h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

bra was a reference to out conversation about me buying a giant bra to smuggle popcorn into Seville with. Just need to avoid microwaves or it would be disastrous.

Today was thwarted, horrible traffic and boy was I screeching. At work *nothing* was happening, and I just wasn't fluffed enough to generate the energy to make it happen. Finally, the last hour I nabbed a really nice, laid back woman and she wanted everything I was showing her, so almost $800 later I had my day in, which was good. I feel guilty on the rare days I can't even generate enough to pay my wages.

Went for dinner and chanting at my friend Erin's place, and we worked on her business plan a bit. She's going to open a book/supplement/health-and-spiritual stuff store before the year is over. That got me feeling grounded again.

Oh *that* bra! For some reason I was thinking 'pop-up' . . . meanwhile, if your leather jacket gets any looser you can tape the packets around your body like a proper 'mule'.

Just up, must have . . .


az

It's amazing to me that people will spend as much as $800 at a time on cosmetics! Do you ever get people who get you to do a whole 'make over' on them and then don't buy anything? Or maybe just a lipstick?

Was thinking that your dinner and chanting with Erin sounded like a lovely way to spend an evening - and also later working a bit on her biz plan. I can imagine how that helped make you feel more grounded.

Things are moving along with the webpage. Chris says most things will be online and operational by next week, so we're going to have another meeting with him then to okay stuff. This afternoon we have to set up an account with Paypal so Chris can work that into the webpage. Ooooh, so exciting!

Did you see the new logo idea? I think this is the one we'll be going with. A bit more abstract, not an 'azahar' per se but an 'orange flower' that looks quite textural and soft. We were going to use the whole flower image first because the overlapping bit in the centre actually looks like an azahar, but then Chris suggested the cropped version. I wasn't sure about this until I showed it to my friend Agustín who said the whole flower attracted 'too much attention' when first looking at the page - he said with the cropped version what he saw first was the name 'azahar natural clothing' and then the colour of the cropped flower drew his eye to the navigation menu. Which I thought was quite interesting. What do you think?

http://public.fotki.com/azahar/stuff/azahar_logo.html

Just home from a bit of a frantic shopping trip. The buttons we had bought for the dress I'm giving to Ana Mari this evening (what we cut yesterday) turned out to be too small! Mind you, they were also plastic ones that look like mother-of-pearl, which I wasn't very happy about but they were all we could find at the time in a small size. And so today we very luckily found a shop that had the perfect sized mother-of-pearl ones and they even gave us a small discount for buying quantity - though of course not as cheap as buying wholesale. Still, it turned out to be a good thing that the plastic ones were too small as I'm much happier with the mother-of-pearl ones. Meanwhile, MUST find a decent button supplier!

Well, Noggin has just peeled prawns so am off to make spicy tomato szechuan prawns with basmati rice for lunch (trying out a new Sharwood's sauce).

Nice aside. After our LONG CUTTING DAY yesterday, Noggin and I went to bed feeling quite pleased for getting it all done. And although we were quite tired Noggin said it was a 'nice sort of tired' and it made him feel that he'd really accomplished something.


az

Some people drop huge $$$ on cosmetics, others not as much. Depends on the circumstances and where I'm working, for the most part. Once in a while I do free makeovers, doesn't bother me if I'm not busy. Usually I manage to show people things that they *really* like and will use, and I teach them how to do it themselves, so they buy if they can afford it. The only ones who piss me off are the liars who just want a free makeover for an event, they say they are there to buy all sorts of stuff, then at the end they suddenly decide they "need to think about it". That's crap. The very worst are the ones who try complaining about every single thing so they can justify not buying anything. I saw a national makeup artist do a woman whose daughter's wedding was that afternoon, and she was so bitchy and nasty aboiut everything, kept saying she already had all the colors he'd used on her, so she didn't need any of them and decided when she was all finished that she really didn't need the skincare she'd already comitted to buy in order to get her makeup done. She started complaining *again* about the colors--*whiiiiine* I'm just not *sure* this is going to look good in the photos *whiiiine* and he took a handful of cleanser, rubbed it all over her face and told her to go and do her makeup herself with what she had at home since she wasn't happy. That was hilarious, and she was *furious*! I guess she learned a lesson that day.

