Cool Shit Monday: Hibernation

Sorry to be banging on about the Olympics a lot lately.  If it makes you feel hopeful, at least it finished today so I can't bang on about it that much longer.  I've had a few Top Mum moments as a result of two solid weeks of TV watching.  Edie now points at any screen-like objects in a room and says "On?  On?".  She also says "YAAAAY!" and claps her hands a lot from all the cheering she's heard.  I think a bit of TV cold turkey is now required for my wee girl.

This week I decided to pay one last homage to my fortnight of Olympic sloth by providing you with some cool shit that will see you through some serious park-arsing.

Firstly, a bit of Olympic geekery (is that a word?  If it wasn't before, it is now and I think I like it).  This cool little video is about historical data.  I can see the glaze dropping across your eyelids already but WAIT!  This is historical data that's interesting.  Or at least I think it is.  Pretty statistics are always fun.  Thanks New York Times.

When you are sat on your chuff, the staple food item (you can't lose 30mins of quality viewing with a trip to the supermarket) is toast.  But that doesn't mean your toast can't be pretty.  This awesome toaster reminds me of the toasty pie machine we had as a kid.  It hardly qualified as a machine actually.  It had a hinge so it did have moving parts, but basically it was just two big cast iron plates that you squashed the bread between.  No, I'm not 80 years old, it's just that we didn't get an electronic toasty pie maker til I was about 15 because, well, we just didn't.  That machine made the edges nice and crunchy which is really the best bit of toasty pies.  I don't think this one looks like a crunch edge kinda toaster, but it well and truly makes up for it with pretty.

by Minale Maeda

On the off chance you get board of your viewing, having a good board game handy is always wise.  I think people are divided into those who have positive associations with board games - family bonding, holidays, student marathons - that type of thing; and those who don't - family arguments, enforced 'fun times', really sucking at playing, and other afflictions.  I LOVE board games.  I am intrigued by this game.  It looks like it could be a sneaky winner: a game that sounds a wee bit stale, but might cause just the right level of competitive fervour.  Plus it's a bit retro so if it turns out to be crap, it'll make a nice object for the games room.  The added extra British quirkiness is very in theme with the Olympics too so extra points for me.

From www.notonthehighstreet.com

And finally a blobbing aparatus (I've been watching too much gymnastics.  The artistic kind, not the weird rhythmic kind).  A couch just doesn't cut it.  Phil & I like to make forts.  Making forts is not just for 8 year olds.  Big kids can make a choice fort too.  Big blankets, lots of couch cushions and pillows, possibly a bean bag or two, and Robert's your mother's brother.  But this is the blobber to end all blobbers.  I'd happily add this to my fort paraphenalia.

A human taco

Remind anyone else of the old Toffee Pops ad with the lips couch

CSM: Drinks are on me

I seem to have found a lot of cool shit recently that is drink-related.  I'm not a big alcy, in case you were worried, but I do partake every so often.  Also there's something about not being able to drink for an extended period of time (pregnancy/breastfeeding not abstinence by self-discipline) that makes you appreciate the chance to have a refreshing beverage.  It's not just alcohol either.  Caffeine has a renewed focus in my life and now I know I'm not wiring my baby and keeping her up all hours, I'm back on the java like there's no tomorrow.  I actually think what you miss is the rituals surrounding these drinks.  The drinks on a Friday at the local or the Saturday night house party, the G & Ts on the deck relaxing in the sun, the second coffee following a leisurely Sunday brunch.  It's the associations with these things which are so much more precious for their scarcity.  First world problems right there.  Anyway, here are some beverage-related things that are pretty freakin' cool.

You've all heard some saying that warns you not to mix beer and harder alcohols.  Personally, I think feeling rough after combining the two is more to do with the fact that you reached the stage where you wanted to move from beer to hard liquor.  Several beers are usually required to make you want to drink things called "Afterburner" and "Slippery Nipple".  Well this glass flies in the face of all that advice and blatantly encourages you to move from beer to shot and back again.  Although if you try to do both at the same time you may have some issues.  That would be your cue to stop drinking I'd think.

And here's a wine glass for my musically inclined vino lovers.  I can see some awesome party anthems being attempted with these after a couple of drinks.  I can also see them swiftly losing their tunefulness as the drinks continue to be consumed.  But it could be fun for a few minutes.  If you've had a rough week, you might want to opt to play the B flat - 2.5 standard drinks to get to that pitch.

