the fabric of dreams

do you know about Harris Tweed?

Harris is an island, one of the Outer Hebrides (also known as the Western Isles), Scotland. . .traditional tweed is hand-woven from wool. . . you can find a little history here, if you're interested. . . tweed isn't just for flat caps and coats. . .

now, I don't know if I've ever told you this, but I love fabrics. . . and I especially love tweeds (check out these really funky ones!). . . and I also love Tana Lawn from Liberty (I'm sure I've told you this before)

I think I have, haven't I? oh well - so lovely, we'll look at some again. . .

(you can even buy Tana Lawn Buttons!)

and this one reminds me of tweed and lichen

but, seeing as it's mid-November, let's stick to the warm woolly stuff. . . look at the colours of these beautiful tweed yarns from Rowan - it looks like tweed, and knits up to create a fabric with those gorgeous tweedy flecks in it
.
a little like knitting your own lichen in fact. . .

I could wax on for hours about colour and texture and yarn and fabric, but they are some of those things that have to be experienced to be truly loved
.
in the meantime, I'll leave you with this:

Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

..
WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS

.

<----- returns to her knitting

is your pencil

full of lead?

(-:

enjoy:

1, 2, 3, 4!

I got a sheet for my bed, And a pillow for my head I got a pencil full of lead, And some water for my throat I've got buttons for my coat; and sails on my boat So much more than I needed before I got money in the meter and a two bar heater Now it's getting hotter; Oh it's only getting sweeter I got legs on my chairs and a head full of hear Pot and a pan And some shoes on my feet; I got a shelf full of books and most of my teeth A few pairs of socks and a door with a lock I got food in my belly and a license for my telly And nothing's going to bring me down I got a nice guitar and tyres on my car I got most of the means; and scripts for the scenes I'm out and about, so I'm in with a shout I got a fair bit of chat but better than that Food in my belly and a license for my telly And nothing's going to bring me down Nothing's going to bring me down But best of all (best of all) I've got my baby She's mighty fine and says she's all mine And nothing's going to bring me down Best of allI've got my baby She's mighty fine and says she's all mine And nothing's going to bring me down. . .

Not today, no, no. . .
.

PAOLO NUTINI

.
(this has nothing whatsoever at all to do with this evening, I just think it's fab; I'll be back in a bit with some pics)

oh crikey

so, he remained in contact this week. . . and. . .

we arranged to meet again; he's a cross between these two people

no, I don't believe it either - but then I did say a while back that I wanted a GBF (Gay Best Friend), so perhaps my fairy godmothers waved their wands and my wishes have come true

just think how perfect that would be! great company, lots of lovely arty meet-ups and I'd never have to worry about waxing my legs if I'm not wearing trousers
.

(I don't like wearing the trousers in a relationship, being a bit of a girly girl 'n' all. . .)

he's taking me here. . .sneak preview:

now the reason I know that is because when he said he'd take me to dinner, I asked what kind of place, for sartotial advice only, you totally understand, as I needed to know whether to go diamond heels and pearl tiara or biker boots/leather combo. . .

I wasn't sure if the diamond heels would work (he's a bit of a shortarse) and my tiara's a little rusty, so I'm wearing this:

"This painting is also known as The Ugly Duchess and A Grotesque Old Woman.
It's believed to be a painting satirizing older women
who dress inappropriately for their age ("mutton dressed as lamb"),
rather than being a portrait of a specific individual."

it's so long since I've been on a date that I've forgotten the appropriate etiquette. . .

. . .any hints and tips people?

Friday (already) (again)

I didn't have to google the image, so I guess that we've already had chesnuts - but, seeing as the nights are drawing in. . . it's probably time for some more

.
and for some reason, I quite fancy a large bowl of trifle. . .

"Trifle is one of the oldest desserts in the UK and it has originated somewhere in 16th century and was originally a dish of cream boiled with various mixes. The word trifle derives from the Middle English trufl which in turn came from the Old French trufe (or truffle), meaning something of little importance. Originally, in the late 16th century, the culinary meaning of the word trifle was a dish composed of cream boiled with various ingredients... Trifle is the one of the richest English desserts and it is served on special occasions like Christmas. This dessert has popular variants like “Sherry Trifle” often referred to as “High Church” and the recent jelly soaked sponge cake. As per as historical records the first Trifle recipe was published in The Good Hyswife’s Jewell, 1596 by T. Dawson, followed by a rennet variation of the preceding recipe by the legendary cook Robert May, followed by complete transformation to the existing trifles with macaroons soaked in wine and then the trifle made today probably gives you with a final form with sponge cakes, layered with fruits, custard and whipped cream on the top.

"Over the years trifle has been transformed completely with the addition of flavours and the replacement of ingredients to make it more gorgeous.

"A recipe is as follows: Halve a sponge cake from the middle, sandwich it with jam and soak it with fruit syrup, red wine or any fruit pulp; top it with a layer of fresh fruits like bananas, papayas, strawberries, peaches and pineapples; prepare a thick custard, let it cool and then tip it over the sponge cake and fruits; and finish it with cream, cherries and the berries you like the most."

