meganiwish

Hi everyone, In British English there's a strange thing taking hold - people saying "I'm loving", as in eg, "I'm currently loving the new Stella McCartney collection." It doesn't seem to be restricted to fashion contexts, and I'm intrigued that peoples love and likes could change with the seasons. Most peculiar. Actually, I have been fishing a few times. I know what you mean, if you're bold and firm then neither you nor the fish will get hurt. (Nor the seagull that once got caught in my line. That was fun!) I was with some people on a boat one time and one of the men landed a conger eel. It was two metres long and all teeth. I didn't like having an angry fish in the boat as I was far and away the smallest there (including the fish) and I could see myself ending up as bait. I nearly jumped overboard. I have read that they make tights now that are of higher denier but look sheerer than they are. I don't know where you'd get them, but that might be something for you to investigate. I have knit socks in the past, on four needles, circular needle and on a machine. On the machine you get a flat knit and have to sew a seam up the side, but it is quick. With the other two you get a seamless tube, but I always found turning the heel a little bit fiddly. I've never knit longer than ankle socks, because I get fed up before they get any longer than that, but once you've done the heel it's really only a case of time and stamina. Knitting stripes makes it easy to count the rows. But not everyone wants to wear stripes. Sharon, I know exactly what you mean about boots. I love the moment when the water finds its way over the top of your boots. When you're wading in you can prolong the moment and the anticipation. It's like when you were little and you had the moment of wondering whether to do that thing you'd get in trouble for and then you screw up the courage and do it. And as the water flows in and down you get that lovely feeling of no return. I can see I'm going to have to go underwear shopping, as I haven't got a very big range. No-one sees it these days. I do like to wear a slip under some of my lighter weight skirts, though. That would be interesting. Heidi, what do guys know? I know one who says a book cover is just to stop the pages getting damaged. Oh, I know he's only making fun of me, but really! I even have my favourite book covers, not always on my favourite books. I know what you mean about feeling naked. I couldn't live in a hot country for too long, because I hate not being able to wear tights. I'm not quite as commited as you though lol. I think I need to leave my daughter to discover the places for herself. I've had my go on the swing, time to give someone else a go. Mind you, she's in the city where I went to university at the moment, and I haven't been there since 1990. I'll visit her and let her show me around 'her' city. I'm sure it will be quite different from when I was there. Regards, Megan

You see, I think respect is something you give to everyone, they don't need to earn it, but they can lose it. I just like to talk to other girls with it being just us. You'd be surprised how rare it can be to be just girls with no chaps around, and it changes things. I've got men friends too, though, and I also like to be in a mixed group. Maybe it's just that whats on offer in the for everyone forum just doesn't grab me. If something did I'd be right in there.

Sangue, British size three is American size 5.5, Megan

Hi Sangue, I see you're on line at the moment. I wonder if you'll find this soon. My son has just been round with his girlfriend. I think he wanted a chat, but I showed her a story I'd written for a competition and we spent two hours talking about books, and then I lent her some. I tihnk he was a bit cheesed off with me, but she has him under her thumb, which is where he should be! It's late, but he knew tomorrow is a market day, so I'd up dealing with my bread. A night of broken sleep. At 5'3" you must feel even smaller than me. I mean, your compatriots are all so tall. Still, the best things come in little packages. What size feet have you got? As I said, I'm size three. I can't remember what that is in American. Do you find it hard to get shoes small enough? Regards, Megan

Hi Heidi, You're so right about tight clothes. Actually, I don't think you ever need to show a lot of skin to be sexy. It's like with a birthday present. How disappointing to get one unwrapped. That could be my age. I think I look better wrapped these days lol. It could also be why I don't believe I've made a chap's heart beat fast for a long time. I was quite intrepid in my day, or at least I thought I was. It's my daughter's turn now, and my turn to worry. I haven't been anywhere for some years now. A lot of places that I'd like to go back to, but I know they won't be the same, so I probably never will. She'll go there instead and find her own places. Do you often travel on business? Regards, Megan

