Wardrobe planning #21: Handbag accessories

Posted on 29/05/2017 by The Librain

In this post I am going to round-up a few items that you may find helpful or fun to use with your handbags. Once again, I must repeat that I am showing items from my internet bookmarks or products that I use myself and that I am not making any money from writing about them.

Handbag organisers

A few years ago, I found that I owned quite a few handbags and that I was using them in rotation. I would get to work and realise that I had left something vital in my other main bag, such as my reading glasses or even my work keys. Something needed to be done! Short of memory training, there was only one thing I could think of: some kind of handbag organiser. Nowadays, there are loads of these around and if you search you will find them for sale all over the place from Amazon to eBay to Etsy. MaiTai offers organisers for Hermès bags in her shop.

Blue handbag organiser by Tintamar

Blue handbag organiser by Tintamar

Back in the day, I could only find one place in the U.K. to buy products like this. I came across the Tintamar VIP handbag organisers on the flyDRAGONfly website. I must have bought mine about nine years ago and have used it every day since then, transferring it from bag to bag as needed. I can really recommend this product. It is available in a range of sizes and colours and has really neat pockets, both open and zipped, which hold all kinds of stuff: glasses, purse, pens, make-up, tickets, receipts, keys, mobile, USB sticks etc. I will never accidentally leave my reading glasses at home again!

As well as flyDRAGONfly, Tintamar products are also available from Amazon and probably other sites outside the UK.

Massaccesi also make organisers in two sizes for their handbags:

Large handbag organiser by Massaccesi

Large handbag organiser by Massaccesi

Instead of an organiser, some people use a selection of pouches to hold items in their handbags. Again, these are available from a range of sources. I bought one from Massaccesi in Bronze Africa leather – the Penelope is available in different sizes, mine is the midi.

Leather items by Massaccesi, silk items by Hermès

Leather items by Massaccesi, silk items by Hermès

Handbag shapers

Many of us own handbags which slouch as the leather begins to wear in. Some enjoy this effect and are happy for it to develop further, others prefer their handbag to retain its original shape for as long as possible. Handbag shapers can help with this issue and also act as organisers too. The ones I have seen (I don’t use them myself) tend to come in thick felt in lovely colours and some companies can customise them to fit individual handbags. So, unlike the organisers I wrote about above, you could have a shaper for each bag if you wished.

I had a look on Etsy and found a lot of these from around the world. Here are some examples:

SENAMONbagORGANISER

soonibaginbag

Handbag storage

I do think that it is important to store handbags properly and I am certainly very careful with mine even though I have very limited space. One issue in our house is damp. We use a dehumidifier all through the Winter months, but we still have problems with mould spores and these can absolutely ruin leather. So, this section is more about tips than products:

  • Try to keep handbags in original boxes.
  • Store with plenty of tissue paper inside to retain the shape. Do not use plastic bubble wrap as this can make damp problems worse. You can buy special cushion-like products for designer handbags if you prefer.
  • Never put away a damp handbag. After taking it out in the rain, wipe the bag carefully with a soft cloth and allow to dry fully before storing.
  • Keep your bag in its dustbag when not using. If the bag did not have a dustbag when purchased, I find that new cotton pillowcases substitute really well.
  • Try to store with a little space between your handbags. If you squish them onto a shelf, you will almost certainly end up with dents in the leather.
  • Regularly tip out any stuff that might have collected at the bottom of your bag. If you are like me, random fluff, coins and general “ick” tends to come out when I do this.
  • Before you store a bag, make sure you have removed any dirt from it. Never use products such as baby wipes to do this, but have a look online for proper leather wipes and conditioners. There are sections on The Purse Forum that can help with cleaning and restoring handbags.

