*13* poetry Monday

Monica Dunkley

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January 14, 2019

Back to college today, so you’re getting a bookish poem. Do you know Brian Bilston?

This Bookshop life (Brian Bilston)

I’d buy everything from a bookshop if I could.
All my food would come from there.
Atwooden tables I would sit, eating Dahl,
Kipling Tartts or chocolate Baudelaires.
There’d be flat tortillas, focaccia and the rye:
it would be a literary-luncheoned life of pie,
all washed down with a glass of Carver
or a Swift half, if I’d rather.

I would make myself an Eco-friendly home:
go Greene and buy recycled tomes.
It Wodehouse a Self-portrait in the attic,
where no-one else could look at it,
and a looking-glass, of course, for the hall,
(amazing how I’ve not changed at all).
My house would Spark delighted looks;
I’d build a coffee table out of coffee table books.

I would also buy my clothes from there:
ragged trousers, experimental novel underwear,
dust jackets and striped pyjamas.
Boyd by the comments that I would Garner,
my days would pass quite Harper Lee,
this bookshop life, these books and me.

*12* local history

Monica Dunkley

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January 12, 2019

Florence Earangey (nee How), lived at No 3 Wellington Square from 1899 to 1911.

She was very active in the women Suffrage movement together with her husband, William George Earangey a local solicitor. Florence was supportive of any movement who would push forward the issue of women’s vote but when in 1907 her sister, Edith How-Martyn, founded a break-away movement (in protest of the use of violence advocated by Pankhurst) the Women’s Freedom League, she became the de-facto leader of the local branch till the outbreak of the war, first as secretary then as president.

in the middle with her daughter.

Although the Cheltenham WFL membership was small, it was a tightly-knit and active group. The most notable initiative, organised in the town by Florence with a parallel WSPU campaign, was the 1911 census evasion, an initiative aiming to distort government figures by persuading women to refuse to supply details for the census forms which, for the first time, were to be filled in by the householder rather than by a census enumerator visiting houses. (information taken from here).

I find local history, especially when it happened a few doors down from my own so interesting. It makes me feel more part of a place than anything else. I read a paper once (don’t ask me why… I was down a wormhole on the internet that took me down some weird stuff… but this one stuck)… it said that local history is also a way of seeing, seeing history at micro level that makes history also a social history because we can get to a much more detailed level. (I found who said it: Jonathan Healey, University of Oxford, ahh the scary know-it-all that is google…)

I love the fact that because someone took the trouble to put a blue sign of a wall I know that a suffragette lived near me, or the first woman GP had her office nearby etc.

I must find all the others blue plaques in town.

*10* triple chocolate cookies

Monica Dunkley

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January 10, 2019

Buckwheat triple chocolate cookies.

Note of warning: have a glass of cold milk ready because… hello… chocolate!!!

You can find the recipe here. It’s really easy and quick. Probably as quick as eating the cookies when you’re done!

plus Vanilla Essence…

A lot is done in the mixer (but you don’t have to… I’m just lazy)… but I wonder if I got the measuring right because my dough was definitively drier/stiffer than it should have been. Maybe I should have added a drop of milk?

Maybe next time I’ll experiment a little.

They didn’t take the lovely round cookies shape at all…

… BUT …

… they remained soft on the inside, cakey rather than chewy… totes delish.

So I call it a win.

I think next time I will use white chocolate chip to sweeten them up a little, I like them because they’re really intensely chocolatey, but I’m not sure they boys will… (more for me I suppose), and Mr M will lament the lack of raisins … (we all know what my thoughts are on the subject of raisins).

*9* wellbeing

Monica Dunkley

1 comment

January 9, 2019

Blogging is about sharing, right?

At times it does feel a little like I’m talking to myself, but generally speaking I think blogging is about talking to people and exchanging ideas and so today I’d like to mention a product that I discovered a few months ago and I’ve been using for just as long on a daily basis. (No, this is not an ad!)

I’m talking about this: Aurelia Botanical Cream Deodorant.

Deodorant in a jar. Genius.

First of all, I KNOW that us lady don’t sweat… but on those occasions we might gently perspire… (… ahem…)… it’s good to be prepared. I apply a small pea-size amount under the arms in the morning and voila’… sorted for the whole day. Even if I work out or go for a run… fresh as a daisy! (… and red as a pepper in case of a run…). Also, I’d like to point out that it is a deodorant, not an antiperspirant… but those are bad for you so don’t use them in any case, please. At first if might feel a bit strange to rub stuff on the armpits… but it takes two seconds and after a few days is no biggy.

It is a cream-to-powder formula, it’s not sticky at all and it has a really delicate, pleasant smell, although you can’t smell anything once it’s on. It’s not a body spray type thing. AND, of course, it’s aluminium free. Obvs.

Another thing I like is that the packaging is all recyclable, the jar is glass and the plastic lid is widely recyclable too. I’m having an increasing problem with the packaging of normal roll ons or spray deodorants.

You can find it on the Aurelia website here. It does seem expensive… but like I said it lasts for months so I actually think it’s pretty good value. (I’m a huge fan of all their products!)

There are other cream deodorants out there, of course this is not the only one (I sound like a BBC disclaimer!) but this is the only one I tried and I’m a total convert. And there are plenty of ‘recipes’ to do it yourself on the internet, if you’re that inclined too.

Try it! Go on, be brave!!

*8* last of 2018

Monica Dunkley

1 comment

January 8, 2019

‘Time’s convert’ by Deborah Harkness

– love a signed book –

I like a good modern vampire story… they’re silly and cheesy and total escapism. They’re the perfect holiday reading when you brain is full of heavy college books (… gender performatism anyone?)… and your belly full of Christmas food.

