Doll's Knickers

This morning Isabelle got a little glimpse of what she has missed out on by not having had the opportunity to meet her Grandma when she realised that this little pair of doll's knickers was made by my mother.

Look at the detail on them...properly hemmed at the waistline and the lace sewn on with a double row of stitching. That's just a little panties, it wasn't even going to be 'seen' as such, but it was just one of the many many beautifully crafted doll's clothes my mother made. Not alone that, she also made lovely dresses for us and it wasn't unknown for us to snuggle up at night wearing hand-made brushed cotton pyjamas. Our hats and gloves were always made in our favourite colours with matching or co-ordinating bobbles on top.

My mother had six children yet not one of us ever felt lacking for one-to-one time. We knew we and our dolls were special. We didn't have many or expensive toys but we never noticed that. In those days Santa Claus really did make toys. I remember one Christmas Santa delivered a beautiful doll's wardrobe which he must have painted just a few hours earlier, having first waited many long hours for six excited children to fall asleep. There was a little 'wet paint' sign hung on the door which was finished just like real furniture with those cute animal transfers typical of the 1970s.

When the recipient was finally given permission to carefully open the wardrobe, she was thrilled to find it filled with intricately crafted outfit after outfit, pyjamas, dressing gown, vests, knickers...all either carefully ironed and folded on one of the shelves or hanging neatly on tiny real wire hangers made by my father. It must have taken months for both my parents to complete that toy though it probably cost next to nothing in financial terms.

Other Christmases there were doll houses made from scratch, complete with hinged windows, doors and handmade furniture. (which withstood years of battery, I clearly remember the upturned tiled roof was a super see-saw!) a huge rag-doll called Flopsy, complete with amazing clothes (in fact to date I have yet to see a rag doll so lovely), quirky stuffed toys...and the thing is...I don't think my parents were that unusual.

What one of us thinks we have the time or ability to do all those things for our children? Personally I wouldn't even know where to start trying to make a dolls dress, properly made with darted bodice and pleated skirt. Though I can knit quite well (painstakingly taught by my mother when I was about 15) sewing is just not my forte. I have never knit an item of clothes for a doll. I do bits and pieces of crafts, baking reading aloud and suchlike with my children but it pales in comparison to what my parents did for all of us.

What has happened? By and large families were relatively larger and poorer than they are now, and yet mothers had time and the will to do all that. I know we never had a shop bought birthday cake or a dinner out of a box. We had home made bread, pies, real toffee and fudge, even our easter-eggs were made by my mother, and nobody thought that was unusual. If that happened now you'd be Queen of Pinterest. We'd seek acclaim on FaceBook and Blog about our skills. (Well I would anyway!!)

The saddest thing of all is that the history and memories of those times in my country are horribly marred and distorted by the heinous acts of brutality and abuse inflicted by some. It has come to the state that if you say something good about the past the answer is quite likely to be "Ah yea, that was nice for you...but..." The permission to have happy memories has all but been snatched away. Part of the far reaching effect of sin. The innocent are tarred with the guilty.

Well, as I look fondly at that little pair of dolly knickers, I'll tell you this...I'm not ashamed to say my mother was a great woman...my father was and is a great man. They were the norm. People were good. They were selfless and hard working and uncomplaining. I'm not going to apologise that I had an idyllic childhood. It's not wrong to have a good childhood even if another child does not. What's wrong is that that child is not treated well, or cared for, or loved. God wants all children to have a happy childhood, not that everyone is dragged down to the lowest common denominator. Let's aim to raise the bar. Let's aim to emulate the good parents of previous generations, not throw ditch water at them and trample on their memory for something they knew nothing of.

I am convinced my mother was a great saint. I am convinced that many of the adults I knew growing up were great saints. I honour their memory. I am thankful for a happy childhood. My heart breaks for the lost childhoods of the past just as it does for the lost childhoods of today. The  abused children whose suffering at this moment is brushed under the carpet because it serves no politically correct agenda. The non-national teenagers and young adults who as I write this are victims in this very country of human sex trafficking, who are going to be raped by men of my generation tonight and who some pimp is going to become rich from.  The women who in this week weep lost children, all 55 million in USA, all 7 Million in UK. The uncounted Irish lost...

