Saturday Six #4

Hello, my dear reader.  Happy Saturday to you!

Yes, it's Saturday and, rather weirdly for inconsistent old me, this means you get my fourth Six.

Oh my, have I truly made it all the way to #4?!!!  Four was my aspiration and I've achieved it.  Can I get to six Sixes ... ?  That would be neat.


#1.  The benefits of Saturday Six

I think I've got to #4 because this happens to be a good vehicle for bits and bobs.  I often used to write little bitty blogs which never got to see the light of day.  And hey, I can now bundle them up into a snappy package called a Saturday Six!
Does this format work for you, dearest reader?

#2.  The written word.

Receiving kind words touches deep into our souls and when it's received out of the blue and in writing, then it really hits that spot.

This week, out of the blue, we received a pretty card of our little Sussex town from a UK cousin and her husband.  Inside were pictures of their garden where we have spent happy times dining (and perhaps drinking too?!), chatting through the day and into the dark of the evening.

(I strewed a few dying peony petals, hopefully incentivising TP to buy me a replacement bunch!)

 My cousin and her hubby wrote that they missed us and how they were looking forward to welcoming us into their home again.
#iwastouched.

Also this week, when I was getting het up in our Sibs messaging group about struggling to find a parking space in town because of cruise liner passenger transporation clogging things up, I received this:

"Let it go, you'll only get bitter and rage on your blog - embrace the liners and you will find inner peace and constant zen."

It was written humorously but it brought my rant totally into perspective and I lol-ingly laughed at myself!  Thanks Bro.  And it's done the trick - no rage here today!

Written words touch us deeply, so why not write a note, an email, a card, a letter, when you randomly think  nice thoughts about someone, when you suddenly feel inspired to reach out to a loved one?  #spreadtheloveinwords.

#3. Poldark

In my previous Six I told you that we were "getting a man in" to do the garden.

I posted a pic of Poldark.

Well "be careful what you wish for" because it turns out Poldarks are like buses,  you wait for ages for one and then two turn up at the same time!

Of course, I had to tell them about my Poldark post when asking their permission to post this pic and one of them told me that he actually gets told he looks like Poldark!

Photo Bonus #1.  I was reminded of the crack in the camera lens when it appeared covering Poldark No 1's face.  I decided to address the cracked lens the following day.  Wearing the pineapple outfit below, we went into town ("it's gonna be expensive" said the camera shop guy).  It was a 2 cruise ship day and we struggled to park, which caused Bro to give me his words of wisdom above.
From cracked lens to zen.


Anyway, back to Poldark (oh how I digress!) - the guys have worked so hard and without pause, amazing stuff  has been done in a couple of days and the garden has been totally blitzed.  I'll share their work with you sometime soon.


#4.  The Yellow Cardi Saga.

Last year I made occasional references to a missing cardi.  It was a useful piece in my summer wardrobe and I mourned its absence.
It didn't turn up for duty again during this year's seasonal switch (SEE HERE), so I bit the bullet and bought another, which was similar but not quite the lemony shade that I'd loved. 

When I bought it I told TP that of course the MIA cardi will now turn up.  And it did.  When hunting for specific old bright blue jacket this week, I found the AWOL item in the same bag.

Turns out that yellow cardis are like buses too. 

To paraphrase Oscar "to have one yellow cardi is fortunate; to have two is careless".


#5.  Deferred.

Well, this one was going to be about the film I saw last weekend, but that bit got a bit too long for this bits n bobs vehicle and it clearly was a post on its own, so you'll get that tomorrow as a "bonus feature".  Hope you do pop back tomorrow to #readallaboutit!

#6.  What I wore.

Well, seems it's a variation on a chinos and cardi theme this week, though white jeans and shorts have burst in on sunnier days.

Pineapple top, chinos and summer weight cardi (£5 rail some years ago), all M&S. Clarks metallic toe flatties.

Berry top (Next),  chinos and snakeprint flatties from M&S,  cardi from The White Company.

 Photo bonus #2:  In editing the first outfit's pics, I spotted that the mirror I limed some years ago now clashes with the aged oak of the Lebus roll-top desk.  That's yet another project now added to my never-ending 2018 To Do List.  (Hmmnn, perhaps extra work's not really a bonus ...?)

I'm off for a lovely meal on the cliffs this evening.  The forecast is looking a bit iffy.  Friday's weather would have been perfect for this setting, rather than the thunderstorms predicted slap bang (quite literally!) around teatime.  Oh, what to wear in a thunderstorm?  Not an umbrella, perhaps?!

