Little Shop of Horrors

We often use the AudreyII voice singing "Feed Me!!  Feed Me Now!!" when imitating the cats demanding food.

Some time ago I explained to Miss Tween that it was from Little Shop of Horrors and I 'sang' snippets like "Feed me Seymour" for her.  It turned out that her Drama club had  the title song one term.

She wanted to see the film.

Last time she stayed I bought a used DVD, which turned out to be a much older version.  I bought the correct version, and it has been sitting by the TV for ages waiting for an opportunity to be played.  DH didn't want to watch it again (we've seen it before, AND we've seen the stage show).

We watched it yesterday.

I hadn't realised that there were so many things that I was going to have to explain.

Whenever Miss Tween asks me anything potentially embarrassing,  I make sure that I reply factually and in the same way I would as if she asked me, for example, "what's 2 plus 2?".    It's important that I don't appear embarrassed, as I want her to feel comfortable asking about anything.

First thing.  Steve Martin appears as the sadistic dentist . Audrey gets on his bike, and he asks if she has the handcuffs.  "Why does he want her to have handcuffs"  "Because some people like to be tied up when they have sex" "That's weird!" 

Second thing: The Dentist is singing away, causing pain to all his patients. "Why does he do that?" - "Because he's a sadist" "What's a sadist?" "Someone who likes to cause pain to people"

Third thing: Bill Murray is waiting to be seen by the Dentist. When his turn comes, he's enjoying the pain "Why is he enjoying it?" - "Because he's a masochist" - "What's a masochist?"  "Someone who likes pain".  "That's just weird!"

So far, so good.  (Although I'm sure her parents are going to wonder what I've been letting her watch if she starts coming out with this sort of stuff).

Fourth thing: AudreyII is singing, and in the song describes himself as a "Mean Mother*". What does that mean?

I failed. I strayed from my strategy.

I should, of course, have just answered her question with "It's short for Motherf****r and it's a really unpleasant swear word. Your Nan hated it more that any other word".

But I didn't.

Instead I said "It's short for a really horrible swear word".
"What word?"  "I'm not going to tell you,  it's really unpleasant".
 Later: "What word?"  "I'm not going to tell you.  Your Nan absolutely hated this word, and she'd be mortified if I told you".
This morning: "What word?"  "It's just an abbreviation for a really unpleasant swear word.  You'll know it when you hear it.  I swear a lot and I don't use it".

I can't give in and tell her now because she'll think that nagging will wear me down.

But I won't make the mistake again. My usual approach is definitely the right one!

Old Bag

Miss Tween had a school trip to France, lasting several days.

We had to get her to school by 04.15 (yes, 04.15, a.m.) and had to provide a packed breakfast and a packed lunch for consumption on the ferry.    Discussions with Miss Tween started some weeks ago about what she would like in her breakfast pack (I had already decided on her lunch),  and so I was well prepared.

I was going to buy her two pretty lunch bags, one for each meal.  I'd seen some when I'd walked though TK Maxx the other week.    But then I realised I should just make a bag. 

I worked out what to do to make a lined bag, and I decided to box the bottom so that the takeaway containers (which I was reusing so they wouldn't be single use plastic) would fit it neatly.  I didn't want the lining to have seams.

It went well. Until I decided to overlock around the whole thing, which of course created the most ugly seam you can imagine.  It also ended up much smaller, due to me neatening the edges before sewing, trimming, and vrious other things.

I rethought it (whilst waiting for MIss T to finish playing horses) and did it again. I started with much bigger pieces of fabric.  It took me almost up to bedtime to finish,  and it was...enormous.  I also seemed to have a lot of bagginess in the lining, but I didn't have time to fix it.  I later realised that I should have boxed the lining too, but it was too late.

Miss Tween was very kind.  She loved the fabrics,  and she really liked that I had made it for her.   It was just a bit...big.  She decided to use it anyway, even though it took up all the space in her compulsory rucksack.  I showed her that it would roll up small (ish) when she was on her way home.

