Magic shoe sale

 By the time she had finished having coffee with Shirley, Pat felt she needed a drink!

"Oh dear, how that woman does go on.  She keeps saying she won't say another word then takes a deep breath, asks a token question about how I'm enjoying the new house and then is off again.  On and on she goes about her mother-in-law and how the woman is ruining her marriage by interfering.  I find it hard to be sympathetic when the solution seems so simple to me.  I know what I would do in her place, just tell the harridan where she gets off, but Shirley always has some excuse for not speaking out".

    "Heavens above, where am I?  That's what comes from not concentrating  Funny though,  all the times I've been into the Plaza I can't recall ever seeing an exit behind the greeting card stand.  Just assumed it was a shortcut and it is, but to where?  This street is quite unfamiliar, narrow and quiet - there are no cars nor are there any yellow lines,  so it would be a good parking spot, providing I can find my way back,  Well, while I'm here I might as well have a look round the buildings definitely remind me of somewhere." 

Pat found a shop window and looked inside.

    "Oh my, I haven't seen that kind of glass for years, not since I left the village, several of the panes look

 like they are made from bottles, or anyway the bottom of the bottle.  Quite Dickensian".  

She peered through a plain glass panel and there, in pride of place she saw a pair of shoes - but not just any shoes, these are "Dorothy's" shoes; red and sparkly, sort of clunky court shoe, just asking to be worn with  bobby socks.

    "What a hoot - and what a good idea, I wonder what else is inside the shop".

Pat had to look hard to find the door, it seemed almost to be part of the wall but as she grasped the brass doorknob she just knew there would be a bell to announce her entrance.  And there was, a lovely tinkling bell- no buzzer to rasp one's nerves.  The shop was dimly lit but she  could make out a counter with a large cash register and around the walls were shelves, all of them empty.  She gazed at the bare shelves in disbelief, was the shop on the point of closing down?

    She could just make out a curtain along the wall in the far corner, hiding what, she wondered?    And as if in answer to her thought, the curtain moved aside and a man appeared.  Not at all the sort of man she would have expected to be running a shoe shop, he looked more as though he worked outdoors; average height with a sun roughened face, large nose, heavy white eyebrows and a hair style that made her smile; no usual short back and sides - it was short top and sides and a pony tail at the back.

    "You like my shoes?, he said.

    "They are just wonderful", she said, "Are they for sale? and do you have only one pair?"

    "Yes to both questions,"

    "So it looks as it it's my lucky day, " she said, "Providing they fit me - and the price is right?"

    "Sure you don't want to think about if?  It might be difficult to change your mind once you have them on".

    "And the price is?" Pat asked, wondering whether this would stop her in her tracks; but no, the price quoted was reasonable, at the high end of her budget but nothing to stop her now but the fitting.

    "I feel a bit like Cinderella,"she said as she sat on the stool and put out her foot for him to slide on the sparkly, red, shoe.

    He smiled down at her as the shoe fitted perfectly  She hastily put on the second one - and could resist the temptation to click her heels together and chant, "There's no place like home".

    "Would you care to check in the mirror?", he asked.

 As Pat stood up, she felt the need to take a deep breath and somehow felt smaller and weighed down; she 

could feel herself frowning and her shoulders drooped, she knew she had big problems to solve and as she 

looked into the mirror: Shirley looked back.

The salesman smiled over her shoulder at her reflection, then placed a pair of sparkly red shoes into the window and murmured to Pat that she should come back when she had walked a mile in Shirley's shoes.......

     

    

    

Thorn in the Flesh

 I am making a stand against inappropriate bare flesh- so will start with the tourist who flaunted her droopy boobs at the roulette table.  Boobs are after all mammary glands, the purpose of which is to suckle ones offspring and enough people find the sight of a breastfeeding mother to be offensive; she didn't even have that reason  What was she thinking?