And while we're on the theme of cool vessels, here's one for the coffee lovers.  Your short black and your biscotti in one.  You have to like a bit of sugar with your coffee though because the inside of the cup is a patented sugar coating.  Probably not a good collectable investment but as a quick drink with a snack?  I think I like it.

And if you manage to acquire these fabulous vessels, you will obviously need somewhere fabulous to keep them.  Society Social is the place to go.  A business made with love (always the best kind of business) from a lady who was over being dull so she decided she wanted to make life as beautiful as she knew it could be.  They have fabulous furniture and knick knacks, some vintage, some new, but all utterly wonderful.  She has a particular penchant for bar carts which are the ultimate in great home accessories if you ask me.  Which you didn't but you've read it now so there you go.  I was particularly taken by the photo of the bar cart with in front of the blackboard which read "Hold onto your Highballs".  Puerile humour rarely fails to amuse me.  But this cart is my pick.  Table tennis bats and ping pong balls are surely the pinnacle in bar cart accessories.  Vodka, smarties and ping pong - a match made in heaven.

It's Monday, have a wee tipple people.



Thanks to Design Crush for introducing me to today's drinking vessels.  Always inspirational.

Cool Shit Monday: Outdoor Adventures

It's still cold.  I feel like I will be saying this for many, many months to come and it's boring.  It's like I'm in some Groundhog Day as a poor retail assistant whose only opening gambit with a customer is to discuss the weather.  I'm not sure why I insist on torturing myself by putting up things that remind me of summer when we are so far away from it.  But a bit of escapism never hurt anyone.  As long as you wake up before 'delusional', you'll be fine.  So come with me on a camping adventure!  I know some people hate camping, but here is some seriously cool shit that even the most anti-outdoor person would have to covet on some level.

You might be in the cold and rain, the person in the tent beside you might snore like a chainsaw, and the ants might have got into your Fruit Bursts, but these amazing Field Candy tents will make it all ok because you will be the coolest kid in the campground.  How could you be sad about being snuggled up inside a tent that looks like corduroy and has buttons??  YOU COULDN'T, I TELL YOU!

 

When I was a kid, cooking marshmallows over a bonfire ranked right up there with the best activities ever.  It was one of the pinnacles of childhood - fire + lollies = hullo!  We used to occasionally try smooshing the marshies between SuperWines but I was mostly just into pulling the charred outter of the marshy off with my teeth, then sucking the melted centre off the stick (trying to avoid bark etc).  I knew about smores from American TV shows but never fully appreciated their awesomeness until some American friends of mine made them for me with the proper ingredients - Graham Crackers, Jumbo White Marshmallows, and delicious chocolate (I prefer dark chocolate).  Food combo magic.  These ones below use homemade marshmallow which sounds pretty great to me.  Just make sure you don't get chocolatey fingers on your lovely quilty tent.

From Jenny Steffens Hobick

Sensible footwear.  There's a phrase that makes my lip curl distastefully.  Thankfully, Native shoes are sensible AND stylish.  Check out their hiking boots below.  I can't tell you that much about them as apparently they are so cool they don't need to give you product information, you should just be grateful to buy such coolness.  I do know that they're made of some special stuff that moulds to your foot.  Sounds gross but I'm sure it's useful.  I had a wander through their website and they have some seriously awesome casual shoes but these ones fit my theme best.  I feel like I'd want one of each colour to show them to best effect.  It's a shame I don't have 5 feet.  Not really actually.  I don't need five feet, no need to be greedy.  I'll just take the black ones.

Sleeping bags are not usually described as 'sexy' or 'hot' so when I heard about these I was dubious.  But I am now on board the Sexy Hotness Sleeping Bag bandwagon.  Especially after I saw the photo of the dude taking a leak against the tree in his SH bag.  They're not the highest rated sleeping bags (in terms of temperature) but they brag that they don't need it as they get 'cosy' once you're inside.  You can zip multiple bags together, or just unzip around the erogenous zone for... easy access.  The purple version also sports a karma sutra lining.  Love it.  You'll also have noticed that you use the middle zippers so you can walk around in your SH Bag instead of having to do the potato sack race hop.  It's all good news really.

So it's not exactly Glamping, but it is fun.  Get your smore on people and get ready for a camping adventure.

PS.  Friday's Frock post is still coming.  The weekend went a little differently than I had planned...

