Home & Garden

Forming sentimental attachments to things

Published

5 months ago

March 3, 2021

I guess forming sentimental attachments to things is a common experience, which sometimes tips over into hoarding. I like to think that I am not a hoarder, although I certainly have a house full of objects, I no longer need. For instance, there is a shelf full of videos no longer playable, without the purchase of a VCR machine. I keep these videos to remind me of the enjoyment displayed by my young son, when watching them some thirty years ago! I also have a CD player and CD collection, which I rarely play, as it is so easy to find anything I want to listen to, with a click on a post on you tube.

I hang on to a children’s Play Stove, because it reminds me of visits from overseas by my grandsons, when they were under five years old. I used to place it in a corner of the sitting room, stacked with tins of toy groceries and equipped with pencils and paper, which they used as a play shop. I originally rescued this Play Stove, which was in good condition, from our communal waste collection bin. The original owners clearly had no sentimental attachment, that prevented them from discarding it.

My most dubious object for retention is an increasingly broken-down blue sofa, which is still serviceable – just! It continues to get constant use, when really it should be semi- retired. A couple of years ago there was a family discussion, when it was suggested that I replace it with a sofa that was filled with air, inflated with a pump. This was duly bought, although I defiantly kept the blue sofa (it is my house and my sofa after all!) resisting plans casually mentioned to break it up! Fortunately, I did so, as the air-filled sofa soon sprang a leak and started to deflate. The blue sofa still stands in my sitting room, sagging somewhat but triumphant.

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Home & Garden

Dressing for Comfort

Published

4 days ago

July 27, 2021

Carole Ford

Since the advent of Covid, it is not news that people have been spending a lot more time at home. Social isolation and lockdowns have kept people indoors, some shielding, some on furlough and others working from home. This has inevitably had an effect on the choice of clothing for day wear, track suits replacing smart casual and suits for office workers. The recent heatwave endured in houses without aircon has had an added effect, with as many garments as possible, probably being discarded!

The actor Colin Firth recounted on a chat show (VIDEO HERE), an incident that had happened to him. He said that he was wearing only “non presentation underpants” and fluffy pink slippers, when he had an accident. trapping his fingers in a sash window that slammed down on them, when he was trying to open it. He tried calling for help to no avail, eventually breaking the glass and screaming for attention! A neighbour then came over the fence and finally rescued Colin, finding time to say how much he and his wife enjoyed his films. Other neighbours then turned up to view the scene! I am sure that many of us have suffered, hopefully, lesser embarrassment, when forced to answer the front door wearing clothes meant for our eyes only.

I have a friend who always wants to look her best, even when alone in the house. This makes me uneasy skyping with her, as I have become aware of my own shortcomings. I now feel obliged to powder my nose and change my T shirt, before viewing her from across the miles.

In very cold weather, people experiencing fuel poverty may be forced to wear outdoor clothes in the house, in an effort to keep warm. They dress for comfort as far as they are able, or at least to mitigate their harsh surroundings. Extremes of weather can literally be a matter of life or death, affecting blood circulation when cold or causing dehydration during heat.

On a less serious note, some people find comfort in old clothes and don’t mind wearing cardigans with holes in them or baggy trousers!

There are of course fashionable garments sold with holes in them and ripped. One is seen as a sign of poverty and the other of wealth.

Dressing for Comfort is essentially choosing clothes that facilitate concentration on work and enable relaxation.

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Home & Garden

Can we agree that people hate losing things?

Published

2 weeks ago

July 14, 2021

Carole Ford

At least I’ve never met anyone who says “I don’t mind if I lose something” in effect “Am I bothered? However, It doesn’t seem to bother some people that much, as they keep on losing everyday items. In the case of keys, these need to be found before leaving the house.

For some people, though, even the temporary loss of an item is a big deal and they may come close to “losing it” themselves. Apart from the irritation at being without the item, the loss undermines self-belief in competence and control over life.

Recently, I lost a full-length waist slip. This bothered me greatly. “How could such a large garment go missing?” I asked myself reprovingly. I retraced my steps to the last time I had seen it, draped over a chair in the bedroom and later on a chair in the sitting room. In hot weather, I had been wearing it around the house. (What people choose to wear when alone in the house, may be the subject of another story) Its loss bothered me throughout the Euro Cup semi-final and while Harry Kane, only had to score a penalty, I had to find my waist slip!

After the match, I scrabbled about for it under the sofa. No luck, it was nowhere to be found. I convinced myself that in a fit of enthusiasm about tidying up, I had thrown it away without thinking. Yes, that was it. At some point, it is necessary to draw a line on searching and move on.

Of course, if the item has great sentimental value, such as a wedding ring, the loss will be especially hard to take, for reasons of grief as well as self-annoyance. Stories of rings turning up years later when gardening, sometimes make a news item. “There is the diamond, gleaming among the cabbages” reads the headline, ending years of hurt.

I am happy to report a good result in the case of the slip that gave me the slip. Irritated with seeing it lying around, I had put it in with the items for handwashing. It was with deep joy that once identified, I lifted its dripping length out of the washbasin. I am glad to say that I had not totally lost it!

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Food

Here where you can find the best pizzas in the world

Published

1 month ago

June 16, 2021

Laura S Hamlin

50 Top Pizza , the most important sector guide has decided to confer an ad hoc prize to the chains of artisanal pizzerias , the Top World Artisan Pizza Chains 2021 – Latteria Sorrentina Award . 20 the brands present in the first edition of this special ranking with at least 5 locations.

The winner is the brand Da Michele , historic Neapolitan sign that counts well 19 sites
around the world, 8 in Italy and the remaining located in Britain, Spain, Germany, USA, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Japan. In second position another high-sounding name of the Neapolitan school, that of Sorbillo , which includes several stores throughout the peninsula, in addition to those in New York, Miami and Tokyo . Third, which arouses a great surprise, is the French Big Mamma Group , with numerous restaurants in France, in London and Madrid.

Pizzeria Da Michele

So far it has two sites in Britain and both are in London (Soho and Baker Street) that were opened a few years ago and have been well received.

Immortalized in the film Eat, pray, love , with Julia Roberts, the pizzeria Da Michele is a must-see if you go to Naples. Michele opened his first pizzeria in 1906 in the current headquarters of the Ascalesi Hospital, whose construction forced the pizzeria to move. In 1930 the pizzeria is moved to its current location in Via Cesare Sersale, often described by experts and journalists as “the sacred temple of pizza”.

Here is the best ten pizzeria chains in the world:

Top World Artisan Pizza Chains 2021 – Latteria Sorrentina Award :

1 Da Michele – Italy, Britain, Spain, Germany, USA, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Japan

2 Sorbillo – Italy and World

3 Big Mamma Group – France and UK

4 Berberè – Italy and Europe

5 Pizza Pilgrims – UK

6 Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana – USA

7 Bráz – Brazil

8 400 Degrees – Australia – USA

9 Peppina – Asia

10 Grosso Napoletano – Spain