Pretty pass

I don't know on the one hand I do not believe how lucky I am to have a partner that accepts me for who I am but then again on the other hand it comes to a pretty pass when she asks if she can borrow a pair of my holdups!

Not thirteen just one

Dear Ted,
Mr Baker why is it that I enter your concession emporium in Fenwicks Brent Cross and find a lovely frock with mark you, a matching handbag and then fail to find it on your website? This is not the first time this has occurred. Now I know that there are many places that list more on their websites than they have in their shop, I can see the reasoning, I can see the financial implications and the issues of space but why have something in a shop you cannot buy online? To the best of my knowledge, and believe me I look almost everytime I go out, these items are not old stock.
It is also a shame that you have another rather large outlet that disposes of old stock at Bicester whose stock you hide from view on your website?
yours etc, etc

More shopping

Off to the West End again today. Breakfast in M&S. Cross the road into Selfridges and a nice stroll through the shoe department and ladies fashions. So much begging to be bought, so much totally unaffordable. Do I care? No, of course not, I love to window shop, its things that are just out of reach that get to me not things that dreams are made of.

A visit to W.H. Smith in Selfridges for a Radio Times resulted in buying Tatler as they were giving away a rather nice pair of sunglasses.

We are off up there again tomorrow, John Lewis and the Kurt Geiger shop in South Moulton Street. Talking of Kurt Geiger shoes I located the flats I was looking for in Selfridges shoe department. Very nice and yes I would have bought them and been nearly £100 poorer.

Two wanderings

Off we go this a.m. to the Hill Gardens. Weather forecast was not auspicious and proved correct. Still we got a few pictures done before it started to spit with rain and we retreated homeward. It seemed that half-terms have started so a few children about but nothing to bother us. Aaaanyway we had lunch then took ourselves off to Brent Cross. Oh my it was sooo busy but again no problem for us. So many nice frocks. Heard as two women passed us in Fenwicks, "was that two men?". Well that's an improvement, she wasn't sure. LOL

Popped into Curry's, not that I'd ever actually buy anything in there but I wanted to get my mucky paws on a Nikon D5100 as I thought it might be too small. The trusty old D90 is coming to the end of its useful life. It was a shame that they didn't have a D5200 to try. I would go for the D7000 but it is even heavier than the D90 and that is one reason I don't carry it everywhere. I was not that impressed with the speed of its focusing but then that is down to the lens it had not the body and I'd only be buying the body.

Got them, wet and Poppies

Well the shoes arrived this morning. Thank you Kurt Geiger and Parcelforce. A trip to Camden today, a wet trip. Raining when we got there and raining when we left. Still we had a nice wander, a look at the new frocks in the Collectif and very nice they were too. Could be a purchase there, the only problem being that I have absolutely no wardrobe space left and horror of horrors no space to put a new wardrobe into, if I had I would.

We visited Eclipse tattoo and piercing as Stephanie wants a small tattoo but being under instructions from my son to only see John we find that he is not in today, damn. A nice lunch in the revamped chippy in Hawley Crescent, reopened by Poppies. Now we know Poppies from Hanbury Street in Spitalfields. Aaaanyway it was rather nice and provided a respite from the rain.

Naughty, naughty

Anyone with a Flickr account? Well if you have be careful. Gone are the days when you logged out you got a link to log out of Yahoo. If you logout of Flickr you are still logged into Yahoo. You HAVE to go to Yahoo and log out there as well. This has only happened since they revamped Flickr into the appaulling shite that it is today.

Mind you this site isn't much better. Log in here and click on View Site and what happens, it shows your blog BUT look at the top right. It says log in. But you already are. So if you think you are not tracking your own visits, I've got news for you, you are.

Bargain !

Sooo lovelies I was after a nice pair of flats, shoes that is. A totally delish pair on the Kurt Geiger site a mere £120. Well a trip to Brent Cross drew a blank. Not in the Kurt Geiger shop, not in Fenwicks, not in John Lewis. So do I order them online. I don't really like buying online unless I have to. So I have another look and I see a similar pair, on sale, £120 down to...... £29!!! Ordered them, tooo right my dears.

