Gone

THE NUISANCE NEIGHBOURS REALLY HAVE LEFT! (Apparently). I got a tip-off the day before yesterday, no noise since then... no constant endless knockings, doorbuzzings, people brawling in the passageway all hours of the day and night. The house seems extraordinarily quiet. And yes, I'm sure the empty room is EVERY BIT as BIG as this one:



BVLGARI:
Makers of some of the finest of fine jewellery in the world...

Big Brother Entertainment... and where are the neighbours?

I was looking for a picture of the Lynx Alaska "perfume" I've been wearing... only today did I realize IT is the reason I keep smelling FRANKINSENSE everywhere I go ~ it's on me!

But these trotterdonkey cats in the snow ~ real lynxes IN Alaska, look very cute.

It snowed YET AGAIN the other night. But was raining this morning. So I hope it doesn't freeze over again, else the streets will be fatal!



THIS year is the last ever Celebrity Big Brother, so the producers have pulled out all the stops to get some PROPER celebrities for a change (though on night one you can tell half are wondering who on earth the other half ARE!!!)







My favourites this year are Ivana Trump, who is far more down to earth than you'd expect and looks hilarious serving the other housemates dinner dressed in her minimum wage care worker costume and reading glasses... Stephanie Beacham (Dynasty, Seaquest DSV and innumerable others)... former footballing "hardman" Vinnie Jones pictured here famously tormenting Paul Gascgoine... and the American R&B star Sisqo who says "that lady is worth three-digit millions" and following Ivana like a lovesick puppy. All very entertaining.



VIDEO: Come and watch this ~ Ivana Trump dressed in pink and blue overalls as a carehome worker for Celebrity Big Brother... skivvying around serving other far lesser celebrities and former Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss, who seems to hate her... absolute classic!

This is absolute classic ~ seeing the multimillionaire socialite dressed in pink and blue overalls skivvying about serving other far lesser celebrities and former Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss, who seems to hate her, as a care home worker as part of a game on the reality show:



Classic televisual entertainment ~ from the peak of Stephanie Beacham's career:
IT IS... Stephanie Beacham vs Joan Collins in...
The Alexis-Sable CATFIGHT!!



Stephanie Beacham as canal-boat dwelling Martha dating "boring" Ken Barlow in dowdy British soap Coronation Street:





STOP PRESS!
SHHH!
I don't want to speak too soon, but my noisy neighbours have gone suspiciously QUIET... that can mean many things, but I hope it means just one... that they are NOT THERE ANY MORE!!

AND NEVER COMING BACK!

Ametrine ~ wow!

Both amethyst and citrine are naturally coloured quarz ... ametrine occurs when both the yellow and purple develop in a single stone ~ how funky is that??!?




Examples can be obtained, left to right ~

~ Carving by Dalan Hargrave
~ Ametrine balls from Jewels or Emily Gems ($29.99 for a 30-35mm ball, which isn't bad)
~ Pendant in 14k gold from Diamond Peak Goldsmiths $220

International Coloured Gem Association website ... I think chrome diopside ~ an amazingly intense green, is particularly funkie ...

Gledwood's Great Bling Quiz: Answers!

How many did you get right?!?

You can see the original quiz, and the gemstones in far greater detail here ...


1~ tanzanite

2~ 6 pointed star ruby; star sapphires are more common; this asterism is caused by traces of titanium dioxide in the aluminium oxide (corundum) that makes rubies and sapphires; these stones are presented in smooth cabochon (unfaceted) mode to let that star shine out!

3~ padpardascha orange ruby or sapphire; these unique gems are particularly prized amongst collectors of fine jewellery; the ambiguity of name arises from current nomenclature, which names red corundum stones as rubies; any other colours (including of course blue, but including pink) are known as sapphires ~ slightly confusing, or what?

4~ blue topaz

5~ peridot

6~ blue diamond set between lighter blue diamonds

7~ green garnet

8~ blue sapphire, a 206.82 carat pendant belonging to the late Duchess of Windsor

9~ emerald ~ note the scratchy, flaky appearance characteristic of these stones. Absolutely flawless emeralds are extremely rare ... emeralds are gem-quality green beryl; light blue beryl is called aquararine* ...

10~ the Steinmetz pink diamond ~ 59.6 carats

11~ green sapphire ~ yes sapphires come in every colour, including colourless; they are valued for flawlessness and saturation of colour, though they lack the refractive "fire" of coloured diamonds ...

12 ~ light blue-grey diamond ~ Christies blue pear diamond of 6.29 carats, fetched $6.5 million at auction in June 2009 ...

