Weekends are not very relaxing lately. I have too many things going on at the same time and little time to spend on myself. Some time ago I was invited for a party to celebrate a wedding. I knew the happy couple not so well, but knew a good old friend of mine would be there and off I went - being far too tired and not at all in the mood for partying. But then, one has to celebrate, when the occasion arises, no? Off I went, with the good shoes and a dress which has seen slimmer times, but did still fairly well. I had lovely food, good conversation, good music to dance and especially the best time sitting with my friend in the corner of the so-called bar, sipping coffee and chatting away wildly about the new colours for her kitchen, the pros and cons for curtains in a small room and the plans to do a visit to the "Gardens of England" sometime in the next 35 years, as long as we can still totter along without those gashtly little helps to walk.
And there and then it dawned to me: I am happily settling down in Middle Age! Let the others get married and do the dancing, I look for comfort and good company! I do not want to dance until my poor feet cannot walk another 3 steps and I am so out of breath that the heart attack seems imminent. I rather smoke a cigarette and have the second coffee and talk about the latest art exhibition in Venice(which I unfortunaltey could no see, but had read about) and the enlightment that I will not need any longer to go to the Seychelles to have a good holiday. British Isles and austrian mountains will do for me, thank you very much. And what is nicer than to sit on your comfortable chair and watch the others around you doing the young thing? The anxious look a woman displays, when she would like to dance but nobody is asking her? No, thank you.
In the end, it is easy. Middle Age is still described as the hard part of life. Not true. The hard part is definitively being young and having to find your way around, accepting that hard work lies before you, most probably you will have to change jobs for x times in your life - with the probability of doing something for the pure need to sustain your family and not for pleasure - and no security for a happy pension in sight. Most probably you will get divorced once in your life time - statistically at least. Before that you will have to find THE mate, who will be most promising in relation to fun, sex, love and friendship, children and then also the pension plan, all in this order. First things first.
The hard part of Middle Age is to accept that there are many thing you will not do any more.
You will not loose those 13 kilos and have a body as you had in your twenties (and you thought you were overweight then!!!) - unless you get a fulminant cancer and die. Not a slimming cure which appeals to me. And your hair is going to be thinner, your patience will wear much quicker out with bores and unkind people, you will know what the worth of money is and what it is worth to take up with to have it. You will think twice. You will make fewer plans and stick to them much more, because you know, that it will be worth it. I for one have at least two big projects up my sleeves, besides furthering my working career and accompanying the children into a hopefully optimistic future. But there will be space for my own things - and - God, good genes and modern medicines willing - I have some 40 years in front of me which I intend to use wisely and full of joy and fun.
In your old friends you know what you have - you have come to love them for their lovely sides and can manage not to get upset by their borish and childish parts - let them be and get a life. Changing other people is an idea of young people, which always will go wrong.
Essential insight: Learn to be happy in your own company, which will make you the best company for others, because you do not expect nothing but the pure fact of being there and having a good time.
It is such a relief!! Welcome in good old middle age! Welcome to the happy few who have understood this fact and are not trying to dress a mutton as lamb or have to prove that being a rebel is cool ot do have to change husbands or wifes for the same model, but 27 years younger. How exhausting. Welcome to those who have shifted their interest in life from a battle with the haircolour to the exiting game of good, and I mean really good, conversation.
I will know look more at this new found feeling of contentment. Curious what will come out of that. Great expectations? Falling in the trap again?
My dear old mother in her infinite wisdom said to me the last time we met: You know, the only thing that really matters is that you are in good health and have four healthy children. All the rest should not bother your. Go on do your stuff and be happy.
Clever old mummy - do admit!
Sunday, 15 July 2012
Friday, 1 June 2012
It is already JUNE!
It is the first of june - and theoretically we should be in full blown summer. But, as it looks this weekend will be about 10 degrees. Well. We shall have to make to do... But last week end we spent dining on the terrasse and sitting outside in the evening and chatting away, being fumed in by our neighbours active BBQ activities. The dogs were mostly hanging around like dead flies or lying flat on their bellies to cool down...
