Wednesday 11 February 2015

On Faffing And Other Such Nonsense














Hello there gorgeous ones.

The upshot is that I couldn't decide on which picture to upload. So I uploaded all of them. A slice of life if you will. Lots of colour on this rather drab Wednesday here in St Ives. I have the heating on during the day. I don't allow it usually. Samuel calls me the heating Nazi, which is a bit harsh but he is prone to the theatrical.

I've been sending him texts from the cat. Stuff like 'I just want you to know that I think you're a loser. Love Skarloey' If you met the cat you know that it's just the kind of thing he'd say. I spend an inordinate amount of time amusing myself in this manner. Is it wrong to laugh at your own jokes?

Glenda asked me some questions related to my Five On Friday post last week. You know how much I like to share....

~ What is Faffing and why do you recommend it?

The dictionary defines faffing as 'fuss or dither.' I often tell the boys to stop faffing about when they are sat on the bottom stair beggering about with their shoes, and I want to get out of the house pronto. It doesn't speed them up, or stop their dithering. If anything it makes them go even slower. But it gives me the illusion that I'm in charge, even though we all know that I'm not.

My kind of faff is the fussing kind. And by fussing I don't mean trying to wipe your face with a wet corner of hanky after you've eaten a chocolate pudding. Or plumping the cushions as you sit down. No my friends, I would never do that. My kind of fussing is re-arranging the furniture, or pushing the sofa to it's designated right angle, or folding the hand towel in the bathroom in the manner to which it is accustomed. Or moving my bits and bobs around. All the stuff that lives with us for no other reason than one day I brought it home and placed it on the bookcase or a shelf. I find it a pleasurable activity. I enjoy the act of re-arranging. So do many of you judging from your posts on mantel displays (oh to have a mantel...)

~ Has orange always been your happy colour?

I must admit I do like a pop of bright colour. Orange reminds me of growing up. There seemed to be an awful lot of orange around during the seventies. Mostly that burnt orange. I'm thinking that maybe Laura Ashley might have been responsible? It was often teemed up with brown and moss green. Bathroom suites, telephones and curtains were always these colours in the seventies.

You may have noticed some orange crept into the above photos. Antonia and I enjoyed a drink and a chat on those very orange seats. She didn't have much of a say in it. I made a bee line for them. And I say chat, but I rather think that I did most of the talking. I was rather over-excited to be in Falmouth at the time. The other picture is of a bag I covet. It sits in the window of my friend Sarah's lovely little shop in For Street. And I love her orange bird logo too.

~ What will you grow on your allotment?

Ah yes, plot number 10. That elusive piece of land hired from St Ives Town Council. I have wonderful plans for it. My five year planner and copious notes attest to that. Half of it has been covered over, to try and kill off the brambles, couch grass and stuff that seems to reign supreme on a virgin plot such as ours. But the plan is to have several veggies sown and grown this year. Beans mainly and some root crops. Olly keeps talking about planting carrots. He's fond of orange too. I hope to plant some fruit bushes, and flowers. The ubiquitous cutting garden is never far from my thoughts. I keep meaning to take some photos, but am not sure they'll be of any value just now. Wait until summer.

~ How did you her about Iris Murdoch?

I studied 'The Sandcastle' for A Level, and fell in love with her writing style. It seemed very British to me. All stiff upper lip and repressed emotions. I loved the imagery, and the strong female characters. I greedily read every novel she had ever written. She had an amazing mind. She was the kind of woman that broke the rules. I liked that.

~ Is your vase from IKEA?

Yes it is! I bought it about twenty years ago, and it once had an goldfish swimming around in it.

So there you go. There's nothing much else to report except that I'm off out in a bit to buy sandpaper and undercoat. More faffing. This time with paint.

See you later alligator,

Leanne xx









22 comments:

  1. Faffing to me is basically pottering. Not housework, just moving and rearranging things, enjoying being in that space, making it mine. I do also use faffing with John and the kids like you do, when I think they're time wasting. Like "Will you stop faffing around with that coat/bag/hat", which also gives me the illusion that I am in charge. :-) Love the sound of your day out in Falmouth. xx

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  2. Oh Leanne you can't beat a good faff whatever way you choose to do it. It's always best to feel that you're in charge of things/situations. I sometimes feel like that elegant swan that looks so calm and serene on the top of the water but with my little legs going underneath trying to keep everything a float. Lovely photo's as per usual.

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  3. Thanks for sharing all the pictures. As always, they were wonderful. This is the time of the year that is the most exciting for a gardener. Well, at least I think it is. All the planning and dreaming about what to grow, without any of the work or weeds. :-)

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  4. I use the word 'faffing' often & its not just directed at the kids! I enjoy a good faff myself too. x

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  5. You've got a new photo! I like it, lady :o) Great sequence of photos. That cafe looks heavenly. I am currently very in to cafes :o) And will you please tell your youngest to stop growing so fast? He looks older each time I see him xx

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  6. oh I might be lusting after that bag too. which is funny as I'm not normally drawn to orange....

