather

There were also a couple of cars there including one van with a bed in the back:

Yes it was called 'Drive-By' and I want one.

Was it worth the queuing for? No. Would I go back? Yes but only on fast track ticket and NOT on a Saturday!