First up, is this week's Style imitating art challenge. Jess chose a painting called The Milkmaid by Johannes Vermeer- the medium is oil on canvas, c.1658. Johannes is a really nice name. If I had a boy anything (cat, fish, gerbil), I'd call him Johannes! If you check back on Tuesday, there'll be a post showing what everyone wore for this challenge! I was struck by all the different shades of this- the bright blue over-skirt, the red skirt proper, the mustard bodice and the greensleeves (and white hat!)
Therefore, I put together the following
to comprise those elements
The blue skirt is actually a dress, I last wore here,
dressed up as supergirl (the colour looks WEIRD inside)- I'm doing that remix-thingamijig, where you wear a dress as a skirt! And a vintage mustard blouse, greeny cardie (tucked in), white beret and claret tights (which look black/purple here!) . I have bright red tights but couldn't find them! Just as well, as I am very bright! As a little touch, I added a doll's jug as a pendant to get in with her actions! I bought the doll's set ages ago to make teacup earrings and the jug has been biding it's time for an Alice outfit!Linking up to:
the gorgeous Patti's Visible Monday
It's Magpie Monday with Liz Burton tomorrow. I've found two nice charity shop items this week (one in Essex, one in Ely). One is a dress (which is too cold to wear now!) and the other is this bag. I found myself really taken with its yellow and white stripes. It's a good size- not too big, not too small (like Goldilocks, I prefer things on the middle ground) and it put me in mind of the beautiful beach-huts that I saw in Southwold. I do struggle with bags- straps always seem to dig into shoulders, or it is too small or big, or too boring (my current brown handbag!).. PLus it's a nice satchelly shape!
Do go and find out what other people found this week!Next, on the Kezzie news, we have Valentines Mansion. I went to meet a friend for lunch at Valentines Mansion, where I had my wedding reception. They have an excellent gardener's cafe and we ate our lunch in the beautiful Kitchen garden since the sun shone (though it was very nippy!)
We had a lovely catchup and took a quick walk around the mansion and I felt all nostalgic as I looked at it all and remembered last summer...
I wore several of last Monday's Magpie items- the coat, beret, bow brooch and grey lacy top.
Linking with Renae's Fashion Item Friday. DO link up with this lovely lady!
As we walked to the edge of the park, we saw about 5 squirrels but I managed to capture a pic of this fellow. Isn't he stocky?!?!?! Someone clearly ate all the nuts!
We went back to the town centre and I had a look in Debenhams and TK Maxx and was browsing the sale
racks when an assistant pounced on me and said, "Would you not like to help Help the Heroes?", brandishing a bucket. I was a bit startled to say the least and mortifyingly, what came out my mouth was, "Would I NOT want to help?" in an amused voice, somehow my mental correcting of her question came out my mouth. She smiled and repeated it and I willingly put some money in the bucket. At this point, she handed me a little bundle of perfume samples. I said, no thanks, but she said to keep them anyway. Quite nice really but I didn't actually want anything for putting the money in.
Finally,we have crumble.
CBC and I bought some rhubarb a couple of weeks ago and I said I'd make a crumble. He said I'd let it moulder in the fridge. SO last night, I made it alongside a pastabake. I hadn't bothered to buy any ingredients, hoping I'd have it in the cupboard. I searched online and found a BBC Food one which asked for Self-raising flour (why?), I hadn't got any, so I searched again and came up trumps with Waitrose whose simple recipe enabled me to use up some January 2012 dated organic flour, butter, caster sugar and rhubarb. The only trouble was, it asked for 500g of rhubarb and I only had 340g so I ratio-ed all the quantities down to 68% and had fun weighing such odd quantities on my non-digital scales!
Sufficed to say it was a delicious success and better still, we have more left for tonight!
And that's all from the 6 o'clock news on KezzieAG.
Hope to hear from you soon!
xx
Your post made me smile I love the painting and what you wore to match it. That squirrel does look a bit put out! Sarah x
ReplyDeletelove your stripy satchel, great find! Oh, how I wish I could eat a bucket of crumble (such lovely stuff) x
ReplyDeleteThat a glorious painting by Vermeer and I really like your inspired look. And the chubby squirrel - I have a soft spot for chubby squirrels. Thanks for sharing with Visible Monday!
ReplyDeleteThat is so much fun using a painting to inspire an outfit.