A la perchoine.

I've got a # button and I'm not afraid to use it!



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COMING SOON AT A SCREEN NEAR YOU!

A Book Club

A Vintage Collab
A Style Steal

An espadrille.

Saturday Six #3

Well my dearies, I hope you've been having a smashing weekend so far.  I've experienced a bit of Saturday Slippage.  The sun was shining yesterday morning and quite honestly I chose it  over the laptop - yup, the sun blew my Saturday post clean out of the water.  So my Saturday Six becomes a Sunday Six. Oops.  That's blown my consistency out of the water too!

#1.  Golf

TP got back on the golf course. 

The Crazy Golf course !

But seriously though, he's played a few rounds of proper golf now and is feeling more like "normal".


#2.  Getting a man in.

There are times when I just have to swallow my pride and get help.
The garden has had little attention this year.  Constant rain, then TP's hospitalisation and convalescing has resulted in the back garden looking like it's owned by Miss Haversham.  We keep the front reasonably tidy, of course, and we've done some replanting there - must keep up appearances eh!  But the back of the house, well, I can't even bring myself to show a shaming before shot  Maybe one day ..
So we swallowed our pride and the gardener arrives tomorrow. 

In the UK we call this type of help "getting a man in". 

So we're getting a man in tomorrow.


These days we accept that there will be times when circumstances beyond our control result in our getting in help when needed. Or that physically we aren't up to it any more, like climbing up a ladder and painting the stairwell.  Or that quite simply we've got other things we'd prefer to do with our time.  And I'm comfortable with all of that.

Tomorrow, I'll just pour myself a coffee, settle myself comfortably in a conservatory armchair and just watch the entertainment.  Just watch Poldark do his stuff.  Gardening, Pout-style.


Do you find yourself getting in help these days, for things that you just would have easily got on with ten years ago?

#3.  Bertie

Oh life is certainly a rollercoaster with Bertie.
We hit a low point midweek.  Bertie hadn't eaten anything for a few days and he was quiet and lethargic.  I'd run out of ideas to tempt him to start eating.  Wednesday evening I resolved to take him back to the vet the next day.

Then Thursday morning he sprang on the bed at 5.30am, his normal chatty, demonstrative and noisy self, and downstairs we were greeted with empty bowls licked totally clean!

He's still eating fussily but he's eating again and is his normal self ... annoyingly so at 5 30am!

#4.  Cleansing, facial.

For years I've been using this

And this.

See my LAZY GIRL'S GUIDE TO CLEANSING. HERE

Recently my head was turned by the new guy in town,  micellar water, a cheaper and quicker solution. 

It's designed for removal of face and eye make up.

Clever product, thought I, time to walk away from my more expensive suite of cleansing products.

After a few days of using the new 2-in-1 cleanser, I discovered that I awoke to panda eyes and dry skin next morning, instead of the clean under-eyes and dewy soft skin I get from the Clarins cleansers.
I expect in the cleansing world micella is a sort of sofa-bed ... not the best sofa you've ever sat on, not the best bed you've ever slept in.  But it does the job.

So, turns out Clarins and I were only on a break.  We're back together and my eyes are not going to rove again.

Have you tried micellar water?  How's it working for you? It's probably just me it doesn't work for.

#5.  Cleansing, house.

I'm on a roll with house gadgets.

I'm loving life with my cordless vacuum and steam floor cleaner.  But I don't want to rest on my laurels.

I now am on the hunt for a wood floor polisher.  So I'm calling out to you lovely readers.

Have you tried this Ewbanks polisher?
 Can you recommend a good polisher?

#6.  Salmon Pink.

I had to run around doing various bits and bobs in town on Thursday.

I perked up a simple cotton jumper with what I am now calling my Corfu jewellery.  I don't think I've worn them since Corfu, 2002 and now reunited, I'm loving them to bits.  #2nd Loved, By Me Again.

The day was a little overcast so I went for bright comfort.

  I positioned myself next to one of our ceanothus bushes.  The flowers are fading fast as you can see from the fallen petals strewn around the base.

The intense blue of these bushes brings me such joy.  We planted this one in its infancy two years ago, in poor soil and against a wall (all the things you're NOT supposed to do) and still this beauty has burst forth with gargantuan growth and bright blue joy for the past two summers. 

So, hair scragged back, I was ready for errand action.

Then I prissed up my scarf and took a selfie to show you I'd left home a little tidier.  And practically all of the scarf is out-of-shot.  I'm not very good, am I?

A la perchoine.