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I Say Umbrella, They Say Brolly

Summer is over here in Belfast. It's pissing rain.

Walking from the bus to the office this morning, I made a decision.

I have now lived in the UK - on and off - for about 17 months and I have yet to own a very important piece of equipment.

It's time to buy a "brolly".

When we left Canada, D's mom bought us these AMAZING raincoats. They were perfect for our first batch of travel around France, Spain and Portugal - especially when we found where the "rain in spain" does actually fall - not sure if it's "the plains" but when we were in Cordoba, it didn' stop. But I digress...

Living in Leeds, we were able to use the raincoats for the shower days. In an effort to save money and cut down on the number of items we were collecting, we did not buy a "brolly" because we had our lovely raincoats.

(I might add here as a side note that we were stupid enough NOT to pack them this time. I was more concerned with the number of fancy tops then I was with how to keep dry in one of the wettest parts of the world)

We did look a bit "scabby" from time to time, I think, as when you're out with people dressed up for a night out, your bright blue, vortex rain jacket just really doesn't seem to go with anything.

But for those times when the coats would be a bit too woodsy, we just did what everyone else seemed to be doing - tough it out.

Just walk in the rain because you can be sure it will only be a small shower and since when did anyone in Leeds plan their outfits around the weather? Halter tops in December no problem. But I digress...again...

This morning, however, seemed to be the last straw for me. It's not that it was any wetter or colder than anywhere else. It was just that since I can justify spending money on drinks out, I can at least justify something to keep me dry.

Perhaps I will look like a fish out of water or a sissy here in tough-wet land but I'm happy to look like a foreigner if the hair I spent 30 minutes straightening LOOKS like I did instead of a wet rats nest.

All for fashion.

*****

A creative side note - I attended a book reading evening with a host of Belfast and Northern Irish authors last night.

What a rush. Hearing people read their own words motivated me beyond belief. I can't describe all the emotions I was going through last night. I hope to write more about it later.

In addition to my little book, I feel this will be an extremely creative weekend.

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