    Perhaps she was a high fashion follower and became enthused by watching anorexic models sashaying along the catwalk,  their necklines to their navels and thought she would look good in such an outfit.  She misjudged the effect.  The bony chested models hip sway their deadpan way above te heads of their audience and one has to be quick to catch a glimpse of a shy nipple.

    No doubt the nubile tourist presented more of a challenge to the concentration of other gamblers. Sadly we cannot judge - our photography has not reached the innovative heights of Hogwarts so we had to be content with a simple static pose.

    Second on  my list are trousers that are worn at half-mast.  Not the return of the pedal pushers but the should-be-long-but-do-not-quite-make-it  variety.  Are their wearers in mourning? Perhaps for that lost youth personified by the middle age spread that leaves their trousers hoveding around their anklebones.

    Once upon a time a glimpse of ankle was considered shocking, in public that is.  Of course the dominant males who made this decree did so wisely.  They were, after all, well aware of the effect of bare  flesh on their testosterone charged psyches.  Perhaps the appearance of so much flesh in today's fashion stems from the well documented lowering of the male's agility to reproduce.  Modern living has lowered the sperm count to dangerous levels it is said.  Dangerous, that is, for the future of the human race.

    However many young women are doing their bit to up the ante in the fight to save the popul`ation from extinction.  It is said that belly dancing has much subtlety in its execution, how sad that the same cannot be said the sight of bejewelled  belly buttons thrusting ft one over the top of precariously attached trousers.

    `So much flesh could be a tool to avert the obesity boom, seeing rolls of flesh when I am handed my cafe lunch puts me in danger of becoming reacquainted with  my breakfast meusli.

     And the ultimate arena in the fight against flesh and cleavage must be of the buttock variety.  Acceptable on the beach, cute on a baby, de rigueur  in the girlie magazines but never, oh please  never again in my favourite coffee shop.

 

    I am sure that the Health Department would have an implied, if not written, ruling against such a practice.  After all they require a doot between the loo and the lunchers; surely there should be a layer of cloth between the crack and the clients.

I'm a VIP!!

And right now, this is what my life feels like!!

Translation of the title, I'm a Vision Impaired Person !!

Thank goodness I learned to touch type, I just hope that I'm hitting the keys that I think I am because once they're typed the picture I see on the screen is  a bit out of sync!

The latest injection is being slow to correct the weirdness that developed over the past two months - it's a bit like looking at a very badly sewn piece of patchwork where none of the seams meet!

It's now the second day of Lockdown and I'm happily in my own little bungalow with Dvorak playing.  

Here's the view from my bathroom window, a favourite place to contemplate as I can lean on the windowsill which is above the heated towel rail, and I am such a chilly person!

I've moved the old wooden piece of "furniture" , it's a sort of trolley, to sit in the dip in the garden where there used to be a very big avocado tree.  Sadly the tree died and had to be removed.  I've also concocted my own gadget for the birds to have access to water and they're loving it.  Very high tech, I used an empty plastic container for one of my favourite frozen meals, shepherd's pie, put in some washed stones and filled with water.  I noticed some birds bathing in it so put another one out yesterday.  At the same time I pass on any left over food and a spoonful of bird seed.

Also my garden is now flooded with sunlight which the plants are loving; my neighbour on the north side suddenly decided to trim some plants, when asked I gave her the name of the company that removed my tree and the next thing I knew, the noise of saws was flooding the neighbourhood and lo and behold, not a tree or bush was left standing.

Including the old pohutakawa that over the years had been a joy and a bane; it attracted the tuis, shed blossoms and shaded the whole area. There's now a five foot treetrunk left beside the fence - which has one small shoot - time will tell if it manages to regenerate!

I'll leave you now with a photograph from Phil who has just heard he has a booking on the ferry returning tomorrow from a holiday touring the South Island - no doubt I'll be sharing more of his work with you.

Here's Phil's capture of Cape Farewell and my quotation for today is " Success is getting what you want; happiness is wanting what you get." Proverb

I'm tempted to ask if there's anyone out there! but no matter what, I'm enjoying talking to you again.  Take care,  and be safe.
June

 

A joy shared is a joy doubled!

