Last week I got some lovely fabrics from my absolutely favourite fabric lady, Maria's Fabrics
I may have, at last solved the drapery issue!
At the start of this week I received delivery of a fabulous work light. The lighting in this room is poor - north facing in the daylight and a poor ceiling light behind me casting shadows over anything I am working on in the evening. This lamp has varying temperatures of light and various levels of brightness and it is well articulated to move in all sorts of directions, even the head swivels.
Tao Tronics dimmable eye protection LED lamp - huge range of prices if you go look for one.
Yesterday and today I received a long awaited order from Delph in two parts.
I left these three tinies on a card table to give a sense of the perfect scale.... hairspray, hand soap, nail polish.
Here is a little something I need to remember each day
Eight of these for the library. I so want to punch little holes in little paper and fasten them in the rings inside.
Two phones - one for the Hive (basement workroom) and one for the library - my student lodger uses her mobile phone of course.
Twelve light switches - that will be fun (not) gluing those in place
Eleven wall sockets to finish off ones I already have here and there; ditto the above sentiment
A touch of Ikea for the apartment - bedroom? or replace the one I made in the sitting room?
Just a thought on this pandemic. I was unpacking eighty (!!!) items of grocery today which had been delivered to me safely by Tesco (I have used the service for years) and was bemoaning the two 'swaps' and three 'not gots'. I suddenly thought about my mother and realised how she would have thought all her Christmases had arrived together if she had been looking at what I had spread out before me. At the beginning of the war in 1939 she was 23 years old with a new baby and her husband away, three years later mom lost her baby when she was just six weeks old. She was bombed out three times losing her home each time. By 1945 she had a new baby to take care of too. During all this time and for even more years after the war she lived with rationing and had to figure out how to keep her family fed.
One adult per week:
- Bacon & Ham 4 oz
- Other meat value of 1 shilling and 2 pence (equivalent to 2 chops)
- Butter 2 oz
- Cheese 2 oz
- Margarine 4 oz
- Cooking fat 4 oz
- Milk 3 pints
- Sugar 8 oz
- Preserves 1 lb every 2 months
- Tea 2 oz
- Eggs 1 fresh egg (plus allowance of dried egg)
- Sweets 12 oz every 4 weeks
I was peeved I didn't have the exact rice I wanted. Really !!!!
We are just asked to stay in our (for most of us) nice comfy homes for a while and have stuff brought to our door, how dare we even whisper a complaint.
Please stay home and save lives.
Right now life is somewhat inconvenient...gosh...we have to stay in the homes we have worked hard to acquire and entertain ourselves with hobbies, exercise, and the internet. You are right we have it so very easy compared to what our parents, grandparents and great-grandparents experienced during wartime. Thank you for reminding us all of that fact! Nice shopping items for your miniature projects...Cheers, Alayne
ReplyDeleteThanks Alayne. Apologies for being preachy I am sure most of my mini chums aren't as petulant or as ungrateful as me. It did pull me up short and I continued my day counting blessings and not grumbling. Stay well and happy. Marilyn
DeleteA great lot of new goodies! Yippee! I'm excited to see the curtains and to see the new accessories at home!
ReplyDeleteI love hearing stories of what people have had to endure and compare them to how life is for us today. The reason our fathers and grandfathers fought in wars back then was so that we could have better lives and enjoy the freedoms that we are privileged to enjoy today. Imagine how upset they would be if they knew it only made us selfish and spoiled. Stories like these remind us to set our thoughts in gratitude every day. You are so wonderful to share this with us and remind us all that gratitude is a choice we can all make each day. Often our first thoughts are not so genial and it is our job to correct ourselves. :O)
DeleteAh Jodi, you have a good soul and I am sure you don't have little stampy fits because your world is suddenly slightly imperfect. I gave myself a good talking to and feel better for it. Even the sun is shining today and I got to sit in the garden for a while. Mother Nature isn't self-isolating... there she is stretching and yawning and waking up. It is all we need ..... oh and a cup of tea and maybe a mini or two.
Lots of lovelies there Marilyn and I'm very impressed by your lamp. You must be so pleased you got your fabric order - a nice selection there.
ReplyDeleteThanks Irene you understand the fabric hunt dilemma. Thank heavens for Maria. I need to stop faffing round all the finishing up things I have left and focus on something and get it done
DeleteNot long ago I watched a British program about a family of 4 who were asked to live in a pre-war era row house; dressing, eating, gardening, buying rationed groceries and learning to live without any mod cons for (I think an entire year) just as you say your mother did.
ReplyDeleteAfter the novelty wore off, they moaned and groaned about how awful it was and how much they missed doing the things that they couldn't do; like washing their hair without soap or hot water, and having to put up the blackout curtains/ boards after sundown or when the air raid alarms sounded. They also were required to build a shelter in their backyard by themselves and grow their own produce which they really struggled with.
There's so much that we take for granted in our current age of privilege and entitlement and if nothing else, this CV epidemic has made many of us rethink our lifestyles and learn how to be thankful! The entire economic system has been shown to be quite fragile and it makes one fully appreciate how delicately balanced everything is on everything else.
Having said that, I have to say that being able to continue refining your dollhouse with such GORGEOUS new products is VERY EXCITING but I bet that in the future, your sockets, and electronics will remind you of this pandemic period of time, whenever you stop and look at them!
Yes, we used to watch that series too. Even what you saw there was a bit of a sugar-coated version of being in a city that was hammered by bombing was like and to endure that for six years must have been nigh on unbearable. We are so spoilt which, of course, is just what my mom's generation wanted for us. They didn't want us to lack for anything they they had done. It is the sheer world wide complex infrastructure and its fragility (as you say) that is unnerving for us right now. Can not imagine a world if it implodes in a major way.
DeleteI do feel happier amongst my mini chums - they do seem such a good lot of people - not a mean bone among them.
Dear Marilyn - I truly have no idea how I missed so many of your posts! I am now frantically trying to catch up while (trying not to) being tempted to a 'million' purchases from your fabulous links.
ReplyDeleteYour WWII rations list just highlights that we really have no idea just how spoilt for choice we really are. In some ways, I think (and hope) that what is happening, might put a few things back into perspective. Any-who - what awesome tiny treasures. I do hope, and am quite sure, you will get those wee electrical bits and bobs glued into place just fine.
Stay well and safe,
Anna X
Dear Anna, Thank you so much for still ploughing through my mini ponderings. As you can see I am on some sort of 'break' from actually doing anything on the house. Very strange how I seem to come to an end with my projects before I am actually there. Normally I don't mind too much as I am ready to sell and move on to the next build but this was destined to be my last so it really needs to be finished not just abandoned. Hope I find the finishing magic sometime. Meanwhile I am always so happy to hear from anyone who finds me now and then. Thank you so much for leaving a message. M
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