Merry Christmas

 Hello everyone!!! We're at home after a wonderful day with family. As pretty much every year since I started blogging, we got the use of the big lounge where my parents live. We were alas down the whole side of the family that came with my lovely step dad, but mine were out in full force.
I really wanted to get a photo of the table setting, which changes every year, but by the time I escaped from the kitchen, there were a few bodies already eating.

 Another view of the tale. Instead of lining up one long line of trestles, we doubled the width, so it was more communal.

 Mum made a gorgeous centre piece out of a mini bird cage, lilies, greenery, and some incredibly pretty reindeer decorations. Chris and Paul made the christmas crackers before dinner.

 A wee group of Xmas trees and baubles. Mum made the trees as shop samples a few years ago.

 The napkins had a stylised peacock feather design. I have to be honest and say that I prefer red, gold and green Christmas decor and always will. But the Mother quite likes to mix it up and this blue and white look so who am I to argue?

 A snap of the buffet. MrC tucking into some chicken. It all looks pretty messy in the photo but it was pretty delicious. as always, everyone contributes and I get into the kitchen and make it all happen on the day.

 Speaking of MrC, here he is in his gorgeous new shirt. Can you see the pocket his glasses case is poking out of? Or the button placket? I am teaching a promising sewist how to pattern match and this was her first make. She is the real deal, right?

It's pretty subtle, but this shirt has both the positive and negative prints in it - the white on indigo is across the yoke, on the cuffs and lining the collar. We LOVE this shirt, almost as much as the one currently being made!
After dinner we opened gifts, had a wee concert with my nieces singing and me showing off Constance's new songs.
Something I learned today - my new favourite topping for pavlova is rhubarb and strawberry compote, and passion-fruit pulp. Delicious!

Merry Cristmas to you all, wherever you are and however you spend it xoxo

Inside my hendbeg

My hendbeg. I did not realise when I bought it earlier this year that it was a knock off Cath Kidston. Sorry Cath, but not having your name in a big ugly label centre front upsets me not one bit.

A rather strange but compelling trend is arising for showing the contents of one's handbag. Or hendbeg, as we say here in New Zealand. I cannot demur from this, as I am a shocking handbag hoarder, and naming and shaming is a part of the cure. Not of the accent - that is beyond help - hilp?
Apparently. I'll believe anything.

Many of these items may be a mystery to the general public. So, starting from the bottom left corner and moving clockwise I will try and explain them all:
My reading glasses, in their case. Case by The Embroidenator. Three pens, my keys with a big white hand attached in a futile attempt to make them easier to find among all this stuff. Under that a 2016 diary. Yes, I always carry a hard copy diary, No I never write anything in it. Voltaren pills and inhaler. The old sim card from my old phone. My new phone is at home somewhere so is not featured. A tin in the shape of a cassette tape in which I keep my Constance Craving business cards. My sunglasses in their case. That black brick in the corner is actually my wallet. It contains cards, nothing but cards. A sign of our times. In front of my sunnies is a sheet of panadol tablets, my glasses cleaning kit and a bumpit - which I use to make my hair boofy. To its right is a pile of USB sticks. I love storage! Right again to an amusing tape measure - it is Pinocchio and you pull his nose to draw out the tape. A bag of rhinestones - I just got a whole lot delivered and this one missed being removed last night.
Moving down again, a compact mirror with a handsome moustachioed lass on the front. An ivory board, five 24 hour stay lipsticks, a mascara (green tube), many bobby pins and random pile of business cards. And a band aid. :)
I took this photo on my desk so glimpses of the year planner I keep there. Items in far corners not mentioned were already on my desk. My desk is not tidy. Anyone surprised? ;-)

Outlandish Outlander

Anyone out there a fan of Diane Gabaldon's Outlander books? I've hear and seen plenty written about them, mostly about the TV series based upon them. Given my corner of the interwebs is primarily devoted to historical costuming, much of the talk has been about the costumes.

 Claire's controversial wedding dress, based upon a robe de cour

Lots of greys, browns and plaids. Scotland in 1743

Well, when in a frenzy of buying TV series on DVD the other weekend, I chucked in Season one. My expectations of historical accuracy having been managed down to about a 3/10 by the conversations online, I figured it would be interesting.

OH DEAR. After watching several episodes, bits of which I left the room for while waiting for the action to get past the latest overly graphic violent bit, I'm putting it into the freezer.

The overwhelming sense of violence, pain and fear left me feeling really unwell. A sadistic, nasty anti hero who enjoys flogging and humiliating people, and we get to see it over and over again. Lots of sex where we see Claire's everything and Jamie's almost nothing speaks far more strongly of a male audience than the female one it is written for and targetted at.

It made me angry, disappointed and left with that hopeless feeling of, "Really? Is this only how far we have come?" and I abandoned it mid episode just before yet another sadistically violent bit.
I'm amazed that in all the stuff I've read about this series, it's all been about the frocks. Really,  the frocks were not enough to distract me from the sadism. Is it really just me? Is it OK to use the word really so often in a paragraph????

I am sure I am missing the point somewhere as the people I know who have read the books enjoy them. But that is the impression it left me with and I want no more of it.

Instead I have been enjoying Season One of Hustle. 

A delightfully intelligent programme about a group of London based "Long Consters."  The way it is put together i.e. use of freeze frame, out takes, stylised actions, not overdone, very much set the tone for programmes to come including Sherlock. A truly stylish piece of telly. I just wish the team wasn't so laddish, with token woman for distraction and playing the mole. Still that was 2004, we've had ten years to grow up since then. Haven't we?