Oh yes my heart breaks for human suffering and all the more to resolve that children will have a happy childhood like I had...that dolls will have little garments made by loving hands, that children can play in their pyjamas in a warm room in a secure environment knowing they are cherished. How to do that? By protecting families. By protecting marriage, not ripping it to shreds.  By protecting the relationship between woman and man. By not succumbing to the idea that everyone is there to serve me, to give me pleasure, to fit my plan or purpose. What a selfish way to live. The parents of the 50s, 60s 70s and earlier knew how to GIVE. Maybe they didn't have psychological studies or parenting gurus to consult, but they knew that a little pair of lace knickers, small enough for a dolly made for the turning out of secure adults. The investment was total. I hope to God I can live up to even a shadow of that standard.

Thank You Mammy...I am forever grateful for the hours you spent stitching tiny clothes, making dinners and passing on the knowledge of secure love. Thank You. xxx

A Little Bit Of Geneva In All Of Us

When I was quite a newly-wed, my husband and I travelled to France to spend the Easter holidays with a friend who was in his class in Med School.  Six of us made the three day journey from Ireland to the French-Swiss border in two cars-our friend's (who was staying on after we returned to Ireland), and ours.  So the journey home comprised of five of us my little old Toyota  Starlet.

 The five of us (not counting all our luggage) included my husband the driver, two young women, a 6 foot something young man and me...6 months pregnant.

The poor tall student  bravely tried to be chivalrous to the pregnant lady, but every so often his long legs just had to be afforded the slightly more generous leg space of the front seat.  Comfortable it was not.  However, it was my first trip to France so I was delighted in spite of that.  The trip promised the added attraction of visiting Switzerland, possibly the most picturesque place I've ever seen, reminiscent of The Sound of Music...just gorgeous.

Well we did visit Switzerland, I have clear memories of a mountain picnic and me slipping and sliding on the snow of  the Swiss-French Alps, admiring the view of Mont Blanc and trying to ignore the fact that the only footwear I had brought was a thin pair of slip-on shoes. 

 We ate cheese stew in the village of Greuyere and we went shopping in Geneva.

Now I have to remind you that at that time, Ireland was and always had been pretty much one of the poorest European countries.  Luxury was the exception and high end designer brands were more or less sold in a designated corner of one or two expensive department stores.  In Geneva there were no department stores that I could see of.  Every designer, brand-name and luxury item had it's own designated store.  A shop selling just ONE brand?? Wow!  Everywhere you looked was luxury and opulence.

(Orange juice in Geneva and me looking quite nicely pregnant and sitting beside our long-legged friend!)

  Not a single person was cheaply or shabbily dressed (apart from us that is:-))  From shoes to shades to designer pedigree dog, everything was the best on the market.  The cars were all top of the range.  My goodness...even the Policemen looked like they were off a Hollywood movie set with their cool boots and chains.  John and I looked and looked for something we could buy as a souvenir of our holiday.  In the end, the only thing in the entire country we could afford was 

This:

(we still have it!)

It cost us an arm and a leg!

Well anyway, I remember commenting to John on that trip to Geneva that it would be very difficult for a person living in that sort of material opulence not to be touched by it.  It's easy to resist the lure of consumerism and materialism when nobody around you has any money.  It's a different matter when you're the exception.  Then it's a struggle.  If everyone around you is wearing Italian designer clothes, you could be tempted to feel a bit inferior in your Marks & Spencer outfit.  You have to make a constant effort to not succumb to avarice and envy.

So here's where I get to my point...WHY do I think I need an iPad?

A few years ago we were visiting friends in Scotland.  One of the husbands works in IT and he was explaining to us what an iPod was.  His wife showed us her new iPod nano and how she could hold all her songs there, so tiny, such a clear quality sound...

