Beach. Tippi Hedren. Treats.

Went to the beach. My 'do doesn't look like this anymore because I've had it cut. Love it how the sand is cold in winter.
Went to an Italian food festival.

Reminisced about Lady Thatcher when her Asprey bag was auctioned for charity.

Remember that interview when George Negus said that a lot of people didn't like her and she replied "Who are these people? Give me their names" So funny. Here she is wearing a power suit and tripping the light fantastic with her friend Ronald in the 80s

Embraced Navy.

Actioned a Kate Middleton hair flip

wore some Big Apple Red

Had a Tippi Hedren/Hitchcock Moment. Look at all these Birds:

This was a very confident swan. I saw Tippi in real life once at a screening of The Birds that I went to with my friend N in 2001. She spoke a lot about her work with Tigers and warned us not to have them as pets if we lived in the suburbs.

Valued member of the family (up there with Sleep Sheep) from my friend J. It sings and has flashing lights and says "weeee" The baby loves it 11/10

Linda in Chile sent me South American Vogue. In Spanish. So exciting. Reminds me of the time that Buphee sent me Spanish Hola!

Threw on this Top Shop coat that I bought in 2003 from the concession in Selfridges in London

who knew I'd still be wearing it 8 years on?

Been baking things with eggplant and bechamel

baked a hummingbird cake (pineapple, coconut, banana)

with cream cheese icing ( The Queen of Icing in my opinion)

and pancakes are always soothing in winter.

Lady Mary is annoying me on Downton Abbey. She'd better watch it or one of her sisters will see she gets her Comeuppance.

xxxx

Why Do You Cook? And Live Trade Update

I love love love to cook, it's My Thing, right up there with gardening and reading and clothes and travel. I've been doing it since I could action patty cakes on my own. By the way, has anyone else noticed that quince were very thin on the ground this year? How am I meant to action quince tarts?
I love the creativity of cooking. And I love to feed people. Everyone knows Food is Love.

I also find all that mindless chopping and stirring very soothing and calming. So why do you cook? Or if you don't why not? Do your kids know how to cook? I can't wait to teach my son how to. I am always amazed by kids of say 9 and over who can't action a basic recipe.So do you love cooking? Tell me Everything.

EDITED TO ADD- I turned on the news today to hear that Julia Gillard has temporarily suspended live trade to Indonesia! Hooray for People Power. But I am concerned about the cattle already at the docks waiting to be shipped, and no one wants to see people in the cattle industry lose their jobs either. But it's a start. I'd like to think that the email campaign and public outcry had something to do with this.

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Stuff.

I ordered my Missoni bugaboo hood whatsy and the blanket. I love it and can't wait for it to arrive. I ordered mine from Bubs Baby shop. They're only getting a few so if you want to jump on the Missoni bandwagon, you'd better Run Don't Walk.
The blanket colours are excellent.


Here's a soothing Zsa Zsa image. She was so glamorous.

Malene Birger doesn't just design Superior frocks, she says Smart Stuff like not being able to relax when surrounded by Squalor. Me too Malene! I can't think properly when surrounded by mess and disorder, so I've been having a general tidy to distract myself from all the bad stuff happening in the world like the Live cattle trade to Indonesia and the sad news that the policeman shot of the coast died and the depressing fact that 2 more Australian soldiers have been killed in Afganistan.

Actioning some mindless domestic minutiae can be calming during life's trying times I think. Meanwhile Willow tells me that Carla Bruni's having a baby (is it twins?). Carla has very nice hair.

Blogger is letting me down emotionally and physically and will not let me post comments on other blogs Dammit. I wanted to comment on A Farmer's Wife Blog, because her daughter ("Farm Girl") wants to be me and is Hardcore Channeling Niece FF!

Because I always bake when directed to do so by The Universe, I've got a cheesecake in the oven. Here's one I made before so you'll have a visual. I feel the sour cream topping's essential don't you?