I think the logo is lovely, really like the colors and the flowy shape of the flower. The placement is good too. I'm glad you found something that works so well.

I had a fabulous shopping experience after work tonight, decided I'd cruise the sales racks and search for a nice, warm cardigan instead of sit in traffic seething. They had the final markdowns today and I made out like a bandit! Everything I bought was between 10-20% of original price, so I found a beautiful pearly-grey cardigan (Ralph Lauren, which I would *never* buy at even half price, some corderoy trousers (az, I tried 'em on as a whim, thought there was no way I'd fit into them, and they fit! A wee bit snug, but wearable even today! My butt has gone down several clothing sizes! woooohoooooo!) I also found a really pretty sleeveless top, thick knit taupey-grey with tiny shimmers of metallic greenish, and the best bargain was a casual teal velvety jacket that fits perfectly and was only $14. I usually hate shopping, but tonight the right things just fell into my hands, and the prices were so good I didn't feel any guilt at all for buying them. None of it was 'trendy', just quite nice, so I'll be able to use them for years on the cooler days. Then I came home and started going through my stuff and I'm able to fit into my favorite comfly jeans again as well as some sweaters and long-sleeved shirts that have been on hold the last couple of years as they were looking too sausagey on me, so I FEEL GOOD! I can put away the loose, baggy stuff and look kinda like me again, definitely not approaching svelte, but not total lard-ass either. All that soup and gym has been working, more than I was aware.

Ah, what a heart-lifting story!


Also, very pleased that you FEEL SO GOOD and got some good clothing bargains. Wow - you wear jeans? I haven't worn jeans for about twenty years. Not a 'fat thing'. I just realised one day that I'd always hated wearing jeans, that I'd only been wearing them because they were supposed to be 'comfortable'. Except that almost every other item of clothing I owned at the time was much more comfy than my jeans. So I packed 'em away and made more skirts and dresses.

Well, you inspired me a bit so that I did my half-hour/ten kms on The Bike this morning. Now out for a walk - gotta pick up cat food (5 kilo bag) - but before that I want to have a look around for a light spring coat. Something my wardrobe has been needing for years. . .


az

Wow - coat success!

Well, okay, it's not *exactly* what I wanted, but pretty close, and also 30% off so can't complain . . .

What I *really* wanted was a red trenchcoat style raincoat. What I got was a black trenchcoat style raincoat. And I'm going to have to get it shortened as it's a weird neither-here-nor-there length. They'll do it at the shop for free if I take it back with my ticket. But I wanted to try it out first at the length it was so I wore it home and . . . definitely a weird length.

Still, am quite pleased with it. It's a perfect light weight for spring and autumn and could even be worn on rainy winter days with a warm sweater underneath, as rainy days tend to be warmer in winter.

I've never actually owned a raincoat before. And so, along with the new winter coat I bought last November, I should be okay coat-wise for the next five years.

Meanwhile, things are still very calm here . . . feels good. As I know you know, there's a lot to be said for 'what now?' rather than going 'GAAAAAAAA!' when stressful things happen. Like last night. I noticed that some of the last batch of dresses Toñi brought back were less than perfect. I hadn't had a chance to take a good look at all of them until yesterday. But then I realised that all I need to do is explain this to Toñi when she makes her next delivery and I'm sure she'll be fine about making the needed corrections.

In fact, when Ana Mari made her delivery last night (and her stuff looks *even better* than Toñi's!) she told me to have a close look at everything and let her know if there was anything that needed to be corrected and she would happily do it. I couldn't inspect everything at the time because AM's husband was waiting downstairs in the car and we'd already spent close to half an hour together with me explaining the next dress to her. She even said I could wait until I'd inspected everything to pay her, but I told her that wouldn't be necessary.

Thing is, Ana Mari is doing this second dress kind of as a 'favour' because she is now up to her eyeballs with making all the dresses, etc, for her sister's wedding in April. And she wants to help me out now because she knows about my deadline. But she is also doing it because - as she told me - she wants me to 'keep her in mind' for when she is available again for pretty much fulltime work in May.