I feel any young chap who wants to worship anything about me is welcome to. But worship is all internal, you don't get to touch, not until I decide. I would say, in fairness the same applies girl to chap

Hi Sangue, So glad to see you back. I've missed you, though it's only been a few days. So catfish that can only hurt you with their barbs and can eat entire ducks are harmless? What are you, an Australian lol? I think you might be right about wedges. I need to break some habits, and finding myself suddenly alone might be the time to do it. I shall make it my (Chinese) New Year's Resolution, I promise. Aren't these girls just like your favourite heroines? Who is yours? Mine is Jane Eyre. And she gets her feet wet four, maybe five times in the book. Regards, Megan

Hi everyone, No, Heidi, I wasn't brave enough to do Central America, which was a dangerous place back in the 80s. My daughter will be doing a year in Latin America the year after next. I'm very scared, I hope she goes somewhere safe. I now know how my mother felt.It breaks my heart that Mexico, which I love very much, is such a sad place at the moment, with all the violence. For the most part they're such a lovely people, and so polite. You're right, I love the feel of socks in boots, that make them a little tight. But the reason I can't wear them comfortably is less to do with stability than proportion. I gather you work in a lab, so maths must mean something to you. Picture this:60cm leg +7.5cm heel=67.5cm. 75cm leg +7.5cm heel =82.5cm. But then 60/7.5=8 75/7.5=10. So my heel to leg is 1:8 and other people's is 1:10. In three inch heels, anyway. I don't expect you saw the Guardian last week, but there were some shoes I would have been straight into thirty years ago. Lovely turquoise peeptoe stack wedges. I'd have worn them with bright yellow or dark green opaques. I fell in love with them in the picture last week. Them I'd wear, because even the tallest girl would look ridiculous in them - wonderfully ridiculous. I bet they don't make them in size three (that's 5.5 Euro). Sorry, got a bit carried away there. I've had a couple of rose wines and a few martinis tonight. Had a nice night with my friends. I think I looked pretty good tonight. In the end I wore my figure hugging maroon jersey dress with black 300 denier opaques. I had a pair of mid calf flat boots where the leg sort of falls down on itself I had a dark blue silk scarf and I wore my pink and grey check duffel coat. My dress was shorter than my coat, so maybae my daughter was right. I'm in love with that coat and I think I'm going to wear it forever. Regards, Megan

Sangue, You hit the nail right on the head. A good boss leaves you knowing what's appropriate when. It all comes down to good manners, doesn't it? And I'm sure all of us have good manners. The problem starts when rules start to supercede maners, Megan