I just love that curved line of foam left by the waves - somewhere along the Wairarapa coast - taken of course by Philip, who is loving his happy place after nearly one and a half years.

I looked at the web site of Capital Quilters this morning, and found they are still giving a link to this blog - oh dear - so I am inspired to post something to say thank you.

A friend on Facebook has put up a post, you know the sort of thing "so and so has challenged me to put up a book I recommend" - there's no way I can resist joining in - books have always been such a big part of my life, I can't remember when I couldn't read - how about you?  I used to read in bed to my sister, a couple of years older, and my brother, four years younger; sometimes with a torch under the covers in the mistaken belief that Mum wouldn't know!

Birthday presents were always books, and when I got a bit older my big brother - 11 years older, would take me on the bus into Chichester to
W.H.Smiths so I could exchange my book tokens - a task that took me hours!!

My first contribution on Facebook was "The five people you meet in heaven" by Mitch Albom - sad in a way but full of hope.  I scored it ten out of ten in my book diary.  I've kept one since 1970, least ways that's the earliest I can find now.

Remember the kumera in the mug? here's what it looks like now -

 Looks great, doesn't it?

I've had a big tidy up in the sewing room and now of course, can't find anything! well, just the little case with a see through top I thought I'd fill with fat quarters and take along to the next meeting, see if anyone will pay a modest price, and I can give the proceeds to the Foundation for Blind and Low Vision - what do you think?

I join a couple of friends most weeks for a chat and coffee, lately we've been going to Mitre10 in Petone which is on the flat and has lots of parking - they also have very tempting things to buy!

I thought I was buying a coleus plant, my late husband grew them in the glasshouse so there were always several round the house. 

I don't think this is one, but it just keeps growing!  I've taken cuttings for my friends which have produced roots so quickly. 

You know me, can't resist a spelling error - well, this was in the local supermarket and I'm sure the reference to the mis-print is about the price !

Or is it a new flower?

So it's time to go now for a late lunch, but leave you with another of Phil's amazing photographs, to mirror the lovely lines of the first one, and the question, "Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that's the stuff life is made of." Benjamin Franklin

Thanks for reading my blog.
June

I Think I've been here before...

What amazing colours!  Photograph courtesy of my son Phil, now a  resident in the Wairarapa for over a year - and while I'm mentioning time and dates, I was astonished to realise that it's been eight months since I last posted.  Time for the re-birth, perhaps?

It's been mainly various health issues that have been my reason for not posting more often, but hey, I'm fortunate, still above ground and managing to keep warm - I find layers work well.

Last week I attended my first Craft morning under the auspices of the Blind Foundation; my specialist eye doctor registered me with the association and they are just fantastic - not that I'm blind, maybe won't be, but definitely of lower vision than I was.  

My front garden looked just beautiful, check out all these plants -

I've enjoyed going to Capital Quilters Meetings, held on a Saturday afternoon in a local school hall means easy access and good parking - not to mention the coffee shop nearby where I can buy fruit cake, actual dried fruit in the cake - delicious!  

Recently a couple of quilts caught my eye, 

so much there to catch the eye of a child, and

I wish I had made notes because this fascinates me - I'll see if I can find out more and let you know.  Have you ever seen a design like this?

So much that is just awful seems to be happening all round the world, was it my generation that let things get to this state?  I'm not a millennial, was born just before the second world war; maybe we just left everything to the government without realising they were people like us and not the fount of all wisdom.  I find it quite odd that I'm once more doing fashionable things like mending, and re-using and taking my own shopping bags to the supermarket - heavens when my sons were small, there were no supermarkets locally.  I know, it's a different world...

Time for afternoon tea, the last piece of nutty bread baked by my granddaughters and a cup of herb tea.  I'll leave you with another of Phil's photographs, [not quite fifty shades of grey],

 

and the thought, "The artist finds a greater pleasure in painting than in having completed the picture." Seneca.

