Acting up... again!
Last night I went to my acting class. Monday nights are not great for this as I am usually tired after trying to get back into work again after a lush weekend. Anyhow, one of our group asked if she could read us a poem she had written - to see if it was good enough for the show we are putting on. And so she read - a poignant heartfelt poem about her loneliness - and she talked about a friend who was with someone, but still lonely. Not sure where my mind was as she read, because as she read the last line ' her bed is a bed of nettles' I got confused and blurted out 'Is it a cat?'..... to the huge amusement of the rest of the group who have now labelled this my catch phrase.
Thankfully Ann took it in good spirit... of course I realised it was a metaphor but I think everyone in the group thinks I am a bit thick.
Heighho
I went to the most wonderful Art Deco sale on Sunday and bought the most beautiful pewter and green glass vase by Archibald Knox - I have been looking for one for three years now. Its not really Deco - more art Nouveau. but I love it.

100 things about me - got this one from Ruth.
1. I was born in Brighton
2. I have lived in Lancaster
3. I have lived in Ealing
4. I have lived in South London
5. I lived in Lewes
6. I went to university in Lancaster
7. I have a degree in History
8. I have an O level in Physics
9. I studied ballet until I was 16
10. I was the first in my school to get all the BAGA Gymnastic awards
11. I got the 5 star 3 A's athletics award
12. I have run 100 metres in under 13 seconds (just!)
13. I have met the Dalai Lama
14. I have met Lech Walesa
15. I have had dinner with Midge Ure
16. I have been to Peru
17. I have been married twice - both happily
18. I have an CIPD qualification
19. I am qualified in pyschometrics A and B
20. I am a qualified practitioner of MBTI steps 1 and 2
21. I am an Auntie
22. I am fan number 9034 of the SPARKS fan club
23. I play the piano by ear
24. I can dance CEROC
25. I can do an authentic Birmingham accent
26. I once played a Knight in a play
27. My favourite film is 'Amelie'
28. I lived in a tent for over 3 months... backpacking
29. I love creme brulee
30. My favourite TV Chef is Nigella Lawson
31. I love Christmas
32. I love Greece
33. I have been to America 3 times
34. I can ski
35. I have 3 very lovely girlfriends
36. I love fashion and love shopping
37. I can paint poppyfields in watercolours
38. I have run the Race for Life three times
39. I have two brothers and one sister
40. I have had dinner with Roger Black
41. I once won a competition for 'reading with expression'
42. I am not keen on mobile phones
43. I have over 20 necklaces with crosses
44. My favourite clothes shop is Jigsaw
45. I dislike being around smokers
46. I have over 200 pairs of shoes
47. I dislike spiders
48. As a 10 year old I once ran all the way down Snowdownia
49. I once polka'd all the way across the Fourth Road Bridge in Scotland
50. I have tried and enjoyed meditation
51. I used to sing in the school choir
52. I was once Parliamentary Clerk to the Lord Chancellor, Lord Mackay of Clashfern
53. I have appeared in HMS Pinafore and Pirates of Penzance
54. I used to have do 'Oral Examinations' of people..as to their means and liabilities
55. I can be very disorganised
56. I love doing things spontaneously
57. I have moments of intense happiness
58. I feel happy 99% of the time
59. I am allergic to dust
60. I have a cleaner called Enna
61. I am intolerant to wheat
62. I do a bit of yoga most days
63. I love very dark chocolate
64. My conservatory delights me
65. I have passionfruit growing in my garden
66. I have met Ken Livingston
67. I have seen 'The Jam' live
68. 'Madame Butterfly' is my favourite opera
69. I have travelled around Russia
70. I speak French, German and a little Spanish
71. I love art nouveau designs
72. I love and search out comedy
73. I help other people become better leaders
74. I hate washing up
75. I have read a lot of Richard Dawkins
76. I love walking by the sea
77. I like to cartwheel
78. I have broken my finger
79. I love dancing to the Kaiser Chiefs
80. I adore organic salmon
81. I like having time by myself
82. I have written a comedy/drama script for TV
83. I am footnoted twice in an archeaological dig report
84. I have had a caricature I did of a friend published
85. I took part in 800 year old induction ceremony for Mayor of City of London
86. I once made a pair of trousers without using a pattern
87. Quantum physics fascinates me
88. I always wear lipstick
89. I always like to have very clean teeth
90. I never iron bath towels or knickers
91. I like to buy clothes that don't need ironing
92. My Grandfather was a carpenter
93. My Grandpa was a miner
94. I have a string of pearls which were my Grandmothers
95. I read palms
96. I enjoy just being
97. I have a very lovely and loyal friend called Mick
98. I like my encounters with people to be positive
99. I like to sing and dance in front of the mirror
100.I love 'The Road Less Travelled'