Keep her in mind??? I told her I would be thrilled if she wanted to keep working with me in May. And I think it's also something that she and Toñi have talked about. Because they're friends and live in the same village the idea is that once things get rolling they will be able to take turns doing the deliveries and pick ups. And as I mentioned to you before, Toñi has already told me that she isn't taking in any other work because she is hoping that making the azahar clothes will keep her quite busy and provide her with a steady income. So for now she is making that her priority.

It made me realise that I'm not the only grateful person here! That they are also grateful for having some well-paid work - heck, it probably beats having to take in stuff for alterations or the occasional one-off dressmaking job.

So I mis-quoted Humphry Bogart to Ana Mari last night and said I thought this was hopefully the beginning of a beautiful friendship - and she laughed.

Anyhow, it was nice to realise that it's a mutual appreciation thing we have going. And I also don't think of myself as their 'boss', though they kind of treat me like that. I tried to explain to Ana Mari last night that the three of us are working together as a team - that I really couldn't do this without them. And also that the thing I appreciated as much as their wonderful sewing skills was their very professional and responsible attitude.

I got the feeling that Ana Mari was worried that while she had to take March and April off to do the wedding stuff (an unpaid family obligation) I might look for somebody else. And so I told her not to worry about that at all. Because once all the patterns are finished I'll have time to sew any extra stuff that Toñi can't handle in the interim. And she looked very pleased about that.

eh?

Another thing I realised recently . . . how you and I use this thread as a kind of joint 'daily diary' to write about stuff going on in our lives. Awhile ago six7s was trying to convince me to write a diary - he thought I would find it interesting and helpful to write stuff down as I experience it, kind of a record of my life and also my 'progress' as a human. But it turns out I just don't have time to write in a diary and anyhow, it would feel boring to do so. Like, why?

But what we do here is pretty much the same thing. Except it doesn't feel boring because we are sharing our experiences. And of course, for the *really personal stuff* we can use emails or chat on Skype.

Anyhow, just wanted to tell you how much I enjoy this thread with you. And how much I enjoy knowing you.



az

Sounds like you found a great coat and a good deal. That's always fun, especially when it's something you needed.

Yes, I wear jeans when it's cool outside or when I need to do something where sturdy clothes are necessary. In the summer it's mostly skirts and lighter stuff, I like to let my thighs breathe when possible. It'll be cool enough when I'm there that I'm just going to pack jeans and trousers, though. Certainly don't want my thighs breathing the damp UK air, so I'm keeping the packing simple and layer-oriented rather than outfitting myself for two seperate climates. I need to check what the max weight allowance is on BA, anyway.

I've been using this thread as a journal of sorts for *ages* now. Used to keep one running on h2 with a lot of the same sorts of things, but it's nicer interacting with a friend. The best part is when I get to think about something in a different way, because I do get entrenched in Britta's World (the Way Things Ought to Be, according to ME) and it's good to have a reality check sometimes.

Just had a long chat with my agent, we were talking about London (he visited there a couple of years ago) and he warned me about the cold, the food, and the toilet paper. Said the toilet paper is rough and scratchy! My poor princess tush might feel assaulted so maybe I'll pack a roll to bring along in case of emergency. What's Spanish TP like? If y'all have nice soft stuff I'll fill the TP space with and pick up a roll there.

Scottex super-soft toilet paper is the *only* toilet paper ever used at 'casa az', so no worries.

Though you might want to stock up on those little kleenex packets while you're here - many bars here not only use icky paper but sometimes there is no paper at all!

I never leave the house without a packet of kleenex in my bag.

And I will happily send you off to the scratchy UK with a couple rolls of Scottex super-soft in your suitcase!

In any case, it's not really about the inferior toilet paper being scratchy - more that it isn't absorbent at all and tends to disintegrate on contact with a moist surface . Trust me, it is not for nuthin I only buy Scottex.

And I also can't imagine having this conversation with anyone else but you!

I think the max weight allowance on BA is quite generous. I certainly have brought over sh*tloads of absolutely everything from Toronto to London. Isn't it something like 30-35 kilos you're allowed for overseas flights? Basically, that's a LOT of .