Here's to the next time,

June

 

Patience carries a lot of wait...

Glorious colours from the south Wairarapa coast; I love this area with the row of trees, such interesting shapes in silhouette, aren't they?

How do you like my pun in the title?  I'm living it right now; last Monday week, I moved awkwardly and pinged a muscle in my lower back.  Rest and time are the only cures, so I believe, and I'm finding it difficult.  The good side is that I'm sleeping very soundly, maybe helped by the painkillers, so it's a matter of gentle movements and patience
which has never been my strong suit,

It's a good opportunity to catch up on sedentary occupations, so knitting and watching TVNZ on demand is filling the bill.

I couldn't resist picking a few of these, some sort of wallflower, I think, with a variegated leaf, but so good to have all that colour on the one plant and with the oh so variable weather, we can do with cheering up.

Wellington Quilt Guild has just had an exhibition, right in the city on the wharf at the Academy of Fine Arts - which I think is a beautiful venue, but then as a Wellingtonian and Life Member, I would!

Also as a Life Member I have the honour of awarding a prize, and it's completely up to me, I don't have to mark it or justify my choice.  To me, scrap quilts are the ultimate joy and hand quilting - though I do realise less and less quilters are doing so. 

This quilt just ticked all the boxes for me :-

Scrap definitely, it had such appeal and warmth that I wanted to wrap myself in it!  And such a surprise as the quilts were all anonymous, it was made by my fellow Life Member, Jane Dagger.

Another quilt I want to share is one that contains quite a bit of my fabric!  Made by a friend with whom I enjoy coffee and chat once a week, most weeks, in the colour wash style -

 

Bother, I can't remember what she called it, made by Jann Pearce that I do know! 

This is "Waste and Renewal III" by Fyvie Murray, our talented President - I just love those colours; somehow it reminds me of Art Deco...

After we'd picked our winners, a friend and I went for a short walk along the wharf to One Red Dog for coffee and a snack;  we chose potato skins, very tasty - though next time I'll ask them to put the dressings on the side; one was too spicy for me.

Time to watch "The Chase" and enjoy being able to answer a few questions, it also reminds me that its been a long while since I watched British TV, the celebrities are unknown to me!

So I'll say cheerio, and leave you with another of Phil's photographs,

great sillhouette - and I believe she was caught by a wave soon after!
And the thought that "The world is round so that friendship may encircle it." Chardin.

Thanks for reading my blog,
June

Just Do it!! Advice to myself...

How's this for a view from your window?  No wonder Phil loves being in South Wairarapa.

Had a few hiccups recently with my internet access and computer, do hope it's been sorted; it was a long frustrating story and I've ended up with not just one, but two desktop computers.  The old one "died" and then came back to life with the techie was installing the new one and I've now decided to change my supplier which should save me quite a lot of money. Fingers crossed...

There's lots going on in the local quilting world, great meeting of Capital Quilters on Saturday when we held a competition; several teams had been given a bag of fabric from which they had to make a quilt top.  They could pre-cut but no sewing until the meeting started and at least one piece of each fabric had to be used.     

http://capitalquilters.blogspot.com/  is the website, I'm sure they'll be posting photos of the amazing tops that were made - I was too busy rushing around gossiping with friends I hadn't seen for months.

This caught my eye from the crazy mom blog, bright cheerful colours and strings - I love that the strings are actually itsy pieces - and who doesn't have a lot of those.

I'm enjoying TVNZ on demand - re-discovering old programmes and seeing if I do still like them or have my tastes changed.  ER is standing the test of time; it was made in the mid-nineties when HIV was very much to the fore of hospital issues. Did you use to watch it?

Wellington Guild's exhibition opens later this week, as a Life Member I get to chose a quilt for my award which is always a thrill, and funnily enough not difficult; usually one jumps out at me when I walk around. 

 

A glorious sunset at the 'ponds' near Ngawi and the thought, "Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony." Mahatma Gandhi

 Thanks for reading my blog.

June