Household Tips from 1982

Bathroom tiles - clean with mixture of water and vinegar
Sticky fingermarks on walls - potato, then damp sponge
Odd earrings - use as brooches
Greasy skin - natural yoghurt
Dry hands and feet - mix one egg to 1 tbsp olive oil.  put on, cover up, leave overnight.
Fertilizer - nettles soaked in water for two weeks (caution, it pongs!)
Before gardening - soap on nails

Before painting - rub paintwork with cloth dipped in white spirit
Door mat - sprinkle on coffee grounds then brush well 
Add one egg white to 1/4 pt double cream to make it go further
To keep avocados ripe, store in flour
Chrome - bicarbonate of soda
Diamonds - toothbrush and toothpowder
Windows - damp crumpled newspaper
Venetian blinds - using the hands, wear damp gloves
Brass - cardboard frame behind
Mirrors - glycerine
Copper - lemon juice, rinsing afterwards
Painty brushes - simmer in malt vinegar

Wood

• Clean dirty wooden furniture - half water/half vinegar
• Heat/water marks on wood - rub with metal polish, go with the grain, or try turpentine - or a Brazil nut
• If highly polished try steel wool and linseed oil
• Keep colour of Mahogany - beer/tea
• Wine - cigarette ash with linseed oil
• Scratches - warm iron on damp cloth, for small ones use iodine, shoe polish
• Faded wood - polish, scratch cover
• Chips and holes - use plastic wood
• Furniture polish - 1 egg cup paraffin, 1 egg cup vinegar, soak four dusters in this in screw top jar
• Don't use washing soda on aluminium!
• Anodised aluminium  - don't use abrasive cleaners

Household tips and hints from 2006

Music chosen for Dorothy's Funeral

This is the music which was played at my late mother's funeral last week:

Joachim Raaf, Evening Rhapsody: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gP9nK66yeK0

Anton Bruckner,  Locus iste: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxUpM7lPmwk

Hubert Parry, Jerusalem: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQ0oCmDXrVk

Frederic Chopin, Raindrop Prelude: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OFHXmiZP38

New Listeners Should Start Here ...

Someone asked if there's a single piece to recommend to adults who don't know where to start with classical music.  I suggest you go for Schubert's final piano sonata, in B flat, D960.  (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhTJdFF0I6o) 

It launches straight into one of the loveliest melodies he ever wrote - and that's saying something.  The mood of every movement is pitched between restlessness and serenity: his last thoughts, alas.  You have to wonder what the Almighty was playing at when he took Schubert from us at 31, just weeks after he had scaled new heights of sublimity.  And a recording?  By a nose, Stephen Kovacevich on EMI.


From Damien Thompson in today's Saturday Telegraph.

Wiener Werkstatte

Looking at a book of interesting postcards from the Wiener Werkstatte, I've been looking on the internet for other items from the same workshop.  The jewellery is particularly magnificent, see below:

These are from : http://thombeau.blogspot.com/2011/12/wiener-werkstatte-jewelry.html

As Wikipedia says:

Established in 1903, the Wiener Werkstätte (engl.: Vienna Workshop) was a production community of visual artists. The workshop brought together architects, artists and designers whose first commitment was to design art which would be accessible to everyone. The work most representative of the Wiener Werkstätte is probably the Stoclet Palace in Brussels.

Wiener Werkstätte was established in 1903, as a production community of architects, artists and designers whose first commitment was to design art which would be accessible to everyone.

The enterprise evolved from the Vienna Secession, founded in 1897 as a progressive alliance of artists and designers. From the start, the Secession had placed special emphasis on the applied arts, and its 1900 exhibition surveying the work of contemporary European design workshops prompted the young architect Josef Hoffmann and his artist friend Koloman Moser to consider establishing a similar enterprise.

Finally in 1903, with backing from the industrialist Fritz Wärndorfer, the Wiener Werkstätte began operations in three small rooms, it soon expanded to fill a three-story building with separate, specially designed facilities for metalwork, leatherwork, bookbinding, woodworking and a paint shop.

