We interrupt this programme......

......to bring you a report from the marvellously coiffed and uncomfortably-clad 1950s.

Like a lot of people I 'heart' the fifties - however although I would have loved to have visited, I wouldn't have wanted to live there. I've long been a fan of fifties design, from the tasteful textiles of Lucienne Day to the more lurid pin-up girl style which seems so much a la mode at the moment. 

Da na!  Breathe in...

 

On Saturday I went to a fabulous vintage-style birthday party - suffice to say I will never drink champagne out of anything but exquisite bone china cups and saucers again.  Apart from the beautiful food and the usual raucous laughter you usually get when a lot of girls get together, the highlight was having our hair and makeup done.  It looked great, but it wasn't half a lot of hard work, even just sitting there and having it done was exhausting - how the ladies of the time managed to keep it up I just don't know. 

The view I never got to see

These came out of my hair - all 28 of them!

 

Already starting to fall apart at the seams

And then there's the clothes and shoes.  I'm lucky enough to own a Vivienne of Holloway dress which my friend Andy won in a raffle at the Wet Spot Burlesque night in Leeds (where, incidentally, we have seen the superlatively gorgeous Anna Fur Laxis on several occasions - just dropping that in there) - I always knew it was a good move to have male friends....anywayyyy.....it's a lovely thing, and it does wonders for the figure, but it's not what you'd call comfortable, and that's without a girdle underneath.  I was crippled, aching all over and thought my poor old modern-day knees and feet would never recover. 

It got me thinking about how the shoes, clothes hair and make-up make you act and carry yourself, and whether women in those times looked as good as we imagine they did. I bet they would have killed for our conditioner, hairspray and mineral foundation, not to mention a pair of trackie bottoms and some trainers.  But I suppose there's nothing wrong with upping the standards a bit occasionally. Just having lippie on makes me speak a bit differently don't you know.

To continue the fifties theme, here are the covers of some great Sexton Blake publications I found in a second hand bookshop in Otley today.  I only went to find war and transport books for the medium pickle but there was a whole suitcase of these beauties.  Of course I instantly went for the double-entendres but it was a difficult choice. 

 

Catch ya later, daddy-o xxxxx

As a pessimist you will never be disappointed....

Hooray, hurrah and also huzzah!  I passed my Grade 1 Piano exam, and here is the proof.  What a relief.. I know it was hardly life and death but pride was at stake here - I haven't failed an exam since O Level Chemistry and I've taken a few.

Great excitement here at inkylinky Towers as I have just applied for my hallmarking makers mark - Antiques Roadshow here we come.  

AND I've ordered a barrel polisher which will hopefully make my life easier and my jewellery shinier without having to endure the sound of the dentists drill (which I currently use to polish) for hours on end.  I remember a friend of my Mum's used to have a stone barrel polisher in her toilet and it used to scare me to death - let's hope I'm not affected by traumatic childhood memories.

Well, The Great Workroom Tidy Up is complete.  As everyone knows, it will be the work of moments to destroy all the good work, but hopefully there is A Place for Everything, even if Everything is not in its Place all the time.

 

Hooray for Ikea

I now have a clear view of the window to stare wistfully out at the rain through

Work in Progress - My Personal Catchphrase

Oh well, mini-pickle has just told me he's still breakfast hungry at 12.00 so better go and feed the poor mite (he's only had a giant banana and 3 biscuits since breakfast). 

Tune in Next Time for Adventures in Tumbling.