Monday 30 May 2011

Sandwich Wrap

Inspired by several similar items I saw on Etsy, I decided to make a reusable sandwich wrap for MrMojcek. The most difficult part was obtaining the fabrics :-)


I got some very light waterproof ripstop nylon from FunFabric and a striped cotton (MrMojcek wanted something bright but not girly). The all there was to do was to cut a square and add the closures.


More or less.


I made the wrap, he has to make the sandwich :-)

Wednesday 25 May 2011

Are you happy? If not, read Agatha Christie.

36. AND THEN THERE WERE NONE
Ten people are invited to an island off the coast of Devon by a certain U. N. Owen. They soon learn they have more in common than they think: they have all been previously somehow involved in deaths of other people. But now - so it seems - it's their turn! One after another they are being murdered following a nursery rhyme. Will they be able to identify and stop the killer before he/she gets them all? A true masterpiece so no wonder this is Agatha's best selling book.

Memorable quotes:
-"Be sure thy sin will find thee out."
-"It's only a question of time."
-"He was not afraid of danger in the open, only of danger undefined and tinged with the supernatural."
-"That's peace - real peace. To come to the end."


Favourite Guest Character: Mr. Blore
Mystery: *****
Final Solution: *****
Entertainment: ***** (in its own way)
15/15


35. PARKER PYNE INVESTIGATES
"Are you happy? If not, consult Mr. Parker Pyne". A bunch of people respond to this advertisement and their stories - albeit a tad predictable - are fun to read. I want an ad like this to appear in my local paper!

Memorable quotes:
-"I am a specialist in every kind of human trouble."
-"Happiness is just as important as bodily health."
-"It is a fundamental axiom of married life that you must lie to a woman. She likes it."
-"His hostess had acquired the Oriental habit of infinite leisure."


Favourite Guest Character: Why, Parker Pyne, of course!
Favourite Story: The Case of the Distressed Lady
Mystery: ***
Final Solution: *****
Entertainment: *****
13/15


34. LORD EDGWARE DIES (Poirot)
A very famous actress asks Poirot to help her get rid of her husband. And the next day the husband is found dead... Poirot realizes that if you're good at something, well, you're good at it all the time. And he also learns that telling Paris from Paris can cost you your life!

Memorable quotes:
-"When planning a murder never depend upon a woman doing what she says she'll do."
-"No human being should learn from another. Each individual should develop his own powers to the uttermost, not try to imitate those of someone else."
-"Girls ought to have men friends. If not there's something wrong about them."
-"Sons never want to marry the girls their mothers want them to marry."


Favourite Guest Character: Hm. Donald Ross?
Mystery: ****
Final Solution: ****
Entertainment: **
10/15

Tuesday 10 May 2011

Vintage Obi Pillowcase

If you ever wondered how a vintage obi looks like from within - this is the answer:


It is much prettier from the other side:


My brother brought me this Fukuro obi from Japan a while ago. But it was so beautiful that I was too afraid to cut it... Anyway, now a good friend of mine - who adores Japan and everything Japanese - is moving and I needed a housewarming present. What could be more suitable than a pillow with a vintage obi pillowcase!

Wednesday 4 May 2011

Y'Allah Y'Allah

Continuing the journey to the East:

33. MURDER IS MESOPOTAMIA (Poirot)
An archaeological site in the Iraqi desert and a bunch of people who "pass the butter to each other too politely". A nurse is called to the site to help Mrs Leidner overcome her irrational fears and horrifying fantasies. But maybe they weren't just fantasies, maybe her life really was in danger! Luckily Poirot is in the neighbourhood and solves this mysterious crime.

Memorable quotes:
-"My wife likes Arabs very much - she appreciates their simplicity and their sense of humour."
-"I was just thinking what a miserable lot they were when Dr Leidner said, 'Rather a fine-looking lot of men, aren't they?'"
-"As a matter of fact it wouldn't be safe to tell any man the truth about his wife! Funnily enough, I'd trust most women with the truth about their husbands."
-"... women can put up with a lot when they've got what they want."


Favourite Guest Character: Hm. Miss Reilly?
Mystery: ****
Final Solution: ****
Entertainment: ***
11/15


32. THEY CAME TO BAGHDAD
I do have a soft spot for Arab countries but even if you don't, you have to love this book! Victoria decides to follow a crush (well, I can't call him the love of her life, can I?) to Baghdad. She arrives there penniless at the time of an important political meeting and meets plenty of interesting characters. The most interesting one, however, dies the minute she meets him...

Memorable quotes:
-"Here was no glamour of travel, only confusion."
-"Every place gets ruined sooner or later."
-"It's always Inshallah, isn't it?"
-"How fatuous men are! Always wanting their girl friends to like each other."
-"If she had been a cat she would have purred."


Favourite Guest Character: Fakir Carmichael
Mystery: ****
Final Solution: ****
Entertainment: *****
13/15


31. DEATH COMES AS THE END
Egypt: 2000 years ago. Young widow Renisenb returns home to live with her family and everything seems the way it was... But the difference becomes apparent when the father introduces his new concubine, Nofret. Suddenly evil and hate emerge - but maybe, as one wise man says, they had been here before? Easy to guess the murderer but with so much going on, you just cannot put the book down...

Memorable quotes:
-"A houseful of women - never quiet, never peaceful - always talking, exclaiming, saying things - not doing them."
-"Sometimes what you think is an end is only a beginning."
-".. if one is to live always in fear it would be better to die - so I will overcome fear."
-"Death feeds you and clothes you."
-"Fear is only incomplete knowledge."


Favourite Guest Character: Hori
Mystery: **
Final Solution: ***
Entertainment: ***
8/15