2024 Fashion On The Ration Challenge

Laura_Elsewhere

You're really having a time of it and no mistake, poor @PipneyJane! 

We spent both weekend days wading through box after box after interminable box of my unsorted stuff, actually sorting it properly. Two huge crates and four large boxes, plus other stuff (and an impromptu re-jigging of the tubes I keep my 250+ knitting needles in...), and it's all come down to one box of Stuff I Need To Do Stuff With, and one box of sorted stuff that really needs another sort-through further, and everything else seems to have gone. 

Idiotically, though, after a weekend of turning myself inside-out, I didn't look after my sleep last night, reading til nearly midnight, and so when I woke at half-four, that was it... I managed to go swimming at the quarry thanks to Mr E dropping me off and collecting me, bless him, and we've both been for our dental check-ups (no work for me (to my shock!), but three fillings for Mr E, tut tut...). 
I am very very tired, and not for the first time I really wonder how people managed in the war, especially in the cities that had many raids. Maybe it helped that everyone was shattered? 

First thing, I wore my striped-linen-blend pinafore dress (bought from Tu recently) with my green short-sleeved acrylic cardi (knitted last year), for swimming trip, but then changed, as both need washed (I love the vibrant green colour of the acryclic mohair and it was free as someone gave me it years back, but ohhhh, how my other clothes need washing due to the way acrylic makes me sweat...!). I am wearing that blue dress I bought last year from White Stuff at a very much reduced price, with its oddly-dated, elbow-length balloon sleeves shortened and folded back to cap-sleeved cuffs, and the sleeve-bands sewn to make a standing-band collar With a narrow red belt bought a couple of years back online, red mohair short-sleeved cardigan I knitted from yarn I was donated, and red plimsoles bought years and years agowith pale blue ankle-socks I knitted in 2017. 

PipneyJane

I never told you ladies about the other exhibition we visited last week, at the Musee Christian Dior in Granville.  It was his childhood home and they had an exhibition of clothes designed by him  - and by others at the House of Dior - split over 3 floors.  There were about 12 outfits on display that Dior designed - I didn’t count them - but none were the classic suit that you think of when you think of the New Look.  I was rather disappointed.  

These are the closest:



The garden of the house was more delightful, with roses to sniff and great views of the beach.



Granville itself is a delightful village.  It’s been a resort town since the late 19th century and has a classic, seaside casino hotel.  (Sorry, no photo.). It doesn’t look like a package-holiday-tourist-trap, more like somewhere Miss Marple would have visited back in the day.  

- Pip

PollyWollyDoodle

Lovely photo Pip!  Sorry you’re having such a time of troubles lately. Hope DH’s interview went well (shh). 

Today I have been to donate blood, wearing a Tu pink cotton shirt (charity shop) beige M&S chinos (CS last year), a FatFace denim jacket (CS 2 years ago) and white Stan Smith tennis shoes (CS last year).  Underwear, model’s own!   🤣 

Cherryfudge

It must be a tough time Pip - I hope you are back home soon (where you make the rules). It's good that your MiL is eating better... and that you've discovered some charity shops for a distraction.

I hope your DH's interview has gone /is going to plan. It's tough that he has it while his mother is in hospital. Might there be further interviews to come?

@Laura_Elsewhere, I particularly like the combination of light blue and red, very much to my taste Missus. In fact I think you are all putting me to shame - old jeans and old tee shirt here (light blue with a logo that makes believe I bought it in California on the beach, whereas I suspect it was Primarni in the Arndale centre). In my mind, though, I'm definitely in that red Dior dress. I love the New Look.

thriftwizard

PipneyJane said:

Please tell me more about your garlic processing, @thriftwizard.  We’ve got 9 growing, which I’ll harvest when we get home.

