Makeup and such like...

So I was thinking whilst I got dressed this morning- yeah I know, a pretty miraculous activity for 6:30 in the morning. I'm right there with you on the insanity of that one. So as I was getting dressed, sorting my hair, finding my make up I was struck by the thought that it is so much more difficult for me to get dressed than it is for James.

Women's clothes are infinitely more uncomfortable and impractical than men’s. You name it, skirts, tights, heels, funny blouses that mean you have to suck your tummy in- all far more hassle and time consuming than their male counterparts. And then one item in that list struck me more than the others- make up. Why do we religiously apply this to our selves? I know that there are some women who cannot go out without it. That see it as so integral to what makes them an attractive woman that they can't even let their significant others see them without it on. In reality I think that a society where women have to wear makeup and traditionally men do not is telling us something quite scary about ourselves. It’s telling us that we do not think women are enough. We look at our faces, and society tells us that they are not good enough. Not beautiful enough, that they need more. In order to be attractive we have to add to ourselves. That a woman, in all her glory, intricacies and yes flaws, is not enough without a mask. That their face is not what we want to see and deal with. Just a side point, I'm not saying that men don't wear makeup I'm just saying that it's not acceptable in out society for a man to turn up at his office suit and mascara.

Then do you know what worried me further? We sell make up to children. On the market at the moment there are a whole variety of different make up products aimed solely at little girls. Designed to show girls that this is what they can aspire to when they grow up. We, as a society are teaching our little girls that they are not enough, and that their brothers are. This is sad.

Margaret Cho (an American comedian) once said that, ‘Ugly. Is irrelevant. It is an immeasurable insult to a woman, and then supposedly the worst crime you can commit as a woman. But ugly, as beautiful, is an illusion.’

Yet convexly I guess makeup can be construed as a tool of feminine empowerment. Allowing us to present ourselves as we see fit, for ourselves. Whilst beauty is undoubtedly ephemeral we are all guilty of wanting to be seen as attractive and desirable.

So I would be interested to hear your thoughts on this subject. Do you think that makeup is a mask or a tool of empowerment? This is something that came to me one morning whilst getting dressed, so feel free to weigh in.

I look forward to hearing your views.

Happy Wednesday,

Lindy xxx

7 Good Things Vol 11

I'm back in the saddle- hopefully! So without further ado...

1. James made an amazing chicken for lunch yesterday- it was so good!
2. I reorganised by book shelves yesterday- it made me inordinately happy!
3. I also tidied my study yesterday- I felt so productive!
4. I found my moisturiser (its the little things)
5. My sister is very kindly going to sit in my house for me so i can both get my washing machine fixed and not take time off work! Score!
6. The Kings Speech, whilst an awesome film, is also as I have discovered, an amazing book. I highly recommend it!
7. Last week I managed to cook dinner successfully twice. Not noteworthy for the majority of the population, but for me, a pretty cool achievement!

I hope everyone has had a fantastic week in my absence, I shall see you all on Wednesday!

Lindy xxx

Ahhhh here you are!

Sorry about the lack of presence in the last few days. For the first time in ages I missed 7 Good Things on a Monday, and thats because levels of world suck have increased round here recently. Nothing that is life threatening but definably enough to make me go in to survival mode. Unfortunately this blog is the one thing which I can give up doing and still function in the world; and people like my boss and my mortgage company do rather enjoy me functioning in the world.

(BTW: 'mort': stems from the word death, and gage sounds a lot like cage...) No I joke, I love my house but every time we had a meeting with the mortgage company to get it, that was all I could think!

Anyhoo, I have needed the reminder that this picture give me each morning everyday this week...



Hopefully things are calming down and I will be back later in the week!

Lindy xxx

Grey...

Today has been a grey kind of day, not in a wholly kind of bad terrible this life is no good way, but certainly in an arrrg damn it pah kind of way.

My tumble dryer has broken. It has decided that it will no longer dry clothes. That spreading heat is now a function below it and it is now on strike. Its official, my tumble dryer is an employee of British Airways. Gosh darn it. But now, my tumble dyer is in combination with my washing machine. So if my tumble dryer is on strike, does this mean my washing machine has also gone on strike? I hope not. However, I am currently running it on a washing cycle to see if it will still clean my clothes for me. I am holding out hope on this one because it would be expensive to replace, and y’know lack of funds would be prohibitive.

But on a happier grey theme I made this earlier in the week.



My Mums parter is sick at the moment and I thought hey a gift is called for and bought him a book and made him said book mark up above.... and actually down below as well.



It was incredibly simple to make yet looks quite impressive, the pattern is also below (indeed is you can call its that its so simple!)

CO 15
1st row: k5, p5, k5
2nd row:p5, k5, p5
3rd row: k5, p5, k5
4th row:p5, k5, p5
5th row: k5, p5, k5

Rows 6-10, repeat rows 1-5 in reverse (5 through 1). And then, continue repeating for the length of a book.

There you go. One book mark. Easy peasy.

Oh and because we all know how much I like taking photos of the sunrise, here is yesterdays, it was a good’un!


Have a good Wednesday, and please send washing vibes to my washing machine. I like not smelling!

Lindy xxx

7 Good Things Vol 10

The best things in life are free...

1. Hugs at the end of long day...


Credit

2. Sleeping in


Credit

3. The wonder of the stars, reminding me that there are far greater forces at work



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4. Words, beautiful words spilling for amazing minds



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5. The wonder of creating music



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6. The love of a family



7. The still of the morning


(This is sunrise this morning)

Have a peaceful week my friends

Lindy xxx

Saturday Steals Vol 22

When I first started doing Saturday Steals (make that Sunday because I'm tardy), I was all about the produce and today I am returning to my roots! You know me, I love a good food related bargain. Or perhaps its just that the most common thing I buy is food, either way these were a definite steal.

Now around these parts cherries are an incredibly expensive thing. They are currently £8/ kg meaning that the bag below is about £4 worth of cherries. Now I love cherries but not enough to pay £4 for such a momentary pleasure. Thats just pushing it a little to far!



But whilst I was at work last night, I found these three beautiful bags of cherries reduced to only 50p/ kg. Which mean that in total these beauties cost me 58p for all of them!. Now if that isn't a steal I don't know what is!



(And yet I've already eaten the other two bags, why do you ask?!)

Excellent fruit. Price that won't make my bank manager weep. It makes for a good weekend!

Happy weekend friends,

Lindy xxx

Bookmarking...

For ages I've been promising an update on what I'm doing craft wise and here it is! Because I'm so busy at the moment with work and what not most of the craft projects I've been attempting have been quite small. On that theme this was the perfect project for me! I got this in kit form for Christmas; little enough that I could cart it around and simple enough that I could do it when I was really tired, it was great!

The kit had clear instructions and it was remarkably easy to follow the pattern, which I was pleased about because I haven't done any cross stitch in a very long time.

My only complaint would be that there was no quite enough green floss in the kit to finish the edging and I had to go digging in my stash to find a similar colour.


The finished article


For the sake of honesty heres what the back looked like! I really need to get neater!


With the backing on...


Put to good use!

All I need to find out now is where I can get that Adia fabric with the pretty edging on so I can make some more! I think they would make very good presents, and at the rate I sew I should be done in time for Christmas!

Happy Wednesday!

Lindy xxx