I'm really pleased with the meals, and she was very happy too.  We talked through whether the bagels should be toasted (yes) and why we had to let them go cold before wrapping them up.   She suggested tht she took the Philadelphia in a separate tub, rather than pre spread,  which was great as that was what I had planned.  She had a tub of salad and tomatoes,  some finger sized cucumbers,  a pot with some salami and sliced würst in, an apple, and a Gu pudding.  I put in some Nutella b-ready sticks as well.   

Breakfast was a simpler affair. Untoasted scotch pancakes,  a shop bought waffle, some chocolate spread in a tub,  and a banana.   I gave her one of those fab little squeezy things of Robinsons squash to take.

The cutlery was wrapped in hen-related napkins,  and I popped in one of those origami things we ised to make as kids.  The things where you put it on your hands, pick a number and open it that many times, then pick ooe of the flaps, and then read a message written underneath.   I'm not sure she's ever seen one before so she probably won't know what to do with it.   Even if she does, I'd written everything in French (I picked simple phrases for her).  What are those things called?

The pupils haven't been allowed to take their phones so we've no idea how she's getting on.   They were allowed to take disposable cameras,  but of course she has no understanding of what a film camera is or how it works.   I suspect the pics will not turn out well.  

 

Continuing on, Cooking

Creme Caramel in the Instant Pot.   Oh my goodness, it's a revelation!  It's like the time I tried pressure cooking a cheesecake!   Who would have though that it could be possible to make fabulous  Creme Caramel in a  pressure cooker!   I've had the recipe for over a year, why did I wait?!?!

I also bought a Philips Airfryer.  We've used a Tefal Actifry for cooking oven chips for years,  but I was tempted by the Airfruer because it looked more versatile.  I kept putting off buying one because it seemed a bit of an extravagance.    Costco were offering one at a reasonable price,  so I bought it. 

We tried it.  It worked really well.     It's too tall to fit in the cupboard  space occupied by the Actifry and, on the basis that we can try and use it instead of the oven (the saving is in the lack of preheatng required),  I had to find it a home on the worktop.    Easier said than done.

I spend over a day rearranging the kitchen.   I appreciate that sounds ridiculous, but it's true. It was like a 3D version of one of those sliding puzzles!

As an example,  I moved one item into the cupboard wher the Actifry used to live.  The space it created wasn't suitable for the airfryer,  as that needs to be near the extractor fan.  So i moved the vacuum sealer over instead.  But that meant that the drawer full of vac sealer bags and bits needed to move too.   And it wasn't as easy as just swapping over two drawers.  Or just two items.

And of course, I had to clean thoroughly as I moved stuff.  And I went through the drawers I was moving to see if I could get rid of anything.  I was brutal. 

Anyway,  it's done.  For the first time in months my worktops look tidy and aren't cluttered up .  Well, no more cluttered than they need to be.  The accumulation of piles of 'stuff' have been dealt with (apart from a relatively small pile of  "I don't know what to do with these"  things on a tray on the breakfast bar).

I also put one of the long-redundant kitchen appliances (previously relegated to the utility room while it waited for me to see if I missed it)  up for sale.  And I think I'll be finding a new home for the Actifry.  

I'm hoping I can keep it tidy for a few more weeks. We'll see.

 

Continuing on, chickens.

A busy week, travel wise.

I started the week visiting my parents, with my brother,  as they had to travel to an unfamiliar hospital some distance from where they live.   In fact, it was an easy journey, and they will be able to drive themselves if they have to go again. 

The following afternoon, I started a rather large round trip, including an ovenight stay,  to collect eggs for the incubator.

This year I wanted to add a Silver Laced Barnevelder (SLB) to my garden girls,  and also a Leghorn. I would also be happy to add Leghorn to the allotment flock,  and to introduce SLBs to raise chicks from in future.