There are also loads of tips on handbag storage and cleaning available online:

Cosmopolitan: 20 handbag cleaning hacks you need in your life

Fellows Auctioneers: Top tips for caring for your designer handbag

WhoWhatWear: 7 Tricks to Ensure Your Handbags Will Last for Years

There are numerous storage solutions for handbags that you can find online, varying from simple hacks using shower rails and hooks to more sophisticated shelving for walk-in closets. Have a look on Pinterest for ideas. Mine are stored on shelving in my fairly small wardrobe. Oh, for a walk-in!

Handbag decoration

I am not one for adding lots of frilly stuff to my handbags, although I can see why people do. So I am not going to list loads of bling in this section as I don’t think it looks good at my age. Ooh, getting stuffy here!

Dans un Jardin Anglais twilly by Hermès tied on Massaccesi handbag

Dans un Jardin Anglais twilly by Hermès tied on Massaccesi handbag

There are some kinds of decorations I do like. I have bought only one H twilly so far, but I love how it looks tied on my navy metallic Massaccesi handbag. If twillies are too expensive for you, and I can definitely see why they might be, you could perhaps look for some really pretty ribbon instead. Again, I had a search on Etsy and other specialist sites and found loads that might be suitable – why not have a look? Or you may be lucky enough to have a haberdashers in your area.

I must admit that I have a tiny hankering for a pretty faux fur pom-pom for my Massaccesi, but will (probably) resist. Something like this from Helen Moore perhaps?

Petrol faux fur pom-pom by Helen Moore

Petrol faux fur pom-pom by Helen Moore

There is a Purse Forum member who makes lovely leather handbag charms in a really wide range of colours and shapes – LuxeLeatherCrafts. Unfortunately, she appears to be on holiday at the moment, so it would be a good idea to visit in a while to see what she offers.

LuxeLeatherCrafts

LuxeLeatherCrafts

Handbag hangers

One last recommendation! This is a really neat gadget that I use almost every time I go out. It is called the Clipa 2 handbag hanger and it is used to protect the bottom of your bag from dirty floors or chairs. You NEVER put your handbag on the floor do you???

Handbag hanger by Clipa

Handbag hanger by Clipa

This item comes in a range of metallic finishes and simply clips to your bag’s handles when not in use (or you could put it in your handbag organiser!). When you need to use it, you open it up and slip it over the table, chair, hook or pole and then hang your bag from it. It is really neat and easy to use. I bought mine from Amazon and you can see it in use on there.

Yes, there are loads of other hangers available if you search online – cheaper ones with loads of bling if you want that. This one has worked well for me so far.

I hope you have found this post both interesting and useful.

Best wishes,

❤️💚💜💙💛

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Update 26/05/17

Posted on 26/05/2017 by The Librain

Sorry, I cannot manage a proper post tonight. It has been so hot today that I fell asleep this afternoon and woke up feeling awful: a horrible, heavy, dopey headache. Never mind. I hope everyone has a great Bank Holiday weekend.

💚💛💙💜❤️

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Update 25/05/17

Posted on 25/05/2017 by The Librain

Yet another hospital visit today. It was a very early appointment so, as it is quite a long way, I had to get up at a very difficult time for me. It was a struggle, but I really wanted to be there for Lovely Husband as I felt that I should be present to help with remembering what was said. The appointment was with a genetic counsellor, going through the implications for LH and his family if there is any genetic link with cancer. Well, we now have to wait for test results before we can really think things through.

I wore the same outfit as Tuesday – white vest, spot cardigan, and jeans – but at the last minute decided to wear flat shoes rather than sandals as I had developed a small blister when wearing them yesterday. Thank goodness that I did wear the shoes. We had to walk a really long way through the hospital to get to the right building as they have recently built a new Emergency Unit right across all of the pedestrian access routes. Both of us were really exhausted when we arrived and had a real struggle to get back to the car. You would think that hospitals of all places would plan for disabled patients!

I did change pendants today and wore this lovely blue topaz and silver one, which was a present from my Mum many years ago, bought in Bristol. The three stones have different cuts and then each section is hinged to the next, which makes the piece much more interesting.