Nothing else to report. Except you might want to sign this petition. It's about banning Live Trade. Apparently New Zealand already has. They gave women the vote pretty fast too. Very progressive those Kiwis.

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Zsa Zsa is on her Last Legs

I don't know about the rest of you but I am worried sick about Old Zsa Zsa Gabor. She's slipped into a coma and apparently is fading fast.
First Liz Taylor now Zsa Zsa -who's next? Interestingly they both married into the Hilton clan. My own Hungarian tells me that Zsa Zsa is not a real Hungarian name and is just a made up nick name. She was certainly gorgeous. Look:

Meanwhile I've been thinking about baking one of these

and trying to remember exactly what ingredients I used to whip up this Carbolicious-forgive-me-Dr-Atkins-I'm-eatin-pasta-arrangement. There may have been smoked salmon. There was probably cream.

And can I just say that since I now wear Play Clothes day in Day Out that I really miss my Coalface outfits? Never mind though, I'll be back there with Work Guns Blazing in no time at all (Not literally though. Naturally I'd never take a weapon to the Coalface. In case you had no sense of humour and read this blog super seriously and didn't realise is was in fact a Turn Of Phrase)

And can I just ask something? Why does everything taste better swathed in bechamel? Is it the butter? Is it the cheese? is it a delicious combination of the two?

Are you wondering what Maria Shriver's up to and when the last episode of Oprah will air in Australia? Me too. Poor Maria. It seems she's been a victim of the Double Double Cross (which is like a normal Double Cross but so much more confusing and worse). I'll always remember the episode of Oprah where she said she was her own woman and hadn't been bred to look the other way when it came to philandering.

Old School FF

This is a snap of my paw with my favourite polish that is super slow to chip, OPI's La Pazitively Hot. It works well in summer or winter and matches nicely with everything. If you've been reading this blog for a while, you already know my views on (Crosses Self) chipped polish (The Devil's Work). But if it happens, Don't Panic! Get your mitts on this and take it off!
I love coral and orange shades and I am a big fan of the Old School Revlons- cherries in the snow, love that red, and revlon red.
But I'm loyal to OPI. I live on the edge and don't use a base or top coat but you should Follow Your Own Conscience in that regard.

The enemy of flawless polish is Gardening. So use gloves.

Gardening is one of the single best things you can ever do. Really. I am not kidding. Get out and do some now. It teaches you patience, it makes your yard look lovely and you can't eat while you do it. It is also incredibly soothing in times of stress and you action your Very Best Thinking while pruning. What's not to love? Gardeners are also universally the nicest and most generous souls. Don't ask me why. They just are.

I garden in what can only be described as Hardcore Old Testament Conditions and fight Evil Varmints on every front, but it's still worth it.

My close friend once told me that during a very sad time in her life, her garden saved her.

I don't know whether the FF Garden's ever saved me, but I love her beyond measure.

Plus, you'll always have free flowers and foliage and herbs for your home. These are expensive times. This level of saving counts.

As you know, The Universe Directs Me to Bake with alarming regularity. I do as I'm told and you should too.

Cooking and Baking are incredibly soothing and comforting. All that stirring and mixing can be meditative and very helpful during Life's Challenging Times.

And the house will smell lovely while things bake away in the oven

and you and your neighbours will never go hungry

And don't be scared if you're following a calorie controlled diet- everyone knows food is love- get your friends and family round and feed them up. Or take your baked goods to the Coalface like I used to.

and don't be afraid of yeast cookery! Just get yourself a dough hook attachment, feel the fear, ignore it and get mixing!

Ok now let's talk Thank You notes. They take moments to write and stamps are cheap. People love to receive them and hardly ever do. If some one has taken the time to buy me a gift, wrap it and tie some ribbon on it, I think the least I can do is pop a note in the post. Thank you notes however, like Nicole Kidman can polarise people.

Meanwhile today I popped into Black and Spiro to see old Anna and action some recon for the sale. I got this bird there last year. We've been very happy. I wonder what I'll get on Saturday?

It's cocktail hour here, so cheerio.

xxxxxx