Cool Shit Monday: Childhood Fantasies

image: thefrenchpear via all the pretty pretties

I saw this tree house the other day and had one of those Swiss Family Robinson flashbacks.  No, I don't mean a flashback to the time I was stranded on a desert island with my family (that's a whole other story...), I mean to watching that quaint 60s Disney movie of the book where they build that incredible home.  When I was a kid, that totally seemed like the sweetest place anyone could ever hope to live.  There's something about a system of levers and pulleys to help run a household in completely unnecessary yet totally cool way that just floats my boat.  I think it's the lingering impression left by those awesome sequences in Sesame St where they show you things like the processes at a peanut butter factory.  Anyway, a tree house (a fancy one) still seems like a pretty cool idea.  So here are some other cool things that I might either put in my tree house or appeal the child in me.

And all the animals were their friends.  Aww...

You've probably seen this staircase.  It's been doing the rounds on Pinterest and facey.  But it would be a treat in my tree house.  I once did a school project when I was 8 in which I had to come up with a creative way to get to and from school.  I had to walk up and down a couple of hills so I decided that I would like to take a gondola (the aerial kind, not the boating kind) to the top of the hills, and a hydro slide down.  I still like this idea (yes, yes, I know there are many logical reasons why it would actually be crap) and this staircase puts me in mind of it.

I think it was my 7th birthday party where I had the Sweet Shop cake.  If you grew up in New Zealand or Australia, you know THE BOOK of birthday cakes that every home seemed to have.  I'm pretty sure it was a Woman's Weekly number.  I spent hours poring over that book, planning which cake I would have for an upcoming imaginary party.  There is a classic photo of me leaning on the table in front of the sweet cake and I look so stoked (in the same photo, one of my party friends is throwing a wobbly - also quite funny).  As soon as I saw this site and their beautiful creations, I was put in mind of that cake.  I don't know which of all these beautiful set ups I want.  I may just spend hours poring over them creating imaginary parties...

Bunks: a dorky hassle when you have to live in the same room in your brother because your big sister brings home an exchange student who stays for the better part of the year (clearly one of my life experiences), or the perfect excuse to share the fun and avoid sleep (remember that as a kid you didn't want to sleep.  Oh how things change)?  With these kick-arse bunks, there is no doubt it's the latter.  There are so many amazing kids beds out there to choose from I had trouble picking ones to show you.

Wonderland beds

Source: d'Home interiors

I think it's a compulsory that my childhood fantasy tree house has a cool reading room.  And it's very handy that Kid's Republic Bookstore in Beijing has created something pretty darn close to perfection.  I want to go here.  Now.  I wish to curl up on/in one of these shelves and read Roald Dahl and Enid Blyton.

I miss the limitless, logic-defying ideas of childhood!  Who wouldn't prefer a Swiss Family Robinson-style stranding to the Tom Hanks grown-ups version?  The rope swings and friendly elephants beat a bloodied volleyball and rampant facial hair any day.

Meet the Foodies

I figured that since starting this blog I have mentioned several different foods - delicious pops, cinnamon swirls and custard squares, red velvet swiss rolls, roast lamb and pudding - and waxed lyrical about them.  It's clear the food is a bit of a fixation for me.  I would go as far as tentatively describing myself as a Foodie.  The reason I do so tentatively as I find the label "Foodie" to be bandied about a little too easily these days.

To take an interest in food is, after all, a basic instinct of any growing species of plant, animal, or insect.  So to claim that you "love food" seems a little redundant to me.  Only those people who are unwell (literally) do not "love food", therefore to try and say you're a special kind of person who loves food seems a wee bit odd.  But it does appear that these days, there are a special kind of person.  So what is a foodie then?  They are so much more than a Goodie with a typo.  I googled it just to make sure.  Wikipedia says:
"foodies differ from gourmets in that gourmets are epicures of refined taste, whereas foodies are amateurs who simply love food for consumption, study, preparation, and news.^[1] Gourmets simply want to eat the best food, whereas foodies want to learn everything about food, both the best and the ordinary, and about the science, industry, and personalities surrounding food.^[2]"
Am I a foodie?  I'd perhaps call myself an amateur foodie.  An amateur amateur.  As with most other things in my life, I'm pretty lazy with food.  I am interested for sure.  I love cookbooks, cooking websites, cooking shows, and cooking magazines (I used to have a Taste subscription before I became a poor procreator).  I love trying new and interesting food and I am interested in processes and techniques in cooking.  I'm just not that interested in doing it in my own kitchen every day of my life.  I can cook and I do love to experiment but for the most part I tend to be a one-dish wonder kinda gal.  But just like the craft, I am surrounded by people who are so much more than an amateur amateur.  REAL foodies, and perhaps even the odd gourmet.  I could tell you about how much I love Heston Blumenthal or some other celebrity chef who I do not know from a bar of soap, but the real food inspirations in my life are people much closer to home.  Let me introduce you to the people who have taught me to love food.