Blue topaz and silver pendant.

Blue topaz and silver pendant.

When we got home, I sat in the garden after lunch and read for a while. It was so lovely to sit surrounded by our wonderful garden, although I do feel a bit guilty looking at the weeds. I used to be the family “gardener”, but can no longer manage this role. We do have a lovely man who comes to cut the grass so perhaps I need to get him in for more hours to give everything a good tidy up. I will take some photos of the garden at some point and post about it properly.

Back to the subject of clothing: I was having a good look through my Summer tops yesterday and realised that I don’t have much in one of my accent colours – purple/lilac. So, I ordered two vests, like the white one that I have worn this week, in purple sapphire and fresh lavender. I really like the shape and the fabric is lovely and thick. I also bought another cotton mix cardigan in frosted lavender. Again, I already have several of these and they are so very useful across the seasons. These are all coming from Lands’ End, who were having a 25% off promotion.

Vests and cardigan by Lands' End

Vests and cardigan by Lands’ End

I will let you know what I think of them when they arrive.

❤️💚💙💜💛

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Reading roundup 24/05/17

Posted on 24/05/2017 by The Librain

I have decided to make Wednesdays Reading Roundup days. As I usually get through quite a few books each week, it will be good to remind myself about what I have read on a regular basis, apart from the short reviews I write on Goodreads.

A Dying Fall by Elly Griffiths

A Dying Fall by Elly Griffiths

Well, I say “quite a few books” and that is usually true, but this last week I got a bit bogged down with one book! First of all, I finished Elly Griffiths’ A Dying Fall. I think I was having some trouble concentrating as I wrote in this review:

I enjoyed this book, as I have all that I have read of the Ruth Galloway series so far, but I have to give it 3 stars rather than 4. For some reason, although I read the book in one sitting, I got the strands of the story a bit muddled and found some aspects rather unlikely and over the top. I even found an error early on in the book! Page 64 of this paperback edition: “…she understands how the Roman legions must have felt, leaving the sunny comfort of Italy and travelling northwards to the barbarous lands of the Anglo-Saxons”. Um, I think that the Anglo-Saxons did not live on these islands until after the Romans came. I could be wrong, but I thought that the Roman legions fought the British. Anyway, I suppose that is nit picking and I am already looking forward to reading Elly Griffiths’ next book.

As I spend more and more time in bed, I tend to flit between reading a print book, an ebook or random stuff on my iPad: Facebook, tPF, blogs, news etc. Just as the younger generations seem to find sustained reading an issue, I believe that a mixture of the above behaviour plus illness plus age is having a similar effect on me. Whereas in the past I had no trouble with concentration, I am finding it harder to focus on one thing at a time. Multitasking can be a very useful skill in certain contexts, but can be a serious block to reading a long book or one with an involved plot and lots of characters. So perhaps I was a bit harsh on this book and also the next one that I finished a couple of days ago.

NOS4R2 by Joe Hill

NOS4R2 by Joe Hill

Joe Hill’s NOS4R2 was a real struggle for me to finish. In the past, or in a different mood, I would have gobbled this book up with relish. Yes, it is very long and the plot pretty involved, but I used to love gory horror fiction just like this. Yet, as I said, it was a struggle. I got to around half way through and wondered if I should simply give up. But, and readers will know this feeling, a mixture of childhood admonitions that everything started must be finished together with the idea that I would have wasted my time by giving up…well, let’s just say that I did persevere and got to the end. There is nothing wrong with the book. I think that it was just me.

Oh, and one other thing. I must be getting stupid or forgetful in my old age! All the way through the book I kept getting an echo of Stephen King. Well, of course Joe Hill is Stephen King’s son! I should have remembered that nugget of information 😂.

