Final preparations and card games

This time of year certain British stores tend to be busy such as BHS, Marks and Spencer, John Lewis and that very British institution, the school uniform shop  because after next week Autumn term starts at most schools and this brings with it last minute uniform replacements and checking everything fits.

We always had are skirt lengths measured so they were not too short as that would break school rules and reflect badly upon our folks. It may of seemed awkward but I'm they cared to ensure we were decent and properly presentable. 

Well when I was young I loved playing cards either with my school friends in the Dorm or when at my Nans usually if Mom was busy away someplace for the day or so that she tended to be such as at weekends.

We played shape games  using Snap and similar games or games like Top Trumps where you have facts on the reverse and you trade information around subjects like travel, cars or sports such as Soccer.

It was fun!

Recently I got some new cards to replace those I lost from my youth trough thinks like Mom's saying you don't need 'em anymore or cos I was ill and Mom was concerned in case they had Germs on them.

As you'll see there's a common theme running through them yes that cat Hello Kitty and her friends as I'm sure if Nan were alive she'd of bought these to play with me loving cute stuff like me.

First pictured is the Hello Kitty Travels top trumps set that can join my 'vintage' Top trumps sets and then some ordinary cards made by Waddington's that have Kitty on around by the hearts, ace of diamonds etc. Last one is the HK twist on the British classic Whot!

Looking back to go forward

Scouting always appealed and when it was I first started to have what in hindsight were regressive signs in my mid teens it was that apart from discovering my shorts of two years earlier were hidden at the back of the draw, it also was my younger brothers no longer worn Cub uniform that I located and upon finding it still fitted when I could would wear it on my own I did.

I liked feeling like that cub but really I always felt more of a gurl so while I may of endured being a cub what I so wanted was actually being hur spiritual home, the Brownies who today look more like this.

A gurl belongs in the feminine side of the movement.

The whole ethos is something I strongly identify with not just then but now.

Late Summer Hols 2006

I went away this week and by way of souvenir, here is a picture of where I stayed.

 As you can tell it was very sunny indeed with all the flower in full bloom in the guesthouse gardens which is something I enjoyed waking up and rushing downstairs to sit out in in the morning. 

I normally have my green camera bag with me with the Minolta X500 and XD7 with me plus a few lenses. These days I have digital cd-roms made of the films for blogging when sending my films back for processing.

I went on the Welsh Highland Railway  with spectacular views of Snowdon.

I'd always pack some short sleeved  t shirts and games skirts to put over my trunks as well as hardier clothing for walking and something more formal for evening dinner with fellow guests.

I also take a couple of skirts with me too

Nick Heyward

Hi fans,

I thought I'd set up a page dedicated to the great and badly under appreciated English singer-songwriter Nick Heywood.
Nick hales from Kent, England was the original lead vocalist of Haircut 100.

The group comprised of Nick, Les Nemes (Bass),Graham Jones (Guitar), Memphis Blair Cunningham (Drums), Phil Smith (Sax) and Mark Fox (Percussion).

The group become known not only for their new wave style but for their preppie outfits.
In 1981, the group released the single Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl) which reached No4 in the UK charts, followed up with Love Plus One which reached No3 in January of 1982.

Early in this year they released the 80's classic album Pelican West, which peaked at No2 and remained on chart for 34 weeks.

They released two more singles in 1982, Fantastic Day and Nobody's Fool both reached no9 in the UK charts.

At was shortly after the release of Nobody's Fool that Nick decided to leave the group for a solo career.
Haircut One Hundred

Nick Hayward solo career.

In contrast to the style of Haircut 100, Nicks solo music quickly revealed a more mature adult style which was evident from his first solo single, Whistle Down The Wind, which reached no13 in the UK charts.

The follow up single, Take That Situation, proved to be his biggest selling to date and reached No 11 and stayed on the UK charts for 10 weeks.

He issued the classic North of A Miracle album in the fall of 1983 which was successful reaching no 10 in the UK charts but this was to be his only charting UK album.

The final single from this album, Blue Hat For a Blue Day was his last UK top 20 hit.

He issued the singles Warning Sign and Love All Day which peaked at numbers 25 and 31 respectively in 1984.

In 1986 the album Postcards From Home as issued and the tracks Over The Weekend and Goodbye Yesterday were issued as singles but like all his singles released to 1988, they failed to chart.

1988 saw him releasing an album with Warner/Reprise, I Love You Avenue which featured the single You're My World, which is currently very hard to find.

The singles Kite and He Doesn't Love You Like I Do saw him return to the UK singles chart but neither record made the top 40 although they were featured on the album From Monday To Sunday released in 1993 for Epic records.

He attempted a return in 1995 with the track The World which get as far as No47 and Rollerblade (from the Epic album Tangled) in 1996 which got as far as No37.

By 1998 he'd signed to Creation records, the label Brit Poppers of Oasis and The Boo Radleys issuing the album, The Apple Bed.

Unfortunately not withstanding the quality of his 1990's albums they all failed to chart.

Here's a thread from Steve Hoffman Forums where we discussed the man Nick Heyward and Haircut One Hundred - SH Forums

Like many artists today he has his own website where he discusses his life presently and his music.
I would recommend it to all.
See www.myspace.com/nicholasheyward

Placing Tammy in Scouting

 

A childhood that had things denied leads to complications down the line and in so far as scouting in general is concerned it had although I do intend to write a specific entry around that.

Gender and Gender spaces in that era two created issues and from the opposite angle increased a natural sense of curiosity of knowing of but being in the things you were never a part of.

I knew of Cubs and I knew girls who were were Brownies and know of their older siblings who were Guides and Scouts but just where I stood, which pulled more at me as the expression of that child who wanted to be in scouting was never really resolved.

In the modern world more is being done to try to accommodate children who were like I was, falling between two stools.

Uniform itself is a bit less rigid but to be honest most of the time I'd of sooner of been given the option of wearing a Brownies uniform for anything other than rugged hiking because I am feminine.

That was who Tammy always was and should of been inducted into scouting as.

August fashion musing

It's the height pretty much of the Summer so I've spent quite a bit of my time out of doors rather than being sat by large desktop computer and it's big monitor which to be truthful does sap quite a bit of energy out of me.

I do like to toss off the layers this time of year to say a short sleeve blouse and simple pleated tartan skirts rather like this which is more me, kittenish and young at heart rather than sensible as some like to call it and long.

Like my second best friend at school generally and with much head scratching by the adults in our lives we both preferred just below the knee socks rather than tights finding them less itchy and that's how it's always been with me.

If I'm not in something like this, then it's shorts with cute ankle socks.

One thing I used around the start of all this was the Additions catalogue produced by Argos as it gave me a shop window into styles that would work for me, guidance of what was "in" for girls and easy ordering.