...I WANTED ONE!!!

Christmas came and on cue, a blue iPod appeared under the Christmas tree, along with a black one I bought my metal fan husband.

Oh wow! I couldn't believe it! All my...songs...all 300 of them!  Before long I had discovered podcasts, games, it was beyond my wildest dreams.  I'd rave to anyone who was interested enough to listen how they could find the best podcasts, how you could listen to them while you were cleaning. Just Wow!

That was until a few years later I heard of the iPhone.

I got it for my birthday...in a box...

Now this really was beyond my wildest dreams...

Even opening the box was a sublime experience!

We could never have even imagined an iPhone when I was growing up.

It came just in time for me to be in hospital with my little girl.

It would help pass the time.

  I could keep in touch,

 I could update her blog.

 In fact it was the hospital which was the trigger for getting it.

That was an iPhone 3GS and I still have it.

Last autumn when our little girl started to become noticeably breathless indicating that she needs her next operation, I joked to John that I'll need an iPad for the hospital.  I was half joking whole in earnest and as time has ticked by I have been thinking more about getting one.  Maybe an iPad mini? I've priced them. I've looked at them, I've asked around. 

So when we met the surgeon last week and he indicated Louise's operation will be in the next few weeks I had a little panic...I've no iPad...what will I do??!! Who will lend me one??!!

A few days ago John asked me  'Why do you need an iPad?'

I had no answer.  My phone does everything an iPad can do.  If I want to watch movies we have a little DVD player.  Last time it was actually a small radio John brought in that kept me most company.  I have a pile of books I'm dying to read but never have time.  One thing you have in hospital is time...plenty of it.  Once Louise wakes up she'll need her Mammy, not an iPad.  

I had to admit it...I don't need an iPad.

Do I want one?

Yes.

  The way I want to go to Disney World, 

the way somehow everyone wants to go to Disney World.

Do I need one?

Definitely not.

I wanted an iPad because other people have an iPad.  They look cool and fun.  They're bigger than my phone but mainly I wanted one because I had unknowingly stepped onto the ever increasingly slippery slope of consumerism.  My iPhone 3 is beyond magic to me.  It tells me how to get where I want to go, I can watch a (little) movie if I want, I can photograph my children, I can Facebook my friends, it tells me how to get rid of that stain or what to make for dinner.  There's beauty and news on there, or a debate if I so choose.  How did I get to the point where I was looking at it a feeling a little bit...well...shabby...compared to my friends who have an iPhone 5 or an iPad, or something else I'd like.

I think it's because there's a little bit of Geneva in all of us.

So More Doctors Smoke Camels Do They?

OK, this isn't going to be a 'get your life in order, girl, it's the New Year don't ya know' sort of post.  It's more a bit of me throwing my tuppence ha'penny into the wind and maybe somebody might benefit a bit from it.

I've said before on this blog that the most important relationship in a family is that of the husband and wife.  Not the mother and child, not the Dad and the boys or Dad and the the girls, not the 'keep the children entertained and happy at all costs', not the spouses and their careers and most definitely not the mother and the iPhone.  Well I haven't said not the mother and the iPhone before but I'm saying it now.

Long ago in the early days of cigarettes smoking was thought to be harmless, you know..More doctors smoke Camels than any other cigarette...gave the impression that cigarette smoking was actually endorsed by doctors.  Some went so far as to suggest that smoking was beneficial to health.  We know now that that is rubbish and anybody who lights a cigarette for the first time now is fully aware of the long term and multiple health, financial and social consequences of their actions...a fool in other words. Not so of the generations who first experienced the 'joys' of social smoking. It was chic and fashionable. They were blissfully unaware of any consequence and so could not be blamed for the ill health they or their children suffered down the line.