The Kept Woman by Karin Slaughter

The Kept Woman by Karin Slaughter

Anyway, let us draw a line under that and go on to the next book. This is by one of my favourite authors: Karin Slaughter. I tend to read her books in one go and The Kept Woman was no exception. I love Slaughter’s series: Grant County and Will Trent. The characters are different, not stereotypes, and very vivid. The plots are complex but the writing holds your attention and does not let go. Some find these books too gruesome, but I like a bit of “grue” in my reading. I read for escapism and I do escape into these worlds and lose track of the even more nasty real world in which we live.

Shot Through the Heart by Isabelle Grey

Shot Through the Heart by Isabelle Grey

The next book was started yesterday and I will probably finish it tomorrow: Shot Through the Heart by Isabelle Grey. I am enjoying this a lot so far and will review it on Goodreads when I do get to the end.

The next Reading Roundup will be on Wednesday 31/05/17, assuming all is well.

❤️💜💙💚💛

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Outfit of the day 23/05/17

Posted on 23/05/2017 by The Librain

The day started grey and a bit gloomy but soon warmed up and the sun came out. Yes, this is the English obsession with the weather! It is no wonder really that we are so obsessed. The weather in the U.K. is so changeable and can vary within a few miles, so we watch the forecast in order to decide what to wear, apart from anything else.

So, today I took the annual decision and wore sandals for the first time this year and also didn’t wear a scarf! Eek! My neck felt really strange. The main reason is that it was hairdresser day again so I wore a pendant instead and tied my Dans un Jardin Anglais twilly on my handbag. This twilly is meant to be Autumn/Winter, but it looks just right on this handbag and I am quite prepared to break any fashion rules.

Dans un Jardin Anglais twilly - Hermès

Dans un Jardin Anglais twilly – Hermès

The pendant must be the piece of jewellery that I have had the longest. I can remember it being a present, probably for Christmas, when we still lived in Canterbury. So I was either twelve or thirteen. My parents gave it to me to go with an orange polo jumper and a teal corduroy mini skirt (it was the 60s). A looooooong time ago. Anyway, I thought it would go nicely with this outfit and the pearl studs would echo the white spots on the cardigan.

Today’s outfit:

  • Bright navy with white spots, viscose mix cardigan – Roman.
  • White cotton vest – Lands’ End.
  • Indigo jeans – Klass.
  • Shell pendant with silver chain.
  • Pearl and silver stud earrings.
  • White enamel and silver bangle.
  • Navy leather sandals – Suave.
  • Navy, deep blue Africa, leather tote bag – Massaccesi.
Outfit of the day 23/05/17

Outfit of the day 23/05/17

I always love having my hair done, particularly the soothing scalp massage part – I nearly fall asleep. You may have noticed, in the collage above, that I did something fairly unprecedented when I got home – I put some makeup on!!!!!!

Well, I decided to give Lovely Husband a shock and remind him that I can “scrub up” reasonably well when I want to. So, below are the before and after shots, with a full length version in between. I thought about missing that photo out as it does clearly demonstrate how much weight I am carrying at the moment (Younger Son does not do flattering photos), but I thought I would include it in the spirit of honesty ☺️.

Before and after the hairdresser with the addition of makeup!

Before and after the hairdresser with the addition of makeup!

I am going to enjoy reading a new book today and will catch up about my reading in tomorrow’s post.

❤️💙💚💜💛

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Scarf of the moment: De la Mer Au Ciel

Posted on 19/05/2017 by The Librain

This wonderful scarf, De la Mer au Ciel, was designed by Laurence Bourthoumieux, also known as “Toutsy”, for Hermès’ Spring/Summer 2014 season. The design shows an ocean with fish, plants and other sea inhabitants. An amazing spiral starting in the centre of the scarf has an array of fish metamorphosing into birds and back to fish again. The ocean waves roll and splash against a sky with scudding clouds. There is a lovely patterned border and contrast rolled hem.

