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Before I was a northern housewife and mother, I started my degree studies at the University of Surrey in Guildford. It was a blast and I have very fond memories of the year I spent there…not least of my friend La Petite.
Over the last few years we’ve been out of touch, but, to my delight and amazement, she found me via Facebook a few weeks ago. Much catching up has been done over email, during which she mentioned that she’d be in Liverpool this week taking a course on Egyptian Hieroglyphics.
For fun.
As you do.
For those of you that don’t know these parts, Liverpool is not that far from here and so last night Mr S and I donned heels and lipstick and went out to meet up with La Petite.
Actually, it was only me wearing the heels and lipstick.
Mr S would have looked a little strange.
Although he has been known to do so.
But that’s another story entirely.
Anyway I digress….in my glee at meeting up with my friend after so long, I completely forgot to take my camera.
And then, even though both Mr S and I have iPhones, we were having such fun we forgot to take pictures whilst we were there.
It’s a good thing my head is screwed on or I’d be in big trouble.
So you’ll have to take my word for it that we had the most magical evening and we won’t be leaving it quite so long to see each other again. And I’ve pinched her Facebook picture…I’m sure she won’t mind.
She’s even more beautiful inside!
The lovely Black Purl hails from California, but for the past 4 years has made her home here in Lancashire. Their loss is our gain!
I first met her at our Thursday evening knitting group and we’ve been firm friends ever since. So I was thrilled and deeply honoured to be asked to accompany her to her Citizenship Ceremony last week, when she officially became a British Citizen.
After swearing her allegiance to the Queen, and being presented with her certificate of naturalisation by the Queen’s representative in Lancashire, Colonel Jolly, we high tailed to Barton Grange for a spot of lunch with Himmelbjerget and the Lovely Linda
We all had a lovely time, and what better excuse for a midweek lunch date with the girls.
Congratulations, honey.
Being the type of girl who seldom wins an argument, nevermind anything more glamorous, I was thrilled to be picked recently by Himmelbjerget in her tea draw.
I visited with her today and was the very, very happy recipient of a selection of lovely teas from Taylors of Harrogate which were presented in this stunning blue French glass bowl and jug:
I’ve only recently discovered the absolute beauty of glass kitchenalia, having bought a couple of vintage pressed glass cake stands that I find excuses to use on a regular basis. However, these are particularly lovely…
…and French!!!!!
They are wonderful and I’m a very lucky girl.
Thank you so much Himmelbjerget for such a lovely, thoughtful and totally perfect gift.
Having looked at the “stash” (I can hear you laughing, you know! I do appreciate that it’s not a real stash but Mr S isn’t to be convinced, so work with me here) I realised that whilst I have fabric, very little of it is suitable for the new season.
Now I’m not one to jump the gun, but the sun has been making valiant attempts to push the clouds out of the way (generally by putting one hand on the cloud’s forehead and holding it at arms length). It’s not completely freezing cold and we’ve had a couple of days without rain. That counts as balmy around these parts.
So, reviewing the fabric crisis it was agreed that a trip to London might just be the order of the day. Whilst there are obviously some fabric shops north of Watford Gap, there is nothing to compare to the glory that is Berwick Street:
and, more specifically:
*Cue harps and choirs of angelic voices*
Now, once upon a time in a former life I used to work in Soho. And I mean work as in “gainfully employed” not “Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman”. My office was less than a five minute walk from The Cloth House. And because of my working hours and the commute and studies, I didn’t sew the whole time I worked there. Now I do have time to sew, I live at the other end of the country. There’s some irony in there somewhere.
Whilst Soho is a haven for all that is eccentric and eclectic in the English (in every good way and lots of weird ways), even I raised the odd eyebrow as I skipped through the door with a maniacal grin on my face. When I started stroking the stock they nearly had me ejected.
However, I clung to the doorframe long enough to make a few small purchases:
- Dark denim to make a skirt
- Double-knit for cardigan as pattern and a matching shell top
- Black cotton gingham for a retro styled wrap blouse
I think I was very restrained. Phew! (We shan’t count the Burda, Marie Claire Idees and Debbie Bliss magazines, shall we?)
