I've noticed it's always quieter here in Blogland at weekends, mes amis...
People have lives to live, jobs to do, errands to run, chickens to choke (I'm jesting - I'm a vegetarian and we have kept pet chickies), and children to chastise...
I found this link on Friday when catching up with news on the BBC News Webpage...
It's a small collection of weird and wonderful news clippings, and there are a couple of laughs, oohs or wry smiles here, dependent upon your mien, moue or mood, methinks!
For those of you who were ever interested in my home-related window dilemma, you may be amazed, nay even astounded by the update...
Windows are now all in place, and sparkling bright - My living room is brighter and lighter than before, as the windows are larger for the frames are thinner, if that makes sense... We even struggled to hear the garden birds tweeting, and we're usually on first-name terms with the territorially chirping male blackbirds, and assorted finches. The lads were stars - They worked very hard, I did not even see them take a break! One of them even staggered up a ladder to repair my guttering, which clattered against the house cacophonously in anything other than a whisper of wind!
My letter boxes are restored and operational - I have even received some post - All of it of recyclable quality, but still I confess receiving it at all is a comfort...
Now I shall have to curb all of my usual slovenly, slatternly practices... You know, the ones I have fallen into while living this half-life with a home that, to be fair, saw better days when the Kaiser still lived...
I have a laundry room at the back of the house, at the Tradesman's Entrance to Crawford Mansions. Its three windows face directly on to the back lane behind our houses... This is where visitors and dwellers have sole access and egress to their homes...
Usually, this presents no probs - I scuttle into said laundry room... (Question: Why do we sometimes call this a 'Utility Room' in the UK - It sounds as if it belongs to war-time contingencies? Scriptor, Moannie, Jinksy, FF - I'll bet you know the answer to that one - You clever tykes you!) ...regularly to extract clean undies and tops from the dry laundry, straight out of the tumble drier, or even directly from the clothes horse, and change my vestments there and then... Voila, a transformation!
No-one but my family ever sees me en deshabille, for to hide the previous very shabby windows, I had hung some dark lilac, densely patterned voile curtains from my previous home... To see anything out of them was something of a Mister Magoo experience, to be fair!
Now, I have reached new levels of potential public exposure, I will have to behave myself... comport myself in a more ladylike fash', mes amis, at least until I have fitted some functioning and pretty blinds! Tant pis, I shall live!
Anyhoo, back to the cliplette... There you will see beautiful baby meerkats... Everybody: Ahhhh!
A hard rock loving pensioner... Some financial gurus in Frankfurt dressing down at work to bring levity to some very serious business...
(I love Frankfurt, such a cosmopolitan city, a great music scene and the birthplace of beloved Goethe...
Hardly imagine he would recognise the place these days, talk about Sturm und Drang! Golly gosh!)
And there's more - There are some models at Fashion Week, struggling with their high heels on the catwalk...
Why do designers do that, do you think ? I understand that they obtain shoes for their all models (just like the clothes) in one size only, regardless of how big the models' tootsies are...
Another form of body fascism, and torture for women, in my opinion...
I've seen Sticktoria Beckham do the same, cramming her size 5's, or whatever they are in reality, into a teensy pair of stilettoes with a point the like of which was last seen on the nose of the Wicked Witch in the Wizard of Oz - You know, the one that popped her clogs under the house!
And then, she has to hang onto her children just to keep herself tottering upright... I know you've noticed, and it's not just me going all byotchy on your bum... (That's a translation from the American, by the way...)
See?
The clip is only around 4 minutes long, about the time you would need to boil yourself an egg for breakfast - Always, free range and organic, j'espere...
And here's something just as exciting as a boiled egg!
I'm going to tootle off myself now, before I get accused of not being nice... My bad; I protect my reputation for niceness like the gleaming jewel that it is...
Nice, in my opinion, is a very underrated quality in folk, and that gives me such sadness...
One last tale to regale... The staples were swiftly despatched yesterday by one of the nurses of the practice, in the same room of doom in which my incident first was triggered... I was reluctant to go near the offending doctor's couch, and so was straddling a glass trolley on castors (probably just as dodgy, but the nurse was wielding a special instrument to remove the staples, which I had given her, as I'd been carrying it in my handbag since leaving hospital where I was given it by the nurses there specifically for this purpose...