De la Mer au Ciel by Laurence Bourthoumieux for Hermès

De la Mer au Ciel by Laurence Bourthoumieux for Hermès

The design reminds me somewhat of Escher’s images of tessellations and metamorphoses in his work. I would have liked to put some of these images here, but copyright issues make this impossible. Instead, you may like to look at the following links:

M. C. Escher: Sky and Water I
Image of a woodcut showing both a tessallation and metamorphosis from fish to bird.

M. C. Escher: Swans
Image of a woodcut showing a moebius strip of swans. There are a host of other images on this official site which show my thinking on this.

I fell in love with this scarf as soon as I saw it online and chose what I considered to be a realistic colourway of blues and greens – colourway 08. Back in 2014 I was all about realistic colours, but Hermès has gently converted me over the last few years to more adventurous choices in my newer scarves!

Colourways for the 90cm:

Some of the colourways for the 140cm shawl (I have not been able to find all of them online):

The design story:

‘Fish, like sea-butterflies, metamorphose to greet the sky.’ With these words, Laurence Bourthoumieux describes her teeming, rippling composition of harmonious curves, their meandering forms evoking the ocean depths, and skies full of birds and butterflies. The design is – quite literally – a picture of metamorphosis in action, a vision of a world floating and flying free of gravity itself; a fluid, dreamlike world where shapes, colours and light are transformed from one moment to the next. Centuries ago, the sky was sometimes thought to be composed of the same elements as the sea. And in ancient Greece, fish were among the attributes of Aphrodite, the goddess of love, born – like this silken bestiary – of the ocean spray.

Below are some close-ups of the design details:

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

This is a real Spring/Summer cheerful scarf and goes beautifully with my cobalt blue cable jumper, white tops and navy cardigans. It ties really well and shows different aspects depending on which way it is folded:

De la Mer au Ciel - scarf ties

De la Mer au Ciel – scarf ties

These are some of the clothes in my wardrobe that go well with this scarf. I wish I were slim enough to wear white jeans! Shades of green would look nice with it too, if that is what you have in your closet.

De la Mer au Ciel - range of clothing

De la Mer au Ciel – range of clothing

And these bracelets and bangles in my jewellery box look great with it:

De la Mer au Ciel - bracelets and bangles

De la Mer au Ciel – bracelets and bangles

There are other blog posts on this wonderful scarf which you may find enlightening:

My Little Scarf Blog: Wearing De la Mer au Ciel
How to wear this scarf in different ways – same colourway as mine!

Olfactoria’s Travels: The Circle of Life – Hermès De La Mer Au Ciel Scarves
This is a lovely blog post exploring different colourways of the scarf.

Vivienne Files: Choosing a Scarf – Hermès in Orange
Janice writes about how to choose clothing to go with several alternative colourways of this scarf.

I hope you have found today’s Scarf of the Moment post interesting. If I find any more images of the shawl colourways, I will add them to this post.

❤️💜💙💚💛

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Outfit of the day 18/05/17

Posted on 18/05/2017 by The Librain

It has been brighter today, with sunshine peeping out between the clouds. One design fault in our study is that the sun shines straight through the roof light and lands directly on my laptop at certain times of the day. I was trying to do some useful household stuff and simply couldn’t see the screen! I suppose we should get a blind – one of those “get around to it” jobs that no one seems to get around to doing.

I wore a very old scarf today, one that my Mum bought me years ago. It is a simple silk, crinkly long scarf but I love the colours in it – lots of blue shades. I didn’t want to wear anything thick and heavy as it has been quite warm.