But back to reality: Tonight I will go to a party for the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II - great idea, even if I do not know what exactly to expect. She is a great lady - has been working for the last 60 years without having a life for herself. I think this deserves respect, even if you are not a Royalist.
Other big news is, that I have a child doing his BAC - a first child finishing school is a big change, I can tell you. I can hardly imagine, how life will feel, when he will be away at university. But then, this is normal and I am afraid, that I will have no patience to suffer the empty nest syndrom....
Will keep you posted.
Have a lovely beginning of the summer!!
Jola
Monday, 7 May 2012
Les Parfums de Rosine, Paris
Well. If you had ever did have doubts of going to Paris on May, I can set your mind not at a rest. It is beautiful, fresh, overwhelming, funny and utterly charming. Even surreal - inspite of all the tourists running around sweating and NOT dressed, alost not washed. Paris can stand it and it feels like an old lady who has seen it all and just shrugs her left shoulder and goes on with the business of beauty. It does not matter. Yesterday I was on the way to have dinner with dear old friends and spent hours in the taxi at 6pm, not a good idea. Passing by the Arc de Triomph I saw a young, radiant japanese couple, sitting in the sun, she in her bridal merengue dress and he next to her on the bench and it was just charming.....
But to those latest musts for a Parisvisit! Getting married is not yet on the list. Scent is!!!
"Les Parfums de Rosine" is a delightful little shop in the right hand corner of the garden, right in the back, of the Palais Royal in Paris. Actually my friend Susanne has discovered it and since a while has been a faithful follower of those magnificent scents - all around roses! But she is a lucky girl, every scent on her smells divine and we others around stay in awe of her natural ability to pick out the most marvelous scents on the market. I wonder, why nobody has - until now! - discovered her talent.
It has now been already a while, that "Roses" do have a great come-back in scents and even skincare. There are several "roses" on the market right now, in all sorts of disguises. I like, I have to confess, the roses of Frédéric Malle and the ones here, of Rosine.
 |
| Mademoiselle Pauy, fountain of patience |
When I am in Paris, time is scarce and has to be filled in with all the things I want to do and see. But in this case, time was not an issue. The lovely and very kind saleslady had all the patience of the world to sniff everthing with us through, we took our time and had a good chat about ingredients and impressions - all things important in choosing a scent and an essential part in the pleasure involved doing so. No hushing and pressing on to buy something - a clever way of making the customer long to come back!
Next time you are in Paris, by all means pop into the little gem of a shop in the galeries of the Palais Royal...
And next time, when I am in Paris I shall have to go the the little shop we discovered in the Rue Richelieu de Patricia de Nicolay, with all of those gorgeous scents of her.... No rest for the wicked!
Saturday, 28 April 2012
Nancy Mitford: Novels and other books
Favourite novels and comfort reading - shortest possible description of a great passion of mine: Nancy Mitford and her work.
And then shortly behind, all the Mitford family - they are a bunch of very different people. The only brother died too early, but would have been as interesting as his 5 sisters, I am sure.
Nancy is the oldest of the siblings and started early to write to earn some money - she always suffered under the fact, that she never attended a school, but was taught at home, which means, she read the library up and down and did little else. She started to become a real writer when she moved to Paris, out of love - and stayed there ever after, even after the love of her life, the "Colonel" in her most famous novel, did marry somebody else. They settled down for a cosy friendship and she went on to love Paris and buy dresses at Christian Dior.
What I like in her novels is the depiction of the high society in England and France, preWWII and in the 1950ies and 60ies - too blissfull to not know. Duff Cooper, among other things english Ambassador to Paris in the 1950ies, was a great fan of her novels and then later her historic biographies, which are only little known - which is very unfair, as they are not only a great read, but also very good researched. ( I studied history, so believe me here for once!) She always loves her subjects and therefore we own her some of the most amusing and understanding biographies about Louis XIV, the Marquise de Pompadour, the lovestory between Voltaire and Mme de Chatelet - and a wonderful understanding biography about Frederic the Great. Especially the biographies are rare to find nowadays - I bought the Voltaire after much looking for it in the internet. Frederik and "Pomp", as she called her, are available at Penguins.
