Happy Birthday Hal!

This is stolen from Polly's blog www.pollymixtures.com
It's so lovely.

May you stay forever young




















Today is a landmark in the Mixtures household, my youngest brother is now 16. I have to admit that I do struggle with the concept of my brother growing up. We have had a LOT of fun over the past 16 years, we pretty much hit it off straight away.















We established early on that we pretty much have the same facial expressions..
















Beyond that, we have a similar passion for food, in particular, chocolate.




















We both have the silly gene..















And we both love our amazing brother, Mum and Dad.






























In my mind you will always be the blonde halo’d boy that liked ‘Mr Happy’, even when your tall lanky exterior says otherwise.




















And I hope that one day you’ll forgive Will and I for taking you on THAT ghost ride on the pier..















I hope we will always laugh together, and always be friends.














Happy Birthday Bro
****













May you always be forever young.

Lots of love, Your Big Sis, Polly xxx

****
Polly fortunately did not inherit my cake decorating skills.











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Ding Dong

When someone dies you are only supposed to say good things about them.

She's dead... ...good thing.
I'm sure Thatcher would have approved of this, being as how she didn't and her current admirers just don't get Art at all.


Picasso's £50m Child With A Dove set to leave UK

A Pablo Picasso painting that has been in Britain since 1924 looks destined for Qatar after attempts to buy it back from a private collector failed.

Child With A Dove was sold last year for a reported £50m but the government placed an export bar on the work in the hope a British buyer could be found.

The ban expired in December, with no institution able to raise the funds.

Lord Inglewood, chairman of the Arts Council-managed Reviewing Committee, called the loss "a great shame".

He said: "Child With A Dove is an iconic Picasso painting, and has a long history in British collections. It is one of Picasso's key early works, and marks a transitional moment in his career, the move into his much celebrated Blue Period.

"It is a great shame that institutions could not raise the funds necessary to keep this beautiful piece of art in this country. But this is exactly why export bars are so very important in protecting the nation's cultural heritage."

According to French newspaper Le Figaro, Child With A Dove had been bought by a collector in Qatar. The Arab state is a serious player in the art world and is already rumoured to have paid £162m for Cezanne's The Card Players and £47m for Rothko's White Center (Yellow, Pink and Lavender on Rose).

Philip Hoffman, chief executive of the Fine Art Fund, told the Independent: "Qatar is one of the top three buyers in the world at the moment, and they have huge resources.

"Qatar has made a huge commitment to making itself the hub of the art market in the Middle East. They are building incredible museums and an incredible art collection."

Child With A Dove was sold by auctioneers Christies on behalf of the Aberconway family in Wales, who were bequeathed the painting in 1947 following the death of Samuel Courtauld. It first came to Britain in 1924 when it was bought by Mrs R A Workman.

One of the earliest and most important works by Picasso to enter a British collection, it marks a transition into the artist's celebrated Blue Period, when he moved away from a broadly Impressionistic style to a more sparing aesthetic, creating sombre works painted almost solely in shades of blue and blue-green.

In the 1970s, the painting was loaned out to the National Gallery in London and last year it went on display at the Courtauld Gallery's exhibition Becoming Picasso: Paris 1901.

The exhibition ends on 27 May and the painting is expected to be returned to to Christie's before being shipped out of the country.

And best of luck to everyone in the Brighton Marathon. Over five million pounds could be raised for charity.




justgiving.com/Georgia-Flowers2
www.justgiving.com/Georgia-Flowers2

Come fly with me

Patience of a saint or should that be patients of a saint? We all wanted to see the oncologist on Monday and it was a long old waiting game. Hours and hours we all waited... I read three 1986 Vogues from cover to cover, when I finally got to see him I had forgotten all the things I wanted to ask him.

So rule number one - make a list and write down the answers.

What I meant to tell him was:
My energy goes after 1/2 an hour,
No power in legs above knee,
Shakey hands,
Walking short distances then fatigued,
Off zopiclone, on sertraline,
Still breathless, warfarin levels vary, any kind of checkup?
When next mammogram?

And the good news? I was examined just to make sure the boob hadn't grown back and I made him laugh when I said I had worn my detachable nipple just for him. The nurse even blushed!

And I'm finishing warfarin at the end of April, hoorah, so I can go somewhere hot in a plane without exploding. I'm having another mammogram in six months so that will be half the pain it used to be.



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What not to wear...

Various wedding dressers have been involved. About as useful as a Welsh dresser in the end, but these have been some of the suggestions for the big day, for Harry:


His grandad's morning suit. Or his preference:


For Bill:





And this is my beautiful niece Rebecca's personal choice:


Hand knitted if I'm not mistaken. Place your orders and colour preference now and I'll get knitting. It's going to be a memorable day.



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Chocolate rubber ducks

Thank you Abbie and Jim, but they are just too lovely to eat! However Harry has become a bit of a stalker... This is a tricky time of year for choccaholics.

He has made yet more Brownies, he has become the expert and now we are all very fat. He went to a party over the weekend and all the other guests had to bring anything illegal, like booze or cigarettes but H was asked to bring brownies. And no, not those, just plain Brownies.

Yesterday we ate a roast leg of Sussex lamb, it was delicious, sorry to my vegetarian friends but it was great.