Today’s outfit:

  • Blue silk scarf.
  • Bright navy, cotton cardigan – Lands’ End.
  • Bright navy, cotton top – Lands’ End.
  • Navy cotton joggers – Cotton Traders.
  • Aqua glass and silver heart-shaped earrings or blue topaz and gold stud earrings (I changed my mind after making the collage!).
Outfit of the day 18/05/17 with blue silk scarf

Outfit of the day 18/05/17 with blue silk scarf

Elder Son was pleased when his upgraded phone arrived this morning. As he has ASD and is fairly vulnerable, we have to carefully balance his yearning for an “all bells and whistles” phone with our concern that he could be a potential target for theft. He also has a tendency to lose things for a few months, before they miraculously turn up again somewhere very weird. So, it is a nice phone and he is pretty chuffed with it so far, but very inexpensive – phew! Between us, Younger Son and I got it working and he has gone out looking pleased. I hope he comes home again in the same mood!

Tomorrow, there will be a Scarf of the Moment post about the lovely Hermès’ De la Mer au Ciel. I had better spend the rest of the afternoon finishing it, in between reading, of course 😉.

De la Mer au Ciel by Laurence Bourthoumioux for Hermès

De la Mer au Ciel by Laurence Bourthoumioux for Hermès

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Happy update 17/05/17: Whoooooop!

Posted on 17/05/2017 by The Librain

We had some great news last night. Younger Son came in from work and told us that he has been promoted to Supervisor and his hours upgraded to 30 per week! Whoooooop!

fireworks" by Epic Fireworks on Flickr

“fireworks” by Epic Fireworks on Flickr

Some background to this will explain why we are so delighted. Younger Son has been in quite a bad place since he came home from university a few years ago. He is a very personable and intelligent young man and we really believed that he would fly when he left home. Whilst he did enjoy most of his time at Uni, he also began to have mental health issues. He did achieve both a BSc and MSc, but not at the grades he wanted or that were commensurate with his abilities. He continued to struggle when he came home and was unable to get a job suitable for his Science skills. Instead, he became a retail assistant with only 16 hours guaranteed per week and on minimum wage.

We have been so pleased with his attitude to work and he has enjoyed being part of a team and has obviously impressed the management enough that they have given him this chance. We still hope that, one day, he will get on the career ladder with something in Science, but if that doesn’t happen,we will continue to be proud of him and give him every support that we can.

Love my Lad (Love both my Lads!)(Love all three of my “Lads”!!)

❤️💙💜💚💛

Image credit

“fireworks” by Epic Fireworks on Flickr

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Outfit of the day 16/05/17

Posted on 16/05/2017 by The Librain

The weather has turned really gloomy and drizzly here in the Midlands. It is still quite warm, but a bit grim. When we drove out today, I was cheered up by the lush foliage on the trees and bushes, the wonderful many shades of green everywhere I looked. I find the green of plants so restful on the eyes. Many of the local hawthorn hedges have been left to grow wild without being cut and the may blossom hangs in huge wreaths and swags almost down to the ground in places. It looks wonderful and then I remember my Granny’s warning that we should never bring may blossom into the house because it is supposed to bring bad luck. Mind you, I never believed that or any of her other homilies, such as no new shoes on the table and don’t open umbrellas indoors!

When I get a bit sentimental about the beauty of the English countryside, I think of this poem that I remember from school – “Home Thoughts from Abroad” by Robert Browning:

Because it was raining when I came out of the Library, after choosing another huge pile of books, I was so glad that I chose my second hand Ferragamo scarf, rather than one of my precious H scarves. It is a bit autumnal in colour, but it goes well with the bright navy twin-set and horn earrings.

Today’s outfit:

  • Silk scarf 90cm – navy with brown leopards and shades of blue, green, yellow and beige – Ferragamo. Tied in a criss-cross knot using a MaiTai horn scarf ring.
  • Bright navy, cotton mix cardigan – Lands’ End.
  • Bright navy, cotton mix, short-sleeved top – Lands’ End.
  • Indigo jeans – Klass.
  • Cream lacquer and horn earrings – Quecraft via Etsy.
  • Cobalt blue enamel and gold bangle – Halcyon Days.
Outfit of the day 16/05/17 with Ferragamo scarf