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  7. I like the idea of faffing. I think I'd call it procrastinating, or more crudely, farting around? :) I think it's hilarious that you send derisive texts from the cat. When we had a dog (he died over two years ago), my husband and I would say passive-aggressive things to each other in the dog's voice. Sometimes we still do it, as if the ghost of the dog is watching over us. I've gotten to like orange more and more lately, maybe it's my visits to your place.

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  8. Very similar faffing in this household too. :) I shall be faffing around with furniture over half term, to have a bit of a change. And definitely use it to make me feel in charge too. (not that I am - that's the cat) I'm not sure my cat would deign to text anyone - other than maybe to summon a lap when required? x

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  9. Hmm, this presents me with a dilemma! Someone close to me uses the word faffing and I hate it - they say I am faffing, when in fact I would most certainly say that I am not! However, by your definition, I am most certainly a faffer - especially in relation to my fireplace mantel!! So that makes a faffer too, but I don't mind being your sort of faffer!! Perhaps I should say that I am a fluffer rather than a faffer!! I love that the cat texts - and so hilariously too!! xx

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    1. Amy I often get accused of faffing, and object to it also. However my kind of faffing doesn't mean that I am late for dental appointments or school. So you and I can faff away all we want!! It's productive and it make our homes happy and gorgeous!
      Take care,
      Leanne xx

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  10. Hi Leanne. Yes, I do a lot of faffing. I am practically a world champion faffer. And I like orange. I am wearing an orange cardigan as I type. Funny, our cat texts, too. Christina xxx

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    1. Did I mention that you make me laugh? Loved this post very much. xxx

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    2. Texting from the cat is truly inspired. And another reason to want a moggy.
      That shop looks like just my kind of place. We don't have anything like that here (maybe a business idea there)...
      I too used to keep goldfish in a vase. One day I gave them to my mum who put them in her pond and they grew into monsters.
      Oh, and thank you for putting a name to my default setting: seems I'm on permanent faff.
      Almost weekend. Wishing you a good one (and good luck with the allotment).
      S x

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  11. Ah yes, the orange of the seventies. We had orange floral curtains, orange, brown and green carpet in the dining room, a touch of orange gloss paint in places, oh yes we did, and an orange car. It's all come screaming back. I'm in love with your five year garden planner, it looks like a very fine thing. I have complete and utter trust in your book judgement, I shall now look out for Iris Murdoch. Hope the decorating goes well. CJ xx

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  12. Love the offensive texts from the cat...when our cat was alive we decided were she a human she would most definitely be Pat Butcher from Eastenders, fat and grisly, puffing on a ciggie. She lived to 19.5 and was the most determined creature I've ever met. The dogs lived in awe of her, quietly worshipping her whilst she sneered at them. X

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  13. One of my favourite words is 'kerfuffle' it always makes me smile, and a friend of mine trying desperately not to swear about a group of people that were annoying her called them "flibbertygibbits and pipsqueaks", in a very pompous voice, which made it even funnier...

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  14. Hooray! Answers! I had several light bulb moments as I read your post. In this 'neck of the woods,' the kind of faffing you do is called puttering. I like faffing much better and may take to calling it that.
    I really love your son's Forest and Garden in Springtime artwork. Especially the little birds in the tree. Wonderful!
    Oh, and our Ikea vase held a Siamese Fighting Fish. They are sort of like a goldfish but a bit anti-social.

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  15. I do love a good Faff!! Makes me feel better if i'm otherwise out of sorts, jollying things around on the mantle or in the kitchen for a few minutes, ahhhhh, bliss! x

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  16. ... in a while, crocodile ...
    Faffing is a wonderful expressions, isn't it? It covers a multitude of activities most of them irrelevant but often pleasurable.
    As for orange, not my colour at all, a colour best kept to sunrises, sunsets and marigolds (the flower, not the rubber gloves). Oh, and oranges, of course! And your son's T-shirt!
    Margaret P

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  17. Oh, and yes, it's find to laugh at your own jokes, Leanne. They are often the best one, har, har! I once wrote a piece (one of my unpublished pieces) from our (then) grey cat Oliver's viewpoint, in which he talks in a very superior voice about our other cat, Charlie. The more I wrote the more Oliver sort of took over and I had myself in stitches. So yes, are aloud to laugh at your own jokes, especially if they are created via your moggy!
    Margaret P

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  18. Here's to more faffing, it was great to see you. I snorted at your cat text as I can just imagine a cat saying that, they've got a hilarious way of looking down their noses at us! Antonia x

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  19. I love a bit of a faff too. Purely my own faffing of course. Anything that involves someone else's faffing is just not on. I'm glad ours isn't the only household where individuals appear to be on a go slow when time is limited!! What is it with children faffing about putting shoes on? xxx

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