Strange

I had a very strange experience today; as it was very cold this morning I couldn't get on with any of the gardening work I have in hand, and due to "essential maintenance work" we had a scheduled power cut as well so I couldn't get on with any of my admin work either.   I decided not to waste the day but do some seasonal shopping, as well as my banking I bought my wife a nice scarf for Christmas and took in for repairs a gold chain I bought her when our daughter was born.   I hope that this will be a reassurance of my continued love.

Anyway to the point, my wife does not approve of some of my wardrobe choices, including the fact that the only respectable jeans I have that are even close to fitting are women's.   I have decided that I should replace at least one pair with some of a more masculine cut.   So while out today I checked over the jeans in the charity shops, in one shop I found a couple of pairs worth trying on.   I took both in to the changing room and first tried out the Levis, they were a bit too much of a "skinny" cut for me, then I tried on the other pair.   They were M & S so reasonable quality but I was not expecting a particularly fashionable cut.   They were very comfortable and a very good fit I had decided to buy them (a good price as well) when it dawned on me that the fly was the "wrong" way round, checking them again they had a tab inside saying size 14 and on the button they did say "M & S Woman".

There have been plenty of times when I would still have gone ahead and bought them (even with some glee) but with our current situation I thought it not wise, and I had especially gone to the men's rack!   The assistant was so embarrassed when I told her that the jeans had been put on the wrong rack and marked up as Men's Medium, I didn't have the heart to tell her that they were also a perfect fit.

No.2 Trafalgar Square Christmas tree 2011

Well I am well on my way to having completed my Christmas shopping, I have gifts for both my wife and daughter, now I just have my brothers and mother to worry about, in the best family tradition books will probably be the answer, it's just a question of choosing which ones.    I have just finished reading a book given to me by my friend P, "This Charming Man." by Marian Keyes, yes it could be called "chic lit" but the interest for us is that it has a very sympathetic portrayal of a cross dresser, she has clearly done a bit of research and has managed to go beyond the usual shallow stereotyping to show a range of cross dressers, from across the community.   These characters are not central to the main story line, but are an interesting part of the tale.   Even without the cross dressing interest this is a real page turner and great fun, so here you have it your first Paula's Place book review and recommendation.