Feeling virtuous I skipped over to Loop, Ottolenghi and Gill Wing in Islington. Here I managed to escape having only purchased a 3-pack of cable needles. (Mainly because even I can’t justify £20 for a skein of yarn! No matter how luscious.)
All this shopping induced a great urge for refreshment. I’d arranged to meet Alice (the human one, not the feline one) who was in the mood for fizz. At 2.15 in the afternoon! Who am I to argue?
I’ll draw a line under the rest of the afternoon! Needless to say it was very giggly! And to the lady with the fabulous boots who I feel may have thought we were about to mug her, nope, we just thought your boots were amazing!
Coffee and cake fortified us for the tube journey home/hotel (we transport cattle in better conditions than we do humans on the Underground). All in all a rather splendid day.
…and 2BSewing who has nominated me for the lovely Sisterhood award, which is my first blogging award.
I am thrilled. When I moved to the North of England I felt so isolated, far away from my friends, but now I have a fabulous group of new real and virtual friends who all enrich my life in different ways. I am blessed and grateful, for both old and new.
So in the spirit of this award, the rules of which are:
- Place the award logo on your blog
- Nominate 10 other blogs which show “Attitude and/or Gratitude”
- Link to the nominee on your blog post
- Comment on their blog that you have nominated them
- Share the love and link to the person who nominated you
I’m nominating the following blogs:
Black Purl and Himmelbjerget147 who inspire me creatively, and also to be a better person.
Whistlepea Knits whose outlook on life is inspirational, as are her cakes!
And last, but by no means least, Brownberry Yarns, for her fearlessness in launching a fabulous new business, and her fabulousness in taste in yarn.
Ladies, I salute you.
As promised I’ll now tell you what happened to me yesterday.
Black Purl decided to drag me out for lunch to stop me thinking too much. She arrived at the door with the words “I have something in the car for you. You can have it for the same price I paid for it.” I was, as you can imagine, intrigued.
So I followed her to the car. She opened the boot. And there sat….
I squealed. A lot.
She was manufactured in 1929 in Clydebank, Scotland.
So obviously, the next question was “How much do I owe you?”
“£30″
“Wow, £30, that’s great.”
And it would be. Bargain.
But it wasn’t £30. And that’s the kicker. Because things like this just don’t happen to me.
“Noooooo” she said. ”£3“.
£3???? £3!!!!!!
I simply can’t believe it. And she works as well. She just needs a little TLC to clean her up. Obviously I’m talking about the machine here, not Black Purl. She’s fine and dandy. But, fear not, it won’t be anything aggressive. I want to retain the vintage beauty.
But I am overwhelmed that my friend found her for me. That’s the best bit of all of this.
Today I had a great, busy, distractionary kinda day planned. I’m trying hard not to focus on tomorrow. The, shhhhhh, you know what meeting, tomorrow afternoon. So I had a list of things I wanted to achieve, and so far have achieved just 2 of them.
So before I zip off to do the French studying that I really have to get done today, and then start on something craftyn I have news and a teaser.
Firstly, the news. Pa Stitches-in-Law is finally home. He really should only have been in for a couple of days but the hospital lost paperwork and then the neuro consultant wouldn’t see him without some different paperwork. They were planning to keep him in until Friday of this week (which of course isn’t the tiniest waste of NHS resources *said in vaguely sarcastic tones*), but a couple of judiciously placed phone calls made by Mr Stitches and voila, two hours and he’s out. Hurrah!
And so to the teaser. Black Purl arrived just as I’d received this news to drag me out for an hour for a quick lunch just to I didn’t lose it completely. She opened the boot of her car and….I’ll tell you later what was in there. And it wasn’t just Milo. All I’ll say now is OH.MY.GOD.
And now I’m off to study.
BTW, if this post seems a tad random….too much coffee. ;-}
