Lovely J's working away for the weekend. This is poo, because I miss him when he's away. This is also the reason for my Wonderful Saturday.
I'm not suggesting for a moment that Lovely J's presence makes my weekends less wonderful. On the contrary, having Lovely J around makes everything lovely and sparkly and rose-smelling.
This morning, however, I made a conscious decision to "do something" today, knowing that otherwise the day would be frittered away in a sulk on the sofa. Which wouldn't do.
So I went into town. The intention was to try to find a couple of tops suitable for the office without getting too cross in the changing rooms. On the way to the clothes shops I stopped by the indoor market, just to have a look to see whether the haberdashery stall had anything interesting (it did - I got a lovely length of pink ginham ribbon, which inspired me to also buy a little silver tinkly bell, a couple of brown buttons, and some toy stuffing), and whether the sweetie stall had any butterscotch tabs. (It did. I bought a quarter.)
On my way out of the market I stopped to giggle at this lovely lady who was selling little daffodils for Marie Curie Cancer Research. A bumble bee had become confused and was trying to collect nectar from her hat. Some kind people helped her to swat it away. I bought a daffodil from her.
After this my shopping trip was extraordinarily successful. I bought two tops from Dorothy Perkins (which aren't black!), three pairs of knickers, two bras and a (red!) top from M&S. (The top was actually Per Una, which I think is supposed to be a bit fancier - but is still M&S no matter how they market it).
I stopped to watch a group of buskers on Queen Street for a solid half hour - they were a Max Boyce tribute band (Boyce Zone), and were hilarious. It was a brilliant atmosphere, with Italian and Welsh rugby fans loving it all and singing along.
Then I got some culture. I went to a matinee showing of 'The 39 Steps' at the New Theatre. This is a picture of the theatre. It isn't a very good picture. I took it on my phone because I wanted a picture for the blog to show that I'd been to the theatre.
It was brilliant. I loved it and laughed pretty much all the way through. Four actors played all of the parts, which led to some hilarious dialogue/monologue moments with very clever use of costumes and props. I got completely over excited at the shadow-puppet chase scenes. I don't remember the novel being that entertaining.
I sat in the upper circle, because I'd only ever sat in the stalls before, and I wanted to know whether the extra money is really worth it. I haven't yet sat in the Circle, but I can categorically state that the seats in the Upper Circle are not as good as those in the stalls. I was very far away, so seeing the actors' expressions was quite difficult, and because I was in the front row of the Upper Circle, I had a hand rail and support placed smack-bang in my line of vision, so I watched the entire production stooped in a very uncomfortable and unnatural slouch.
And the seats in the Upper Stalls are much less comfortable than those downstairs. I could see the comfortable red velvet upholstery in the Circle and Stalls, but I was perched on a wooden-backed bench with limited leg room (or shopping bag room, as the case may be). I also noticed that the Circle had binoculars. We were further away, but had no binoculars.
The lady next to me let me look at her programme, and I offered her my butterscotch tabs. Next time I go for a matinee I will try the Circle. Hopefully I'll get a seat in the front row circle. I think that would be quite good.
After the theatre I hopped into a taxi and managed to get home in time to watch the second half of the match (Wales won. Yay!). Once sat on the sofa I couldn't help myself. I pulled out the bag of stuff I'd bought in the market (except the sweets, which somebody had eaten in the theatre), a pretty Fat Quarter from the wardrobe, and made this...
It's a pointy kitty, made from a free pattern I downloaded from Wee Wonderfuls. I love her, I think she's fantastic. When I started to make her, she was intended as a gift for somebody - but I might have to keep her now. I'm not sure. At least she hasn't been named. If she gets named, there's no way I'll be able to give her away. (There's no question of her being a girl, because she's covered in pink flowers, and has a pretty pink ginham bow from which her little silver bell hangs. The bell is so that she won't frighten the catnip mice by pouncing on them). There are more pictures of her on my flickr page.
I've had a very busy, productive and lovely day. Tomorrow will be less pleasant. I have to clean the house. Especially the bits which are scattered with fabric clippings and thread after today's bout of "making". I also have to do some laundry. I would like to do some visiting (perhaps partly to avoid the housework), but I don't know if my intended visitee will be around, so I may not be able to do that.
Seriously - have you ever seen anything more frightening in your life? Even now, I can't look at the photo without swearing aloud and laughing.
