Underwear, Lingerie

 Hi there

When I was a kid, about ten years old, my mother told me that only Ladies Of The Evening wore black underwear (and also bracelets around their ankles!  Oh, and tattoos). 

All underwear that mattered was white in those days.  When we went into McKenzies store in Palmerston North, Mum rushed me past the underwear counter, lest I lay eyes upon the black unmentionables.

And then - horror!  Red underwear came into shops, and Mum was beside herself.  What was the world coming to: red and black!  I do remember thinking that, heavens, prostitutes had really interesting taste. Even at a young age, white knickers to me were soooo boring.

If she suddenly came to 2025, via a time machine, my Mum would be stunned by all the patterns and colours of ladies' underwear.

Do you, my four readers, remember when your mothers used to tell you to always wear good, clean, matching underwear in case you got run over by a bus?  Goodness, just imagine the mean chatter at the hospital if it was discovered that your bra, petticoat, knickers and roll-ons were ripped, or grubby, and - tut-tut - not even saintly white.

I'm a little bit fuzzy over the memory but didn't perhaps Monty Python or The Goodies do a skit where a guy was about to be run down by a bus when he suddenly realised he wasn't wearing good underwear?  He stopped the bus, raced home, changed his underwear, then laid down in the road in front of the bus, and signalled the driver to go ahead and run him over?

above: a Bendon advert.  Tut-tut, red underwear.

Hataitai Beach on Wellington Anniversary Day, Monday Holiday

 Hi there

What a nice day today.  Too warm, actually.  After about only ten minutes at the beach, I felt the sun piercing right through my skin to my bones.  I had to cover up.  At least the crummy so-called summer weather appears to be changing for the best, and the sea has warmed up, somewhat.  Tomorow is going to be hotter, just when the last Christmas/New Year stragglers will be back to work....

above:  Hataitai Beach.  Wellington Anniversary Day Yacht Race

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PS.    I got sunburnt.  So much for sunblock!

Shop Assistants and street hustlers smooching up to me (again)

 Hi there

You know by now that I adore it when shop assistants go into raptures about something I'm wearing.  They learn to do it in shop assistant school, I'm sure of it.  Find something to admire on a customer and you could make a sale - 

Remember my favourite?  It was the street hustler trying to sell me a raffle ticket :  "I like your ..."   There was a long pause while he frantically looked me over.  "I like your ... TAN!" he shouted triumphantly.

I'm not ashamed in the least that shop assistants and street hustlers take quite a while to find something about me that they like.  The whole experience for me is fun.

Last week I had two cute occasions.  One young shop assistant in a boutique came up to me -

"I like your watch strap," she said.  "It's red."

Like, I didn't know that...

The next day, a street hustler called out at me from way over the other side of the pavement.  He was selling raffle tickets.  "I like your pendant", he shouted. 

My pendant was of a tiny silver cow jumping over a crescent moon.

I hid it with my hand.  "What's on my pendant?" I asked.

He didn't have a clue....

I love the little Asian dragon on my watch.  and the gold bars, with sparkles, top and bottom. The red strap is not too bad either...

Hataitai Beach roadworks

 Hi there

There's building works going on and beside Hataitai Beach.  The road is reduced to stop-go one lane for traffic.  And it's going to last for up to 6 months.  And note that this has all started during the summer school holidays.  Getting to the beach is like working your way through a maze, whether on foot or driving.  The first day of the works I had to park down at the marina's main entrance (south) or up by the French cafe (north), long ways from the beach. 

The second day of the works (yesterday) I took the bus to the beach.  I didnt think the Hataitai Beach bus stop would be operating, seeing it's right in the middle of that stop-go one-way sole traffic lane.  But it was operating.  And sorry I couldnt say the same thing about the bus stop for my going back to Miramar.  It was blocked by road cones.  The bus driver had to signal me to run behind and catch up with him as he stopped further south.  And note that before my bus journey I had rung both the council and the bus company to check on the stops.

They are building a sea wall (south), and we presume north end may be a cycle lane, either to share with a wider footpath or a lane reaching out into the road. Plus more sea wall. Car parks will be reduced.  Many beach people sent in submissions re the reduction of carparks but, of course, nothing came of it.  You would think the council would have taken notice after they'd cut out the street carparks at Balaena Bay; beach-goers stopped going there and came to Hataitai Beach instead.

above: sea wall being built.  Photo taken from what was supposed to be the southern bus stop but because of the road cones and one way lane the bus couldn't stop there.

I hate Vacuuming

 Hi there

I hate vacuuming.  Or should I say that I used to hate vacuuming.  But I think I've found a way to make it more enjoyable.  

I listen to Kindle audio books while I am vacuuming.   

I toss my Amazon Fire (Kindle) tablet into a small backpack, put in my earbuds, tell Alexa to raise the volume, and I turn into a Cleaning Diva.

Last week, I finished the vacuuming but the crime book I was listening to was at such an exciting point - my heart was thumping and my brain racing with possibilities for how the two heroes could possibly  escape the clutches of a whole band of baddies shooting at them - that I moved on to mopping the kitchen and bathroom, another chore I detest.  Just to listen to the story.

My heroes escaped the baddies - bravo! - but oh-my-goodness, there was another crisis.

 I whipped out a damp rag and cleaned the venetian blinds.  Four blinds down, and one hero had been kidnapped.  I moved over to the bookcase, shaking out every book and dusting the pages.  Would his detective partner rescue the guy before that bomb exploded?

Phew, yes, hoo-ray.  Another crisis averted.  But wait, there was more to the story...

I stood on a stool and dusted the top of the fridge.  

And all the curtains.

Then ...?

I gave in.   I plonked myself down on the sofa and finished listening to the book.  Two hours later, I looked around me.  Wow, my house was the cleanest I'd ever seen it...

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My Amazon Fire tablet has internet, emails, e-books, audio books. I one-finger typed this add-on message to this blog.  One-fingering an entire blog on my Amazon Fire is more than a bit nerve-inducing; I have a bigger laptop for my longer blogs.