Hanging on the Telephone

I think I'm returning to the 1950s if my purchases this week are anything to go by.  First of all I successfully bid for this beautiful Bakelite phone on ebay, and collected it yesterday.  I love it, it's a proper heavy handset, with a loud Brrring Brrring.  Ok, so it's not cordless, but that just means I have to sit down and chat without wandering about doing other things, and not giving the person on the other end my full attention.  I'm not too sure how it'll cope with call centres.  You know, the ones that say - "Your call is important to us, please listen to all the options before selecting.  Press 1 if you have an account with us, Press 2  if you find my voice patronising, Press 3 if you'd like to speak to a human being, Press 4 if you are losing the will to live"  etc., etc.  Maybe I just won't talk to them anymore.  And, of course, I'll still be able to use the phone in the event of a power cut.

And, second exciting purchase of the week,  while at City and Guilds yesterday, I popped to the charity shop at lunchtime and spotted this.  I  used to have a similar one, years ago, although it was without the legs. I'm not sure what happened to it , but I saw this, and had to buy it - £4.50 - bargain!  Fully intact, just needs a bit of polish.

I did wonder if perhaps I'll turn into a Doris Day character, pottering about in a frilly apron, making home cooked dinners and performing other domestic chores whilst listening to Housewives' Choice on the wireless.  But then, this evening, I had to change my clothes twice in the space of an hour; once after shaking a bottle of Balsamic dressing without checking the lid was on properly, and then shortly afterwards when I slightly over-dunked a biscuit in a cup of hot tea, resulting in a minor burn and yet another pair of trousers.  So, not quite Doris Day after all, then.  

Going back to City and Guilds - I have finished my penultimate project, which means that  I've only got one more to go.  (I just wanted to prove I know what penultimate means).

It's a machine stitched  vessel, containing a pottery vase -  and I made the flowers to go in it too.

Today, I've been up to London to the Mall Galleries, to see this ....

If you get the chance, you should go - there's some brilliant work, including several pieces by my tutor Fan My Flame who was stewarding there today.  After a couple of hours browsing and admiring , I walked back to the station, with a short detour through St James Park, to my favourite London view -

The sky really was that blue!