I had been introduced to the nurse, who was about to use the staple remover, by a trainee nurse who had asked whether she could sit in on the spectacle, so she could learn... I was feeling a little nervous at this point, and proclaimed that I had no probs with her sitting in whatsoever, but I'd rather someone with more experience actually remove the clips!
I felt bad about this, but I have allowed many a fledgling practitioner to practice on me in the past... (A very vivid story, which I shall never write, now springs to mind, involving me, pre-Grizz's arrival on the scene, agreeing to a nurse at the Family Planning Clinic in Inverness, when she asked whether a student could observe the procedure, and I then found meself in an interesting position, under a strong light, while a veritable coachload of medical students paraded through the room!!!)
So I am now 100% less metal content than I was on Friday morning, and I am beginning to think I might get through all this...
Alors, salut mes amis; A demain! Mwah!
Now, Marilyn - There was a real beauty... with so little of the hoo-hah and hullaballoo of these days...
37 comments:
Utility rooms are totally beyond the scope of my humble way of living, unfortunately, and war time memories are enough to make me banish the word 'utility'from my vocabulary for ever - never let it darken my lug holes ever again...
Apart from that, so glad you have sparkling windows for neighbours to ogle through. Have you though of selling tickets? x
It doesn't surprise me that you Euro's have another name for your laundry room... you have strange names for lots of stuff... like the water closet! That one makes me laugh.
I completely agree about the shoe thing! What a completely unnecessary torture. Sure they make your legs look great, but why go through all that pain just for vanity? I'm already 5'9 so I don't want or need more height, and my size 10 feet look ridiculous in stilettos. I do have 2 pairs of strappy heeled sandels for weddings and such, but that's it. Sticktoria can keep her silly shoes.
Yes, it is always a bit quiet here in the weekends.;)
And Mrs Beckham needs to be force-fed or Mr. Beckham will find another. I sure would; who wants to snuggle up with a skeleton?
Hope your weekend is good (despite all the house choirs).;)
Wait wait wait: I'm a vegetarian (of course), but you're telling me the chicken thing is OUT????
Hey big laugh at the cat and weasel photos... love it, as usual...
The shoe thing was news to me. It is wrong. Poor models, skinny, starving, and barely balanced ;0.
My philosophy is that if someone is dumb enough to look in my windows, they get what they deserve if they see me prancing around half-covered. But then I've also been known to go downstairs and let the dogs out wearing just a bath towel because I prefer to assume no one is looking. Sometimes this gets a chuckle out of the neighbors.
I don't know about the naming of the utility rooms - sorry but I am delighted you are staple-free. It doesn't hurt does it - if they have a light touch.
The windows sound great - we could do with some new ones and you've spurred me on to doing something about it.
Perhaps you can donate the staples to La Beckham. It seems she uses them quite a bit to obtain that wind-tunnel look.
jinksy: I must look it up, then! I don't mean it to sound grand - It's just a small room off the galley kitchen - It's also the entry to the back of my cottage, and there's a horrendous downstairs loo! As for selling tickets, I thought they'd done away with Freak Shows?! x
Jewels: I know, I know - Loos is what we call WCs mostly these days - As per the Mitford Sisters! You are tall and I am with you on comfort rather than torture for our hard-working tootsies! I also would not change places with Sticky!
Protege: I think what you are saying is so true, Z - It is as if her only skill now rests in being skinny, and it looks like she passed it on to Katie Holmes too - All very odd stuff!
Braja: You here again, darling?! I can commend choking rubber chickens - Purely for the stress relief! Or watching real chickens just chilling - They are such funny critters! x
The Things We Carried: I do tend to remember things incorrectly, but I can remember seeing it on TV once in a programme backstage at a Fashion Show - It seemed pretty strange to me.. x
blognut: True, BN, true! I have no exhibitionist tendencies, but guess my neighbours have seen me taking out the bin wearing my nightie much more than my OH has!! They shouldn't be looking, should they?! x If they don't like it, they can move!
French Fancy: I shall research it one day, defo! The nurse was very deft, and the procedure was absolutely fine - I was a little afraid of what it would be like, having never experienced it before, but again, the staff were wonderful! x
I am glad you feel spurred on - It is a huge upheaval, but it has made such a difference to the outlook of our very run-down cottage, even the neighbours have commented! x Now just the kitchen, the laundry room and downstairs loo, the wood burning stove in the living room, curtains, carpets and decorating, and wardrobes in our two bedrooms - The outside painted, and all fences replaced, and some floors tiled, et voila!!!