Hi everyone, Jane, how lovely to see you back. Good luck with your exam on Tuesday. What a horrible time of year to have one. Hanna, you're not alone in wanting to stay dry. Our Heidi does too, though I think Jane and Sharon may have designs on changing that, if only for an experiment. Heidi, I do like wearing socks over my tights in boots when it's cold, especially if the boots are a bit tight. Somehow that makes it feel even warmer, a bit like that illusion you get that it's warmer if you tie your laces tighter. But maybe that's just me. With regards to looking shorter, what I mean is that with my short legs heels seem to foreshorten them. I know it's an illusion, and probably one that's only in my mind, but I don't feel taller, I just feel like a short girl standing on something high. I enjoy getting yor suggestions though, and I will keep my eyes open for something I would feel I look right in. Boots would almost certainly be the way to go, maybe longer than I'm used to. I haven't been back to the States since 1989 when I was studying in Mexico and went to San Francisco for Easter. I had a funny incident with immigration on the bus which ended with me being held at an immigration post for a few hours thinking I might get sent back. The men were lovely and polite. They called me ma'am. I felt like a Southern belle. In the end their superiors told them to let me stay, even though I shouldn't have been allowed to really They were most embarrassed, but it wasn't their fault, it was people on the border who made the mistake. I can't really remember the fashions, or rather, I think my memories are contaminated by what I've seen since on film and television. Back in England I'd just been through a fairly gothy phase, which certainly wouldn't have fitted in in Mexico, so I'd gone a bit hippy. I didn't buy much, because I never saw anything I thought I'd wear back home. Sharon, I tried the bath and I loved it. I can't believe I've never done it before. I'm going out with some friends later, so I wore what I might have worn for that. I have a check dress in shades of grey and blue. It's sleeveless, but I can wear a sweater over the top. I chose a chunky knit bottle green with a roll neck and I wore bottle green 140 denier opaques. You'll have gathered I'm not going anywhere special I chose the dress because I would have worn it if I weren't going to wear my check coat again. I wore black ballet pumps with bows on the front. I loved it when I stepped in. I could feel the warmth straight away but it took a few seconds to register the wetness and I could feel the water finding its way around my feet in the shoes. I sat down into the water and stretched my legs out. The warm water seemed to make my tights cling tighter to my thighs. I took my shoes off and wiggled my toes, then I put them back on again and I could feel the water squeezing out of them. Then I slid down up to my shoulders. The sweater felt really heavy. I stayed in for about twenty minutes, just lying there and enjoying the wet warmth. When I stood up the sweater hung really heavy. I got undressed in the bath and dumped the clothes in the washbasin. I'll deal with them tomorrow. I'm sitting in a warm towelling robe now. As soon as I've finished here I'll have to go and choose what I'm going to wear tonight. Something warm. I'm definitely going to try it again . Hope to hear from you soon, Regards, Megan

Hi Heidi, I see you're online at the moment. I'm doing my usual weekend thing of being up in the middle of the night. Some of my weekday work involves me getting up halfway through the night, and I can't seem to shake it off. I'm guessing from the time difference that you're either east coast or mid east. Is it going well Stateside for you? I hope you're keeping warm and dry, as I know that's what you like. Have you got snow? To think, I was talking about it being cold here. When I was there first time it was in the summer. We were in New Orleans at one point, and it was so hot in the day that even I was bare legged. A creepy man we met down by the river one night poured a bottle of water over me and I was almost grateful. My boyfriend was very scared of him. He told me I talked like an angel because of my English accent. I was scared of him too. But what I remember most was, it was so hot outside, and when you went into a place they had the A/C on so high it was freezing. Exactly different from what you're suffering. How do Americans choose what to wear? Hope you're having an enjoyable and profitable trip. Regards, Megan

Hi everyone, I felt I was letting everyone down a little, so I wore my boots tonight. They're only 2 inch, but friends used to me in flats commented, so I felt like I was tottering on something special. I wore socks with my thick tights, because it was so cold. I wore a black skirt which came just below the knee, because I wanted to wear the coat my daughter gave me. I don't have a coloured skirt that would go with pink. She would tell me that it looks wrong to have your skirt longer than your coat. I think I would look like I'd forgotten to put my skirt on. It must be an age thing. I had a purple polo neck sweater. I like the cold weather when I've got warm clothes, because I like the feeling of having a cold face and the rest of me toasty. Sharon, I've only ever been fully in water clothed by accident, and so it was cold. I think I might try a clothed bath tomorrow. If the feeling with warm water is the same for all over as it is for your feet, I can hardly wait. Would you recommend the full luxury bath experience, with candles and wine, or is that going to distract from the delight? Regards, Megan

Heidi, I managed to miss the end of your post. I have got a pair of mid calf cowboy boots with about a two inch heel, which is about the highest I'm comfortable with. Any higher and I feel like I'm on my toes. Also, it's strange how high heels seem to make long legs look longer while making my 60cm legs look even shorter. Not fair. Megan

