Shopping
Not a lot to report.
The roof on the Shiny New Car is leaking and we thought the Shiny New Roof (on house) was also leaking. After shoving bbd into the attic, we think it is the pointing (bricks) which apparently the parents were told to replace when they bought the house (i.e. 25+ years ago). *eyeroll*
We went "sale" shopping at Southwood X (not the real name, but real enough) and visited two shops. At Hobbycraft, I bought a lot of pick'n'mix beads. Top tip: fill in spaces between big beads with as many little beads that you can get in. Also, take sticky tape and a dad who can squeeze things until they fit and stay fitted.
Hopefully, some of them might work on the EQ Pressie which I need to do _right now_ and I am trying to inventory my embroidery beads, which is much trickier than it looks. Mill Hill beads don't carry any "industry standard" measurements which explains why I can't follow standardised instructions and have spent hours trying to match sizes between manufacturers.
The other shop was Markses and we did get that patronising/ insincere/ impolite notice saying "changing rooms are closed for your convenience during the busy sale period to prevent... overcrowding..." and saying that they were doing it for our mental health and well-being. It also advised us to take our purchases home and try them on there and do any returns via the website. There are not words for this, especially when you consider their biggest market are largely computer-phobic (they're "for young people") and yes, we all love logging on, filling forms, finding something to wrap the sodding thing in, waiting in the post office... staying in for the next delivery (if you weren't able to try out a new couch in store).
I decided to do my trying on in the middle of the shoe department. It is only (everyone else's) good fortune I was wearing a t-shirt over my bra. Otherwise, the universe would recreate the Carry On movies and Barbara Windsor's bra.
We did however get the lovely purple cardigan we never tracked down (and in the sale!) and replaced the horrible monster-sized fleece thing.
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Americans and Young People: The Carry On movies provide a worrying insight into British humour during the 1960s and 1970s. Some of them are dreadful (desperate last attempts) and some of them are quite good (mostly the historicals) and they are all guaranteed to feature: Sid James and his (famous) dirty laugh, Barbara and her ballistic bra and huge doses of camp and innuendo. The early ones are close to Ealing Comedies but the rest are in a Class all of their own. (possibly because nobody would share one with them)
Buzzy's favourite: Carry On Don't Lose Your Head, where the black fingernail (Sid) rescues "confused" french aristos from the guillotine, repeatedly trouncing Citizen Camembert (Kenneth Williams) and his hench-person Bidet, romancing countless saucy wenches (Barbara) and conspiring with self-interested former-wenches (Hattie Jacques). If that doesn't give you any idea about the type of humour, then you're a lost cause. The fight scene at the end (hell knows where they got that set) and the duel in the Fragrant Garden are my favourite bits.
The roof on the Shiny New Car is leaking and we thought the Shiny New Roof (on house) was also leaking. After shoving bbd into the attic, we think it is the pointing (bricks) which apparently the parents were told to replace when they bought the house (i.e. 25+ years ago). *eyeroll*
We went "sale" shopping at Southwood X (not the real name, but real enough) and visited two shops. At Hobbycraft, I bought a lot of pick'n'mix beads. Top tip: fill in spaces between big beads with as many little beads that you can get in. Also, take sticky tape and a dad who can squeeze things until they fit and stay fitted.
Hopefully, some of them might work on the EQ Pressie which I need to do _right now_ and I am trying to inventory my embroidery beads, which is much trickier than it looks. Mill Hill beads don't carry any "industry standard" measurements which explains why I can't follow standardised instructions and have spent hours trying to match sizes between manufacturers.
The other shop was Markses and we did get that patronising/ insincere/ impolite notice saying "changing rooms are closed for your convenience during the busy sale period to prevent... overcrowding..." and saying that they were doing it for our mental health and well-being. It also advised us to take our purchases home and try them on there and do any returns via the website. There are not words for this, especially when you consider their biggest market are largely computer-phobic (they're "for young people") and yes, we all love logging on, filling forms, finding something to wrap the sodding thing in, waiting in the post office... staying in for the next delivery (if you weren't able to try out a new couch in store).
I decided to do my trying on in the middle of the shoe department. It is only (everyone else's) good fortune I was wearing a t-shirt over my bra. Otherwise, the universe would recreate the Carry On movies and Barbara Windsor's bra.
We did however get the lovely purple cardigan we never tracked down (and in the sale!) and replaced the horrible monster-sized fleece thing.
---
Americans and Young People: The Carry On movies provide a worrying insight into British humour during the 1960s and 1970s. Some of them are dreadful (desperate last attempts) and some of them are quite good (mostly the historicals) and they are all guaranteed to feature: Sid James and his (famous) dirty laugh, Barbara and her ballistic bra and huge doses of camp and innuendo. The early ones are close to Ealing Comedies but the rest are in a Class all of their own. (possibly because nobody would share one with them)
Buzzy's favourite: Carry On Don't Lose Your Head, where the black fingernail (Sid) rescues "confused" french aristos from the guillotine, repeatedly trouncing Citizen Camembert (Kenneth Williams) and his hench-person Bidet, romancing countless saucy wenches (Barbara) and conspiring with self-interested former-wenches (Hattie Jacques). If that doesn't give you any idea about the type of humour, then you're a lost cause. The fight scene at the end (hell knows where they got that set) and the duel in the Fragrant Garden are my favourite bits.