Berlin and the German Fetish Ball 2013

Up not that too early and ready for the off. Slightly worrying the National Express bus doesn't turn up. Still there is another one soon. By the time it does arrive it is closely being followed by the next one. We then find out that although not listed it does stop much nearer home! We get to Luton drastically early so early that the flight is not even open so its opened for us. So its off to get something to eat then the departure lounge for a couple of hours. Of course it happens again , as the personal stuff and we are scanned the guy calls me madam LOL Not bad seeing as I am not "dressed". I don't know about others but I love it. So there we are sat sitting there as you do, people watching, when I see her, snotty nose tart looking down her nose at everyone. Look dear if you want to be superior to everyone else then travel via heathrow, cheapskate Luton is not the place for you. Just get used to the fact you want to fly cheap then you have to mix with the rabble, I do.

So a nice hot Berlin replaces a cold London and Luton. We grab a cab and are at our swish abode for four days of four star luxury. OK so we know this is going to be a 'funky' hotel but we never imagined it was going to be this funky. The reception area is humungeous,



which opens out into the lounge area



and then into the bar



and eventually the restaurant. Music plays 24/7 and varies from gentle murmurings in the early morning with increasing volume and funkiness towards the end, although on our last morning I am listening to Jimi Hendrix and Purple Haze in the lift at seven in the morning!.



A nice young man shows us around the hotel and then takes us and our luggage to our room.. We press the button to call the lift and….. Oh My Days, the doors open to reveal… a totally baby pink lift with a picture overhead!



Ensconced in our room its a quick unpack and out and this time the lift is……… lime green !



The exterior of the hotel is just as amazing as the interior, parts of the Berlin wall used as decoration....




As we leave for a stroll about we walk into our friends Peter and Sarah so its off for something to eat. We find ourselves a nice down at heel kebab cafe and gossip. Although we had not planned doing anything that evening but are convinced by them that we should. I'm feeling shattered so elect not to dress. Off we whizz to Bar ll in Wiener Strasse, Kreuzberg. We see a few people we know and meet some new ones then run into Suzanna who we met at Pride in Stockholm a few years ago when she walked for Dolenta's fashion show. We see Mr Chips sans Tina and Madame Caramel and also meet a few new people. Exhausted by the days events we take our leave around 1 ish and zoom back to the hotel in Peters hire car. Next day is a total change, its raining and rather cool and madame is feeling "off" so has extended sleeping. I on the other hand have been out since 7am wandering return at 8 only to go out again in search of a pharmacy and paracetamol. An hour later I return empty handed. By ten she has recovered enough to go out and seek food and we find a pharmacy, eventually.
Decisions, decisions, do I go to the exhibition on my own or not.



Well in the end I do. All made up and dressed I go down and lo and behold I see Mr Chips and partner who are staying at the same hotel. Are they going? Yes they are so we share a cab. Only a five minute or so drive. First thing is to find somewhere to put the silly shoes on then a wander. Run into Mistress Hannah and enquire of PFK's location and make our way to see him. Long chats while Mistress Hannah changes then a wander. See the boys from Latex 101 and then run into Mistress Caramel for more cuddling and gossip. After long chats all round its time to go. Do I walk it, only about 15-20 minutes or taxi? Well the question is soon answered there is a taxi available and waiting. Madame has awoken and as its cold and windy we elect to eat in and very nice it is albeit pricey. I do a quick change as I am told I do not look up to my usual standard, so its the new skirt and the black peasant top and the Miss L Fire shoes Now if I were to say to you we had a burger and fries you might think, eh? what?, pardon? Well let me assure you dear reader there is such a thing as a four star burger. How do I know? I had one and it was worth every Euro !
Sunday is ball day. It is gloriously sunny and hot. Out for breakfast on Warschauer Strasse and a day of relaxing. The flyer posters are out in force and lamposts are thick with them, and I mean thick!