This was a lovely surprise present from my sister and I got stuck into it really quickly; it’s a of spin off from the ‘All Souls’ trilogy, which I really enjoyed… but this one, sadly didn’t quite got off the ground. It’s a little flimsy, the story a little weak and it felt more like a bridge for more books to come to keep the saga going. Do you know what I mean? Written in a rush, yes, that’s how it seemed, rushed.

It did the job of mental chewing-gum in the lazy days between Christmas and New year but nothing more.

Any other, good fantasy stories I should check out?

*7* poetry Monday

Monica Dunkley

1 comment

January 7, 2019

Another one from Edward Thomas because I’m still in essay mood and I wouldn’t even know about him if he I hadn’t gone back to college. Also, he writes about places I know personally and I find that fascinating.

Not that I know this village particularly, but you know what I mean.

Adlestrop by Edward Thomas

Yes. I remember Adlestrop—
The name, because one afternoon
Of heat the express-train drew up there
Unwontedly. It was late June.

The steam hissed. Someone cleared his throat.
No one left and no one came
On the bare platform. What I saw
Was Adlestrop—only the name

And willows, willow-herb, and grass,
And meadowsweet, and haycocks dry,
No whit less still and lonely fair
Than the high cloudlets in the sky.

And for that minute a blackbird sang
Close by, and round him, mistier,
Farther and farther, all the birds
Of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire.

*6* what would you do…

Monica Dunkley

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January 6, 2019

What would you do if you won an obscene amount of money?

Hypothetically.

Let’s imagine you won the lottery… and you’ve sorted out your nearest and dearest, your favourite charities, and the nice neighbour that always water your plants etc. etc…. and you still had a whole sack load of money left over…

(And you bought a really really nice handbag. And shoes).

What would you do?

Well, me… aside from hiring Bruce Springsteen to sing for me on my next birthday… (indulge me here) …. me… I would buy this house:

This is 1011 Cielo Dr, Palm Springs, and I know exactly where it is because we rented a house just nearby last year, when we’re out there with the boys, and I passed this beauty in my morning walks. The hills are just behind it, and you can hike and (watch out for snakes apparently) this is the view from the top.

I took the next three photos last April.

And that’s the house… I remember exactly thinking how amazing would be to drink coffee on that terrace in the morning…

I think it’s a sign. I’ll buy a ticket tomorrow, shall I?

If you’ve been reading this blog for a while you know of my love for midcentury architecture and let me tell you… this is a gem.

It is called ‘The Alexander Residence” and was built in 1955, designed by the Architect Walter S White for the famous psychoanalyst Dr Franz Alexander, and it’s now part of the National Register of Historical Places. As it should be. And it’s for sale. And I didn’t have the winning lottery ticket.

This is what it looked when it way back then. Perfection. Nothing to add, nothing to take away.

There are tons of photos out there and I can’t find anything that I don’t like (ok the bathrooms are not my favourite… but that’s easy to sort out, bathrooms, schmathrooms).

And before you start thinking I’m totally deranged and I should be doing something more productive with my time, I’ll have you know that I’ve just finished two hours of ironing, and it wasn’t me that found it… I wasn’t the one ‘surfing’… (I was ironing, remember?)… it was Mr M… yes.

He’s terribly mean. He likes to torture me with stuff like this.

Maybe he should be doing the ironing next time.

*5* random Saturday

Monica Dunkley

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January 5, 2019

Just had an impromptu lunch in town with Mr M and the one remaining child. The older two left at an ungodly hour for the first day of a two day hockey tournament. Soooooo happy that No 1 is driving now; it’s a life changer.

Mr M is currently watching the rugby on tv. No 3 should be doing some homework, but I’m doubtful, and the dog is sitting on a chair she shouldn’t be sitting on.

I’m rambling on in the vain hope the dishwasher and washing machine might sort themselves out for one.

Sigh.

I hope this person wins something on the lottery tonight… at least enough to buy another pair of gloves!

On a different subject, I really enjoyed reading the editor’s letter in the latest issue of Cereal magazine, Vol 16 (by Rosa Park) . All about her love of books and how she’s finally come to call herself a book collector. Books are so much more than … books, right?

Mr M and I have finally come ’round to watch ‘Killing Eve’… I find it really intriguing, but totally strange too. Are we supposed to laugh? What about all the horrendous violence. Very confusing.

My furious knitting is not progressing very fast. Turns out that 3.5mm needles and thin yarn don’t go very far very quickly. I’m knitting the body, 5cm to go still, but it seems to be taking forever. Then hope the stitch count matches otherwise the colour work … won’t work. And it won’t be funny at all. I might cry. Or have a big tantrum. Or both. Hormones are rioting at the moment…

Menopause? Who knows, really. All I know is that my mood swings are in full swing (ask Mr M) and I can’t sleep. I fall asleep easily and then… bam! awake for hours for no reason whatsoever. I don’t feel stressed, anxious or worried. I just can’t sleep a whole night through.

Annoying.

Now, I really need to sort out that sink…

All these photos were taken in the 10min walk back from town. People are really distracted lately.

*4* music Friday

Monica Dunkley

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January 4, 2019

First ‘music Friday’ of the year… it’s only right that I play you one of my favourite songs ever.

By the best.

By The Boss…

Wonderful.

I’ve had this album since 1985. I remember cycling to the other side of the river to this tiny, dark, narrow and long record store full of music I didn’t recognise, it felt mysterious and a little magical… and I knew, I just felt, there was a whole other world onto those shelves and I wanted to travel it.

Bruce’s music has been the soundtrack of my growing up. In every country, in every place I lived, on car journeys, on runs and lazy Sundays.

It’s always a good ride in his company.’

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