(any True Brit will know that that is not how you make trifle, but I'll spare you an explanation) (apart from the fact that it's not trifle unless it has flaked almonds on top of the custard)

The Story Of The Cats

By Mini-Teen

Once apon a time, there was a little 4 year old girl, a big 6 year old boy and another 7 year old boy, who lived in a very sweet house by the railway line, and the house would shake if a train went past. One day the mum and dad came back with a box, and lined all the little (and big) children up on the sofa. Out of the box came and small, black cat...

... and it began.

The little black cat was named Lizard (Izzy for short) and grew into a very big cat indeed. He had come from Izzie, a girl in the big boy's class at school. We had many happy memories with Izzy, including the fact that the little girl was smaller than the cat, and the cat thought it was more important than the little girl (which it wasn't) and so it used to wait at the top of the stairs and when the little girl crawled up, she got scratched across the face, and still holds a scar to this day. However she still loved (and still loves) the little black cat. The cat was very intelligent and waited for the mum when she came in with the children after school. Unfortunately, one day they came home and Izzy was lying on the side of the pavement (side walk for you Americans...), perfectly still...

... the little girl was crying for weeks :(

But before long Another cat was brought home! This cat was called Mrs. Tumnus (yes you Brits, "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe", the rest of you, look it up and rent the movie!) because she had two little black dots on her head, like she was going to grow horns... she never did, but her descendants all have, to this day, dots on their heads.

One day (they now lived in the Big House near a pond), the little girl came running into the mum's and dad's bedroom, saying there were rats on her bed. She had gone to sleep, curled up next to the cat, and woken up to the sound of squeals, feeling what she thought were rats. The mum came running in (the dad had to get up early for a business trip) and said they were kittens!

The little girl was so excited she kept the dad awake all night chatting away...

The kittens (three of them) all found good homes. The cat then went on to have three other litters, with lots of interestingly named kittens... Some of the best names were:

• Fantastic Dan And His Super Sonic Cows (courtesy of The Teen)
• Miaow (Courtesy of Teen Two)
• Joe Pineapples (The Teen)
• Blinky (The Teen)
• Private Snowball (a totally white cat) (The Teen)
• Barry (Teen Two)
• Mort (Me!)
• Smelly Cat (yours truly)
• Deadlock (Teen Two)
• Oreo (Mwa)
• Crunch (Me too! G*d I am good at this!)
• Buitiful Kitten (You guessed it... Mini- Teen)
• Spot (the one with the view) (I want to swap bedrooms with her, but she just won't let me!) (that's mum)
• Pingu ( He does kinda look like a penguin...) (Well, what do you think? Yes, it was me! Who else? Honestly...)

And there's so many more than that...

Of course, we all know the grand total is 36. Not joking. We kept one from the first litter (Fantastic Dan), two from the second (Spot and Blinky. Unfortunately one Christmas he died... The family next door ran him over. A very sad Christmas indeed for all involved...) and one from the last (Miaow). Then bad things happened and we had to move!!! We couldn't catch all the cats, so Spot moved in with the next door neighbours (the good ones on the other side, not the muderers), Dan is still terrorising small children who live in the small part of London by the pond. Mrs T was taken to the RSPCA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, who also take pets in and they will let you adopt them for free) with a large donation. Another very sad time for all involved.

Then one day a pond lady came and gave us Miaow, and the RSPCA were closed so the little girl spent the night in the kitchen with her. After that they realised even though they lived in a rented house so couldn't really keep her, they could hide her from the landlord (if only they'd figured that out earlier!...).

Then they moved into a house with a roof terrace which had a hammock on it. It was very fun there, and many more cats were born. Currently they have eleven: 6 new kittens (there were 7 and they would be called the 7 Dwarfs, but one is now sleeping...), Miaow, Smelly Cat (who left yesterday!), Pingu, Barry and Buitiful Kitten.

With love,

Mini-Teen (for the record, year eight is NOT mini!)

P.S. what is up with American Thanksgiving???

my secret evil wicked pick-me-up

(well, we all have one of those, right?)

on crikey, how am I ever going to be able to confess to this

yikes!

well, let's face it, I cried all over you this morning, I should be able to fess up to a very very small (deep breath) sin. . .

(you've got one, I bet) (probably smaller than mine. . .) (but who knows) (actually, mine is a large) (and I'm afraid it's from. . . *shudder* . . .McDonalds) (told you it was sinful)

now, I love a real strawberry shake, you know - fresh berries, decent ice-cream and loads of ice-cubes - but sometimes the only option is McDonalds

I know

*hangs head in shame*

(but hey - I'm not crying anymore) (result) (!)

last night I cried myself to sleep

not because Jamie Afro really is out of X-Factornor because Jedward are still in X-Factor

sadly, I didn't have a handy box of tissues

even worse, I hadn't bothered taking off the day's eye make-up

but sometimes you're just going to sob your heart out, aren't you? I mean even if I was still married, even if I was happily married, there would be days when it all got on top of me and it all became too much and I'd just dissolve into floods of tears and make my own personal contribution to rising sea levels. . . I wonder if the Thames Barrier works backwards. . .