Well after I have had my early morning constitutional.



A walk down to Kopeniker Strasse to see where the ball is to be held which I find later is wrong, its next door.
It is sooo hot we give up sitting in the sun for fear of getting burnt. We lunch out then rest before the evening. A light dinner in the hotel, a delicious prawn salad. With this we get, as a freebie, because we are sooo nice, free bread and an olive oil and balsamic dip complete with salt, in a testube. Now how trendy is that?. Now when one is eating in trendy places one has to be a little wary of menu descriptions. Prawn salad in a glass. Mmmmm. We enquire. Oh no not A glass. A large glass bowl no less and totally yummy to boot.
So then it is time to get ready and off to the ball about 9.30. A line of taxis waits outside and we are off. A fair number of people have arrived and we thread our way through. Finding somewhere to sit is a priority. Luckily we manage to grab a table and we are settled. We see Suzanna from Friday night again, Bobette and Sally, PFK and Mistress Hannah but greeting of the night if not forever has to go to Mistress Absolute who is a vision in white latex, although as I said to her, she always is a vision. On seeing us she says to her companions, I have to stop to talk to my most favourite people in the whole world !
We were not that impressed with the outfits but of course there were some rather special ones. I manage to grab a conversation with Alan from Torture Garden who is one of the DJ's. We never managed to see Mad Alan or Madame Caramel, saw Miss Britney in the distance and hear that DeeBee never came after all ! Most unusual. We arrive back at the hotel gone three and on our way to our room cross from one building to another....



A slow day recovering after getting to bed at 3.30. A stagger out to get breakfast then over the bridge and a wander

,

somewhere new. A look at the murals


on the east side gallery then lunch. An all you can eat, oh dear we were doing quite well until the freebies arrived. Phew that took some getting through. We wander back to the hotel and run into PFK and Sarah trying desperately to waste time before their flight so we go into the hotels art gallery for an hour and then they are off back to London. The tiredness now begins to strike home. I am totally shattered. Madame has a couple of hours sleep then we have dinner, madame elects just chips while I select fish to go with mine. Oh my that was nice. My own bowl of fresh tartare sauce and olive oil and balsamic vinegar in their own pipettes, deeeelish. I finally give in around 9.30 ish and collapse into bed and the arms of morpheus.
I cancel the 6.00 alarm call as I am up and at reception at 5.30 Packing is 99.9% done and soon we shall be off for our flight home.
So there I am, in Luton Airport. What is the first thing I need on my return? A cigarette lighter. Off to Smiths. Have you a lighter I say. The young idiot says yes... but I only have a pink one. So I say to him I really couldn't care less about the colour which he finds amusing. I add that its what is inside that is important. So I am supposed to be bothered that an item is pink, this is somehow important? Even if I were bothered it is an object that will spend 99.9% of its life in my pocket. Good grief why do these people attach so much importance to things and god forbid someone, who you don't know, and will never see again might, just might think ill of you because you have a pink lighter.
The same applies to our coach diver. When we get off he asks which are our cases. That one, that one and the pink one I say dragging off the first two myself leaving him with the one nearest to him. Oh that's right he says, leave me with the pink one. FFS you are only moving it three feet, no one is going to see you. Methinks that is you that might have a problem with your sexuality not me.

Nearly there

Almost packed, just the odd essentials that we shall need tomorrow morning, then book a cab and its all done. Well it was 90% done yesterday :-) Oh I am sooo smug. All the rubber is washed and polished to a mirror shine and ready to fly the English fetish flag for Breathless, Libidex and Bondinage.
Money changed this morning so we all Euro'd and ready to spend, actually found some Euro's yesterday left over from last year so that little windfall should pay for the taxi from Berlin Schoenefeld.
Looks like a fairly strong London crowd will be there Mistress Absolute, Dbdee, Mad Alan, PFK and Sarah, Bobette, Sally and entourage, Kim plus Kitty who actually lives in Berlin and not forgetting Madame Caramel!

