April Showers

After a warm and sunny March and a sultry Easter in Florida, it has rained everyday so far in April.  The kids are bouncing off the walls and even without any duties in the garden, I haven't got any sewing done.

Welly boots at the front door.

I found out there are foreign banking tax forms that I am responsible for that I never knew about, so I am busy digging out years and years of bank statements.  Of course I have foreign bank accounts!  I live in the UK, I have to pay the household bills, etc.  So, no sewing until I have sent all my forms to the US Treasury.  Don't think I could enjoy sewing much with this hanging over my head anyway!  When you see me post a new outfit on the blog, you'll know I got everything put in order and mailed off.

Meanwhile, do you find this woman unattractive?

Meet the Romans, BBC 2.

Her name is Mary Beard, she is 58 years old, a mother and a Classics professor at Cambridge University. She is presenting a fun show on BBC2 about the day to day lives of the Romans.  There has been lots of chat in the newspapers about how ugly she is!?  Her supporters concede that even though she is unattractive, we should consider how worthy she is and not be superficial.  Wow, with friends like that...

IMHO she looks great!  She stayed trim through menopause, her hair is thick and her skin glows.  She moves like a young person, and her eyes crinkle and dance when she smiles.  What more do people want? What on Earth do they expect?  What is wrong with people?  Personally, if I look this good in 18 years time, I will be delighted.  If the people writing snarky, condescending editorials in the broadsheets look this good at her age, they will be very lucky indeed!

Hurry!

Just a quick heads up.  The new Vogue patterns are out and the sale prices are still applied.  Don't know how long this will last!

V1304

Goodies from Hawaii!

I won Shannon from MushyWear's giveaway!  She made a beautiful, cloth shoulder bag, and then gave it away, to me!  I won it while I was at my mom's house in Florida and I received the bag while on vacation visiting.  It came just in time to take to Disney World.  I looked much chicer poolside than I normally do!

Here is an up-close of the front pocket and that gorgeous electric blue fabric.

My mom and husband both gasped when I pulled the bag out of the packing envelope.  The blue is really eye catching.  Energizing, but cool and restful at the same time.  My mom is an easy audience to please my husband not so much so.  Andrew is a reserved Englishman who generally doesn't say much.  He mentioned how attractive this bag was on three separate occasions.  So, I think the bag definitely has all-round appeal.

Shannon's MushyWear logo.  Cute!

When I opened Shannon's package there was not only the bag but a sweet little Maui pin.  (It's tiny and I couldn't get a decent picture of it.)  It's kind of neat to make a solid physical connection with someone who is your virtual friend.

Here is the shape of the whole bag.

If you are feeling a little envious, you can buy your own!  Shannon has an Etsy shop with lots of pretty island inspired shoulder bags.

Home again, Home again!

We are back from holiday in Florida visiting my mom.  We had a wonderful time, but now I am back to a pile of bills, letters to answer, piles of laundry, etc!

I thought I would take a quick break to catch up on some of the blogging I missed while I was gone.  I've hardly scratched the surface, and it is already time to hang out some more laundry and get dinner going!

My girls and I before dinner with Cinderella.
(Imagine the indignity of being 40 years old, trotting around a theme park for 10 hours with two small children and then having the honour of standing next to a 22 year old girl after she has spent an hour in make up so that you can all have your picture taken.  Nice.)
Me wearing Butterick 5598.  Very comfortable in the Florida heat.  I am just noticing that the buttons aren't level, urgh!

Sunrise on the beach.  One benefit of being jet-lagged is being up for sunrise over the ocean.  I prefer the Gulf Coast, but we just didn't want to spend so much time driving around in the car when the visit with my Mom was so short.

The Kingsley plantation near Jacksonville, Florida.  These are slave cabins.  My husband and I are the kind of parents who will take our children to DisneyWorld and let them OD on princesses.  But we are also the kind of parents who will slip in a little education, even if the kids are young.  

My husband and I almost never get a picture together, so here is a gratuitous shot, just for fun!