The undertaking had a clear aim: to make all facets of human life into one unified work of art. This began with the creation of extraordinarily advanced working conditions for the craftsmen, and it ended with the wish to create everything entirely anew for everyday practical use or decoration.

Products which have stood the test of time

We British women share an unwavering love for beauty classics.  These are often products which may not get many column inches in magazines - and often leave a lot to be desired on the looks front - but which have survived (and in many cases thrived) for years in an increasingly cut-throat market, because they always deliver what they promise.  
Some classics are pioneers because they changed our approach to an aspect of beauty or simplified our lives by doing several jobs at once very well.  
And all are superior beauty products.  They're above and beyond the usual competitive scrum and will always be an integral part of Britain's beauty culture.

1  Atrixo Intensive Protection Hand Cream came out in 1958 and is ever- popular despite its scary packaging.  No fancy stuff, just glycerine and silicone, workhorses which enhance slip, absorption and moisture retention.


2  Badedas Essence Bath Gelee is so much part of our beauty culture that no-one is even sure how old this herbal gel is.  Everyone over 35 remembers the ad campaign though, and even if nothing does happen after a soak in it, it's still a cheap way to feel relaxed and indulged.


3  Black and White Hair Wax first appeared in the 1960s and yet to be toppled from its position as the best styling wax for Afro-Caribbean hair. Fans love it for its distinctive sweet smell - coconut oil - and polishing properties.




4  Clarins Beauty Flash Balm is clever name, with an even cleverer ground-breaking formula, which inspired a generation of firming primers: when applied it behaves like egg white, subtly tightening skin so it looks firmer and more beautiful.


5  Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturiser, a simple yellow moisturising fluid with the perfect pre-make-up consistency for all skins from fair to dark; it is the best selling face cream in Britain with one being bought every three seconds.

6 Chanel Rouge Noir Nail Enamel single-handedly revived the passion for nail varnish in 1999, when it appeared on Uma Thurman's fingernails in Pulp Fiction.  Although dark, the colour suits every skin tone and every outfit from jeans to evening dress, and flatters every nail and finger shape.


7  Corn Silk Loose Face Powder, seemingly unprepossessing but massively popular due to its performance.  It keeps shine down but doesn't make your skin look dusty and old because it contains such finely milled particles.

8  Dove Cream Bar, despite its claims to cleanse skin without making it dry (which no face soap should do anyway) because of its added emollients, soap fans love it and 54 million bars of this 50-year-old soap are sold every year in Britain.


9  Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream, lots of people swear by the reparative powers of this 75 year old balm. Miss Arden used to put it on her racehorses' hooves to  make them shine, but it has 101 uses for humans too, including softening dry skin, lips, cuticles and setting eyebrows in place.


10  Elnett Hairspray was the first lacquer-free hairspray, which means it can set hair without making it look too rigid and stiff.  Although it's more than 40 years old, nothing else on the market matches it performance.


11 Estee Lauder Youth Dew revolutionised the perfume industry when it came out in 1953 because it was the first commercial scent, you can wear it or put it in the bath, and it's still thriving in the most ruthless sector of the beauty business.


12  Eve Lom Cleansing Cream,  the original (and still the best) despite impersonators.  No other cleanser feels or does the job as well.  It revolutionised cleansing (massage it into the skin and remove with a hot muslin cloth) when it was launched in 1983, and proved that proper cleansing is key to good skin.

13  Guerlain Terracotte Teint Dore was one of the first ever bronzers.  This watery, wash-off skin tint was developed during the Second World War to create the illusion of stockings.  It was then adapted for the face, and it is so loved that there is an uproar whenever Guerlain tries to take it off the market.


14  Head & Shoulders Hydrating Smoothy & Silky Shampoo, love it or loathe it, this shampoo has been going strong for 40 years, with 19 million bottles being sold every year.  It zaps dandruff by exfoliating the scalp, and some colourists swear by its ability to fade just-dyed too-dark hair as well.