One of my newer food inspirations is my friend Terry.  Terry is interesting.  In many ways, but we'll just keep it to a few reasons for brevity's sake.  She is of Vietnamese descent (her parents fled Vietnam to the States in the conflicts of the 70s), grew up in the States, married an American of Dutch descent, and moved to Dunedin, New Zealand a few years ago.  Terry and her husband, Jeff, happen to be two of the most social people I've ever encountered in my life.  I swear they host some sort of dinner party every night.  Having a 10 month old is only a minor obstacle in their varied social calendar.  In their brief time in Dunedin, they have befriended about half of the population and regularly enjoy inviting all of them over to their house.  At once.  One of the benefits of knowing half the world's population is that  they are really well connected and this transcends to food.  Or perhaps their good connections only go as far as food as this is what they base most of their friendships on - the ability to provide and appreciate good food.  Anyway, Terry's table is always laden with rabbit just shot by this friend, and kale just harvested by that friend, and special treats sent from the States by another.  She is so abundant with food ideas and advice that she has done what she should have done years ago and started a profile on facebook to share all these wonderful recipes and tips.  I know it will be a raving success because she knows half the world, after all.  Check it out if you happen to be the other half that hasn't met her yet - Phamily Cooking - Simple & Easy Family Recipes and Cooking Classes.  Oh and she loves to be talked about so leave her a message.  I'll know she'll be stoked that I mentioned her in my anonymous little blog :o)

Some of the deliciousness Terry served at a Peking Duck dinner (steamed buns at the back)

About as far away from Terry and her food fixation as one can be (while still being on my foodie list) is my Dad.  Food wasn't hugely varied and crazy and full of taste sensations when I was growing up.  Mum and Dad didn't have the funds or the energy to do that with 3 kids.  Having said that, we always ate well and food was well prepared.  We didn't have the typical disgusting batches of amorphous slop that was some amalgam of vegetables like some families did.  Things were rarely over or under cooked (except chops occasionally but I feel this was a reflection of the 80s rather than my parent's culinary skills), and they were basic but tasty.  Mum freely admits that cooking is not really her thing.  Not that she can't cook, she can.  Very well actually, but Mum lives life at a million miles an hour and food is the fuel that gets her from A to B.  It's kind of a pain to have to sit and savour anything at great length, let alone prepare it.  Mum has one of those asbestos gullets with which she is able to ingest steaming hot food and drink without a second thought.  Eat it and move on.  In truth, Mum does love food and she and I have had many fun times together in the kitchen, especially with baking.  I think her "just get it in" attitude towards food is a hang over of running a household with 3 kids for so long, and helping her Mum to run a household with 7 kids before that.
My father is the antithesis.  He takes so long to eat his food, half of it turns to a congealed lump by the time it reaches his mouth.  It doesn't help that he doesn't have that many teeth, but it's also in his nature. Dad does savour, he does enjoy.  He loves to think of himself as a foodie and eat good food.  It's all within fairly controlled boundaries (he's not a big fan of trying too many new recipes, just variations on the food he already knows he can cook) but he does try the new.  And he is awesome when it comes to trying wild food.  He's pretty competitive, my Dad, at least with things he think he can be good at.  So if it's spicy or weird, he'll gulp it down with a grin.  I remember as a kid that you earned some sort of imaginary "Dad Badge" if you sucked the marrow out of the bones of your meat, and extra credit if you enjoyed it.  He taught me to savour and enjoy food.  To appreciate all the things on the plate.  Even the weird stuff.