But there is good news: I have had a good dive on Amazon and the novels and even the biographies (!!!) are due to be published again - hurra!
Now for a short introduction to her novels. I cannot say, which one I love more, they are all delightful. Important to know is, that they are always told from the point of view of Fanny, a mousy cousin, who has been left behind by her mother as a baby to grow up with an aunt and who always spend her holidays with her delightful cousins in the countryside - they grow up together. Through all the novels the figure of Fanny tells us the stories and we can follow her way in life too, becoming a wife and mother and, in the last novel, wife of the english Ambassador in Paris in the 1960ies - with all included....
The Pursuit of Love is more or less a history of Nancy´s english childhood in disguise: the Radleys, their apparently always unheated countryhouse Alconleigh, in the center Linda and her life, from being a debutante, marrying the wrong man twice and finding love - I will not tell more not to spoil the pleasure in reading... Wonderfully witty and lovely english...
Love in a Cold Climate is the story of the beautiful Polly, her grand and very important parents and her cousin, the equally beautiful Cedric, who refers to himself as "One" and knows all about antiques and facecreams. The description of the dinner parties at the country house in the 1930ies is one out of 1000.
The Blessing is a story of an "english rose", Grace, getting married to a french marquis and the ups and downs of this marriage in the Paris of the 1950/60ies. Delightful descriptions of dinnerparties and the Beau Monde in Paris at that time - or of a holiday in the summer in the family house in the south of France.
Don´t tell Alfred finally is the story of the couple Fanny and Alfred as ambassadors in the 1960ies in Paris - many of the old faces are in here again and it is hilarious and a must read for every diplomat in the world. Actually, those were the good times I so often refer to...
These are her main novels, all to be found in a great Nancy Mitford Omnibus by Penguin. There are some others which have been reedited, I must admit, that I did not read them, mostly earlier books, two or three. But I have read more or less everything by her and about her. For a biography of herself, I would suggest the Biography written by Harold Acton after her death - he was a part in her set and knew her very well. He also "understood" her, which is not always the case in biographies.
Another book, which gives an insight in the family and the relations with her sisters and the beloved brother Tom are the Letters of the Mitford Sisters - a wonderful read in itself! As one sister was the beautiful Diana, first married to a Guiness, then falling in love with Sir Oswald Mosley; another was Decca, a convinced communist, married to a chap who went to the Spanish Civil War, became a widow and left to live in America; Unity was a devouted follower of Hitler and shot herself when she understood, what was going on; Pam, a great house and Horse woman; the youngest is Deborah, Dowager Duchess of Devonshire. A broad variety indeed. And a history of England at its best, in numberless letters, often so witty and hilaroius, making jokes when they are sad and just carrying on - indeed the best of british, I `d say.
And then shortly behind, all the Mitford family - they are a bunch of very different people. The only brother died too early, but would have been as interesting as his 5 sisters, I am sure.
Nancy is the oldest of the siblings and started early to write to earn some money - she always suffered under the fact, that she never attended a school, but was taught at home, which means, she read the library up and down and did little else. She started to become a real writer when she moved to Paris, out of love - and stayed there ever after, even after the love of her life, the "Colonel" in her most famous novel, did marry somebody else. They settled down for a cosy friendship and she went on to love Paris and buy dresses at Christian Dior.
What I like in her novels is the depiction of the high society in England and France, preWWII and in the 1950ies and 60ies - too blissfull to not know. Duff Cooper, among other things english Ambassador to Paris in the 1950ies, was a great fan of her novels and then later her historic biographies, which are only little known - which is very unfair, as they are not only a great read, but also very good researched. ( I studied history, so believe me here for once!) She always loves her subjects and therefore we own her some of the most amusing and understanding biographies about Louis XIV, the Marquise de Pompadour, the lovestory between Voltaire and Mme de Chatelet - and a wonderful understanding biography about Frederic the Great. Especially the biographies are rare to find nowadays - I bought the Voltaire after much looking for it in the internet. Frederik and "Pomp", as she called her, are available at Penguins.
But there is good news: I have had a good dive on Amazon and the novels and even the biographies (!!!) are due to be published again - hurra!