Its been a long time

Now as friends and relatives know, sport is an anathema to me. I live in a world of total and utter ignorance of its goings on. Indeed, unless I not been told I would not have had the slightest inkling that it was the cup-final yesterday. So it came as a surprise, nay shock when I see the announcement this morning that Wigan, in my ignorance, was not just somewhere ooop north that played rugby, thanks to the wonderful voice of Eddie Waring, actually had a football team. Not only that but their name is Wigan Athletic. Now dear reader in my youth any team that had athletic or academicals after it meant it was either amateur or resided on the outer limits of the professional game. So to see that they had beaten Manchester City in a cup-final made me take a step back in amazement ! Not only that, but I actually had to read some of the story to dispel my preconceived notions. Goodness me, they are actually quite famous, just goes to show, ignorance is sometimes bliss or not as the case may be.

To tell or not to tell?

The other week we perchanced upon a rather nice website with fifties style frocks, skirts etc and of course just had to have one, or two. Well I ordered one and madame ordered two. Luckily I can easily get into hers.... :-) Two of them arrived el-pronto which was a good sign and third a little later as it required being made. Now three days from an item being ordered, made and delivered is hot stuff in my book and just about on a par with the wonderful What Katie Did which is saying something and who, by the way have a corset sale today in their Portobello Road shop. So three cheers to Wagtails Dancewear
I must admit I can't get enough of fifties fashion, its sooo feminine. It looks feminine and feels feminine unlike so much today. Oh for a lovely fitted suit.

It's not often

Well it isn't often I complain about dear old John Lewis but.... in I troll this a.m. to buy some black holdups. Can I find any? No. Plenty of nearly black. What's that all about, nearly black, ugh! So I take myself off to Marks and Spencer and without any trouble I locate them.
The other day I went in search of new foundation sponges. With a little left over from my Mac voucher I thought I would try theirs, big mistake. They are awful and dare I say it far inferior to those sold by Boots, so I got another of theirs today.

Soooo, there I am wandering Brent Cross as is my won't and my phone asks if it can do an update, muggins of course replies in the affirmative doesn't she. Idiot. Half an hour later and a flat battery later it finishes and of course it loses all my settings. Why oh why in this age is a software update not able to take on board previous settings and put things back as it was. It can define what it can update and what it can't. It can preserve contacts, pictures etc, etc but settings oh no, grrrrrrrrr! On returning home it took ages it put it all back where it was.

Oh it gets worse. There used to be a memo facility, that is deemed no longer required in favour of a note facility. So far so good. To create a memo in the good old days you just started a new one, now it says what template do you want. Template? For a bloody note! Good grief ! Want to save it. It actually asks you if you are sure. What ! For goodness sake if I say save then save it, its not as though I said delete is it.

At last

Well after trying on nineteen different outfits I have managed to select two for Berlin's shenanigans. Now for the washing and polishing.

Two to go

Well after much wringing of hands and indecision there are two more outfits to try and that will be Berlin sorted. Yes more straining at corset laces yesterday and much disappointment, corsets that didn't quite fit, and before you ask too big, although I did locate an A-line latex skirt in pink and purple that could be added to the wardrobe. Of course there are outfits that I would use in a flash but with airline travel as it is they are either too bulky or too heavy or both.



Its the excitement of shopping today, oh the joy then the sorting of Howard's website. Tomorrow is a dash to Dolenta, the gloves I picked up the other day were just too small so she is making a slightly larger pair.

Spend

I really shouldn't be allowed out with money. A trip to Brent Cross to spend a voucher still begging to be spent from Christmas would you believe. So first into M&S for breakfast then into Fenwicks and the Mac concession for some Lady Danger lippy and sponges. Dive into Boots for a Rimmel Jet Black eyebrow pencil and under a tenner spent. What I shouldn't have done was go into Zara. I only went in to look and came out with a necklace for £25.99 or £26 as I call it. Had a lovely camp chat with a young lady in the queue to pay who I convinced to go and buy a necklace :-)