And the last food inspiration in my life is a significant one.  I've already mentioned my beautiful and talented cousins, Aja & Bianca, several times.  I've mentioned their food endeavour, Liana Raine Gourmet Artisan Pops, several times too.  It's a wonder it's taken these ladies as many years as it has to get into the food business.  What they don't know about food in Sydney isn't worth knowing.  A visit with them is an endless parade of visits to exquisite and eye-opening food experiences.  But the while they're inspirational, it's the reason behind their expertise that I'd like to talk about here.  Their mum, my Aunty Michele, is one of the most amazing people I know.  Full stop.  To talk about her only in relation to food seems a bit weak, but I'll contain my effusive praise of her to this one topic today.
Aunty Michele grew up in a pretty bloody shady part of Porirua (which is a pretty bloody shady place at the best of times), and came from a meat & 3 veg household.  If they were lucky.  When she met my Uncle, she and he ran as far away from Porirua as they could - they went to Africa.  And lived in a commune.  Seriously.  And so Aunty Michele's food adventure began in earnest.  By the time Aja and Bianca (and I) came along, Aunty Michele was well into creating and providing a vast of array of international cuisines as part of daily fare.  She fed us tabouleh, hummous, and curries in many forms, far before they became a cool part of food culture.  Aunty Michele finds inspiration for food from people.  She is a provider and a nurturer and food is one of the many ways she finds to do what comes to her naturally.  She looks to give the best of what she can to those who she loves.  I was lucky enough to live with Aunty Michele for a while and I can quite safely say that I have never eaten so well on a daily basis and probably never will again.  She showed (and continues to show) me that food is fuel but it's so much more than that.  It's connection.  I can't thank her enough for sharing this with me.

And so these are my Foodies.  The people who make me fall in love with the amazing variety and abundance of foods we have available to us in this lucky place.  It's nice to have people who remind you to be thankful for what you have and find the happiness in every morsel.

Cool Shit Monday: Wintery Wonders

It's bloody freezing here in Dunedin today and I'm sitting on my couch waiting for the snow to roll in.  I hope it does - what's the point in enduring biting cold wind and rain if it doesn't turn into pretty white snow flakes?  It's definitely a 'cool' Monday though.  So I thought I'd do some cool winter shit.

www.moderninkmag.com

Well firstly on a cold day you need some good reading material.  I do love a good book and there's nothing quite like curling up with one but I have recently discovered (I know I'm a bit behind the times) that there are a whole slew of online magazines, and they are FREE PEOPLE!  So you get to have all the awesome articles and info and hot tips and you can ignore the "How to Know If You're Needy or Nerdy" and other pointless fodder.  Actually, I don't tend to buy magazines that have those ridiculous "help" articles in them but these ones definitely stay away from anything of that ilk.  These are worth checking out but you will lose hours of your day in doing so.  Perfect for a cold day on the couch!

www.sweetlivingmagazine.co.nz

I am keen to add one of these beautiful patterns to my long list of "Things to Make".  I discovered one of their pattern books in Spotlight the other week and had been 'visiting' the book just to keep me interested (does anyone else do this?  Visit the things they want to buy, without actually buying them??), then I figured I could use this new fangled interweb thingy and I found all the patterns online, plus you can buy their gorgeous-looking merino yarn to make them with.  I have my eye on one of these dresses for Edie.  Keep her snuggly on cold Dunedin days.

Speaking of keeping Edie snuggly, I love these cute jackets from Hatley.  And as if they are sickeningly cute enough, you can get the matching gumboots.  The parcel from Aunty Natalie that I mentioned the other day contained this one.  Lucky Edie!  They don't ship to New Zealand unfortunately, but I'm sure you can find an American to post you one, plus some Reeces' Pieces.  Every parcel that comes from the States should have compulsory Reeces' Pieces.

Source: www.skinnytaste.com

Enough kiddy stuff, let's get down to some more cool shit for grown ups.  Roasts.  I didn't grow up in a house where we did the Sunday roast so I don't have that emotional comfort food attachment to the meal as so many others seem to.  However we bought a lamb roast the other day and cooked it with some taties from my father-in-law's garden (I could do a whole post about that garden.  It's like something out of a Beatrix Potter story), a bit of pumpkin and some steamed broccoli.  Even writing that does nothing to whet my appetite and trying to find an enticing picture/recipe of a lamb roast?  Forgeddaboutit (in my world anyway)!  But the roast we cooked was freakin' delicious.  The lamb was tender and tasty and the veges were sweet and perfectly cooked.  I get why people love a good roast.  There's no doubt it's perfect winter food (even if lamb roast is more Spring-like).  So here's a lamb roast for you to salivate over.  If you're that way inclined.


And no roast is complete without pudding.  I love rice pudding but I know it's one of the Zooey Deschanel of desserts - you either love it or hate it - so I think the more universally popular roast accompaniment is apple pie or crumble.  I believe you can tell a lot about a person by their crumble.  Specifically the crumbly part.  My crumble must have brown sugar, whole oats, coconut threads (desiccated coconut: what a waste of space that stuff is), and optional chopped almonds.  I'm not sure what this tells you about me, but I'm sure it's a lot.  The recipe in the picture below uses a cheat's method: toasted muesli, but I guess if you find a yummy toasted muesli it'd be acceptable.  I mostly loved the picture - it does look pretty good!  And I've thrown in a rice pudding for me and all the other Zooey Deschanel lovers out there.