Now for a short introduction to her novels. I cannot say, which one I love more, they are all delightful. Important to know is, that they are always told from the point of view of Fanny, a mousy cousin, who has been left behind by her mother as a baby to grow up with an aunt and who always spend her holidays with her delightful cousins in the countryside - they grow up together. Through all the novels the figure of Fanny tells us the stories and we can follow her way in life too, becoming a wife and mother and, in the last novel, wife of the english Ambassador in Paris in the 1960ies - with all included....
The Pursuit of Love is more or less a history of Nancy´s english childhood in disguise: the Radleys, their apparently always unheated countryhouse Alconleigh, in the center Linda and her life, from being a debutante, marrying the wrong man twice and finding love - I will not tell more not to spoil the pleasure in reading... Wonderfully witty and lovely english...
Love in a Cold Climate is the story of the beautiful Polly, her grand and very important parents and her cousin, the equally beautiful Cedric, who refers to himself as "One" and knows all about antiques and facecreams. The description of the dinner parties at the country house in the 1930ies is one out of 1000.
The Blessing is a story of an "english rose", Grace, getting married to a french marquis and the ups and downs of this marriage in the Paris of the 1950/60ies. Delightful descriptions of dinnerparties and the Beau Monde in Paris at that time - or of a holiday in the summer in the family house in the south of France.
Don´t tell Alfred finally is the story of the couple Fanny and Alfred as ambassadors in the 1960ies in Paris - many of the old faces are in here again and it is hilarious and a must read for every diplomat in the world. Actually, those were the good times I so often refer to...
These are her main novels, all to be found in a great Nancy Mitford Omnibus by Penguin. There are some others which have been reedited, I must admit, that I did not read them, mostly earlier books, two or three. But I have read more or less everything by her and about her. For a biography of herself, I would suggest the Biography written by Harold Acton after her death - he was a part in her set and knew her very well. He also "understood" her, which is not always the case in biographies.
Another book, which gives an insight in the family and the relations with her sisters and the beloved brother Tom are the Letters of the Mitford Sisters - a wonderful read in itself! As one sister was the beautiful Diana, first married to a Guiness, then falling in love with Sir Oswald Mosley; another was Decca, a convinced communist, married to a chap who went to the Spanish Civil War, became a widow and left to live in America; Unity was a devouted follower of Hitler and shot herself when she understood, what was going on; Pam, a great house and Horse woman; the youngest is Deborah, Dowager Duchess of Devonshire. A broad variety indeed. And a history of England at its best, in numberless letters, often so witty and hilaroius, making jokes when they are sad and just carrying on - indeed the best of british, I `d say.
Wednesday, 25 April 2012
In praise of a clear desk
Since I started to work again, I am battling against a desk which is overtaken every day by papers, notices and all sorts of things, like used tea mugs, not working pens, a picture of my children, memosticks for shopping lists in the supermarket in the evening ( you cannot imagine the catastrophe, if there is no Nutella in the house!) and then also urgent files, very urgent files and files which would have been neede to sort out long before I started to work here - all very peacefully waiting with longing eyes - as far as files can have eyes - for being treated and filed and archived.
It is a constant battle. Until now I win - which give me the thought whether this is a battle worth battling?? There are two schools of desks: the ones which are completedly clean and look like coming out of a Interior Decoration Magazine. The others are so chaotic, that one comes into the room and turns on one's heels as it seems completedly useless to look for something. But both models work. Most of us are in the middle of those two extremes.
An empty, shining and very very big and clean desk can mean several things. Or there is someone not in the office at all and it is a showroom in a shop. Or the person concerned is not important, i.e. has nothing to do and fills in a purely decorative existence. Or he/she is so well organised, that we should be very careful and in awe of working with somebody like that: it means, that all is going over the desk, but is treated immediately and nothing lingers and waits until the Day of St. Nobody. So it is a message between real power and real powerlessness and it needs a good eye to see the difference.
The superchaos table might as well be a treacherous thing: Someone is overwhelmed with work and lost in oblivion between piling up dossiers? Or not well organised? Or simply very creative - most often I have noticed, that those, who are working in this creative chaos version always find everything in a matter of minutes and normally have everything stored safely away in their heads as well - The question now is, who is more admirable - the empty or the chaotic table-owners? And where are you?