ReplyDeleteI love that red skirt. That whole outfit in fact.
Who doesn't like crumble? Especially rhubarb.
To answer your questions on my blog I worked all over the south of England. Sussex, Essex, Brighton, South London, more in London, Kensington, Holland Park and to be honest the towns were so small I don't even remember half of their names. When I worked for an agency I would be sent all over the place for a month or few weeks at a time. I kept diaries during that time but when I got married my husband made me get rid of almost all of them. I realize they were the ramblings of a young gal having maybe a bit too much fun at times, and my husband is part Italian, part French and 100% jealous but now I could really use those diaries now to help me remember all of my travels and escapades.
Your Valentine's date sounded a bit anticlimactic.
English Breakfast tea is a sad excuse for a tea if you ask me. It should be called American Breakfast tea since it tastes like the awful Lipton tea they serve in the states. I shall always be an Earl Grey gal, even if it's only once or twice a year that I indulge my senses with it.
bisous
Suzanne
Some of my favourite things here...especially the rhubarb crumble. Oh yum, can't wait 'til spring and our rhubarb grows again.
ReplyDeleteI had forgotten about Style Imitating Art; you did this one brilliantly! Really great. And I'm completely in love with your navy coat!
You did an excellent job imitating art! I especially love the little jug on a chain - sweet! And you did an amazing job of hitting about a dozen link-ups and an additional three bonus subject!
ReplyDeletePopped over from visible monday, so glad I did , you really make me smile. Where to start, your outfit, cleverly done, English mansions, bring back memories of past visits to England and squirells, the same, your crumble , simply looks yunny. Thankyou
ReplyDeleteI love crumble :) I made one recently from apple and cranberries. I had two tins of apples in the cupboard and some frozen cranberries which I had to use so whipped up a very yummy crumble.
ReplyDeleteLove your black and red coat xxx
Oh oh I am VERY envious of that lovely bag! I'd have fought you for it in an undignified manner had I seen it at the same time as you!!
ReplyDeleteWhen my daughter was 3, her Playgroup leader told me they'd had some problems with some of the children[ not mine tho!] because they thought the new Dutch child was a prince. They'd misheard the name 'Johannes' as 'Your Highness' !!
ReplyDeleteI remember that Mansion when it was sadly neglected - so pleased it has been restored xx
I love your necklace, how sweet is this :) lovely blue skirt, I love this colour blue :) great bag too...I need a satchel !!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful SIA interpretation! The colors couldn't be better, and the details - like the shape of your sleeves, and of course that lovely & clever necklace - are ideal.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you like the name Johannes! I like it, too, and it's a family name for me, passed down from my great-grandfather to several of my uncles and cousins as a first or middle name.
adventuresinhel.blogspot.fi
Ooh yes, love a good rhubarb crumble! And I also love how you interpreted the Vermeer, and your little red skirt! xxx
ReplyDeleteYou look quite lovely in your interpretation as a rosy Vermeer milkmaid ... excellent combinations even without the painting. ( I sort of miss SIA, but the best comment I ever got there was "I have no problem with this." They did not appreciate my literal approach, it seems. Harrumph.) I like the red and black outfit very much, too. So pretty for wintry days.
ReplyDeleteThe crumble looks good! Love rhubarb!
What a fine bargain with your very summery looking bag. You'll use it a lot!
You're right ... what a tubby little squirrel! Must be hand fed a lot this time of year ... we have a large oak outside our sun-room window that has had generations of squirrel families that live year round in an almost made-to-order limb crotch. They're emerging a little thinner than this kid, but won't be for long! Every year, there are babies romping in the branches. A great joy for us all spring and summer.
Your outfit is so adorable and you so lovely in it. The teapot is cute and those tights (which do indeed look purple) are wonderful. So appreciate that shot of them :) Ditto my admiration for your second look!
ReplyDeleteThat mansion looks like a great place to spend some time. Wow!
Are you sure you did not feed Squirrel-zilla the crumble prior to that pic? :)
Will there be another report at 11? :)P
I have a necklace which looks EXACTLY like the one you DIY'd from your teaset. How funny!! I love crumble; it's so easy and comforting, and you can fling anything in there. My secret weapons are to use jam instead of sugar in the fruit mixture, because it adds more flavour, and to add lots of tasty oats to the crumble topping for more crunch and flapjackiness. xxx
ReplyDelete