Chairman Bill: I should have thought of the recycling possibilities of the staples - It's not like me to miss a trick!! You are very funny, Sir!
I'm about to stuff a pizza in my gob!! to add another layer to my BFB my BIG FAT BUM!!
I usually make my own on Sat's but cant be arsed or bummed...no that doesn't sound right...scrap that!!
the waifs need feeding, I have a theory that they are doing what I do, I eat for comfort, for upset, for hunger, for the sensual pleasure it is for me (FAT-ish FRENCH FEMALE) and they don't eat for the same reason..so l think we should have empathy for them...
after going to see the Vagina monologues last night...I FEEL my sisterhood!!!(see post later)
I suspect we all prefer looking at a meerkat warmming his balls than one of Victoria Beckham who lives to impress us with her looks! Funny old world. :-)
Best wishes with the healing.
A ball warmer????? brilliant!!!!
haha
FFF: Darling, I always feel you as my sister on another coast!
I had pizza earlier too - So much for losing this post-baby weight, and he's only 17! He's out overnight at a friend's, having had his 2nd driving lesson today - He was doing 75 MPH on the motorway, until the instructor told him to slow down a bit - There is no hope for me, Saz!
Have a fab weekend, dahlink! xxx
Reasons: I think that is so cool - I love meerkats, rather than Sticky Vicky I must admit! Thank you for your good wishes - I walked for an hour today!
VKMom: I am glad I made the Comedy Queen chuckle - You have made my weekend! x
Agree about the weekends in the blogosphere. dead.dead.dead. The tumbleweed was apropos.
I'm a vegetarian, too- although not the healthiest eater as we well know :-O
Fantastic description of Victoria Beckham's stilettos- wherever do you come up with this??
Thanks for stoppin' by!
carma
Carma, it's true - I've never been as heavy, and cheese is my downfall, so it's just as well I can't buy cheeseballs here in the UK!
I have a confession, when my OH travels abroad for work, I watch anything I like on the TV sans his interruption, and I have a tendency to indulge in low-brow, switch-off your brain style progs about dog whistlers/paps/gossip/celebs and fashion - Hence my observations, I guess - I don't dislike VB, and would guess she is a great mum, but I do get tired of the media hoisting her up as an example to emulate...when it is somewhat surreal... She has a size 6 foot and is around 5'6" tall, but wears the teeniest shoes and her toes just don't fit into them... x
(I tooootaalllyyy took your advice and made curried lentil/rice/chickpea soup...and it was great! I now have about 239032942934 litres of it in my freezer for future meals. And all for the cost of £0 as I had everything in my cupboard for ages!) Love your blog! xx
Pochyemu: Glad you enjoyed it, and it saved some pennies for you - I am a fount of useless knowledge! Come back any time, darling, I really enjoy your bloglette too, and such a supportive friend of Belgian Waffling is always a friend here! And I'll know who to come to for help with relevant and cheeky work presentations! x
Such variety! What a magpie mind you have.
Ironically, I haven't had time to blog(much) all week, but here I am on Saturday night . . .
Those pictures of VB - especially the one with the short shorts and hair extensions - make me sad. What makes that woman so willing to suffer for "beauty?"
Let's toast (I've got a glass of red wine here) to the completion of our window projects. Now I just have to get rid of the dust . . .
So glad to hear that both you and the house are doing better!
Utility room investigation will have to wait! Desktop is dismantled while I decorate and I've just discovered I'm down to 10% on laptop battery ansd can't recall where the charger went in the room emptying. Help, I may soon be computerless! Aaaaarrggghh!
as usual, love the visuals and yes, its vewwy qwiet in here on the weekends...
I found my laptop lead!
"A laundry room (also called a utility room) is a room where clothes are washed. In a modern home, a laundry room would be equipped with an automatic washing machine and clothes dryer,and often a large basin, called a laundry tub, for hand-washing delicate articles of clothing such as sweaters, and an ironing board. A typical laundry room is located in the basement of older homes, but in many modern homes, the laundry room might be found on the main floor near the kitchen or upstairs near the bedrooms."
"A utility room is a room in a house, which is the descendant of the scullery. The utility room typically contains washing machine, tumble dryer, and other appliances which, in houses without such a room, would be in the kitchen or laundry."