15  MAC Spice Lip Pencil transcends fashion because it's such a good match for all skin tones, from dark to fair, that it looks natural on everyone - so fixes lipstick without showing - and is such an easy colour it can be worn on its own.


16 MAC Studio Fix Foundation, the MAC founder Frank Toscani pioneered yellow-tinted bases because he realised that they are more flattering for pale skins than pink ones.  This bestselling base is so foolproof you can apply it with your eyes shut, which is why it's a staple of professionals and ordinary customers alike.

17  Mason Pearson Classic Hairbrush, the brush you see sticking out of all the best hairstylists' back pockets in salons and behind the catwalk.  It has a cushioned oval head with natural boar bristles.


18  Max Factor Creme Puff, the original all-in-one foundation powder, developed in 1950 by the Hollywood make-up artist when it was fashionable to wear 'cake' foundation.  Still hugely popular, the formula hasn't changed over the years, but its fans have learnt how to apply it more subtly.


19  Maybelline Great Lash Mascara is the most famous mascara in the world, with its eye-catching green and pink tube.  It's 30-years old and used by 200 million women across the world.  Its enduring appeal? The sassy user image and a genuine ability to beef-up lashes.



20   Nivea Creme is another brilliant multi-tasker.  We have been using this rich buttery cream in its distinctive blue pot to sooth dry skin, sunburn and shaving rash since 1922 and the formula has yet to be tweaked.


21  Oil of Olay Classic Beauty Fluid is the model mother-daughter face cream, Olay (now 50) has achieved what all skincare brands dream of: a cream that transcends age barriers.  The key to its success is its light texture as it feeds skin without overloading it - and feminine pink colour.


22  Revlon One Perfect Coral Super Lustrous Lipstick. Charles Revson, the founder of Revlon, came up with the idea of matching lipstick to nail colour 60 years ago whilst dining at the Connaught hotel and wrote the proposal on a napkin.  The original colour is still Revlon's best seller.


23  Tweezerman Slant Tip Tweezers as nothing comes close to these for efficiency. Their slanted tip allows them to grip hairs and whip them out more easily than any other tweezers, and the points are not overly sharp.


24  Vaseline Pure Petroleum Jelly is the poor man's Eight Hour Cream, this is petroleum jelly at its +most basic and owes its classic status to its flexibility as it can be applied anywhere: face, lips, nails, dry patches and even nappy rash.


and finally:
25  Yves Saint Laurent Touche Eclat is one of beauty (and YSL's) biggest successes.  Its stylo-style applicator inspired countless copies, and one sells somewhere in the world every few minutes.  No one minds admitting to owning this concealer.

Excerpts from 'Beauty Scoop' by Julia Carling and Kate Shapland (Collins).

BLACK GOLD

I don't know what you're paying for Petrol..... but in England we're paying up about £1.30 - £1.45 per litre.  Here are some tricks to get your money's worth for every Litre from an expert in Australia: "Here at the Shell Pipeline where I work in Melbourne, we deliver about 4 million litres in a 24-hour period thru the pipeline.. One day is diesel the next day is jet fuel, and Petrol, regular and premium grades. We have 34-storage tanks here with a total capacity of 16,800,000 Litres. Only buy or fill up your car or truck in the early morning when the ground temperature is still cold. Remember that all service stations have their storage tanks buried below ground. The colder the ground the more dense the Petrol, when it gets warmer Petrol expands, so buying in the afternoon or in the evening....your litre is not exactly a litre. In the petroleum business, the specific gravity and the temperature of the Petrol, diesel and jet fuel, ethanol and other petroleum products plays an important role. A 1-degree rise in temperature is a big deal for this business. But the service stations do not have temperature compensation at the pumps. When you're filling up do not squeeze the trigger of the nozzle to a fast mode If you look you will see that the trigger has three (3) stages: low, middle, and high. You should be pumping on low mode, thereby minimising the vapours that are created while you are pumping. All hoses at the pump have a vapour return. If you are pumping on the fast rate, some of the liquid that goes to your tank becomes vapour. Those vapours are being sucked up and back into the underground storage tank so you're getting less worth for your money. One of the most important tips is to fill up when your Petrol tank is HALF FULL. The reason for this is the more Petrol you have in your tank the less air Occupying its empty space. Petrololine evaporates faster than you can imagine. Petrol storage tanks have an internal floating roof. This roof serves as zero clearance between the Petrol and the atmosphere, so it minimises the evaporation. Unlike service stations, here where I work, every truck that we load is temperature compensated so that every litre is actually the exact amount. Another reminder, if there is a Petrol truck pumping into the storage tanks when you stop to buy Petrol, DO NOT fill up; most likely the Petrol is being stirred up as the Petrol is being delivered, and you might pick up some of the dirt that normally settles on the bottom."