Meanwhile, *wear* your coat - and even that new teal jacket underneath - and also make sure you have toiletries, pj's and undies packed in your carry-on in case your bags go whoopsy for a day or so (this has almost always happened to me). Not necessarily a bad thing as then they have to deliver your bags to the door the next day rather than you having to lug them into a taxi.

Also, be prepared for eight hours of the most tedious time of your life - being stuck in a too-small seat without enough leg room. Try to get an aisle seat if possible. And bring mags as well as a good book - I've sometimes found that the jittery movement on a plane makes me feel nauseous if I try to read a book, but mags with big print and pics are less of a problem.

I'm not sure if I ever answered your question - was it yours? - about the Seville airport. As to whether there was shopping or otherwise fun stuff going on there. In a word - no. It's the piddliest airport you can imagine - but the good thing is that you cannot get lost there. Just get off the plane, follow the arrows to customs, then look for the taxi signs.

It's really a shame I won't be able to take the bus there to meet you, but as I said, the stupid airport bus shuts down between 2 and 5 pm. On second thought, I maybe *can* get there, but then we'd have to taxi back together. Hmmm, another option. Sound good to you?


az

I love the idea of you meeting me at the airport and then taxi-ing home if the bus is not too great an expense or time-waster on your part!

I'm planning to wear several layers on the plane, including the new cardigan and my leather jacket. They're bulkiest, so that'll give more suitcase room as well, and I get cold on planes. Fortunately I don't get airsick, have been flying since I was a baby. My dad used to be a pilot, so I did my *own* first take-off, cross country and landing when I was about 9 or 10 years old, though dad was in the copilot seat in case anything went wrong. I'll bring my big-ass gym bag as carry on along with a purse, will tuck undies, spare shirt, cosmetics and something to sleep in in that one. Is it likely to be so warm that I'm uncomfortable sleeping in sweatpants and tanktop there? I usually wear nothing or a little nightie and on the rare days it's really cold or if I'm camping up north somewhere I just sleep in sweats. Hardly glamorous, but the doesn't complain. I could go search for proper warm sleeping attire, might still be some on markdown somewhere.

The flight to London will probably not be overly tedious as I intend to sleep through it. I'll be leaving my place at noon, will have several hours hanging out in JFK and the overseas flight leaves at 21:30, arrives 9:15 London time. I arranged it that way so I could snooze through the 'night' and wake up in the 'morning', am hoping to alleviate some jet lag with that devious plan. Coming back home is going to be a bitch, I'll arrive here at 00:15 on the 6th but don't have to be at work til the 7th, so I'll have a day to sort it out.

I'll probably be kinda raggedy by the time I get to casa az, but as long as we don't plan to do anything that requires vigor that evening I'll be fine.

Have a bunch of stuff to get done tomorrow and am leaving for Naples in the evening for a 2-day work trip. This is going to be a busy week, have big events with long work days tues-fri, but can't complain as it pays the bills.

Last night I ended up staying with Terry and Alex in Miami. I'd *thought* I'd agreed to join them for dinner tonight, but when I called terry on my way out of work last night he reminded me it was for Saturday, and since I had my gym bag with clean workout clothes to sleep in I stayed over. We had a good time, Alex prepared one of his stellar pasta dishes and desert of brownie (still warm) with ice cream and strawberries for desert. *sigh* That was my farewell to food made with flour, though. I puffed up overnight, looked about 6 months pregnant today. I guess I just have to accept that I have an intollerance for wheat and quit eating it, no matter how much I love some of the stuff. poop.

No problem at all meeting you, dahlink, if the airport bus is still running - in fact, that had been my plan all along. I'll check out the schedule again. I'm pretty sure there are no buses between 2 and 5, but as you get in around 2, I should be able to catch the last morning bus out there. And having me with you should keep you from getting ripped off by the taxi driver. I'm pretty sure it's *supposed* to cost no more than 20 euros by taxi (I'll also call and check that out) but for some reason the charged N's sister and brother-in-law 30 euros when they came (unfortunately, they arrived at 3.30 so we couldn't go out to meet them).

Perhaps sweatpants and a t-shirt or sweatshirt (rather than a tank top) would be warmer to sleep in as we only have one extra blanket, though I can probably borrow an extra one from Maria.