I'm going to propose that this generation is in the midst of something similar. Only the consequences aren't so much related to the damage to our health.  I think the consequence is the damage to our personal relationships and in particular to marriage.  This is the first generation where practically everybody has access to unlimited information, unlimited entertainment, unlimited everything the internet has to offer, the city that never sleeps...Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, always there, undemanding and fun.  We've launched headlong into the online party and we're all having a great time.  I think that's fine.  Except...we should know, there's no such thing as a free lunch.  Internet is free (we think), Facebook is free, so is Twitter, so is Pinterest, YouTube and all the rest.  So what's the price? Is there a price? Are we paying it? I think we are...or we will, unless we realise that like smoking, the internet can cause damage. Oh yes, even to us adults whose job it is to guide and instruct those entrusted to our care. 

I think part of the price that will be paid for the convenience of the entire world in our back pocket...is marriage.

That sounds a bit dramatic, and it is a dramatic thing to say. I'll say it again though...watch your marriage.

I have brought this topic up in conversations a few times over the last few months.  The response I've received has done nothing to convince me that marriage is not damaged, not by the internet per se, but rather by the way we use it.  And I think it is happening to the best of marriages. I recently spoke to a newly married couple about the danger of iPhones/iPads and so on to a marriage relationship which by it's very nature needs conversation, intimacy and time to grow and thrive.  Both of the spouses cheerfully admitted that their evenings are typically spent each on their respective iPad and not much conversation would pass between them.  The frightening thing was...BOTH of them thought this was normal and fine.  

We only have one computer in our home-a laptop.  With the number of people with 'things' to do using the computer, it's been a built in protective to any one person overspending time online.  Firstly it's obvious you're on the computer, it's cumbersome and you can't do anything else at the same time, apart from watch some brain-dead television perhaps.  Introduce smart phones to the picture and it's a completely different scenario.  It's so easy to flick, or slide, should I say, the phone on and check updates, statuses, tweets, pins. It is as Oscar Wilde would say...The Maximum of Temptation With the Maximum of Opportunity.  That's fine when your time is your own, but what when the constant checking is done in moments which out of justice belong to someone else?  Your spouse. Is it a form of stealing? Stealing time that belongs to your marriage and to your spouse.  I certainly know that there have been plenty of moments when my husband was trying to converse with me and I've been distracted with something on Facebook or in a Twitter discussion or some other online activity.

No matter how altruistic our internet conversations or discussions are, they should not be at the expense of the person to whom we have promised something more than the view of the back of a computer or criss-crossed fingers holding a phone.

Marriage is more important.  If you are Christian, and believe Christian teaching...Marriage is nothing short of our path to Heaven. A reflection of God's spousal love for US.  Wow!! That's pretty big eh? Big enough to be worth protecting from the storms which blow from every angle. 

Internet addiction is being named more and more by psychologists. I think as parents we tend to see the dangers for our children and teens, while at the same time missing the elephant in the room...our own internet follies.  It's very hard to correct teens for something we ourselves are guilty of.  We practice and display temperance in every other area of our lives and yet our children can at times find it hard to get our attention.  In some ways I think the phenomenon is similar to the smokers of old.  The internet is new.  It can do so much good, it benefits our lives no end.  But we need to proceed with care, knowing now what we did not know ten years ago...the addictive element to the internet.

Like any habit, good or bad, practising it is what makes it become part of us.  So how we treat the internet should be one of the habits we are constantly trying to develop for the good.  Allocating specific times.  Setting time limits, making a list of what we want to do or check while online are all useful tools.  I don't think banning the computer is a good idea...you throw the baby out with the bathwater, you cut off the friends you maybe only know online...and I've said repeatedly, they are real people and not unimportant.  Sometimes just becoming aware of a trap is enough to help us to avoid it.  A method I've personally used from time to time is to change my passwords and ask one of my older girls to key in a new one for me.  It just reduces the temptation to constantly 'check' as I have to find her to log me on. I'm still in touch with what's going on, I'm still joining in the fun but it's just a simple tool to help develop the good habit of using the internet and my time properly. 

So as 2013 begins, my personal goal is to become an internet master.  Master of what I do online, master of the time I spend and most importantly, master of knowing that my husband is more important than my slick Tweets, than my Facebook likes, than the most beautiful of Pins and even more important than my very, very profound blog posts.