Source: Adeline & Lumiere

With coconut and almonds - that's what I'm talkin' about.
Source: With Style & Grace

And of course you need the perfect spot to sit and knit and read e-mags and eat your roast & pudding while your gorgeous and perfectly self-sufficient child plays outside in the freezing cold in their styly raincoat and gumboots.  A couch is the natural choice on a winter's day.  A soft, squishy, stretch yourself out, kind of couch.  I found it hard to choose one so here are a selection.  Insert the one that tickles your fancy into your Winter Wonder fancy.  Get a bowl of pud and snunky in for the day.

Couch or Bed: Why choose?
Source: www.spraaksel.nl

Pillow Couch - it's calling to me...
Source: Design Squish

Library couch.  Oh to have a mezzanine library
Source: Southern Accents

Nana couch.  Perfect with the rice pud.
Source: www.posy.typepad.com

Cool Shit Monday: Jubilee Gems

Having just spent a lovely Holiday-Monday in Oamaru with Edie's Nana and Grandad, I feel it only fitting to doff my hat to the lady of the moment - Liz.  So today's Cool Shit has a Royal theme to it.  I only wish I was in Blighty so I could a) go the whole hog with bunting and street parties and devonshire teas (minus the rain); and b) have an extra day of holiday.

I'd like to kick off with some goodness that would make the plate even at Queenie's party: Red Velvet Swiss Roll.  This recipe comes from one of my favourite foodie blogs, The Pink Whisk.  I love the Pink Whisk for several reasons - the writer, Ruth Clemens, was runner-up on The Great British Bake-Off so she knows what she's doing, but yet she still retains an element of the chaotic.  The woman is relatable.  She creates deliciousness from her postage-stamp-sized kitchen and doesn't pretend to be a domestic goddess above the rest of us mere mortals (see Baking: An Expose for further clarification of my opinions on cooking writers etc).  But best of all, every recipe of hers I have tried has been a raging success.  She has lots of photos to guide you through and keeps it entertaining, not preachy.  My type of lady.

Next is a selection of Royal Awesomeness from another favourite UK website, Not On The High Street.  I suppose you could say it's a little like Etsy or Felt in that it's a site that operates as a host for "shops" or sellers.  But it just does it with so much more style.  The site itself is beautifully presented and they clearly have rigorous criteria in terms of quality and presentation for the vendors as there are no grainy, "taken in my living room" photos, or crappy macrame owls here.  Anyway, today for your viewing delight, we have some Jubilee ribbon - essential for any Jubilee party, some swirly lollipops in British colours, the only shoes you could ever wear to a Jubilee party , and finally a corgi jumper.  I want this jumper, bad. Geek chic - I think so!

Hello Lover.  I've been waiting for a pair of shoes like you for a long time...

A knitted cake.  It's a little random I know, but I knitted this wee cake for Edie's 1st Birthday.  I think it would fit nicely at a Jubilee party.  Also it's pretty freakin' cool so fits in well with our Monday theme.  The pattern came from a whole book of knitted cakes I got in a random Christmas Gift game.  Score.  And yes, my Mum finished it off for me.  Sigh.  As an aside, when I found the link for the book on Fishpond, I noted the book advertised next was for knitted meerkats.  And you thought cakes were a bit odd...

I did find these super cute knitted strawberries that really would be awesome at a Jubilee party - strawberries and cream: could it get more British and summery?!

Here are a couple of my favourite writers that represent Britain at its stereotypical best: Enid Blyton and PG Wodehouse.  The fabulous innocence of Enid Blyton's stories with their quaint turn of phrase, yet fabulous insight into the world at large - no wonder they still appeal to children today.  And P G Wodehouse and ultimate duo - Jeeves & Wooster.  Oh how I love the charming idiocy with which Bertie gets into dire straits and the subtle wit Jeeves uses to get him out.  It's a formula that never tires for me.

And if you're really feeling in the spirit, it's not too late to send HRH a personal message to acknowledge the 60 years since she sat on the Stone of Scone and had the crown balanced on her careful coif.  She even sends you a reply!

So long live Liz and other alliterative phrases that celebrate the Queen and her giving us a day off!  I hope you all had a nice cup of tea and a cake, and maybe hummed a wee bit of "God Save the Queen".      Jolly good!