Jane Austen dress

My friend is a very talented sower - not of seeds and plants but of tying thread and material together with needle to make a thing of wonder. It's beyond my patience and skill to even contemplate such a marriage of cotton and cloth. Her latest creation is a Regency dress for her sister who has been cordially invited to a Jane Austen-inspired ball. The dress is so simple and so lovely and intricate and with toned coordinated buttons - a little nod to the 21st century. I hope her sister has an elegant and poised time.
















It led my friend and I to conjecture how incongruous and yet how wonderful it would be if after such a ball and dressed in such a dress, you were to let down those delicately coiffured curls and relax that upright 18th century dancing back and go for a kebab. The photo shot would have to be full length, showing elegant dress but with the wearer tucking greedily into the deliciously tasty kebab with preferably some chilli sauce trickling down the chin but not onto the dress - murder to shift a stain like that. Is it blasphemous to suggest such a thing?  Would it be too much to add wellington boots or even a pint of lager? I will stop.

I'm only jealous - it would be lovely to go to a Netherfield Ball, dressed in one of my friend's dresses and enjoy a step back in time.

The creator: Sonya Smyth - contact her at www.facebook.com/thefruitiques for commissions.

The Build: Week 2

The layers of dust are building up nicely.....let's hope they aren't accumulating in our lungs at the same time. A camping lifestyle has been fully embraced - not much access to the kitchen now due to the steel work going in. Relatives and friends are being just grand. And by the way putting steel work in looks damned hard work and full of potential frustrations to get it just right. A good job to throw lots of choice swear words at.

My husband has proved how good he is at squeezing the most clobber, stuff, rubbish, necessary belongings into the tightest of spaces. I have friends scouring the local area for cardboard boxes in which I can pile more necessary belongings. It's not all bad a friend asked for a cake tin the other day and miracles of miracles I was able to delve into a box and retrieve it with no trouble. Having said that coloured pencils and felt tips seem to have disappeared into the great wilderness of unnecessary things that is the front room.

The best bit though of this last week? A brick match man came to visit to advise the builder on yes you've guessed it the best match of bricks to our existing building. I am quite tickled brick pink that there is such a man whose sole job is to match you to your brick.  He knows texture, colour, size, history, where to get them, everything. Apparently our perfect brick is the Radcliff Smooth Red and lots have been arriving, providing breakfast entertainment for the children. I feel I may have lost my way in life - I could have been a brick match lady.

A wild swim

I love swimming in the open air. I don't mind if it's a lido or open air pool. I especially like wild swimming: a river, a stream, a lake or the sea. It gives you a different perspective. You see the land and the rest of the water from the inside.

On Tiree I got in the sea every day. It was mightily cold but so exhilarating. The clouds, blue sky, wildlife, the beach are seen from an angle you don't normally view them from. I didn't stay in long and I'm not the world's best swimmer but it is wondrous. It's not for everyone - I can't convince my husband even to dip a toe in the water unless it's very very hot.


 But I find it very difficult to resist the heady combination of white sands and blue sky. The water draws me in for a refreshing plunge. Even the sound is different in the sea - splashing, water lapping, bird calls all seem beautifully serene. Give it a go.