So Christmas has come and gone and the New Year is here. NYE was spent indoors I don't see why I should pay extra for something I can do any other time just because of a date. So the intervening time between the last update and this? Of course being out and about. The only sales we participated in were madame getting herself a new belt strap and buckle at Elliot Rhodes as she always does and visits to John Lewis and Liberties haberdashery departments. Madame managed to get loads of material at knockdown prices at John Lewis in particular their 150 year celebration fabric at a £1 a metre. Talking of which Liberties managed to do this......

I wonder which sort they were, Electric or Gas?

We took ourselves off to the London Alternative Market last Sunday, all prepared for our usual breakfast in Pret in St Mary Axe we found it shut! Off we trolled and found a new place on the corner of some alleyway and Bishopsgate called The Drift and very nice it was with prices comparable to Pret etc but a much, much wider choice. All sparkly and new it was with painters still painting. The staff were... a little taken aback with the pair of us, even more so when the remaining four of our party turned up.

A little trip out yesterday, a quick flit into Superdrug and Selfridges thence off to the V&A. No matter how many times I go there I always find something I haven't seen before...

Plus of course the odd self-portrait....

 

Well done

So we have cleared out my sons old room that we were using for all our rubbish to make it into a sewing room for madame.  Of course the room now needs decorating etc. Off we went yesterday for what was ostensibly a mooch around the shops. As per breakfast in Pret, a visit to Primark for stuff for my daughter and thence to John Lewis. Lets look at the flooring says madame, OK. Of course within minutes of getting there she has selected what she likes and she is advancing on a salesperson. I did notice that this particular department is, as far as staff is concerned, quite a male preserve.

I must say they coped particularly well with me as trans, I cannot think that they get many 'ladies' in that department as customers. The guy dealing with us on a couple of occasions must have been mentally trying to recall his training as he desperately tried to find appropriate words but he did did magnificently and 'word' did not get around that there was a tranny on the loose so no visits from non-departmental staff and believe you me I can spot those in a flash.

After returning home I am struck by a thought, redecorating. Mmm better get on with it before the flooring arrives. So there I am, full makeup, dressed fem but appropriately for the task tearing out the old carpet, stripping the wallpaper and flinging it all in the skip before that disappears this week and washing the paint at about six o'clock last night.

I am constantly amazed at madame and the things we get up to, talk about where angels fear to tread, she is wonderful.

Buses

Off to Westfield White City yesterday with madame. The overground is out of action so we elect to go by.... bus. Big mistake. Not only do we have to wait and wait, with the bus in sight because of traffic but it takes an age. A very popular bus route that to say it goes around the houses is no exaggeration. Not only do we get traffic just about everywhere but being popular it stops at nearly every stop! Ah the delights of Willesden and Harlesden, Acton and Shepherds Bush... not. So not only is it long and drawn out it is desperately boring and frustrating. Aaaaanyway we get there, eventually and a nice day ensues, a late, late breakfast and lunch. Biggest disappointment was Reiss, the three visions of loveliness that were there last time have gone to be replaced by.... men. We pop into Aspinalls and see three totally wonderful handbags. The Hepburn which is nice, the fabulous python and the absolute favourite embossed Brook Street but just a tad out of our price range. Of course it happens again, up comes the assistant who says, can I help you ladies! That is until I turn round LOL.
Madame gets herself one of the limited edition LBD's in H&M, not a shop we usually frequent but it is rather nice.
Thankfully the trains are mended and our journey home is vastly quicker.

Day 4

Off out for breakfast around nine then up to the rooftop pool for a sunbathe. It gets really hot around eleven so off comes the slap as sweat pouring out through makeup is not a good look. Not too long after we decide to go walkabout which of course means a holiday beer or two. We shuffle back to the hotel for a freshen up before departing for Dolenta's mothers for paella.



We grab a cab and are there in a few minutes. A long late lunch ensues and we take our leave about six. Madame and I decide not to venture for the evening and collapse exhauasted after I have had an evening stroll.

Day 2

Madame is not feeling too good today due to the radical change in diet. I go for an early morning walkabout and find these fabulous shoes!......

But as we are to find out shoes in Palma are expensive! 255 Euros no less.



Steph, Andy and I go in search of a late breakfast and a long gossip. Steph has a desire to go shopping and we start in C&A of all places. Not been in one of their shops in many a long year. Aaaaanyway we find nothing and traipse around a few more with no results but Madame has joined us now.
We return to a cafe near the hotel and take a long lunch before setting off for a stroll taking in an Irish bar on the front. Again as in Kings Cross the obligatory hurling is on the multiple TV screens :-( I have to say that sport is just not my thing, at all.
Back at the hotel the three of us are shattered, all this fresh air I 'spose. Madame and I decide to go walkabout to try and find the looky-likey men that's the fake handbag guys. We find them but fussy Anna decides they are not the style she desires so we carry on our merry way winding up at a restaurant near the hotel for a lateish dinner. So that is the end of day 2.
Looks like we shall be beaching it tomorrow, mmm could be the black swimsuit could get an airing.

and again

So yesterday off we set for another visit to Oxford St. Off the bus at Selfridges and on another down to South Moulton Street. Madame wants a pair of shoes in the Kurt Geiger sale. I must admit t-girl or no t-girl I have always loved shopping. While madame tries on the shoes I wander the shop and see these wonderful platform high heels... Luckily I'm not 'dressed' and I also have more expensive fish to fry ;-)

Shoes bought we retrace out steps and off to John Lewis. Up to the fifth floor for breakfast and then into radio and TV. Now fortunately or unfortunately, as I stop to look at the cameras. Oh did I mention I was in the market for a replacement of my Nikon D90? No? Well I am. Aaaanyway as I say, fortunately or unfortunately as I am looking for a new one a nice assistant asks if I need help, not only that but he actually works for.... Nikon. By-the-by we find out that it is really pronounced Nick-on and not Nye-kon. Apparently nye-kon is the American pronounciation which as usual, is wrong. Anyway I digress. So I get him to get out a D5200 and very nice it is. I tell him I need a replacement for the D90 as its done 120,000 exposures and he appears to be taken a little aback but agrees it time for it to go. Needless to say it is the last day of the cashback offer so I get one. He also tells us that John Lewis have bought all the remaining stock of the D90 so it indeed has reached the end of its life. I was sorely tempted by the D7100 but apart from the expense why buy something that is bigger than the one you have and heavier?