"A Scullery is a [room] in a house used for domestic tasks, especially those not involving the handling of food. A scullery is a form of "back-up" kitchen and is usually located adjacent to the main kitchen, frequently to the rear of the house. Kitchen-related uses might include cleaning dishes and cooking utensils (or storing them), or for doing particularly messy kitchen work. A scullery may also be used for tasks unrelated to cooking, e.g. ironing or washing clothes. The term "scullery", in a modern domestic context, appears to be somewhat archaic, the room being more commonly referred to (at least in North America) as a utility room."
OK, are you any the wiser Did you really want to know that? Because I certainly am not!!! It looks as though you can stick a washing machine in a kitchen - in which case it remains a kitchen - or somewhere else in which case it becmes a laundry or a utility room or a scullery depending upon what you want to call it!
Not so quiet this weekend though, right Fhina? You have a lot going on again...of course you want to watch junk TV and rest...ouch staples! I like the term "scullery" it makes me think of Navy ships and lots of dishes piled up for some reason. Also, housework is a chore...so scullery suits the mood. Be well soon! <3
Kate: Bless you for coming over again, thankyou!
Lisa: I always seem to spend time reading blogs and catching up at weekends, so it's all good isn't it!
Scriptor: You are a devil for knowledge, Sir, thank you so much for saving me that research - It's interesting, isn't it, how there's hardly a difference between my laundry room, and what estate agents call them, a Utility Room - Odd and interesting at the same time, as Utility Room didn't make it over the pond with some of the language! Thank you once again, learned Scriptor Senex!
Cynthia: I hope this weekend finds you fair, darling? Scullery is cool, and my nanna had a pantry off her kitchen in a tiny miner's house - I always link sculleries with Scullery Maids! I hate housework, I must say - A terrible bind! x
Well done you...toi, moi et suburbia!! all contenders from Davids authorblog!!!YEAH!!
Sticktoria Beckham --funny!
I grew up in the Southwest of the U.S. and we always called our laundry room the utility room-- glad to be living among people who know what I mean.
Your tumbleweeds made me miss my home... just for a minute though, those things hurt when they hit you during a windstorm.
By the time I have read and digested everyone elses clever comments, most of mine have been used or I have forgotten the posts contents and have to go back and read it all again and it was full and fulsome so must go back again then I lose the post, comment box and plot and have to start all over.
So good on you for another POTD and with Sazzie too, or you are so sisters.
The word Utility was coined during the war years for items that were Utilitarian [what?] furniture bore the log as did items of clothing, I thnk it meant 'we are making these things because they are a necessity but the are of inferior quality and will last out the war and then fall apart.
Why house agents felt the need to call a laundry room the Utility room is beyond me, unless it is because there is usually a freezer chest in there, plus the kids bikes, cats poo palace et al. Hugs.
Dahlinks, please forgive me for not answering everyone directly - My computer lost its DSL connection for most of yesterday until just now so I have been frantic, frantic, frantic!
I was ready to picket the offices of the Internet Service Provider (ISP) - I was - if I'd been able to drive yet - Gah!
Bee - I hadn't realised you were renovating, renouvellating too! It is an upheaval, non?!
FFF: Salut, chere copine! We're back on David's hitlist, then - Just amazing, such a real pleasure and a wow!
imbeingheldhostage: So utility room did sneak over the pond - Incredible - I call our room that, and it just rings so odd in the mouth, really - fair Moannie's post is so interesting, together with the bold Scriptor... I recall we called some furniture - that cast-iron, bomb-proof, dark wood sort, as utility furniture - It's usually clanky and not at all elegant or refined - Imminently suiting the cat poo palace that mine used to be, indeed! x
Wow what a lot of info! Over from authorblog - congrats on POTD.
That cat in the last shot is not happy. Probably could do with the meerkat's heater...
Cath, bless you for coming on over from such a wonderful source as David's blog! I know what you mean about the cat, and maybe it is the cold he is objecting to, for he doesn't seem to be too troubled by the harness, does he?!
Fhina! I kinda behind here, in the nicest possible way! Glad you are now sans staples and the new neighbourhood watch!
Must dash, more to read!
Call then voile if you prefer, but they're still net curtains.
What is this British fascination with net curtains?
You have tested it and writing form your personal experience or you find some information online?
This is my first visit here, but I will be back soon, because I really like the way you are writing, it is so simple and honest
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