Hi Heidi, I've just finished working and was about to turn off for the night so delighted to find you here. He was a nice boyfriend. I haven't seen him now since 1986, though. We'd just got into New York that morning, to catch a plane home that night. We were off a four day Greyhound journey from Vancouver in Canada, so I think I was probably looking a bit rough at the time. In the summer here the mackerels come in really close by the shore. I think they come in chasing tiny little fish which you can see swimming around you when you stand in the water. I would imagine you could feel them if you had bare feet and legs. You can't feel them through tights. Hope your business trip is going well. Regards, Megan

Hi Sharon, That sounds like a lovely way to end the week. Do you find that warm water feels very different from being in the pool or the sea? I don't just mean warmer. I know when I put my feet into warm water it feels at first almost as though it's not there and I can enjoy discovering it, as it were. I've never done a bath or shower fully clothed, but I think I should. Would you believe, I've not got a washing machine. It broke and I never replaced it, so I do my laundry by hand. How much easier, and fun, it would be to have a daily shower in my clothes and wash them then. I've not seen 300 denier in anything but black, but I haven't searched. You'd think it would be possible to find them. I'll keep an eye open. Regards, Megan

Hello Hanna, Don't want to speak for the other girls, but you got some of it right for me. You could add, worked all night, now going to bed weeping because she can't work out how to add an avatar. I'm very new to this computory stuff. I'd love to wear heels,but I look, and feel, like a ballerina on points. My feet are just too small, so I look and wish. What brings you here? Do you like to get your feet wet, or are you brave like Sharon and go whole hog? And I still don't know if catfish are dangerous. They're big, aren't they? Regards, Megan

Hi all, Heidi, how good to have you back! Isn't that strange? Because I've read all you've written I feel I know you and I miss you when you're not there. Hope you've had a lovely time in the States. I spent my twentieth birthday in New York. We'd been round the states and Canada, and it was the last day of our ticket. I obviously got there too late to have my breakfast at Tiffany's! My boyfriend got me a knish and a cinnamon roll for my birthday. I didn't mind. It was very kind of him and we were both poor. He kissed me at the top of the Empire State Building. It's supposed to be electric. It was just a kiss. Regards Megan

Hi Sharon, I love the sound of your outfit. I bet the chaps in your office know where they are with you. Did you get the outfit wet? Oh, to sit in a meeting dripping,and just challenge one of them to mention it. But you're bolder than me You'd need to be, to get your feet wet in boots.An accidental step in a puddle won't do it. I go to a quiz at a social club every Wednesday. Didn't win tonight,but I'd slipped my shoes off, and when it was my turn to go to the bar, I stepped in a wet patch. No-one knew. Regards, Megan

Hi all, Working now, and totally stuck. About to give up for the night. But, Sangue, just wanted to know, did you find the Guardian in the library? Jane, I know like me (or me like you) you're shy of getting wet in public. Has it occurred to you that that might make it more fun? Hiding things and keeping secrets is fun, especially when you can share the secrets secretly. Just a thought. Regards, Megan

Update. Yes, my feet are green. Oh well, I suppose they'll come clean.Well worth it. Megan

Hi Sharon, I did enjoy myself, thank you. I'm afraid you wouldn't approve of my shoes. They're very flat, not a trace of a heel I'm afraid, round toed and cut like ballet pumps, with a strap across between the ankles. I suppose a bit medieaval looking. Jade green with an embossed celtic pattern on the front. Not very stylish, I know, but I love the colour, and I got hand-stictched shoes for £75. Actually, as I now know, they're bottle green when wet. My tights were 300 denier. My ankles and the tops of my feet got wet instantly, but it took two or three seconds for the water to make its way into my shoes. I could feel it run down the sides and then under my instep before running down to my toes. The shoes' leather is quite thick, almost like chamois is the best I could describe it, and it seemed to soak the water up quite quickly. But sitting on the bus I could feel the wet around my ankles and could feel that my feet were wet. My shoes are still soaked, I think they'll take a time to dry. I had to hide them tonight because my mum came round for dinner and she'd have made a fuss if she saw them. God, I should have grown out of that by now. I put my crocs (ugh) on to see her to the taxi, and after she'd gone I kicked them off and walked back to the house in my tights to get my feet wet again. They're damp still. My shoes are so disappointing. I see such beautiful shoes and I wish could wear them. In a shop today, I did see some pink DMs with about a three inch heel. I wonder if they come in my size. I could save up and I bet I could manage them. They'd go with my coat. Have you been up to anything fun today? What have you worn. Regards, Megan