And don't worry about being 'raggedy' when you arrive. We'll probably just go for a quick tapa snack when we get back here and can then just spend the rest of the day/evening slobbing around 'casa az'. I'm planning to shift around some of my classes so I won't be working after Wednesday morning.

How long have you had this wheat intolerance thing? Can you still eat rice? Corn tortillas? Soy pasta? Just so I know what to get in for snacks (and our Wednesday night meal - perhaps I'll make a curry). How about that nice dark German rye bread? That would make nice toast for brekky. Anyhow, let me know.

Well, the raincoat saga continues. Went to get the thing shortened this morning and then wondered if I should actually get a smaller size. When I bought it I was wearing a very bulky sweater. As indeed I was wearing this morning. So I tried a smaller size on without the sweater and it actually fit better. I could still wear it with the bulky sweater but it was a bit snug when I buttoned it up. Mind you, if I'm wearing a coat with a huge bulky sweater under it I don't tend to button it up anyhow. So I opted for the smaller size in the end and then discovered that it was also a bit shorter, so decided to take it home 'as is' and try it on here with a lighter weight sweater and see if I still thought it was too long. With the bigger one the sleeves were kind of long and flappy, as was the rest of the coat, which then made the length look a bit sloppy, if you know what I mean. So maybe the smaller size will be fine at the length it is . . . gaaaa, it ain't easy bein' me.

So, who is going to be looking after your while you're away? So far N and I have only gone away overnight. I reckon the beasts would be fine for even two nights if I left out plenty of water - any more than that and I'd have to find someone to come in. Weird thing is how the 'boys' are constantly squawking for *more food* when we're here. Then when we go away and leave twice as much food out (just in case) they barely touch it. So obviously the squawking for more food thing is more about wanting to be fed than actually needing to be fed. Cats, eh?

Yesterday I was working on the patterns for the 'peasant dress' (the long raglan sleeved dress with drawstring closings) and I thought my medium sample looked kinda BIG. So I tried it on and, according to N, looked quite fetching in it. So now that medium has turned into a large and I'm now adapting the rest of the patterns a size smaller. Weird. It's basically just a long tube of a dress with quite high side slits (up to above the knee). But I actually felt kinda sexy wearing it. And N said the neckline (which of course is adjustable) was very soft and pretty. I especially like it when the drawstring is loosened so the neckline opens to the edge of my shoulders. In fact I even said to Noggin - hey, I want one of these! And he thought I should have one too. Well, I suppose that could be arranged . . .

Now off to make some lunch and then try and finish those patterns before I go off to teach my evening classes, so N can rip and iron lengths while I'm away, so I can start cutting while he's out teaching tomorrow morning.

So, enjoy Naples as much as possible - keep thinking of the $$$ that you'll have to spend on your adventure!


az

Bon jour!
Having my coffee and preparing to BLAST through the day, the apartment is filthy, laundry needs to be done, all sorts of miscellaneous tedious stuff on my one day off this week. Meanwhile it's gorgeous outside and I'm sooo tempted to go for a frolic. But I mustn't.

I'll bring a sweatshirt and tank top for sleeping in my carry-on. If I need something in between I'll put on one of those painter's smocks you inadvertently had made for me. That'll have me covered.

Erin will be stopping in every few days to feed the monster and clean the catbox. She's not going to love being alone for so long, but she's used to me being gone for 2-3 nights at a time. I just put out loads of food and water, she survives. She doesn't eat much when I'm away but a bit of dieting certainly won't hurt her either. She's one fat pussy with little, spindly legs and is starting to resemble a small watermelon on toothpicks. I'll be returning the favor to Erin when she and her husband go to Argentina for a couple weeks in May. Her cats are waaaay more spoiled than mine is, so her neighbor will have to do daily visits and I'll spend a few nights there so the cats don't feel abandoned.

