The best thing today

[Madeleine]

I had lots of dolls, I went through a phase of cutting their hair short - presumably my young mind thought that it would grow again, like my own!

[Michy]

I was pretty attached to my dolls (teenage dolls only, no baby dolls ) and books as a kid, one of the by-products of a fairly lonely childhood, I guess.

A few years ago my mom gave me my surviving dolls. My Barbies were pretty thrashed, so they are stowed away -- I will never get rid of them, even though they are not fit to be displayed. But there were some other dolls that survived remarkably well, considering how much they were played with. These were teen dolls that were manufactured for a short period in the early '70s, and were meant to be a somewhat rival to the Barbie doll. They were teen dolls like Barbie and I was even more attached to them because they were much smaller (about 5-1/2 inches) and so could be -- and were -- taken literally everywhere.

I cleaned them up and made fun costumes for them (I didn't want to display them in their original clothes) and they are happily displayed in my home.

[SonjaMarie]

When I did have barbies I would crochet clothes for them. I can't crochet anymore, it's been a long time and I don't think my fingers would appreciate it anymore.

SM

[Michy]

I used to crochet and knit clothes for mine, too. I don't think any of them survived, though, except for a couple of dresses crocheted by my much-beloved grandma.

I always had the best-dressed dolls with huge wardrobes. Back in the late '60s - early '70s you could buy patterns for doll clothes. My mom was quite the seamstress, so she made me LOTS of clothes for my dolls using scraps (I now have all the patterns). Of course, as a kid I didn't appreciate the clothes because they weren't the "store-bought" ones from Mattel. But those were out of the question because they were waaaay too expensive....

[parthianbow]

[quote=""sweetpotatoboy""] Bought myself a new office chair for my home study. Was very expensive but I have a bad back and I'll shortly be working one day a week from home. It feels so good.

By the way, does anyone know what to do with samphire??[/quote]

A good chair is such a good investment, SPB - I bought one about 18 months ago, to help control my RSIs from typing as a job.

Samphire is an odd one, and something I see mentioned more in newspapers- or is it just because I recognise it now?! - it's good with fish, or in salads:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/ ... es.weekend

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/ ... d-samphire

I can particularly recommend the second chef, Yotam Ottolenghi - I've made many of his recipes, and they are invariably outstanding.

On another note, my editor is happy with Soldier of Carthage, my latest WIP. Hoooorrrrayyyy! A couple of tweaks, and it will head off to press. Time for a little break. Or more accurately, the HNS conference in Manchester this weekend...

[sweetpotatoboy]

[quote=""parthianbow""]A good chair is such a good investment, SPB - I bought one about 18 months ago, to help control my RSIs from typing as a job.[/quote]

I had really bad RSI years ago and little changes to how you sit and work make all the difference. I found that using a wrist support for both the mouse and the keyboard keeps it at bay. If I type on a keyboard with no wrist for even half an hour, it sets it off, but otherwise i'm fine. And of course good back support is essential. Still get pain because I invariably lean forward without realising...

[quote=""parthianbow""]Samphire is an odd one, and something I see mentioned more in newspapers- or is it just because I recognise it now?! - it's good with fish, or in salads:
I can particularly recommend the second chef, Yotam Ottolenghi - I've made many of his recipes, and they are invariably outstanding.[/quote]

Thanks Ben. I have simply steamed it for a minute or two and, yes, I tried it with fish and it's nice. It has a kind of salty taste, so you must avoid using salt with it, but then I never use salt in any case. I just saw it in Asda at the weekend. Whenever I see a new vegetable, I buy it and then figure out afterwards what to do with it! And I've heard of Ottolenghi but never followed any of his recipes. Looks good.

[quote=""parthianbow""]On another note, my editor is happy with Soldier of Carthage, my latest WIP. Hoooorrrrayyyy! A couple of tweaks, and it will head off to press. Time for a little break. Or more accurately, the HNS conference in Manchester this weekend... [/quote]

Hooray to you. Great feeling, I'm sure. I had thought about going to the conference, but it's probably a bit late now to get my act together...

[LoveHistory]

Great news Ben! Hope you get some down time soon.

[fljustice]

I can't believe it rolled around so soon. I still think I look like my wedding pictures...until I look in the mirror. We're off to a lovely dinner tonight, then an anniversary trip in November rehabilitating turtle nesting habitat in Vieques National Wildlife Refuge. We're so romantic!

[Madeleine]

Congrats! Have a lovely evening.

[fljustice]

[quote=""Madeleine""]Congrats! Have a lovely evening.[/quote]

Thanks, Madeleine! We both had wonderful meals and bought each other crystal. The family joke is that we share a brain. When we both pulled out Swarovski boxes, we looked at each other in mock horror. Luckily we choose different things!