The Chandelier Saga

I think you need to meet my friend Helen because her zest for life is infectious.

Pull up a chair to the table and pour yourself a glass of wine.

Now concentrate.

I was walking past this antique shop - well, I don't think it was really an antique shop, more a bricolage shop - and I saw the chandeliers in the window. When I went inside the woman was so rude I could hardly believe it - someone else came in after me and she said 'What do you want? There is nothing in here for you.' They had to leave the shop! Eventually I bought the chandeliers and she dumped them in a huge box without using any packing. I thought that she would help me but she let me stagger out to the car which I had to park on double yellow lines outside the shop. I regretted buying them immediately and left the box on the dining room table when I got home. It was so huge that we couldn't use the table so I shut the door and we ate in the kitchen instead. The next day we went out to eat and Mark noticed the chandeliers in the restaurant and spent the whole evening saying how much he hated them - I was in all kinds of agony because I hadn't told him what was in the box. I phoned the shop and asked the owner if I could return them but she refused, which didn't surprise me. The box was in the dining room for weeks until we needed the table at Easter so I put it in the garage and almost forgot about the chandeliers. When we moved into our new house I decided to be brave and ask our electrician to install them. And they look really fabulous and we love them. All that fuss for nothing - things usually turn out just fine in the end - it's a good lesson, isn't it!

before I forget to mention it

I have given up work.
No more commuting for me!

Look your last on the outrageously beautiful
staircases, mirrors and chandeliers
of Carlton House Terrace.

Admire the lustrous Helen Yardley wall hanging
and the flamboyant Albert Irvin Redcliffe 2000
before the doors close.

On my final day I went to the little cafe
where the waitress had become a friend
and told her that I was leaving
"Oh madam! So am I! Today!
What are you going to do now?"

And I replied
"I'm going to look after my family
until the next adventure comes along."

Meanwhile

...MasterM is playing Rugby in Zambia...

Yes, you did read that correctly, Zambia not Tanzania.

MasterM is playing for the Dar-Es-Salaam Leopards in Lusaka

which makes him an International Rugby player - no?

MrsM diffidently suggests to MasterM that if he is planning to travel around Africa he should keep an eye on the news. MasterM knows exactly what MrsM is worried about and points out that the Ebola virus outbreak is closer to London than it is to Zambia or Tanzania. MrsM checks the map of Africa and sees that he is correct - which is one less thing to worry about so she can concentrate on crocodiles, malaria and mad taxi drivers.

#fail

MrsM confesses to MrM that she has not bought him a wedding anniversary card. MrM sighs with relief and confesses that he too is cardless. They try to decide on a remedial course of action. MrM reminds MrsM that they are going out for lunch to celebrate and MrsM acknowledges that in ordinary circumstances this would be sufficient but she is still anxious about the consequences of their negligence. "Do you think we should pop out and buy a couple of cards before MissM gets home? She will be very disappointed if her parents are not behaving appropriately."

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.

what the commuter saw

JULY, AUGUST

Let's walk together today
and enjoy the summer sunshine.

Set off from Waterloo,
down the steps, under the arches,
past the Royal Festival Hall
and across the Jubilee Bridge.

Look downriver to the City
gleaming in silvery morning light.
Is this my favourite view?

Trafalgar Square is silent, empty and clean.
It is so early that the fountains
have not yet been switched on.

Nelson leans nobly
on the neatly coiled pile of rope
and all is right with the world.

Pause to watch the sunlight
slicing through the water.
How could you not feel joyful?

Here we are at Carlton House Terrace.
They are painting the facade
which means more scaffolders
than you can shake a pole at.

And at the end of the day
let's go back again, over the bridge,
looking upstream to Westminster.

Now we are back at Waterloo
and it is time to go home.

Which is the favourite view of every commuter.

This is for the erudite MasterW
who was kind enough to say
that he enjoyed these posts.

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.

Plum Crumble

MrM
What is your favourite crumble?

MrsM
Oh...I think plum.
Although I do like rhubarb.
And apple, of course.

MissM
What about blackberry and apple?

MrsM
Yes, perhaps that is my favourite.

Gooseberry, on the other hand,no.
I wouldn't be unhappy at all
if I never had to eat another gooseberry.
If all the gooseberry bushes in the world
were struck down by some terrible disease
I wouldn't shed a single tear.

MrM
But where would we have found MissM?

MissM
What do you mean?

MrsM
Surely everyone knows that babies
are found under gooseberry bushes?

MissM
Are you being weird?

Of cushions

MrsM takes cushionage very seriously:
size, shape, orientation,
colour, fabric, pattern.

When she needs to leave the house
she calls in the crack troops
to act as Cushion Monitor.

*****

We have been away!
But now we are back
and suddenly it is September.
How did that happen?

My carefully planned posts
seem to have got in a muddle
so you must be patient
while I work out which order
to tell my story.

Are you sitting comfortably?

Courgette and Lime cake

One sunny day HelenandCarolineandJaneandMe hit the road and ended up in Winchester. This was not totally accidental because we had important things to do. Helen had promised to give us a tour of the historic centre of the city. En route we planned to stop for coffee in the cathedral refectory, admire the water meadows, check the quality of the retail stores and decide which houses we would buy when we won the lottery.

It was an arduous day and we replenished our glucose levels by eating cake. After much discussion and consultation with the waiter it was agreed that we should each have a slice from a different cake otherwise we would not be able to assess the overall standard. I had courgette and lime cake but don't ask me what  flavours HelenandCarolineandJane chose because I was laughing too much to remember.