Remember the feeling, when you were still going to school? Spending "hours" to arrange everything very neatly on your desk before starting to do your homework? It felt like being in charge and control. And it gave pleasure to the task of doing your homework in the best way possible ( ok, there have been many many times, where I just smeared the stuff down and was done with it). But I remember very clearly the pleasure of a well organized and clear desk. Nowadays I see it in the room of my daughter - the time which goes into preparing to make her desk right is sometimes longer than the actual work she has to do.
I take it as a good habit, some sort of concentration thing. A clear desk gives you freedom to act and to decide what to do next. But nothing against a full desk, even if it shouts chaos - sometimes a very creative chaos.
It is a constant battle. Until now I win - which give me the thought whether this is a battle worth battling?? There are two schools of desks: the ones which are completedly clean and look like coming out of a Interior Decoration Magazine. The others are so chaotic, that one comes into the room and turns on one's heels as it seems completedly useless to look for something. But both models work. Most of us are in the middle of those two extremes.
An empty, shining and very very big and clean desk can mean several things. Or there is someone not in the office at all and it is a showroom in a shop. Or the person concerned is not important, i.e. has nothing to do and fills in a purely decorative existence. Or he/she is so well organised, that we should be very careful and in awe of working with somebody like that: it means, that all is going over the desk, but is treated immediately and nothing lingers and waits until the Day of St. Nobody. So it is a message between real power and real powerlessness and it needs a good eye to see the difference.
The superchaos table might as well be a treacherous thing: Someone is overwhelmed with work and lost in oblivion between piling up dossiers? Or not well organised? Or simply very creative - most often I have noticed, that those, who are working in this creative chaos version always find everything in a matter of minutes and normally have everything stored safely away in their heads as well - The question now is, who is more admirable - the empty or the chaotic table-owners? And where are you?
Remember the feeling, when you were still going to school? Spending "hours" to arrange everything very neatly on your desk before starting to do your homework? It felt like being in charge and control. And it gave pleasure to the task of doing your homework in the best way possible ( ok, there have been many many times, where I just smeared the stuff down and was done with it). But I remember very clearly the pleasure of a well organized and clear desk. Nowadays I see it in the room of my daughter - the time which goes into preparing to make her desk right is sometimes longer than the actual work she has to do.
I take it as a good habit, some sort of concentration thing. A clear desk gives you freedom to act and to decide what to do next. But nothing against a full desk, even if it shouts chaos - sometimes a very creative chaos.
Friday, 20 April 2012
Formal dinner anybody?
A little while ago an old friend of mine took me to a very posh dinnerparty - I did not know anybody and felt at the beginning quite out of my comfort zone. Actually I am quite out of training these days concerning dinnerparties, small talk, charme offensives and dressing up to an event outside my office, the kitchen at home and my tour to the supermarket.
But, surprise, I enjoyed myself very much indeed!
In my humble experience of the olden days the best recipe for a successful party is the combination of three main factors: The right mixture of people, not too many, not too few, then delicious and not overcomplicated food (or, if you must have the lobstercocktail, prepare it in mouthwateringly easy to handle bits and pieces), enough good stuff to drink and - fast becoming a dying out artform - be delighted to receive your guests, nicely made up and dressed to the occasion. Easy.
As a matter of fact, it is not really elegant to have too much choice in food and overcomplicated dishes, which sometimes make people uncomfortable, as they do not know how to handle the lobster cutlery and have to look intelligent while figuring out on the spot. Very often the simple dishes are the most relished - here comes the idea of comfort food fully to its meaning. Known food makes people relax and enjoy what they have served in front of them. Too much choice makes a bad belly and consequently grumpy guests! But deliciously and carefully prepared dishes do not have to be complicated.
The same goes for drinks - champagne for aperos, for dinner water and one good wine goes a long way to jolly conversation and fun. No need to have red and white wine, ports of different centuries and then also 35 different digestives. By any means serve a nice Grappa or a Whisky with the coffee, but that' s it.
