Sunday 12 February 2017

"MIAOW.. HISS.. SPIT.." SHE SAID AS SHE OPENED THE DOOR & THE BEAUTIFUL STORE ON VIA CONDOTTI.

She may not be a cat but she certainly does hate driving sleet trying its' hardest to become snow and that was what greeted her as she left the house yesterday at 11.00am to go to Romford for her 1.45pm session with Valerie.

Why was she leaving so early, you may well ask! It was because they're doing track repairs to the East Anglian line at weekends for several months and she had to go to Stratford, change on to the overland system to get the Newbury Park and then bus it on from there into Romford.

She had allowed herself the extra time as the weather forecast was a bit grim, with snow and ice forecasted and it was a good thing she did as she only made to the salon with five minutes to spare.

Oh, what cosy bliss it was to lie on that heated treatment bed! Yubba-Dubba.. to be toasty warm and cosy. For the journey had been 'pretty grim' with a lot of steps which old creaky crunchy knee didn't like climbing very much at all.

A few drops of diluted oil of ginger were sprinkled on the offending naughty knee, then Valerie set to doing her uncrunching bit on her feet.. "hmmm, your adrenals are down and I'm picking up a lot of stress, what's going on here?"

Then up she came to naughty left knee.. "it's two ligaments that are causing all the trouble, they've tightened and shortened and are pulling the knee cap out of place which is why you have the two bursa and the cyst at the back". And she proceeded to set to and work on them.

"Turn over please, I've got to get at the back of your knee". Dear Readers, my mum is brave but even she uttered a sound and squeaked when the knee cap tweaked back into place by the ligament being released. But the worst was when she had the support moved away and her knee was straightened.. "miaow hiss spit", wasn't in it!

But it was all worth it, for on the repeat of the journey but backwards.. stay awake at the back there.. not once did her knee say anything, it was a bit stiff sitting on the bus as there wasn't any leg room but no pain, however she had been told by Valerie to take the left-over oils that she had used and to use them every morning and night until they were finished and to continue drinking ginger tea, both powdered ginger and grated fresh ginger root.

The weather was even worse coming home, by this time it really was snowing and bitterly cold. She was SO glad she had worn her much longer jacket, 'Old Rabbit' is warm as toast but he isn't as long as her beautiful parka that she bought from the very fancy store on Via Condotti, Rome in December 2005.

How can she actually remember when and where she buys things? I hear you asking yourself. Well, that's simple, she hasn't actually bought herself a huge amount of beautiful clothes that she still has, she had a lot of glorious clothes made for her by her fabulous dress maker Ros sobsob.. but bought, not many.

It was December, she was staying with Zaira, who is my greatest fan, in Rome and her old Max Mara coat had died, it was a beautiful mock leather raincoat with a puffa lining that she had bought second hand from Gracie's (most amazing resale shop in the whole wide world, we kid you not) in Aspen, Colorado when she had stayed with Hanne at Glenwood Springs. It had a hood and was just the best coat ever but having used shoulder bags, she had worn away the mock leather and it had started to shed.. boohoo.

So Zaira said " Well, the best parkas come from Max Mara, let's start there", so off they walked to the Via Condotti. And sure enough, there was a wonderful brown gabardine parka, just the right length, with a hood, both the hood and the body were lined in Loro Piano tweed and there was a rim of brown fox around the hood, and it had a double zip (so clever) and a belt. What was there not to like? The price! GULP.

She was served by a charming bi-lingual assistant and she said to her "I adore it but I wasn't figuring on spending as much as this", the woman smiled and said "Yes, it's true, our things are expensive, however, this parka will never go out of style, the fabrics are superb and you can wear it in rain or snow and you will never get wet or feel the cold, have a think about it, it's new stock and you won't forget my name, what month are we in, December, what happens in December? Christmas.. and my name is Noelle".".

Zaira and she walked out of the shop, for the next couple of days she looked at other jackets, none of which were a patch on the lovely Max Mara one and so two days before she was due to leave, she said to Zaira, "That's the one, Noelle was right, it fits me well, it's perfect in every way and I'll have it for years, if not forever", Zaira laughed and said " let's go".

She walked into the store and whom should she see facing her! No Reddies for guessing. Noelle, whose face broke into a big grin and she said "Brava.. you're taking it, I am glad".. and eleven years and a few months later.. so is she. For this beautifully made coat is still immaculate, it has stood up to all manner of filthy weather and never let her down, it keeps her dry and warm without being heavy.

Yes, indeed Noelle. It's worth every euro she paid for it all those years ago and it certainly kept her warm yesterday, even though it was cold enough to make a cat cuss.

GeeGee Parrot.
February 12th, 2017.

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