Jacket shoes hair... but not today!

"Sometimes I have this desire, this strange desire, for somebody to really tell me, beyond argument and without mercy, exactly what they know about what I am, to ridicule my clothes, to tear apart my tastes, my pretensions, my sentimentality, to take me by the collar and lay it on the line.  I want to burn with that truth.  It's an idle, narcissistic daydream I have."
Gwendoline Riley, Cold Water (p.54)

My first lino print - this year's Christmas cards

Your comments on my recent posts have been amazing!  If you haven't gone back to see what others have written in response to The Image of A Working Woman, I advise you do so now:  so many wise and wonderful words!  And how heartening to find that I am not alone in my quandary!  This explains the popularity of tv programmes like "What Not to Wear" - which I admit to lapping up while simultaneously scoffing, back in the day.

An anonymous commenter really struck a chord when she wrote:

"...really it's just about dialling down some aspects and dialling up other aspects of behaviour not about behaving in unacceptable or unethical ways - a complete personality change is not sustainable, let alone not recommended."

She goes on to say:

"And I second the note about keeping shoes at work - it's how I manage the long walk."

Thank you to everyone who suggested this - what a simple solution to mud!

"Finally, I think the bright scarf with smart dark suit look is really, really aging (and boring). I see a lot of women do it in an attempt to look office appropriate whilst also expressing personality - but it seems to strike in the later 40s and early 50s and it becomes its own uniform whilst also being pigeonholed to a specific age bracket..."

And that is my biggest fear, right there!

Valerie consulted her daughter: "She said three things: Jacket, shoes, hair."
And that sounds like a pretty good focus to start with.

But not today.  Today is all about Christmas preparations.  I finally got round to making cards and posted them at the airport while picking up The Girl.  The Boy arrives today.

Second lino cut experiment - today I will try printing it :)

Someone (male, young, fit) will be sent up the hill tomorrow with a saw to cut the traditional Christmas Branch.  And then there will be decorating and festive baking and no work to worry about until January - woo hoo!