Capsule Wardrobe

Blue Beret
Brian J Stonehouse MBE (1918-98)
Working US Fashion Magazine Illustration

Thank you for your very kind messages to MissM. Even now, after so many years, we are all surprised and touched by how generous you have been.

Today was spent shopping for MissM's new work wardrobe because she starts her job in the City on Monday. It felt as though my life was flashing before my eyes : so many hours trying on school shoes, blazers, sports kit and sensible skirts had come to this final moment when we look for the perfect pair of cropped trousers. If MissM is flying from my nest she will look stylish as she goes.

MissM, Graduate

It was a wonderful day. MissM put on the robes and the hat and received the Hug and she was graduated. We clapped and nodded at all the glowing words said about the Class of 2014 and smiled at our daughter who had worked so hard. There were photos with parents and friends...with scroll...without hats. There were balloons and bubbles and cupcakes. And the sun shone. A day to be grateful for all the good things that life can bring us.

Many thanks to MissM for letting me share these photos with you.

Meanwhile

....MissM has been busy, busy, busy...

Four days of fun and 'intellectualness'
at a sunny Latitude festival
including an audience with Germaine Greer
in case you were wondering.

MissM is now an intern at Bradt Travel Guides
working on image rights from the Yukon and North Korea.
The good people of Bradt have been very welcoming
and MissM has been part of the winning Pub Quiz team,
fully involved in birthday cake management
and allocated a space on the company picnic blanket.

Tonight she sits next to me on the sofa
reading Euripides in a battered Penguin Classics edition
and I think to myself
"If this isn't nice, I don't know what is".

MasterM, paparazzo

Sangria

Serve with
slab of watermelon,
cinnamon stick,
large paper peacock
and a splash of chutzpah.

Cooking with MissM

(1)
MissM
Hello!
I thought I would ring and tell you
what I am cooking for supper.
Fish pie!
MrsM
That sounds delicious!
Who is coming to supper?
MissM
My housemates for next year.
Do I need to cook the prawns
before I put them in the pie
and do I need mustard powder?
MrsM
Yes and No.
(2)
MissM
Hello!
Slight white sauce crisis
It's lumpy!
MrsM
That's because it can sense your fear.
Beat it with a whisk.
MissM
All the lumps are vanishing!
(3)
MissM
Everything's fine
but I haven't got enough mash.
MrsM
You can either make some more
or just put it around the edge
and tell your friends
it is a family recipe from Galway.
MissM
I'll make more mash!
(4)
MissM
It's on the table...
I am going to send you a photo!

It seems blogging can be inherited:
here is a second generation blogger
taking a photo of
"Fish Pie and Bemused Friends".

*****

Thank you so much for the comments
on my lunchbox post yesterday
and particularly to Sue
for her packed lunch Pinterest board.
I have been given some wonderful ideas
- there will be bento box blog posts
in the not too distant future.

MissM, 21

Today MissM is celebrating her birthday
with her friends at university.

We send her our love,
this beautiful young woman
who is our daughter.
She has brought us joy
since the day she was born.

We have learned so much from MissM
but most of all she has shown us
that you can make dreams come true
with hard work and determination.

And that you can never have
too many handbags.

Message from MissM

When you come to visit
can you bring Henrietta the chicken,
the one that Grandma gave me.
I miss her.

magic tummies + other matters

Let me tell you ...
(mother to mother)
there is only one thing better
than seeing my own name in print...

and that is seeing MissM's name
at the end of a newspaper column.

Am I proud? You have no idea!
You are not even close!

I have a journalist daughter.

Oh yes.

Fantasia

Our Lady of the Fruits of the Earth

MissM
I am going to a ball next weekend...
and the theme is 'Fantasia'
MrsM immediately thinks of dancing elephants
but this is not what MissM has in mind

Titania

MissM
I am going as Titania
MrsM wonders about the Charming MasterN...
will he go as Oberon?
or Bottom?

La Belle Dame Sans Merci

MissM
I can't decide which heels to wear...
definitely not the black and white ones
because I got spectacular blisters last weekend.
MrsM realises that she has never thought
about what sort of shoes Titania wears.
Probably not black and white heels.

Vanity

MissM
Could you pick me up on Thursday or Friday
because I have a dance on Monday
and a soirée on Wednesday.
MrsM tries not to smile
but it is very hard.

Nimue (Niniane), Damsel of the Lake

all paintings by
Frank Cadogan Cowper (1877 - 1958
'The last Pre-Raphaelite'

*****

This post is for Hermes,
whose blogs have been a daily source
of inspiration and pleasure.

Joie de Vivre

This photo was rescued by Granny
from the bottom of a drawer in her kitchen.

I am sitting with MissM on my lap
in a country churchyard after a wedding.
MissM is wearing a tiny pink seersucker dress
and I know that it is before she could crawl
because her knees are dimpled and clean.

I think of the photograph MissM has just sent
of new plum suede shoes with 4" heels.
She will wear them to two parties this weekend.
They are dancing shoes.

I am sure that if you had asked me then
what I wished for my tiny daughter
I would have been unable to articulate my dream.
There are so many sensible things to wish for:
happiness, health, intelligence, common sense.