Hi everyone, Just wanted to tell you about my afternoon. We'd had rain a promised, and I had a couple of hours free this afternoon so I went out for a walk. The chance of more rain also made it a good chance to try out the pink and grey tartan duffel coat given me by my daughter before Christmas (she 'd decided she didn't like it). I love it. Toasty warm. Anyway, I thought about what Sharon had said about good quality shoes coping with water, so I thought I'd give my favourite ones a try after all. They're well made, all hand-stitched, no glue to come unstuck, and I decided that even if the dye was not fast, if I was wearing black tights, the worst that would happen is that I'd end up with green dyed feet. Down by the seafront there was a big puddle that looked clean. They really don't keep the pavements very well. I managed to venture into it 'by accident' by pretending to text on my phone while walking. I went in right up to my ankle. I was glad about that, as I hope it means I won't get a tide mark when they dry, since they were equally wet all over. They're quite thick, soft leather, so I think they might take a long time to dry. I'm not going to rush it. I treated myself to a bus home so I could sit there and enjoy the squelchiness knowing that no-one around me knew. Sharon, there is a poster on the seafront giving the tide times and water temperature. It gives 9 degrees C, only a forecast I know, but probably a few degrees warmer than the air. Regards, Megan

Hi Sharon, Deep Blue Something, of course. In those days I was too busy swooning for Robert Smith of the Cure. Have you ever done any dressmaking? I'm not very good, though I can turn out a passable skirt. But years of buying in charity shops has made me bold with the scissors. The thought of altering hosiery had never crossed my mind, but with your idea of layering with leggings I might give it a try. I'll let you know what the results are like. Think I''l try it out on some cheap ones first. I can see a pattern of slits all over at different angles. Hmm. I could wear a pair of half calf boots with loose legs and two inch heels and a black skirt. Purple opaque tights underneath, and do you think purple top, or would you go for a contrasting colour. You might get me in higher heels yet, Sharon. I haven't worn a swim suit for years. Contact lenses ruined swimming for me, but I do like to paddle. Maybe this is me looking wistfully at the medium I'd like to be in. I meant, in winter, as you wade in wearing shoes and tights, it feels like you're stepping into warm water, and even more so if you go come out and then go back in. I believe at this time of the year the sea actually is warmer than the air. It's not the same in a stream, as I found out yesterday Love to hear from you again soon, Regards, Megan

Hi Sharon, What a brilliant idea with the leggings. You're so clever and inventive. I definitely will try that. I can picture it and think it would go with my look perfectly. Do you buy the leggings with slits in or do you make the slits yourself? Breakfast at Tiffany's was made in 1961, unless there was a remake. I know there was a song called the same in the 80s or 90s, but I can't remember who that was by. I went for a walk in the park near my house this afternoon. There are some stepping stones across a little stream. I managed to find a wobbly one and 'accidently put my foot in the water It was freezing, but like you I find my feet soon warm up. I had on my black ballet pumps and green opaques. It feels quite odd to have one wet foot and one dry, but there were too many people about for me to feel ok about stepping right in. Talking about feeling warm, have you ever noticed that when you go in the sea in winter it feels warmer than out of the water? I don't know if that's true if you go right in. Regards, Megan

I love red too, but I'm always a bit careful about wearing it. It's a very powerful colour. But for that reason a pair of red shoes can make you feel queen of the world, don't you think?