And now I can't share this till tomorrow as my teenage password holder is asleep in bed. Oh well..

Happy New Year everyone!!

Picture Books To Blow You Away

My background is in books.  

And Children.

Nothing has changed really, I still love both but my particular area of interest in books is the amazing world of picture books.  The quality of story and illustration available once you scratch the surface quite literally blows me away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When I wrote this post a few weeks ago about buying toys for children, I mentioned the concept of educating children in beauty.  It is something I believe very strongly.  Children are made of body and soul.  We feed the body as best we can.  Make our own baby purées with locally sourced organic ingredients (Oh Yea :-)), spend hours on end poring over ingredient lists on packages in supermarkets, check out suppliers and sell-by dates and restrict such evils as sugar, salt and MSG.   And rightly so.  Our child's nutrition and bodily needs are important and as parents or grandparents, or carers we naturally want to do our best.  

But what about the soul? I'm sure the souls of children in our culture feel like the Who's, shouting 'We're HERE!! We're HERE!!' But nobody can hear them, nobody really believes they're there.  But believing, or not believing something doesn't make it so.  They are here, those souls of our children, and they need to be fed and nourished even more than those precious bodies.  

People might not agree with me here but I detect a crassness that has slipped gradually into children's culture this last two decades.  Children's TV show characters and presenters seem to shout...all the time...all at the same time.  Even the traditionally beautiful children's movies and animation are often filled with double-entendres designed to enhance the stature of block-buster stars rather than capture the enchantment of childhood. (I'm speaking generally, there are always exceptions to be found.)  The same with children's books.  I love looking back at the history of children's illustration and the work of amazing artists like Mabel Lucie Attwell and Arthur Rackham and how they captured beauty and gentleness and the magical world of the childhood psyche. 

Compare that to what sits on today's bookshop shelves...mass produced, computer generated, sometimes bordering on ugly and mostly quite frankly...boring.  I feel so sad that this is all that's being fed to children's minds.  What goes in is what comes out.  If potty humour, early sexualisation (a blog post for another day) and bland and visually uninspiring artwork is what goes into a child's mind...don't expect to churn out great thinkers and philosophers and lovers of truth and beauty at the other end.  That's what I think anyway...and I think I might be right.

But help is at hand...

...Here I am!!

I have picked the most beautiful children's picture books I have come across, both from my work with books, including being a buyer with a substantial budget to spend as I saw fit.  But even more importantly in my years as a mother trying to feed my children's souls with a beauty which reflects the mind of God.

I think you'll love what I am going to show you.  I was going to divide my selection between two posts as there's a lot but I've decided against that as Christmas is in just two weeks and I really want children to receive some of these books.  In fact, I mentioned that a lot of people in the book industry become collectors of children's picture books...a beautiful picture book can sometimes hit the nail on the head for an adult too.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I can't decide how to order my selection so I think I'll just arrange them randomly.

The number below the title of each book is the ISBN to use to search for it.

So.

In No Particular Order..

...May I Present

A Feast Of Truly Beautiful Books.

All the Places to Love

(0060210982)

I still haven't managed to read this book aloud to the end for any of my children. I gave my sister a gift of it and she has the same problem.  Nuff said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Crown on Your Head

(031264521X)

This book is  quite simply a masterpiece. I particularly recommend it as a gift for a family with a child with special needs, health problems or difficulties of any kind.  It triggers healing tears.

