Tuesday 28 April 2015

Parrots, Pineapples & Cheshire Cat


Check out that dust


Seriously, that's shameful

Wipe it over, there we go



I have been dying to take some outfit shots for ages but despite now possessing a decent camera, a tripod and a wireless clicky thing I just never get around to it.  Location is the main problem.  My house is always a tip, my back yard is too small and full of bikes and toys and as much as I love the Victorian brick of the back alley, it's usually obscured by wheelie bins, not to mention nosy neighbours.  Trips out anywhere are mostly child orientated and don't lend themselves to posing all moody in front of some graffiti.  Not to mention the ever elusive time.

Last week my new pineapple and parrot dress arrived and I resolved to capture it's debut.  Tripod etc too fiddly and time consuming so mirror selfies it was.  I hope you like the last one in particular, taken from the glamour of a charity shop changing room.  I get very excited when I see dresses in novelty prints.  Florals are all well and good and nobody likes a good ditsy number more than me, but seriously, how many different variations of floral can you get?  Shake things up a little.  Throw some strawberries or hearts or wildlife in there will ya!  I also wanted to show off my new rainbow shoes.  Bought them in the Asos sale ages ago but have only just worn them.

I have so many things I've bought and never worn.  I'm like a magpie.  I grab pretty things and store them away.

Dress : H by Henry Holland at Debenhams
Shoes : YRU via Asos
Cardi : Supermarket - buttons replaced by me
Beads : charity shop
Bracelets & bands : all over the place

xxx





Thursday 23 April 2015

The art of living



Spot the toddler


My living room on a typical day.  Me in scruffy ill fitting jeans, an old tunic dress, a comfy cardi and greasy hair.  Toys scattered about the floor.  I don't mind.  My 'typical days' are starting to become bearable.  The cloud seems to be lifting.  I am starting to enjoy some of the little things again and am able to overlook others.  Cuddles and kisses from my baby are like oxygen.  The sun has also made a most timely welcome back.  I describe myself as cautiously optimistic.  I am also well and truly medicated.  I finally seem to have found the right combination and the proper "therapeutic dose" of each.  I know that's not a road for everybody but I have two young children and it's the most responsible thing I can do for them as well as for myself. 

So what have I been up to lately?

Reading : Edgar Allen Poe, time wasting internet fluff (lack of concentration)

Listening : Joni Mitchell, Kate Rusby, The Kinks, 

Watching : Better Call Saul, Jam & Jerusalem, old French & Saunders sketches on Youtube

Wearing : Lots of black due to a temporary aversion to bright colours.

Consuming : Yes lots of that.  Buying lots.  It's a kind of obsessive compulsive thing which afflicts me at darker times of my life.  Also gobbling up Mars Bars like free hor d'oeuvres. 

Obsessing about : So so many things but mainly about Jennifer Saunders and people from my childhood dying too soon. 

Looking forward to : Berlin baby!

I'd like to thank Bianca for this idea that I have blatantly stolen lovingly emulated.

I've also been pinning like a maniac.  I was never really that into things like Instagram and Pinterest which always seemed to me to be faddish and a bit shallow.  I did use Pinterest as a moodboard for home decor ideas and the like but never followed or was followed by anyone.  Didn't see the point.  However, in the last few weeks, the obsessive compulsive tick has gone into overdrive and I am like a woman possessed.  Every little whim and fancy is googled and pinned within minutes.  I go from thought to board in record time.  I have literally gone from 11 boards to 43 in a fortnight.  Maybe it's just a reflection of how busy it has been inside my head.  Anyone would think I have too much free time on my hands or something but thats the catch with this internet thingy.  It has been subtly draining away my time from other things I should be doing. Pinterest is a time thief but it's oh so compelling.  Check out the little button in the sidebar if you want a glimpse into my psyche.

xx



Sunday 12 April 2015

Garden Festival



Here's me standing by some rocks 


A beautiful spring day and a lesuirely midweek stroll around the newly re-opened Garden Festival site.  All very minimalistic, neatly manicured lawns, water features and rockeries.  Lots of windy pathways, bridges and places for kids to climb.  Lots of people just relaxing on the grass and kids running around with ice creams.  A great little place.  Not always thus...

Liverpool's Garden Festival 1984.  The brainchild of then Environment Secretary Michael Heseltime, in the face of his government's unofficial policy, to inject some investment and pride back into the city of Liverpool following long years of "managed decline" which led up to the infamous Toxteth Riots of 1981.  My welcome into the world! 

Built on specially landscaped dockland, in it's glory days it was home to sixty different gardens, a massive dome-like exhibition hall and lots of children's adventure playground, all of which attracted millions of visitors.  It even had a Blue Peter Ship and a massive Yellow Submarine which I think is still knocking about the city somewhere, along with the obligatory John Lennon statue.

I have one very vague childhood memory of visiting here one day with my mum, my friends and their mums.  It was packed to the rafters, very sunny, insanely hot, sticky and gaudy; I'm afriad my poor little brain fritzed out.  I never went back... until today.


Glory days 


By the early 90's the bubble had burst and the site had been sold on.  The festival hall briefly became 'Pleasure Island', a massive indoor theme park.  After that closed in 1996 the entire site fell into disrepair




Part of me really wishes I'd thought to visit during the wilderness years and been able to explore the debris scattered throughout the wasteland.  But I'm pleased that what some might have written off as a flash in the pan vision of utopia has ultimately had a happy ending.

Oh and I wore clothes - but nothing very exciting :D

xxx


Vintage pics found here here, here and here

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