Looking Good in 2012

Ideas from makers of a well known sugar substitute:





1   Bin the Thin.  Every woman has two or three outfits she is holding on to for the day when 'they fit again'.  Shocking news: that day may never come.  And if it does, then you'll be out there celebrating with a whole new look - not wearing unfashionable clothes.


2  Avoid Eating up a Size.  Most of us have 'comfort clothes'. Clothes whose size labels are a couple of digits above normal.  Within a week of putting them on you'll expand to fit them. Out with comfort clothes!


3  The Belt Trick: Belts are wonderful - and they'll let you know when you need to cut back of the treats.


4  Don't Overdo the Jewellery.  We can never have too much jewellery, but we don't need to wear it all at once.  Jewellery should be part of the overall picture, so never more than two pieces.  Sparkle!, don't blind the viewer.




5  Go Nude.  A pair of neutral court shoes will take you anywhere, a simple add-on to help lift any outfits.For short people, opt for pointy toes as they'll elongate the leg.



6  Recycle.  Our wardrobes hide gems which, with help from a tailor, can be given a new lease of life.  Result: a new on-trend item.


7  Black isn't Slimming. The old adage that it makes you appear thinner can leave you looking like a blob. Unless it's well fitted and accentuates your curves, avoid.  If you must wear black, make sure your shoes are a different colour, and consider a good belt.


8  The Must-have Item.  We may be sworn off ice cream, but that doesn't mean we have to eschew delicious colours: lime, strawberry, orange, pistachio ... Just putting on these colours will cheer you up.

African Truth - 'Getting Somalia Wrong?'

In this new book, respected BBC journalist Mary Harper looks at the misconceptions the world has about Somalia, and at the reality of this remarkable African country.


     Me and my clan against the world,
     Me and my family against my clan,
     Me and my brother against my family,
     Me against my brother.
                                      Somali proverb


Somalia has one of the worst reputations in the world.  It is frequently referred to as the epitome of a 'failed state', aid agencies meanwhile report that Somalia suffers from 'the world's worst humanitarian crisis'. 

Reports talk of a country surrounded by 'pirate-infested waters', of Mogadishu as 'the most dangerous place in the world.'. The word 'Mogadishu' has even entered some people's vocabulary as a way of describing a place or situation that is truly terrible.  The al-Shabab movement is a byword for the rise of Islamic extremism, opening up a new 'southern front' in the war on terror.  At least that is how Somalia is inevitably portrayed by politicians and in the media.
In 'Getting Somalia Wrong?' veteran BBC Africa correspondent Mary Harper presents the first comprehensive account of the chaos into which the country has descended.  Yet at the same time alternative forms of business, justice, education and local politics have survived and even flourished.  

Drawing on first hand experience and encounters during her many years working in and reporting from Somalia, Harper vividly portrays a country that may be a 'failed state' but is far from being a failed society.


... more than two decades have forced Somalis to invent alternative political and economic systems.  They have enthusiastically seized modern technology, fusing it with pre-colonial traditions to create some of the most advanced and effective money transfer systems on the continent and one of the cheapest, most developed mobile phone networks in East Africa.

This book argues that there is a lot to be learned from the Somali way of doing things, and that there is more to the country than violence, hunger, piracy, and Islamist extremism.




From 'Booktime' Magazine (info@booktimemag.co.uk).


See also: http://allafrica.com/stories/201201301453.html