Outfit of the day 16/05/17 with Ferragamo scarf

Some of my basic librarian skills came in useful this morning. Lovely Husband has a huge collection of rock music CDs and refuses to move onto more modern forms of music listening. As our shelving in the dining room is running out of space and, also, to be more convenient, he bought a storage unit for our already cluttered lounge. Anyway, I sat on the floor for a while, happily putting the CDs into the unit in alphabetical order. He tried to tell me that it didn’t matter! Aargh! As if a librarian (or The Librain) would think that alphabetical order didn’t matter! Unthinkable! (Sorry about the rather excessive use of exclamation marks, but you can understand how unsettled I felt).

After all of this “excitement”, we had lunch and then went to the Library, as mentioned above. We tried to go for a cup of tea at one of our local garden centres, but they had three coach parties in when we arrived and the queue in the café was far too long. So we drove back home instead.

I am now finishing writing this post sitting in bed with a pot of tea and a honey sandwich – um, perhaps I shouldn’t moan about weight gain. LH has promised me a nice piece of poached salmon for dinner and then I will chat to my lads and read. Not a bad life, eh?

💚❤️💙💜💛

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Blog updates 12/05/17

Posted on 12/05/2017 by The Librain

Before I retired in 2014, I was a school librarian for many years, with seven years “off” bringing up our two lads. My old Librain blog was all about the wonderful profession of school librarianship, but ill-health, both physical and mental, wreaked havoc with my ability to even think about my beloved career, never mind be the feisty, battling and probably annoying Librain who campaigned for better school library provision. These days, I can just about manage to enter a public library (even that was almost impossible when I first left work), and I am sometimes able to read professional articles posted by my friends and former colleagues. But the fight has gone out of me, or perhaps it has gone dormant for a while.

Putting the first book on the shelf - new Dixie Grammar School Library 2009

Putting the first book on the shelf – new Dixie Grammar School Library 2009

When I relaunched as The Librain…… retired, I intended this blog to avoid the controversial in the main and concentrate on the more trivial aspects of my current lifestyle – fashion and accessories – with a bit of a diary thrown in. I cannot avoid, however, thinking about what I considered to be my vocation. Well, it was actually my Mum who called it that, many years ago!

So, for now, I will put back a couple of pages on this blog, showing my career, and may occasionally manage to post something pertinent. But that will not happen often, unless my mental health improves or a Labour Government is elected!

Anyway, as I will always be a Librarian at heart, and one of our roles is information management, I decided to spend part of this afternoon and evening overhauling this blog and, hopefully, making it easier to navigate.

The menus at the top are a bit different:

1) About me leads to an introduction to me and this blog, then listed underneath are:

Living with ASD is a story I wrote many years ago to help people understand more about autism. Elder Son, who is in his twenties, has autism, as I have mentioned several times, and he is happy for me to upload this story.

Tributes to my Dad and my Mum are pretty self-explanatory. These are poems that I read out at their funerals in 2003 and 2012, respectively.

2) Reading gathers all of the blog posts where I have mentioned books and reading together in one list – it will end up being a long one!

3) School libraries leads to an introduction, which is basically a repeat of the first few paragraphs of this post, then to:

Advice for new school librarians – some ideas and tips gathered over the years which may still be useful for those starting out.

My career, which gives an overview of my career from 1981 until retirement in 2014.

SLA School Librarian of the Year 2005 – I was the inaugural winner of this award and must admit that I am still pretty chuffed about it all these years later!

4) Scarf of the moment gathers all of the posts on this topic under one menu heading so that they are easy to find.

5) Wardrobe planning gathers all of the posts on this topic under one menu heading so that they are easy to find.

I have also played around a bit with the widgets in the right-hand sidebar and hope that this also helps with navigation. Please let me know if any links or navigation elements don’t work and I will try to sort things out.

Hoping all readers have a happy weekend!

💜❤️💚💙

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