Back in our routine, we went for a cuppa in the Pickled Orange this morning ....... and of course that meant sharing one of their wonderful scones - this one is blackberry and vanilla (with some of their tasty homemade raspberry jam to spread on it)
I always have a vase of flowers in the hall - but since I started shopping in Sainsbury's, they haven't always been the fanciest of flowers ..... the latest offering was what I call petrol station flowers (yes, I could go to a florist, but it's a case of lazy "pop it in the trolley" shopping!)
so when we popped into Morrison's for some shopping this morning, I took the chance to buy a bunch of altroemeria and a bunch a gypsophila
did you notice the little blue and white pot on the left .....
Malcolm bought it years ago on a business trip to Manila. Then, when we were in Singapore, he spotted this little pot
so of course it had to come home with us
so ....... what is that on the right? It's a temple bell, which Malcolm bought on a business trip to Kuala Lumpur
and what are all these things sitting on - a wine cupboard which we bought in Jakarta ....... and the little bit of rug that you can see - Malcolm bought that on a business trip to India!
and if you look at the hall from a different angle ....... the lamp/plant table in the corner also came from Jakarta - but the little pine chest of drawers was bought years ago in Falkirk (we lived there in the 90s). The big embroidered tree was a kit that my Dad bought from an advert in a newspaper many years ago (just as well that he knew someone to stitch it for him!) ....... and the two white tablecloths were stitched by my great-aunt Mima (they were already old when I was little, so they could be 80 or 90 years old!)
and I might as well show you the other corner, which has a lovely chair which we bought in an antique shop in Hexham years ago (Malcolm reupholstered it)
so, to return to this morning ........ when we came home, I was jumping up and down and squealing, when I found this on the doormat
why? Well, let me explain. Although I am now on my 4th laptop (Malcolm bought me my first one in, I think, 1999, when I took over as writer/erditor/producer of the monthly newsletter for the little expat group that I was a member of when we lived in Cillegon, West Java (we moved there after the fall of President Suharto and the ensuing political chaos meant that the project that Malcolm was working on in Jakarta was put on ice and he went to work on an existing plant, in the hope that the original project would be revived .... it wasn't) ...... I have never got the hang of using a touchpad, and have always used a mouse - which of course means also using a mousemat. My current one is a rigid one, which means it can sit on the arm of the couch when I am using the laptop (it actually came with a cable to plug it into a usb port - the silver bit has several usb ports, so that you could, in theory, plug several things in - unfortunately it didn't work!)
ever since I took the photo of that gorgeous young man in the Abercrombie and Fitch shop in Singapore (I have since discovered that the staff in A&F shops routinely go about half-naked!), Malcoolm has been teasing me about him, and on Sunday said "I'm surprised you haven't had his photo put on a mousemat". Yes. you have now guessed what was in this morning's post ....
sorry, Malcolm, what did you say ...... it's not for stroking
but why should a little mouse have all the fun!?!?
ok, I've run out of excuses to show you more photos of him ....... but I know that there are quite a few of you will have been drooling over him, given that I had more comments on him than I have had on most posts! So ....... if you would like to get your own mousemat - I got mine here (or simply print out a photo), either tell me in a comment , or email me (there is a link to click on at the top of the righthand sidebar) and I will email you with the photo as an attachment for you to download.