*look at this amazing aquamarine necklace/bracelet set by Balticamber.Com ~ $2,499

ASBO Kids

ASBO Kids: ~ doesn't the one on the right look charming!!?!" ~ these two were described by the London press as "mini Krays"...
The Krays were pantomime gangsters in the 1960s. (i.e. they were real people but those who know say they were mostly show ~ no real shady businessman would tolerate his face in the papers the way Ronnie and Reggie Kray seemingly so enjoyed.)
An ASBO is a New Labour Government introduced Anti Social Behaviour Order, as imposed on young hoodlums. Now worn as a badge of honour amongst certain of the "lower orders" ...

Nuisance neighbours: I will post properly on Monday. Suffice it to say they're I am not the nuisance magnet ~ as I've been told repeatedly it's my type of emergency housing that's the magnet. None of the antisocial behaviour has been directed at me. It's just a general disrespect for the house and the others in it. E.g. the front door being smashed in by someone who can't be bothered to carry a key. (Where did I see THAT happen before...??)

WOW! for once a diamond photo showing a little bit of fire!

... so which famous stone is this, then?

One can find some rather pleasant jewellery online at BlueNile.Co.UK ~ go on, have a click!

Talking of bling: my COMPETITION IS STILL OPEN
ROLL UP! ROLL UP YOU HORRIBLE LOT! AND STAKE YOUR GUESSES
WHICH STONE IS WHICH??

~~~***closes Monday!***~~~

ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOUR ON THE SAVANNAH
"BATTLE AT KRUGER"
sorry about the idiot amateur newsreaders, but this was the only clip I could source quickly without endless minutes of nothing much happening...
Lions vs buffalo vs enormous nile crocodile ~ amazing!

Christian the Harrods Lion

FURRY FRIDAY ON SATURDAY

A MALE LION CUB, on sale in London's Harrods department store in the 1960s, was bought by two Chelsea furniture salesmen... As he grew and grew and rapidly became bigger than the biggest of big dogs, it became clear he could not stay in London. The only thing to do was to return the Christian to Africa ~ but would he survive in the wild?

Nuisance Neighbours

Yes, it's happening again. New obnoxious neighbours. In the room RIGHT NEXT TO ME. But the landlord's promising to take action.

Here's the type of action I think he should take:



... Better still!...
Here's where expressions such as "racked with guilt" come from ...!



And here is yesterday's furry woodmouse drinking from an icicle:

Tame Shetland fieldmouse ...

If you still can't see my tubby furry icicle-drinking fieldmouse properly, click here!

I am reading The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton... I thought that chick was an American, so is there any reason the book should be set in British spelling?... did she think it was suitably posh to write like that?... or are Penguin Classics taking liberties..!?~??!?

MY BLING COMPETITION IS OPEN TILL MONDAY
SO GET YOUR ANSWERS IN NOW!!

Buy a replica of J-Lo's pink diamond engagement ring in silver and coloured cubic zirconia at Eve's Addiction ...

Brrr IV

Here's a fieldmouse taking a drink from an icicle in a garden in Fosters Booth, Northamptonshire:



As featured in today's Metro London newspaper ...

"Bling" vids:

1. Hope Diamond put on display "naked"



2. HM the Queen talking about the Imperial State Crown (the one I'd nick if I robbed the crown jewels) ... this is quite something



Whose diamond is this? (Shown very nicely here: most diamond photographs (I think) transfer very little of the stones' brilliance to the printed page...)
What's it called? What's the cut? How many carats?




My Original Bling Quiz is STILL OPEN! so come on ANSWERS PLEASE!!

Snowing in London ...

YES IT'S SNOWING HERE... again...



... far as I know, it went on snowing all night and this morning we were in winter wonderland ...



Hammy couldn't resist burrowing out a little nest INSIDE the snowman...



This is apparently a natural 12-sided snowflake..!
(Do you believe it?)



O yeah and Casey Johnson (seen here centre) , crank-calling would-be reality star (turned down The Simple Life with Paris Hilton and that Nicole Richie psycho got it instead) lesbian heiress (to the Johnson & Johnson pharmaceuticals fortune) died of an accidental DRUG OVERDOSE ...

Vanity Fair obiturary ...
Original 2006 Vanity Fair interview, in which she revleals her nasty character ...



As old King Solomon said: there is nothing new under the sun!



MY bling quiz is still open. Roll up! Roll up! Answers please!

I love bling!

STOP PRESS: ANSWERS ARE HERE

COMPETITION TIME!

Guess the gemstones... be as specific as possible...

If you can't guess 'em all, just give the ones you think you know ...

(I'm interested to know what people think)...

ANSWERS IN THE ANSWERS BOX, PLEASE ~~!!

& please say your favourite blingstones/colours

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.