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May 3, 2013

The Bletchley Circle

Are you watching The Bletchley Circle? I’m LOVING this show – in fact, my husband walked in the room when a commercial was playing for it, and he asked if they made it JUST FOR ME. 🙂 It’s a murder mystery thriller set in England during the early 1950’s, and centers around a group of women who worked together code breaking at Bletchley Park during WWII. 7 years after the war there’s a serial murderer attacking women in London, and the police are clueless where to start hunting. Unbeknownst to the police and behind their husbands’ backs, these 4 women work to find the murderer.


This won’t be a surprise to any of you, but I’ve got a thing for historical fiction. And I also love cozy* murder mystery stories. The thing is, I don’t love period shows and movies and books just because they’re set in the past — for example, I’m barely tolerating my way through Mr. Selfridge on Masterpiece right now (this show about the drama of shopping is kind of setting my teeth on edge). But The Bletchley Circle isn’t just surface drama, it digs deep into these women’s lives and roles in their post-war society and explores the issues without being melodramatic. These women are concerned about finding a killer, but *we’re* concerned about the lack of gender equality in their world.
The Bletchley Circle airs on PBS (on my station it’s 10pm after Masterpiece), or you can watch it online here. It looks like they’ve already taken down Episode One from the website, but I’m sure my enterprising readers can find a way to see it. Or knowing PBS, it will air again, and again, and again…
*a “cosy” mystery is a quaint mystery with an amateur detective solving the case. Miss Marple is the ultimate cosy heroine.
Haul of Shame – April NSB Roundup
No-Spender Bender, Shopping

Haul of Shame – April NSB Roundup

I failed pretty miserably at my Clothing No-Spender Bender for April. You see, when I decided to do this, I forgot that I was planning to go to a friend’s vintage sale. Or maybe I was really in denial about it, and didn’t want to recognize my lack of self-control (sometimes it’s easier to fail, right?)

But the good news is, I got some cute stuff! I’m not a fan of “haul posts”, because looking at others people’s shopping is kind of lame – and this is actually a confession, not a bragging post. Because even though I thought I was being careful in what I brought home, it’s still overwhelming me. These clothes are hanging in my living room, where this rack has been taking up space for several weeks. Weeks! I need to do a few minor repairs and cleaning, and then find these items a permanent home. I finally have a deadline though – we’re having people over on Saturday, so I need to get these things out of the living room by then.

Haul of Shame
40s purse
50s plaid suit
50s suit jacket
40s acorn sweater (actually, no shame on this one. I LOVE it.)
60s floral dress
40s white embroidered dress
2 fur stoles
1 fur muff

On the bright side, I didn’t buy any other new clothes, and I didn’t even browse online or in stores. I weeded out my closet a little but still need to drop things off at the thrift store. And I lost a pair of shoes at a dance event, so I’m one pair down (good shoes that I wore all the time, but I’m not going to replace them right away). Oops!
Two more months to go! And I don’t even mind – and I’m pretty sure I’ll do better next month. 🙂