Just watch this trailer:

And check out her other gorgeous books, like this one..

~~~~~~~~~~~

Jan Brett Books

( 0399234772)

A lot of Jan Brett's books have a Scandinavian tone and the artwork is beautifully detailed.

Check out her website here for some really different printable colouring pages and activities.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Badger's Parting Gifts

 (0688115187)

This is the nicest children's book I've come across that deals with the topic of death, particularly that of an elderly person or that of a person who has had a long illness.  I remember reading it after my own mother died and the piece where the author describes the moment of death is just so perfect.  I like that it acknowledges an afterlife too as a lot of children's books dealing with death addresses only the child's loss with no mention of heaven or life after death.  Watch a reading of the book in Japanese here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Lonely Doll

(0395899265)

I'll be honest about these books.  When I got these for my girls on the basis of the beautiful photographic illustrations, I became quite haunted by them.  There's a ghost-like mysterious element in them which I'm not sure whether Dare Wright intended.  In fact, Dare Wright herself has an ethereal mysterious beauty.  The stories seem to represent something else...but what? In fact while looking for a picture of one of the books I came across this article from the New York Times which by total coincidence exactly describes my feelings about these books.  Our girls love The Lonely Doll...Louise has decided she's Edith, which doesn't surprise me as she's usually up to the same sort of unintentional mischief as her. I will never throw them out.

I'd definitely recommend these for an adult collector too.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Animalia

(0613044916)

This book came out years and years before the animated TV series.  I think the book is better.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bubbles Before Bed

(0956714404)

One Word:

Delightful.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Goodnight Moon

(0230764843)

My favourite read-aloud toddler book.

And if you look carefully you'll see that the pictures on the wall link up with another of Margaret Wise Brown's books:

The Runaway Bunny

(0694016713)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Big Big Sea

(1406323241)

 

'I'll always remember just Mama and me and the night that we walked by the big, big sea'

Precious.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Where The Sunrise Begins 

(0689861729)

It's like falling asleep and having a wonderful dream.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

No One But You

( 076363848X)

In fact all of Douglas Wood's books are stunning.  

I think Santa might bring a few more this year.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

All The World

(1847386695)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Step Gently Out

( 0763656011)

These pictures just speak for themselves..

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Angel In The Waters

(1928832814)

This is probably the most beautiful child's book I have ever seen depicting life before birth.

It will teach your child the preciousness of unborn life in a gentle and effortless way.

You can read the entire book online at Angel In The Waters website.

It's a perfect girt for a pregnant mother.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And Finally...

...Just for me, because I love his books.

(For adult collectors or slightly older children, 

they might be a bit scary for small children 

because they are pretty surreal and dream-like.)

(except Polar Express, that's for small children too.)

Anything By Chris Van Allsburg

He is an amazing illustrator.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Let me know what you think of my selection...have you any favourites you'd like to add?

How I Didn't Tell My Husband I Ruined My New Boots

I don't really shop for clothes all that often. It takes time and the need to try on clothes with small children in tow tends to transform retail therapy into an experience probably requiring therapy. As well as that, with eight to feed and clothe there's usually plenty of things with a greater call on my funds than shopping trips for myself.

 I have to say I really find it difficult to pay the money that's asked for decent clothes but I still like half decent  things to wear.  As a result I tend to be a bit of a sales and TKMaxx gal. When I lived at home with lots of sisters I was renowned for arriving home sometime in March wielding my latest bargain which I'd picked up at the tail end of the January sales. Back then I was shaped like a hanger with skin on so I was able to avail of the tiny sized clothes reduced from £100 to 99p.

With a slightly more filled out figure of 'contented spread' I can't find those sort of bargains any more but it still sticks in my craw to splash out on clothes.