But what I wanted, more than anything else,
was a daughter who had the confidence
to go dancing in a black Karen Millen dress
and pair of plum suede shoes with 4" heels.

I think you will agree that I have been lucky.

the road to uni

So...MrsM and MissM loaded the car with the clothes and the boots and the shoes and the handbags and the books and the wine glasses and the corkscrew and the breadknife and all of the essential items that you need to be a proper student and set off down the motorway. They noticed lots of other cars which were also going to uni and realised that everyone else had even more stuff. MrsM and MissM were particularly impressed by the boy with the ironing board.

As it is a long way to uni-land MrsM and MissM stopped overnight at a B&B which MrM had booked. It was not obvious from the website but the B&B was a centre for 'spiritual healing' and MrsM and MissM sat on the pink sofa pondering the leaflet describing the therapeutic opportunities. MrsM was tempted by the Angelic Reiki which channelled the healing powers of the Angelic Kingdom - reassuringly this worked while you were fully clothed. MissM pointed out that they were staying in the Ruby Room and so they were already experiencing the 'vibrational energy and colour of Crystal Healing' at no additional cost. It may have been the careful Feng Shui alignment of the beds or the multiple rose crystals but they both slept deeply and awoke with unblocked Auras and fully aligned Chakras ready to hit the road.

MrsM said to MissM "Remember, the Angels of Love and Light are always there for you ..." MissM replied "I know, I only have to ask for their help."

then MrsM chose the music and MissM turned up the volume and they set off again...

MissM, Domestic Goddess

MissM is so organised
that she has already baked
the chocolate caramel shortbread*
to take to university on Saturday.
No shop-bought cakes for her!
Her grandma will be so proud.

*Lucy's delicious recipe

Student Finance

MrM
So...do you understand
how we are organising your finance
when you are at university?
MissM
What happens if I want to buy
sports equipment?

Scheherazade
(Virginia Frances Sterrett)

MrM
Like golf clubs?
MissM
I don't think that is very likely...
but if I wanted to buy a squash racket?
MrM
You could have my squash racket.

Scheherazade
(Edmund Dulac)

MissM
What about a hockey stick?
MrsM
You have your old hockey stick from school.

Scheherazade
(Umberto Brunelleschi)

MissM
And a pole?
MrM and MrsM
A pole???

Scheherazade
(Leon Bakst)

MissM
For pole dancing.
I've heard that it is very empowering
and there is a club at uni.

Scheherazade
(Leon Bakst)

MrM (faintly)
We would pay for the pole
because that is...errr...
equipment.

MissM takes charge

Interior of the Hermitage Library
Tyranov Alexei Vasilyevich

MrM
Did you collect my books from the library?
MissM
Yes...and I paid your fine.
MrM
Sorry about that
MissM
Don't worry...my treat.

*****

I don't think that I can bear
to let MissM go to university...
the house will be too quiet without her.
Back me up, people.

vignette

I see the rings
casually abandoned
on the mantlepiece
(memories trapped
like flies in amber)
and I am glad because
they are not mine,
they are hers.

night flight

There is an unending stream of sunburned people walking through the Arrivals Lounge: maxi dresses, accent colours, gladiator sandals, little girls with hot pink suitcases and little boys with gruffalo suitcases. You might think that I would be blasé after so many trips to the airport but I still see the people who wait and watch for the people they are waiting for.

Here is a mother greeting her son with hugs and kisses and then finally turning to his girlfriend who is standing uncomfortably with her suitcase to shake her hand. This saddens me but then I see a young mother and her daughter wait patiently and finally greet a woman who is clearly the grandmother. The grandmother stops and gives her full attention to the little girl and I understand why she had waited so patiently, so late at night, with her little cuddly dog beside her. Here, right next to me, is a tall young man. He waits anxiously. Eventually, a beautiful girl walks through the doors and sees him immediately. They are right next to me and it is impossible not to overhear her say "I am so tired" and he replies "But you still look gorgeous".

And then none of this matters because here are MissM and the Sassy MissS with their rucksacks and flipflops, safely home after their great adventure. There are bags to unpack and stories to tell but those can wait for tomorrow. It is time to go home.

MissM : update!

MissM
Hello!
I have arrived in Warsaw safely.

MrsM
Hello!
Is your hostel nice?

MissM
Yes!
Have you seen my ticket?

MrsM
What ticket?
Your INTERRAIL ticket!

MissM
Yes!
I can't find it.

MrsM
We will just check your bedroom.

MissM
Thanks!

MrsM
D found it.
In the bin!

MissM
Oh!
What do I do next?

at the airport

MissM
Guess what I did this morning?

MrM
Did you go to the Arena?

MissM
No!
Last night I asked the guy in the restaurant
where I should go on my last morning in Verona
and he said he would take me to Lake Garda...
on his motorbike...
and he did!
And it was really cool.

MrsM
I am so glad you are home.

MissM : update

Hi from Verona!
Currently getting a free listen
from a concert in the arena
whilst having supper.

Zucchero is playing
(in case you were wondering...)

MissM : update

So sad to leave Florence
but hope to go back really soon.

Next stop Bologna!