When I grow up I want to be...

Last weekend a very good friend celebrated her 25th by throwing a fancy dress party, the theme: come as what you wanted to be when you were little. So, I had a good long think about my younger self and what she wanted to do as an adult. I loved drawing, writing and making things - particularly with plasticine - (nothing much has changed there) but I couldn't say that I'd actually wanted to be an artist or writer or animator. I called my mum and asked if she remembered whether I'd expressed any particular interests in possible professions. The answer was no, I'd never really said anything about growing up and doing this or that. I reckon as a child I was probably so involved in the 'now' (whatever character I was drawing or comic I was writing) that the distant future of adult-hood never really caused me much concern, secondary school changed that of course - cue panic about where my life was heading and "career planning". Aside from entering the idea of becoming a writer, and that's certainly taken a back seat, I've never really known what I wanted to do... Anyway back to the party, my mum did say one thing though: I was always very interested in my dinosaurs - trips to the natural history museum were an absolute treat. And so, I went to the party as a dinosaur fanatic, not quite a paleontologist because that includes ALL prehistoric life and I was just all about the dinosaurs. The Iguanodon was my favourite.

The party was awesome, the hosts provided food, jagermeister AND vodka jelly, the flat was v.cool indeed and everyone made lots of effort on their costumes. I was initially worried about the fancy dress element but on reflection it was a brilliant theme not just as conversation starters but also the opportunity for a creative riot! Fav childhood aspirations of others: Indiana Jones, Noel Edmonds and The Pope.

Tuesday's Tees - Election Time

Threadless, home of super cool tees for all, have 5 election themed t-shirts for sale! This being Threadless, we're not talking about your bog standard candidates, it's politics with awesome options. 

Cool, huh?

The three above are my favs. All five designs are by AJ Paglia (you can see more of his designs - other tees included - on his website).

Tuesday's Tees - make the most of it

What do you do when a t-shirt no longer fits you? Cut it up to use as rags, keep it as sleepwear, give it to charity, maybe even sell it on ebay BUT what if it isn't just any old t-shirt but a favourite which you simply can't chop up or banish to oxfam...Well there are plenty of options and today I thought I'd share one example: my t-shirt curtain.

When we first moved into our flat it was extremely unfurnished. Don't get me wrong I realise we were very lucky to have a fridge and a washing machine but other than that the flat was completely bare. We discovered fairly early on that not having any curtains (especially as we're on the main road) was quite problematic. So, what with being quite broke, having no TV or internet (or habitable living room) to keep me occupied, I kept myself entertained by making curtains for the bedroom using the available resources ie: a selection of mine and Mitch's old tees. Ta-da!

Code Breakers & Quilt Makers

At the end of February I took a trip to Bletchley Park, home of the code breakers and enigma machines which played a vital role in winning the Second World War.

It's a fascinating place, crammed full with British history and, as you'd imagine, stories so many stories - about the people who worked there, the buildings themselves and the equipment housed there. Throughout the visit I learned a lot of interesting facts:

• The Mansion (pictured above) is somewhat of an architectural pic'n'mix. It started out as farmhouse which was consequently added to during the late 19th Century by the owner, Sir Leon, who, possibly inspired by trips to Europe, decided to build the extensions in varying styles (Grecian columns, Dutch Baroque etc). The result is a rather bizarre but quirky building.
• The enigma machine was first used by the Germans in WWII (apparently the Brits turned it down because it was thought that the machines wouldn't be secure enough). 
• Over 8,000 people worked at Bletchley Park (most of whom were women) but no one lived on the premises. Service men and women stayed in nearby villages and housed by the local inhabitants.
• Although it's not official that the code breaking which took place at Bletchley Park during the war was the reason why the allies were victorious, what is certain is that the work conducted there shortened the war by two years.
• Alan Turing, who is probably one of the most well known names to be associated with Bletchley Park, was, aside from being an incredibly skilled cryptanalyst, the brains (along with Gordon Welchman) behind the bombe - a large electromagnetic machine designed to crack the German ciphers, the equivalent of 36 enigma machines! Despite his great achievements before, during and after the war and his influence in early computer science, Alan Turing came to a very sad end. He was found 'guilty' of homosexuality, which was still illegal in the UK, and was given female hormones (I'm guessing as some sort of 'treatment') instead of going to prison. He committed suicide age 41. What a way to treat a hero, or anybody for that matter!
• On a lighter note, pigeons played a tremendous part in the war, not you're average Trafalga Sq pigeon but homing pigeons who fearlessly delivered messages - parachuting from aircraft, dodging gunfire and German Falcons sent to kill them. The success rate of the pigeons was incredibly high and some were even awarded medals for their valour!
• Bletchley was bombed once, but not directly and certainly not intentionally. The Germans were never aware of it's importance as the centre of England's code breakers, if they had it would have been obliterated.