Sometimes my husband, who incidentally also loves TKMaxx,  suggests to me that I just go into a proper shop and get something good for myself. I've yet to do that so you can imagine my guilty delight when for my birthday this summer he insisted he buy me these:

They're probably the best item of clothing I've ever owned and when I put them on I felt like Cinderella slipping into her glass slipper.

I could hardly wait for autumn to come to start wearing my beautiful new boots. Every so often I'd peep into the box to admire and savour the new leather smell like a child anticipating her new back to school shoes and then carefully pack them away again.

The first few times I stepped out wearing them I'd put them on just before going out and then to keep them good, I'd change into my older boots when I returned home. I never never wear slippers and only own a pair in case of hospital trips and I never wear bare feet either. My shoes go on in the morning and on they stay till bedtime.

Well about the sixth time my new boots had an outing I returned home a little late with a hungry family to prepare dinner for. I can't remember exactly what I made but there were boiled baby potatoes anyway. When they were almost ready I decided they looked a bit boring so I thought I'd fry up some chopped bacon in garlic butter and oil to toss the potatoes in to spruce them up a bit.

Just as I was about to serve the dinner to the table I happened to look down and to my utter horror saw that my boots were completely splatted with bacony, garlicky, greasy, ugly...splats. The soft un-sealed leather had absorbed every bit of oil and one boot was much worse than the other. They were quite simply ruined.

I felt the blood flow from my face as at that moment I heard a familiar key turn in the latch. Oh No!!! How can I tell him what I've done to his present??

I grabbed my magic phone and ran past as quickly as I could before he opened the door and as he walked in he caught a brief glimpse of my tail end guiltily disappear around the upstairs banister. The poor fellow followed me up to say hello and was met with

'WHY are you FOLLOWING me??!!"

"Stop FOLLOWING ME!!"

Oh my goodness!! The poor fella! He didn't know what he'd done!

"I'm doing something PRIVATE"

 I managed to rasp, now short of hyperventilating with the shock of my predicament. I ignominiously bundled him out of the room before he could spot IT and once he had safely gone down to the children I grasped my magic phone. Click, click, click What am I going to do?? This site, that site, professional restorers...no...send them to the manufacturer...no...and then...a tip which looked manageable. Talcum powder.

Carefully following the instructions I liberally sprinkled baby powder from the tub I'd purchased after the tip I read on this funny post about how good it is for removing sand from skin at the beach (it is), wrapped the boots carefully in a towel and hid them in my wardrobe to be checked four hours later. I nonchalantly returned to the dinner wearing my slippers and continued as though nothing had happened.

Four hours later I slipped away to check my boots, unwrapped them and fluffed away the talcum powder to see...no change. Oh no!! In desperation I repeated the process, this time using much more powder and vigorously massaged it into the stains. Wrapped the boots again and left them overnight.

Next day..

...my boots were good as new!!

So there you have it. Baby powder will not only remove sand from legs at the beach, not only turn your baby into an aromatic puff ball...it will also well and truly remove egg from your face.

I told John about three weeks later. Just for the sake of honesty you know.

Gifts For Men Link-Up Party

I absolutely love Hallie Lord's blog Moxie Wife.  Today I'm joining in her link-up party she's hosting in response to the difficult task many women seem to have of buying an interesting gift for that special man in their lives.  I know every year my imagination is stretched to capacity in trying to think of what on earth to give my husband, my father and my father-in-law.

I really can't wait to read the other blog posts and glean a few ideas I can unashamedly pass off as my own. Head on over to join the party here when you're finished here. I don't know whether you'll get much inspiration from me, I hope you do!

~Here Goes~

~In no particular order~

Remote Control Helicopter.

I got this for my husband last year and it really was a great hit! The fact that it was for him and not one of the children's toys made a big difference as it was up to him to master the controls.  He genuinely got a lot of fun from it until it had a little crash during the summer.  I think Santa might repeat himself on this one.  I got it from Hawkin's Bazaar which has been one of my favourite sites for quirky gifts for about ten years now.  If you're buying from them, try and get your hands on their printed catalogue.  The inspiration for the company was the hilarious Ellisdon's Catalogue from the 1930s~1970s and I think they have managed to capture the tone.

Gifts Involving a Hint of Inebriation

~ Julöl ~