I think I've been developing the wheat intolerance over the past decade or so, but now it's really noticable and the discomfort is more than I can ignore. I need to stay away from bread and things with flour and beer but that doesn't mean you have to alter your menu. If there's something I can't have I'll just not eat it. I was thinking maybe we could pick up a few groceries when I get there, that way I can get breakfast/snacky stuff that'll not turn me into a balloon and it won't disrupt your lifestyle. I like going to markets in new places anyway, have a tendency to pick up exotic (to me) mysteries so I can see what they're like. When I'm not on the soup diet I usually have some fruit and yoghurt in the morning and then I have protein before I head out. I can pick up some cheese and deli meat for quick roll-ups so it doesn't involve cooking or much clean up. Don't worry, I'm not picky at all, just have learned to replace most starchy things with raw veggies if I don't want to be a biohazard.

The peasant dress sounds very pretty indeed. Maybe you could have N. take a photo of you in it so I can see what it looks like.

This Naples trip should be fun. I'll be traveling and sharing a suite with someone I know who's not a boy-crazy idiot, so there won't be any foolishness about bringing drunks into the room in the middle of the night. She's a couple years older than me, knows how to have a good time and also knows when it's time to stop.

I almost forgot--do you want me to try making a little painting for you? I've had a picture in my head of a fish, very simple, with the cobalt blue, yellow, orange, red that are in your dining room. Not sure if that's something you'd actually *want*, though.

Well, I suggested the corn flour tortillas as we often do quick 'wrap' sandwichy thingys - toasted with hummous and grilled chicken or hot cheesy/ham/spinach melty ones. We can certainly swap wheat flour tortillas for corn ones no problem if you can eat those.

There's always stuff like cheese, ham, bacon, eggs, etc here. Also frozen chicken, mince beef, chorizo, etc. If you're okay with rice then one of my fab curries might be nice for your first night here - just thought you might not want to have to go out food shopping when you first get here.

The fruit bowl is usually well-stocked with apples, oranges and pears. There's also carrots and zucchini for snacking on - I can make my mayo-greek yogurt-dijon-garlic dip for us. And of course the aforementioned hummous is great for snacking. And also usually tomatoes, which I like having on toast with olive oil in the mornings. I'm going to get some of that dark rye pumpernickel bread in any case - might also be nice with smoked salmon on top.

Oh yes - the painter's smocks. Well, there are two of them here for you. No buttons or buttonholes, but I reckon a nice broach to close them would work just fine. As long as you don't mind the wonky topstitching.

Thank goodness you won't be travelling with the Bimbo From Hell again.

Anyhow, must get going - classes soon.



az

Fish painting???

Sounds great to me. But don't worry about bringing anything but your lovely self and . . . of course . . . the .



az

Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!

Actually, somewhat humourous . . . a Noggin 'senior moment' story.

This morning I had two classes - one at 10.30 with Manolo, the other at 12.00 with Marta. Fine. So we got set up for cutting, the plan being that N would rip and iron lengths and I would cut the garments while he was out teaching in the afternoon. Fine.

Except Manolo was about 20 minutes late. So I called him - he had got the time mixed up as we sometimes have classes at 11.30. I told him I couldn't have the class at 11.30 because of Marta's class, so he said he would race over and finish by 12.00. Fine.

So Manolo left at 12 and Peter told me that one of the girls from next door had just come over and he told her I was in class. I asked him which one - he said he didn't know, maybe the French one. Well, last night someone had also been knocking on the door but we were kinda 'busy' so didn't answer . . .

So then I went next door and I said to Carolina (the woman from Argentina) that Peter said Laetitia had come over. She looked a bit confused and said that it had actually been her . . . anyhoodle, it was about changing the gas cylinder in their heater. So I did that, came back and wondered where Marta was as it was already 12.10.

By 12.20 I reckoned Marta had also confused the class time so, while Noggin was still ripping lengths, I decided to ride The Bike for half an hour. Fine.

Then at 1.00 the buzzer rang - Marta was downstairs. She said she had come by at 12.00 for the class (I guess the front door downstairs had been left open and so she came straight up) but Peter told her that I was in class and she asked him (in Spanish) if she should come back at 1.00 *and he told her yes!!!* Even though he obviously had no idea what she was saying to him. And then he told me that one of the girls from next door had come over. Gaaaaaaaaa!

Fact #1. Noggin has met all the women next door - in fact, we just saw Laetitia two nights ago as her mother is here visiting and as we were coming home from tapas they were just getting back from the airport.

