The Fiddly Bits (and winners)

It’s been -900F here for awhile and when I’m not frantically trying to make sure that all the parts are on the truck (I will tell you a story about someone saying ‘we didn’t miss anything!  the only things we missed were those clip angles’ some other time because it still gives me hives) – well, I am fully into trying to not freeze to death.  And I’m fully into mild sedatives.  And I’m fully into Fluff.   I listen to Michael Franks songs.  OMG.  Back in the 80s he was MAH JAM!  He has a MA in Literature and it shows in so many of his lyrics – and I love his …voice?  intriguing atonal whisper?  Whatever.  It still has the ability to drop my bp by 30 points.  Plus he’s always yowling about getting the hell out of the frigid weather and drinking a fruity drink….or just getting into a hammock and taking a snooze.  One of the YouTube commenters said it best:  “omg…my parents were jammin’ this CASSETTE when I was a kid. I was like…..5 years old and I knew all the lyrics. LOL…I didn’t know what I was singing but I liked it! It always calmed me and made me feel like love was in the house”

80s intense

liking the ‘now’ look – and the dog

I’m also watching a lot of The Great British Bake Off.  A lot.  As in, I’ve watched all 8 seasons at least twice – okay 3 times. Loving Noel Fielding, btw – I didn’t think I would, then I heard him tell one of the bakers ‘one day you’ll crack, though…you know that.  And burn the tent to the ground‘.  And, just like that, I Was His.   and I don’t even know who the hell he is!

But here’s the thing:  I realize that I have also been rewatching all these episodes because of the Fiddly Bits.  Y’all.  There is so much aqua.  So much pale lilac.  Bright green spatulas.  Royal Doulton coffee cups (and I will be forever indebted to whomever can tell me the maker of the white cup & saucer with the wide pale lilac band Mary Berry uses in the judge’s gazebo)….I see something new and more fabulous every viewing and I’ve nearly worn out the pause button, as I try to determine if Steven is using a Riess or a Mason Cash measuring pitcher.  Because I want one.  Or both.  Or all.   Which is just insane.  Because…well, when I went into the kitchen to try to justify spending $60 on a measuring pitcher I counted..um…6.. and that doesn’t include the Jadeiteware I have upstairs.  And…$60?   All the nope!

But.  It’s periwinkle (or lilac).  (and that pretty pale blue)  And cute AF.  Which makes it a Fiddly Bit.  And don’t get me started on the little aqua Mason Cash mixing bowl.  Aqua.  The Ultimate Fiddly.  And…….omg.  O.M.G.  The Kitchenaid Mixer in APPLE GREEN.   (sez the girl who has 2 mixers, of which one is a Kitchenaid Pro – but it’s in red, not my fave color).  This is veering close to porn, folks.  I mean, I pause the video.  I replay it over.  and over. and over.  Stopping at the exact moment the Fiddly shows up.  If this was tape it would be worn out now.

I am so easily distracted by color and a bit of bling.  Just started watching Good Karma Hospital and I cannot take my eyes off Amanda Redman’s swingy pendant earrings, in that perfect shade of turquoise that looks so beautiful on lightly tanned (or naturally tan) skin.  Blue.  Swingy.  Fiddlybit.

I always tell myself I’m not going to be swayed by Fiddly in perfume.  Then a line like Romea d’Ameor comes out with gorgeous bottles with (gulp!) tassels!  In different colors.  And those lovely, fiddly, Princess names.  The scents are lovely – but what got me first was the fiddly – because there were several, in different colors…I wonder if that is a Requirement of Fiddly….

sooo pretty! but not all at once…maybe 2 or 3?

can Flora Danica be ‘fiddly’?

Now, I’m not looking for a houseful of fiddly.  In fact, too much fiddly negates the whole point of fiddly, imo.  Aqua, for example, needs to sneak up on me, like with Amanda Redman’s earrings.  I love me the hell out of a neutral room with little touches of warm blue therein but really don’t like an entire blue room.  Moderation and the element of delighted surprise.  A tassel or two.  A bit of bling.  Flora Danica is best enjoyed in moderation, imo.  An entire dinnerware service is visually exhausting.  But a coffee service?  Sublime.

my fiddly bangles – 3, not 300

Are any of you besotted by Fiddly?  Tell me your Fiddly Tales!

OH!  I haz winners from the Struggle post!

Kathleen Smith!  Maggiecat!  Cindi!  gmail your evilauntieanita!