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Clocks go FORWARD tonight

Happy Easter! Everything in the garden is anything but roses.
























































































































We may not have had a Spring but the garden is still colourful. The chickens might not be real but as long as they lay a few chocolate eggs, who cares?!










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Elvis but not that one

The first marital row? Polly is trying to work out the first song to dance to at her wedding with Alex. She wants Elvis... ...he doesn't.





It got me thinking, over the years, the old man and I have seen some wonderful performers and heard
some great music.















Jim saw the Stones for free in Hyde Park.












And he took his parents to see Ella at Ronnie Scott's (Chickadees take note.)
















Both of us saw Dylan at Earls Court but we didn't know each other.

and there in 'alf been some clever bastards

Polly heard the Boss at Wembley, but she didn't see him. (I was pregnant).

OK, so I was a teenager once and I thought Elton was alright. I remember the lyrics Benny, Benny and the jets lasting twenty five minutes. So even then we knew how to waste time.

A trip to New York improved my musical tastes when I saw Sam and Dave.

...all this started with some of the Bonzo Dog Doodah Band who were my tutors at Chelsea School of Art. 

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One wonders when one is going to feel wonderful

I've got used to the four different drugs I have to take daily (Anastrozole, Adcal D3, various amounts of Warfarin, and Sertraline) so imagine my bloomin' annoyance when after taking them on Tuesday they all decided they wanted out so projectile vomitting was the quickest way.

I blame the Queen, if she hadn't shaken all those hands, she wouldn't have got the lurgy and then passed it on, all the way down, diagram follows;


And since the old man and I are now officially according to the MP's, 'Poverty Class', the least she could do is send me a Get Well card. I'm trying to get better and accentuating the positive but it's not easy when people like Osborne are doing their worst and it's going to snow tomorrow. The Queen had to cancel all her appointments? Well so did I. Now I have three hospital appointments to re-schedule and the dentist. It's a busy life being ill. Don't tell me it's hard for you Mrs Windsor, at least you get to jump out of helicopters.

I did receive a lovely get well email, or maybe it was for Mrs Windsor?

Hello your Majesty

So sorry to hear of your botty and tum tum problem. I have just woken up! Having returned from Las Vegas today (there is a 7 hour time difference) one can imagine one is Knackered !

Hoping you will be able very soon to return to your planned engagements?

One of which is to see moi!

I remain your faithful subject

Big hugs

The Lady Alexa of Hamilton Towers


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Location:One wonders when one will feel wonderful?

Old and in the way

Campaigners have ended their tree-top protest after council officials agreed to meet to discuss alternatives to felling the historic elm at Seven Dials.

The two activists, who had been camped out in the 150-year-old tree since Wednesday night, came down on Friday evening.

Brighton and Hove City Council officers agreed to take a look at alternative proposals and set a meeting for this Friday.

Council leader Jason Kitcat (only in Brighton) also called on residents to come forward with ideas to keep the tree while at the same time carry out the agreed works.

The elm tree, which sits on the side of the junction, was due to be chopped down as part of the Seven Dials roundabout improvements.

The council’s transport committee unanimously voted through the proposal in January after it was argued the tree obstructed views and was damaging the pavement.

However, significant public pressure, which included the support of Green MP Caroline Lucas, has persuaded officers to re-visit plans.

Tom Druitt, one of those camped in the tree’s branches, said: “We’re really pleased. If it wasn’t for the dedication of a number of people that tree would now be nothing more than logs.

"However, we can’t celebrate yet – there is still a danger.”

The city has one of the largest collections of mature elms after escaping the worst of Dutch elm disease in the 1970s and has the National Collection of Elms.
Weird but true, the Brighton breast clinic is opposite Preston Park and the day I was told I had a lump which would have to be chopped off, at the same time an infected elm tree was being felled in the park.

So for that reason alone, I hope the healthy elm tree at Seven Dials is saved.





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International Women's Day tomorrow!

I'm baking Paul Hollywood. I can't stand Nigella, why does she insist on calling everyone 'daahlinnng'?

I have started swimming again and it's great. I've been twice this week, probably just as well since Clare has organised a fundraiser for Oxfam which just involves eating lots of cakes.
I have spent the afternoon trying to produce some edible wonders and I'm not a domestic goddess but I'm not stuck with Charles Saatchi either.

But I think the scrambled egg muffins may not raise much money, this is when you need a dog... They can hide the evidence. In fact the word has already spread, Alexa has to walk the dog so she can't come, Sarah is at boot camp in Scotland? Why? There's nothing of her and Joy has got the Noro virus, so she can't leave her loo, poor thing, at least it wasn't my Orange Burst Easter muffin that made her ill. Yet.
hrscreative are holding a coffee morning to raise awareness and money, to transform the lives of women living in poverty around the world.

Why not Celebrate International Women's Day with Oxfam?
It would be great if you could join us.
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/get-together
Friday 8th March 2013
10am - 2pm
Star Brewery, Castle Ditch Lane,
Lewes, East Sussex BN7 1YJ
You might think Oxfam’s work to empower women living in poverty solely occurs abroad in developing countries. But there’s amazing work being carried out on our doorstep.
Check out Oxfam's website for more details on their work.
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/get-together
If you want to make a difference, please support our event, drink coffee (or tea) and eat homemade cakes.
Thanks.

And Mary Berry, you don't have to give up the day job.