Fashion tip number two
When buying new tops, jackets and skirts always be aware of where the bottom part of the garment ends.... and ensure you avoid it ending at the widest part of your body or legs - this can make you look at least size larger. Shorter tops, which end where your waistband starts can stop you looking bulky around the waist. If you are a bit 'hippy' then wear either three quarter or full length tailored jackets, which will make you look slimmer, or shorter jackets where the length sits just above the widest part of your hips - again tailored is best and can look more slimming is the jacket is undone. Make sure the shoulders of the jacket fits well - if they are slightly too wide then this may bulk you out and a smaller jacket worn undone can often make you look slimmer. If however you have narrow shoulders, then ignore this last rule - you will need wider shoulders to balance out your body.
For skirts, everyone will have at least one length which is more flattering than any other - they should end at a slimmer part of your leg. You have to be careful with short skirts as just an inch either way can make all the difference to how good your legs look - for example my legs look great between 17-18inch length and at 23/24 inch - but they look rubbish in between!
Always accentuate the best part of your body - this will detract from areas you are less keen on. Ask your friends which part of your body is your best feature.

The Cheltenham solution
I have been away on holiday staying with my sister in Cheltenham for a few days. We had fantastic weather, but best of all I finally tracked down not just one but two pairs of perfect white shoes for the summer - I have been looking for these for 3 months! My shoe collection, as many will know, is legendary, and why I still feel the need to add to it is anyone's guess... but I do and thoroughly enjoy having a shoe for every mood and occasion. I recently bought some emerald green dancing shoes from M&S - they are slightly 'bling' compared to my usual taste, but the wild bit in me just loves them, and when I danced in them the other night more men than usual told me that I looked stunning... although maybe it was the shorter than usual dress I was wearing... it kept riding up as I danced and I am sure my male partners had a bet to see who could get it to ride up the farthest.
I've decided to pepper my blog with occasional fashion tips - so the one for today is...
never buy anything unless it happens to look better than what you are actually wearing at the time.

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside...
especially in this weather. This is when being a Brighton belle comes into its own - jump off the train, or step elegantly on to the platfrom, race home, into a cozzie and off down the beach. Of course if you are like me, ie a bit wimpy on occasions, it then takes you at least ten minutes to get in to the sea. I'm alright with my legs - it's the stomach and shoulders where the icy grip is worse. Once you are in then it is fine. I now have a lovely companion who joins me on these forays into the sea - this just adds to the experience and stops me from, unkindly, phoning landlocked friends to tell them where I am.
But beach bumming is not without hazards - there are always plenty of small boys throwing stones around - I inadvertantly flashed my behind at the last group - that made them stop for a moment.
No arachnoid intruders for a while - they must be getting the message.

Beware of the spiders....'cos I'm sure they're gonna get you.
Yet another intruder to report - this time he had the temerity to run all over my sofa. However I didn't scream this time because I had company. Yes, thanks to football I had man in the house - he was partaking of a nice cup of Earl Grey at the time, but on seeing my obvious horror at the latest invader he gallantly gave chase and captured it. I asked him to take the spider to the end of the road - just to be sure it didn't run straight back in.
Maybe I need to see Paul McKenna and get rid of this phobia once for all.

Another spider has been out to scare the pants off me!
Even bigger than my last intruder, this one appeared in my living room and glowered at me from the corner as if to say 'Come on if you think you're hard enough!'
So I did. My attempts to deal with this arachnoid giant humanely, by using a huge bowl and card, were soon quoshed when I realised I could not bear to get closer than two foot to it. A less polite word than 'Yikes!' ran through my mind. It was time to call in the big boys - namely the Yellow Pages. Unfortunately there were no phone numbers listed for any spider catchers, so I had no recourse but to drop the Yellow Pages on top of the offending invader and then jump on top just to make sure there was no escape route.
I felt relieved, but awful afterwards.... I kept apologising to the Yellow Pages.