Fact #2. Marta is about six inches taller than Laetitia and looks nothing at all like her. For instance, she's blonde-ish and Laetitia has dark brown hair. Well, and way taller.

All of which has left Noggin fearing for his mind and memory! Particularly as he woke up this morning with his arm feeling numb and half-jokingly wondered if he'd had a mini stroke or if one of the cats had been lying on his arm. Eek!

So, still not sure whether to just feel bemused by this incident or feel concerned . . . in any case - what a morning!

How are you?


az

Update. Noggin woke up this morning with Sunny (seven kilos of lurrrve) sleeping on his elbow. So much for the mini-stroke theory. Ah well, now that Noggin is teaching he can now be a legitimate absent-minded professor.

I was cutting-cutting-cutting for almost five hours yesterday. The latest joke is that I'm going to end up looking like a fiddler crab, with one massive hand!

Had a class with Carmen this morning - first one since she came back from Paris. She's still quite keen on being our model for the website photos. So next week we are going out shopping to buy her some pretty undies to wear for the shoot - soft lacy neutral coloured stuff that she can then keep as 'payment' afterwards. She seems quite pleased about that.

This morning I've been working on grading the 'pj top'. I think I'm just going to offer this one in two sizes - S/M and L/XL. You know, I'm actually getting a lot more confident about my pattern making/grading abilities. Though I think for future collections it would still be a good idea to have some basic blocks made up for me by a professional patternmaker. Just so I don't have to keep 'reinventing the wheel' with each style, if you know what I mean. I'll be able to take the basic block shapes and draw my style shapes over top and end up with perfect sizing each time.

Tonight Toñi is coming over to bring me her last batch of stuff and pick up the next two styles. I've told her about the one dress needing some alterations and she seemed okay about that. But then she said the top she's been working on didn't come out exactly like the sample I'd given her . . . a bit worrying, but we'll see what it looks like when she gets here.

You see, this was really the point of having the stuff sewn here - so I could keep an eye on quality control and if there were any problems they could be 'nipped in the bud', rather than having to alter already finished garments. So that is something that Toñi and I will have to talk about. That we communicate a lot more while she is working at home. So that if she sees something 'not quite right' she doesn't just go ahead and sew it like that. After all, this is a first time experience for both of us - doing 'quantity' production. Even though it isn't big time quantity - just 12 of each garment to start off with - it does mean that any errors need to be spotted and corrected immediately. As Toñi has said to me, we are both learning as we go, but I do want to impress upon her the importance of us working as a team. I mean, I do try to cut things as exactly as possible. I also know that the very fine linen 'moves' a lot, so even if cut properly a lot of care has to be taken while sewing to maintain the shape.

My feeling is that Toñi is concerned about the time it's taking her to finish the garments, meaning she is making less per hour than she is maybe happy about. On the other hand, she is making a rather steady wage right now - about 200 euros a week. It turns out that neither she nor Ana Mari are actually making the garments faster than I can sew them, which I find a bit weird because I think I am the slowest sewer in the universe. But so far, Ana Mari's stuff is coming back *perfect* and also perfectly pressed. The last two dresses I got back from Toñi weren't ironed properly - I've had to do that myself. And it was only after doing so that I spotted the mistakes in the last dress. Not good. Toñi said that because the dresses had taken her so long to make there 'just wasn't time' to iron them properly, but that won't do. I think what she really meant she didn't want to spend another hour or two ironing . . . but I do need the stuff coming back ready for shipping.

Ana Mari told me that although the first dress she did took her four hours for each one (I thought it should take less than three - heck, I can do it in less than four) she said she was happy to keep doing them at my price. Meanwhile, Toñi was clearly not pleased about having to do a similar dress at that same price - hence she didn't 'have time' to iron them.

It's a pity that after Ana Mari finishes the next dress I gave her that she now won't be available again until May. Though she has assured me that she wants to continue working with me. I like her attitude because she isn't so concerned about her 'hourly wage' at the moment. She is looking at the bigger picture - having some nice steady work that she can do at home. And as she told me, after getting through that first batch of 12 dresses she had 'found her rhythm' and had worked out how to do them both accurately and a bit more quickly. Meanwhile, she has a huge workspace at home and her husband has built her a massive cutting and work table - so she can work there very comfortably.