Nothing to do with Christmas. I am slightly overloaded with it and just wanted a bit of time out ;-)

Getting Ready for Christmas

Counting down peoples!!!! Only seven more sleeps!! EEEP!
So far I can check off my (very long) list:

• First batch of Christmas cards (I ran out, hence two batches)
• Christmas cakes baked and mostly distributed
• Christmas puddings boiled and getting to grips with the cointreau being fed to them
• Three out of eight gifts finalised and wrapped
• Cheeses purchased, hazelnuts purchased for oatcake baking on Sunday
• Menu for the day finalised with the "committee" (Mum, my sis and me)
• All shows done except the after dinner impromptu concert on the day itself.

Then there's work!

• Customer Christmas night done and dusted. I love that!
• Mucho Christmas stock sold. MUCHO.
• Suppliers closing up for the break so I just can't order things in for people. I am secretly thrilled as while I am happy to place orders for people it takes so much time.
• Random lampshade order fulfilled finally.

 And so I leave you with a couple of photos from my last show of 2015 in Napier, a 5 hour each way drive north, and a truly gorgeous place with gorgeous people like the fab Cherry Boomb, my partner in crime! I love this collage she made, but as per I am not in it cos I spend more time on stage than most.

 Pretty clear it's super hot - I am all shiny and not just from the glitter!

A quicke reference guide to my Head piece

My darling international audience, I am taking you for granted. I speak of pohutukawa and jandals like you would know what I mean, when even the red squiggly line of SpellCheck does not recognise them.
So, here we go
Pohutukawa is a native coastal tree that blossoms in summer with red flowers:

Below is a close up of the flower. It has petals like bristles with yellow ends. And it smells divine.

The Jandal is the NZ term for a flip flop or thong:

I bought an ornament which is quite big, of a pair. These are similar:

And thusly, I combined my jandal ornament, a sprig of pohutukawa flower, fake and glittery, with some organza flowers to make the Great Kiwi Head Piece:

Ngahuia our fantastic photographer sent me a super hi res version of this pic so I could zoom right in. You can now not only see the head piece and hopefully make sense of it, but you can now see my second chin ;-)

Here endeth the lesson xoxo

Proof it happened!!

Well, I got to don sequins and feathers again on Saturday night for Caburlesque's Happy Hannukah show. Eschewing any actual Christmas music on account of the Hannukah theme, I opted for a kiwi lyrics version of Summertime, which it is for us at this time of year, and a singalong of Ten Guitars, which is compulsory whenever a guitar and a fire on the beach are found together. ;-)

 We have a new head piece. In spite of the hours of work Santa's chimney just wasn't doing it for me, so I nipped into the Kirk's Christmas shop and got a jandal ornament and some fake pohutukawa from their small but perfectly formed NZ Summer Christmas offerings. Some flowers tucked in behind and there you have it!

 6 metres of feather boa went into this garment.

 I have toyed with losing the skirt and getting my legs out when I wear it, but time is not my friend in December and it won't happen before my next show on Thursday. Next year perhaps.

Happy Holidays!

If there's no photos it didn't happen

Curse the internet unwritten rules about photos! I simply either have a life, or I have a camera. I cannot seem to have both at once.

Here's me, as Constance, at a gig in Christchurch last Saturday, 28 November. Like good detectives, let us work from this evidence to put together a story of times and fun.
1. Also in the photo are, from left, Ross, Terry and Aunty Christine. She is not our Aunty, but that's fine. She's Sophie's and that's all you need to know. Ross is wearing a waistcoat covered in silk applique sunflowers I made him over 20 years ago. Terry is wearing a shirt I made him about a year ago. T and R actually live in Wellington but got it into their heads to come to a show in Chch instead, and bring Aunty Christine.
2. So, how did I end up in Chrstchurch on the evening of the 28th November? Wearing the red sequinned costume with fluffy feather boa all around the edge? It all started at 12.45 at a Christmas lunch, with my darling quilters at Capital Quilters. I hung out, entertained them with some songs, then drove back home. 20 minutes to finish packing and off to the airport, complete with sequins and feathers! No time to change and anyway no room in my suitcase!
3. On the plane, sat beside a lovely man from Merivale, applying all my charms to him so he relaxes and copes with sitting beside all of that! I rewarded him by plastering his neat black slacks with cream feathers. He took a photo of me in my plane seat because we reckoned his wife would never believe him!
My gorgeous friend Jacinta picked me up and dropped me at the venue. Years of living in Christchurch meant a bed for the night and lots of mates to come to the show was the easy bit! The evening comprised two shows, the first emceed by a local comedian Dan Bain. I hung out backstage and got bio info off the performers. And when it turned out they were a performer down, I went out and sang! As you do!
My show went fine - so lovely that so many Christchurch friends came - many of whom had never been to a burlesque show and never would have otherwise. All had a laugh so that's what counts.
Jacinta and I got to bed about 2am after peanut butter sandwiches and tea - I had eaten nearly nothing all day. We made up for it at a yummy brunch with Adele and Wendy on Sunday. The four of us were the Musketeerettes of Christchurch 10 years ago! So nice to hang out again.
All this fun led to me getting to the airport a teeny bit late for checking in my suitcase, so it went off to be sent on later, it turns out.
And when I finally got in my front door with MrC the gorgeous hunk, it was after 4pm and the house smelled of roasting turkey. By 6pm we had a crowd of mostly American friends, all bearing delicious dishes, for a slap up Thanksgiving feast.
Thanksgiving as I've said every year, is not a Kiwi thing. But I love the idea of having a holiday just to give thanks. I have so much to give thanks for - and this past amazing weekend is only one of my many blessings.
Much love,
MrsC xo
PS. Do you like my head piece? Santa poking out of the my chimney on a little tiled roof!