When John was a student we were friends with a guy in his year who was Swedish.  He introduced us to lots of culinary delights like the very very stinky but yummy Swedish Raclette cheese and the very fun and sociable way of cooking and eating it at the table with the grill of the same name.

I recall a delightful road-trip home from France  one summer carrying an entire raclette cheese in the boot.  Lets just say that in spite of numerous wrappings, we were very happy to arrive home...whiffy.  It doesn't taste so strong though.

Well anyway, back to Julöl, it's a  Swedish Christmas beer that our friend brought over a few times.  We haven't seen him for years and years, I think he's a plastic surgeon somewhere in America now.  About five years ago I was talking to a Swedish girl who was a friend of my sister and I had the sudden inspiration to ask her whether she knew anybody who'd be travelling from Sweden who could bring me over a bottle.  I was in luck as her brother was coming a few days before Christmas.  So Christmas Eve I found myself driving to the middle of nowhere and interrupting a Swedish family baking Christmas Cookies to collect several bottles of Julöl for John.  It comes in lovely Christmassy bottles and John couldn't believe his eyes when he came into the kitchen for Christmas breakfast to find a chilled bottle of this amber delight waiting for him! 

That was definitely a successful present.

Oh, By the way...Patrik...if you're reading this...call us!!

~Brideshead Revisited~

John and my favourite thing to watch together is the 1980s production of Brideshead Revisited.  It's also my favourite book, like, ever.  When I finished reading it I didn't partake in any unnecessary conversation for several days, I needed to ponder.  Well either last year or the year before we were on a christmas outing in Dublin with the children, looking around the magical old backstreets and antique shops when I spotted two champagne saucers just like those used by Charles and Sebastian.

Oh swoon...

We don't manage to knock back quite as much as they got through but it's a real treat to pour some Lidl  prosecco into our Brideshead glasses.  Oh here...I'm off to pour a glass...you watch this...I'll be back in a minute...

The boxed set would be a good gift too but we already have it.  Did I mention we love it?  Oh yes, I did mention that.  And Charles...Oh swoon...

~Traquair Ale~

When we lived in Scotland one of our favourite haunts was Traquair House, a place seeped in history of the most exciting type, which you can read here. 

There is a small specialist brewery attached to the castle and they sell small quantities of Jacobite Ale.  It's not my cup of tea but John likes it so one year I asked some friends who were coming over to bring some I could give him for  Christmas...

...Score!!

Traquair Ale has a very limited availability but another specialist beer or ale might be a good idea. A reader on my Facebook page suggested an enthusiasts membership of a brewers guild, I thought that was a great idea for the right person. 

Gifts Reflecting My Husband's Maturity

~Judge Dredd Mugs~

I bought John a set of four...he loves them...

The same way he loves this...

Which you can buy here.

All Roads Lead to...

While browsing online last year I spotted a sheet of GIFTWRAP for £3.

I bought it for John's Christmas present.

And got it framed...

It was one of the best presents I ever gave him..

As a matter of fact the lady who owns the framing shop told me a man begged and pleaded with her to sell it to him while it was waiting for me to pick it up.  Thank goodness she refused.

A Few More Suggestions 

I asked on my Facebook page for a few suggestions:

Red Letter Day...a day at the Race Track with a Formula 1(or 2) experience. The husband who received this gift was grinning for days.

Simpsons or Football Club paraphernalia.

Swiss Army Knife 

Funny PJs

Gig Tickets

Yearly Pass to a Water Park  

(Clearly this one comes from sunny Australia, not Ireland :-))

Surprise trip to visit an old friend

(I love that one)

A BBQ Cooking course.

Beer

(see above)

And finally, the best present I ever gave my father.  Being the eldest of his generation, he owns the >200 year old family  ancestral cottage in Connemara in the the West of Ireland.  It is such an amazing place.

It's the (smaller) little white cottage to the left of the picture here.  It no longer has the thatched roof but is just as magical.  I know it's probably his favourite place in the world.  Well one Summer's day I was sitting in an armchair looking out the door at the dry stone wall and the fuchsia bush and windswept garden with a camera in my hand.  I was just clicking away at the timeless scene when I had the GREAT idea of getting one of the resulting photographs blown up and printed on a canvas for his upcoming 80th birthday.

I have never been so satisfied with any present.  I can't locate the picture in the computer just now but it was just perfect.  He can sit at home in the East and imagine he's sitting in Connemara.

Well I hope that's triggered a few ideas.  I'm heading over to Moxie Wife now to get a few ideas for myself. See you there x