Toñi, on the other hand, has just rented out some work space - a renovated garage near her house - because she doesn't have enough room to work comfortably at home. So her concerns include having to now pay for this extra space, which of course I understand. But she was going to do this even before we met, so basically we are going to have to have a bit of a chat this evening about what we are doing together and what that means to both of us in terms of working together.

I sure don't want her feeling resentful because she is spending more time making my stuff than I am able to pay for (in her eyes). I did put up the price on the second dress (the one that came back needing alterations) simply because it took less materials than the first one - trust me, I didn't want to have to do this as our profit margin is already quite small. I was trying to meet her half-way. Yet the stuff came back not properly ironed and needing to be fixed.

So I am gearing myself up for this evening's meeting. There is no way I can afford to lose Toñi right now. Nor do I want to as I know she *can* produce the stuff very well when she isn't perhaps taking 'short cuts'.

I also have to bear in mind that Toñi's mother is very sick (heart condition) and that Toñi is feeling stressed all over the place - about her mother, about having this new work space she now has to pay for. So it will be up to me to make her feel appreciated yet also ask her for that 'little bit more' right now. For both of us. Because if the stuff doesn't get made - and made properly - for our opening date then neither she nor Ana Mari are going to have the steady future work they are both counting on.

So I shall have to tread both gently yet firmly. Wish me luck!

Anyhoodle, what a ramble. As always, thanks for listening.

Wondering how things are going with you in Naples. Am looking forward to hearing *all about it*.

love you,
az

Poor Noggin. Must be disconcerting for him to realize that he doesn't even have a general idea of what the babes next door look like. *I* think he should blame it on being so dazzled by you that other samples of femininininity don't even register as individuals. But seriously, I do hope there's nothing wrong with him physically that caused the brain fart.

The Naples trip was good. Since the hotel was booked solid we didn't get our usual super-suite, only had 2 rooms. So my roommate slept in the living room so she could have the tv going non-stop without driving me nuts and I went for cocktails at the tiki bar evenings. I was *amazed* at the crap they put on tv though, came back the first night to see her watching a show about transgender prositiutes in Honolulu and I got sucked into it as well. Kinda sad in a way, though the 'girls' did seem relatively content with their lifestyle. Anyway, it prompted me to sit at the bar the second night and write a song about it, "Honolulu Crotch Itch Bluesfunk" and I kinda know what the music is supposed to sound like, so I'm gonna invite Jeff to bring his guitar and effects box over, ply him with martinis and see if we can make some beautiful music together. *snort* The Muse strikes in strange places, sometimes. But if I can figure out how to make the sounds I heard in my head it'll be pretty cool.

Off to a 2 day event in Boca Raton, hope it goes as well as Naples did. This is not too far so I can commute, need to get back in the swing of going to the gym daily again. Less than a month til I'm there! Wooooohoooooo!

You snuck in under me.

If it's stressing Toni to do the more complicated dresses, why not set her loose on the simpler stuff so you'll have plenty to 'open' with and let the other dresses wait til she (and) you are really feeling confident and in sync? She'll be able to produce more without worrying about how much it's costing her, you'll have plenty of stuff that's perfect. You could even start sewing a few of those dresses yourself if you really want to, don't necessarily *have* to have 12 of each before you offer it for sale.

Gotta go transform myself into a cosmetina now.

Just occurred to me--aren't y'all sewing these things in clumps once you figure out how it works best? Seems as if it would be easiest to do *all* of this seam then iron the batch out, then the next seam, and so forth, like a one-person production line.

<>

Well, of course that's how it should be - things should be being ironed after each seam with this sort of small production. Even Toñi has told me that she uses plenty of 'plancha' - the iron - while she is working. And I wouldn't have it any other way. Though I think she seriously missed out the plancha bit after sewing the skirts to the bodices of that last dress. All this still means the finished garment needs to be pressed properly so it is ready to be shipped out 'as is'. So no matter how many times one irons seams whilst sewing there is a general final pressing of the garment that is necessary at the end of the production.

az