It is a well known truth, that a dinnerparty does not need to cost much money in order to be a success.
Then the people - here it starts to become interesting. Rarely the person who cherishes to go to an event in the full conscience of not knowing a single soul in the place. We all love to find a well known face and normally stir immediately to this safe haven in the sea of unknown co-guests. Which does not exclude that meeting new people is one of the true pleasures of an evening well spent.
I always make it a rule, that everybody invited knows at least one person well enough to have a conversation starter. This breaks the ice and makes new introductions look effortless. The mixture of people is also important - depending on the number of invitees you have. If you have a huge party for more then 50 people, mix all you want. If you have a dinner for 8, you have to be a little bit more careful for political convictions, religious beliefs, maritial problems and belief it or not, vegetarian activits or the odd artist...
Last but not least we come to the broad smile, oozing the pleasure of opening your home to guests and infusing their arrival with the imminent expectaion of a splendid, funny and interesting evening. I think those adjectives were still written high in the agenda in the 1950ies, only to die a slow and agonising death during the 70ies and beyond ending in the feeling, that sometimes the guest seems to be the enemy indeed.
I have always thought that getting washed, combed and dressed in a clean shirt together with a intention to have a lovely evening are the basics which a guest should bring to a party. I may sound once again the preacher here, but I cannot help the impression that it has been a rule of good upbringing lost to our contemporaries to do one's duty at a party: It is a give and take and the success of an evening can fall and rise with the effort guests put into singing for their dinner. And believe me, it is not an impression I have alone. Many a hostess sometimes asks herself, if it is really such a calvaire for people being invited and pampered and then not opening their mouth a whole evening and afterwards not even having the slightest need to thank for an evening which quite some thought and effort was put in to please them. It seems their birthright to receive, but not to give. I wonder whether we should not change the system and offer even to pay guests to attend a dinnerparty.... It would be a good source of income for impoverished aristocracy.
There is still a bubble surviving in diplomatic lives where dressing up for the occasion, preparing delicious food and taking care of beautiful settings are also fast on their way of becoming an endagered species.
So, enjoy, wehnever you get the oportunity and while it lasts!
PS: Let me know, if you need a count, a baroness or even a princess, ok?
But, surprise, I enjoyed myself very much indeed!
In my humble experience of the olden days the best recipe for a successful party is the combination of three main factors: The right mixture of people, not too many, not too few, then delicious and not overcomplicated food (or, if you must have the lobstercocktail, prepare it in mouthwateringly easy to handle bits and pieces), enough good stuff to drink and - fast becoming a dying out artform - be delighted to receive your guests, nicely made up and dressed to the occasion. Easy.
As a matter of fact, it is not really elegant to have too much choice in food and overcomplicated dishes, which sometimes make people uncomfortable, as they do not know how to handle the lobster cutlery and have to look intelligent while figuring out on the spot. Very often the simple dishes are the most relished - here comes the idea of comfort food fully to its meaning. Known food makes people relax and enjoy what they have served in front of them. Too much choice makes a bad belly and consequently grumpy guests! But deliciously and carefully prepared dishes do not have to be complicated.
The same goes for drinks - champagne for aperos, for dinner water and one good wine goes a long way to jolly conversation and fun. No need to have red and white wine, ports of different centuries and then also 35 different digestives. By any means serve a nice Grappa or a Whisky with the coffee, but that' s it.
It is a well known truth, that a dinnerparty does not need to cost much money in order to be a success.
Then the people - here it starts to become interesting. Rarely the person who cherishes to go to an event in the full conscience of not knowing a single soul in the place. We all love to find a well known face and normally stir immediately to this safe haven in the sea of unknown co-guests. Which does not exclude that meeting new people is one of the true pleasures of an evening well spent.
I always make it a rule, that everybody invited knows at least one person well enough to have a conversation starter. This breaks the ice and makes new introductions look effortless. The mixture of people is also important - depending on the number of invitees you have. If you have a huge party for more then 50 people, mix all you want. If you have a dinner for 8, you have to be a little bit more careful for political convictions, religious beliefs, maritial problems and belief it or not, vegetarian activits or the odd artist...