The lacto-ferment is just peeled cloves in brine, @PipneyJane! I've added a fresh chilli as I've also grown rather a lot of those; most are being dried but I left a few for current usage. The braid is exactly that; the roots cut off & any loose leaves pulled away, then the stems braided together in a traditional plait, adding further bulbs in as you go up, then string criss-crossed several times round the braid, tied at the top & a loop added so they can be hung somewhere dry, in our case the conservatory. The two best & biggest bulbs have just been put aside, also in the conservatory, for next year's "seed". But there's a second "bed" awaiting processing now, the spring-planted stuff - we'll be living with the smell for another couple of days!

weenancyinAmerica

@Pipney Jane - hope today has been a better day for MIL. Hugs for everyone.

PipneyJane

weenancyinAmerica said:

@Pipney Jane - hope today has been a better day for MIL. Hugs for everyone.

Thanks @weenancyinAmerica and everyone else for your best wishes.

DH and I went to see MIL this evening.  She’s a lot better than she was when I saw her on Saturday; alert and “with it”.  They’ve discontinued her oxygen.  They’ve given her two units of blood - packed cells - because she’s quite anaemic (HB of 7.4 in the old units, 74 in the new), but they’re still trying to figure out the cause of the anaemia.  It’s not in her sputum, urine or her faeces, which eliminates 3 major sites of bleeding and multiple causes.  She’ll be in hospital for a while yet.

- Pip


PS:  DH’s security interview went well.  It lasted 2 hours but he’s been told by his interviewer that his recommendation is to give him clearance.

CapricornLass

That's a nice photo of you, Pip.

Gem-gem

thriftwizard said:

PipneyJane said:

Please tell me more about your garlic processing, @thriftwizard.  We’ve got 9 growing, which I’ll harvest when we get home.

The lacto-ferment is just peeled cloves in brine, @PipneyJane! I've added a fresh chilli as I've also grown rather a lot of those; most are being dried but I left a few for current usage. The braid is exactly that; the roots cut off & any loose leaves pulled away, then the stems braided together in a traditional plait, adding further bulbs in as you go up, then string criss-crossed several times round the braid, tied at the top & a loop added so they can be hung somewhere dry, in our case the conservatory. The two best & biggest bulbs have just been put aside, also in the conservatory, for next year's "seed". But there's a second "bed" awaiting processing now, the spring-planted stuff - we'll be living with the smell for another couple of days!

Thank you @thriftwizard I have grown / harvested garlic for the first time. I think I may have pulled them up a little early as the bulbs are quite small. I have dried them off for a few week and was wondering what to do with them next. I was thinking of chopping / crushing them down and adding a little oil and freezing it down. And / or make some garlic butter pats and freeze. 

Do you hang them in your conservatory till you need them?
is that right that if I keep a couple back I can use them to grow next years garlic. Where do you store these? Do you do anything different to these until you plant them? When do you plant your first batch? 

@PipneyJane sorry to hear about your MiL. Hope it isn't long before the drs find out why she is anaemic. 

Today, I had a health check up. Weight - 1kg drop but still too high; blood sugar at 30 - very happy with this; told to keep up the good work with the exercise; cholesterol was 5.5 - need to do something about this. Need to cut down on butter / homemade ice-cream / homemade cake / homemade pies. I probably need a wartime ration diet!

No new coupon spends to declare. 

PipneyJane

Good morning All

We finally came home yesterday afternoon. MIL is considerably better, back to her level of “normal”.  They still have to do the OT assessment and to figure out continuing care, but it’s possible she’ll be discharged by Monday.  We’ll pop down and see her next week.

I’m just catching up on the last two episodes of Sewing Bee.  No spoilers, just a question/observation/exasperation:  why don’t people pin their pattern pieces to the fabric they’re cutting out???  

Seriously, it’s something I’ve noticed all the way through the current series.  Nobody pins down their patterns to the fabric.  The sewers weight down the pattern pieces but that won’t help if a) you’re trying to fit every piece into a tight block of fabric, and b) you’re trying to accurately cut on the bias (because one slight slip and you’ve lost your 45 degree angle).  

ARRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!

- Pip