Also on site at Bletchley Park: 

All the old huts that were built to house the Government Code & Cypher School and their operations, a couple have been restored.

The National Museum of Computing where you can see the world's first semi-programable computer, Colossus.

A model railway courtesy of the Milton Keynes Model Railway Society.

A museum full of pre, post and war-time memorabilia. My favourite piece was a classic bit of make do and mend - a pattern from a magazine showing how to make clothes from a parachute - such resourcefulness!

Vintage vehicles - an ambulance, cars and motorcycles.

A quilting exhibition held by region seven of the Quilters Guild. Ok, so this one, unlike the others, isn't always there, luckily for me though I managed to have a look at the display of war themed quilts created for the event. Also on show was a small number of Canadian Red Cross Quilts which date back to between 1939-1945 and were sent from Canada across the atlantic to war-torn Britain. 

Bletchley Park was a super fun day out and I thoroughly recommend it! It has it's own train station and parking is ample, adult tickets are £12 and they hold events every now and again (like the quilting exhibition) so it's worth checking out there website for up-coming exhibitions and the like, www.bletchleypark.org/. One last tip, v.insightful tours around the site are available and run for about 90 mins. The man who lead our group was very engaging and informative, it's a pretty perfect way to take in the place!

In my own quilting adventures...the top is done and the wadding has been purchased, all I need now is the backing!

Sunnies

Even though there have been a number of worthy sun-filled days in the last week or so, today was the day that the sunglasses came out and the coat was left at home. Perhaps the latter was a little premature, it can get a little nippy waiting on district line platforms, but the sunglasses were a good call. Spring please!

Sunglasses are most probably my favourite of all accessories and if I could justify it I would own many many pairs. I love my current ones which I've had for almost two years but there's nothing to stop me looking at (ahem, and then buying) the beautiful eye-wear available for this spring/summer...

My top six at the mo (above) - from left to right:

Pepper Retro Lucia Liberty Print Sunglasses, £130 Liberty

ASOS Highbrow Cat Eye, £12 ASOS

Keyhole Sunglasses, £16 Topshop

House of Harlow1960 Steph Sunglasses, $150 Urban Outfitters US

Summer Surrender Sunglasses, $42 Anthropologie US

Claudia - Pink, £14 Jeepers Peepers

And the best of the rest (below) - left column:

Havana, $119 Bon Look

Rimless animal print shades, $14 Urban Outfitters US

Paloma Crystal, 120 Euros Super (not entirely sure if these are for women but hey!)

Matte Pop shades, £16 Urban Outfitters Europe

Ray-Ban Wayfarer Comics on Black, £160 John Lewis

Ditsy Clover Print, $235 Orla Kiely

Linda Farrow projects for Alexander Wang Oval shades, £235 ASOS

Right column:

Split Frame Shades, $42 Anthropologie US

Ray-Ban Retro Cat Eye shades, $109 UO US

Lookout Sunglasses, $18 UO US

Navy Flat Tops, £16 Topshop

Spitfire Junior Disco shades, $39 UO US

Keyhole Sunglasses, £9.50 ASOS

Novelty factor:

Pink Gold Lens Heart shades, £16 UO Europe

Eiffel Tower Sunglasses, £9.50 ASOS