Last but not least we come to the broad smile, oozing the pleasure of opening your home to guests and infusing their arrival with the imminent expectaion of a splendid, funny and interesting evening. I think those adjectives were still written high in the agenda in the 1950ies, only to die a slow and agonising death during the 70ies and beyond ending in the feeling, that sometimes the guest seems to be the enemy indeed.
I have always thought that getting washed, combed and dressed in a clean shirt together with a intention to have a lovely evening are the basics which a guest should bring to a party. I may sound once again the preacher here, but I cannot help the impression that it has been a rule of good upbringing lost to our contemporaries to do one's duty at a party: It is a give and take and the success of an evening can fall and rise with the effort guests put into singing for their dinner. And believe me, it is not an impression I have alone. Many a hostess sometimes asks herself, if it is really such a calvaire for people being invited and pampered and then not opening their mouth a whole evening and afterwards not even having the slightest need to thank for an evening which quite some thought and effort was put in to please them. It seems their birthright to receive, but not to give. I wonder whether we should not change the system and offer even to pay guests to attend a dinnerparty.... It would be a good source of income for impoverished aristocracy.
There is still a bubble surviving in diplomatic lives where dressing up for the occasion, preparing delicious food and taking care of beautiful settings are also fast on their way of becoming an endagered species.
So, enjoy, wehnever you get the oportunity and while it lasts!
PS: Let me know, if you need a count, a baroness or even a princess, ok?
Tuesday, 27 March 2012
Why don't you, for a change...
...give away the stuff you have not used in the last two years? I mean seriously everything - from bedding to shoes and cooking pans to halfused shampoo bottles in your bathroom, tablecloth, stored pullovers and old post packages?
...finish what you have? Before you next time buy something for your bathroom, you use everything you have stored as a hamster - but everything, every little shampoo, soap and bodylotions and shower gel? Not to forget the collection of hotel samples!!!
...make a raid in your kitchen cupboards? Do not go to the supermarked, but make meals in using only ingredients you have at home? Allowed to buy are fresh vegetables/fruit and bread.
...make a swap party with you friends - or a market? Organise it with all the things which are still good or you do not want to give away for nothing, but do not really want to earn serious money with it? Invite all your contacts and tell them to bring a friend - new aquaintances come for free!
...edit your addressbook, email contacts and telephonebook on your telephone? Store them in a little USB stick, just in case, but have the essentiels at hand without scrolling 150 names for the letter "M".....
....take the pictures down and have bare walls for a while? It trains the eyes and makes you aware once again of your surroundings. Have you noticed the light on the floor in your living room?
.... make a habit of changing the decoration of your home with the seasons? Easiest done with flowers of the market and the odd lovely cashmere shawl on your bed from october onwards. Or, as it is spring now, out with the azaleas, in with the tulips and out with the warm duvets ( ok, not yet!) and in with the beautiful wool blanket....
.... just have fun???
...finish what you have? Before you next time buy something for your bathroom, you use everything you have stored as a hamster - but everything, every little shampoo, soap and bodylotions and shower gel? Not to forget the collection of hotel samples!!!
...make a raid in your kitchen cupboards? Do not go to the supermarked, but make meals in using only ingredients you have at home? Allowed to buy are fresh vegetables/fruit and bread.
...make a swap party with you friends - or a market? Organise it with all the things which are still good or you do not want to give away for nothing, but do not really want to earn serious money with it? Invite all your contacts and tell them to bring a friend - new aquaintances come for free!
...edit your addressbook, email contacts and telephonebook on your telephone? Store them in a little USB stick, just in case, but have the essentiels at hand without scrolling 150 names for the letter "M".....
....take the pictures down and have bare walls for a while? It trains the eyes and makes you aware once again of your surroundings. Have you noticed the light on the floor in your living room?
.... make a habit of changing the decoration of your home with the seasons? Easiest done with flowers of the market and the odd lovely cashmere shawl on your bed from october onwards. Or, as it is spring now, out with the azaleas, in with the tulips and out with the warm duvets ( ok, not yet!) and in with the beautiful wool blanket....
.... just have fun???
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