There are so many gorgeous breeds and colours of  hens.  I don't particularly want to repeat breeds/colourways in my garden flock,  as I like to assoiate each type with one particular individual.  This meant I had to search high and low for Leghorn eggs which were non-white Leghorn(Lily) and non-exchequer (Lotti) Leghorn, andit was harder than I expected.     I found a lovely lady in Northamptonshire who seemed to have both breeds though, which was a bit of a result,   and I contacted her.

It turned out she's lost her SLBs to a fox attack, but she could help with the Leghorn eggs.  I found a couple of other people selling SLB eggs. Bith were some distance away,  and in the end one lady didn't have eggs at the time I needed them, so  I ended up  arranging to go to Devon.    The egg collecting trips weren't going to be linked originally - apart from needing the eggs within  couple of days of each other so they could all go in the incubator at the same time.

Meanwhile,  we penned off the Allotmenteers that we wanted to breed from this year.  Ping and Pong, our Dorkings, were in that group, but we fully expect their eggs to be clear.   Bertie really dislikes them (and/or they dislike him, we aren't quite sure).  Luckily they have plenty of room so they can avoid each other on a day to day basis.  I've got two girls I particuarly want to breed from,  but I haven't seen Bertie cover them, so it wouldn't surprise me if they turn out to be clear too. 

We also tested the two incubators, as one of them failed last year.  A new part was ordered, arrived, and fitted. Both seem to be registering the correct temperatures.

I then had an opportunity to help someone out,  so I ended up combining the trips. I went to Devon one evening, staying at an inexpensive B&B.  The next morning, I collected my SLB eggs - and some SLB cockerels and pullets.  The birds were for the lady in Northamptonshire who was supplying my Legorn eggs!

The eggs have been set,  divided equally between the two incubators.   I'm as nervous as a kitten.  Last year's hatch was, for the first time, really stressful.  I just hope this one goes more smoothly.

Continuing on, creating.

I've been trying to Get On With Things for the last few weeks,  and I've had some success.

I've managed to draft and stitch a sleeveless top, with the bust dart moved into the neckline and gathered!  I'm amazed!    I managed to baste, then overlock,  then put the neck band on,  and finally to coverstitch the neckband, the hem and the arms without any of the machines eating the garment!

The whole gathering thing was as hit and miss as ever - despite me taking precautions.   I sewed three rows of stitching,  a great tip I learned from someone's blog. (I wish I could remember who, because I'd like to thank her.) .   I sewed the gathering stitches at 2mm, 4mm and 6mm (my seam allowance was 5mm),  and I managed to sew them fairly straight.  I didn't cross the lines at all (which made me think of Ghostbusters!).  I managed to pull the threads without incident, it was just the allocating of the gathers that took..forever.

The top wasn't actually meant to be sleeveless.  I'd just had enough of it by the time I'd done the gathering.   I tried it on before I did the hemming and the arms, and it was Okay.   Not great, but Okay.    I decided to make myself finish it, good practice with the coverstitch machine and all that.   The machine behaved beautifully.  I tried it on with the neckband and the hem done, and it looked a but more okay than before.  Not quite right, but wearable. Not OK enough to be bothered to cut and sew sleeves though, so I decided to just coverstitch the armholes. 

I really like it, despite its imperfections.   I'm of an age and shape where sleeveless tops are inadvisable,  but I don't care.

I wondered whether the ruffler of gathering foot n my machine would work.  I tried the ruffler, and decided that it looked too...pleated... for what I wanted.  I cut a front neckline shaped piece of fabric, and tried the gathering foot.... and it did a reasonable job in no time at all.   

So, I made a second version.  This time I used the gathering foot on the neckline,  AND I made sleeves.   The gathering is really neat.   I suspect I would get an even beter result if I made myself learn how to gather manually  better,  but the results were acceptable.  

I'm now planning another version,  with a slightly wider necklne and more fluttery sleeves. I've just been a bit distracted by other things.

I also...shock, horror... did some machine embroidery!  I made a Batman mask for a birthday card for DSS2 (I didn't think to take a photo) ,   and I embroidered Arya onto a tee shirt for The Tween (previously known as Small Person).  I haven't seen her to give it to her.  Hope she'll like it.