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elle
Judging by the antique shows I watch, no-one is very interested in "brown furniture" and many have built-in wardrobes. I agree about the cost of having anything like that made, astronomical. Try "Freecycle"?? I often get rid of things that way and I don't mind if a dealer collects them, though I prefer it if someone who needs what I am giving away comes along.
I don't like shopping; recently went to M & S for some winter clothes and came away with just a pair of shoes. The jumpers had arms for a orang utan and the backs 2" longer than the front. Probably posted that already. As we no longer have a bus it's an effort to get into town. I've tried seveal mail order companies but have given up. Maybe I'll have to knit my own!

Good morning, Rusty!
Another lovely ...and warm....day here!
There were a lot of dog walkers about this morning!
It was a very social round!
Yes, your book is certainly good value.
I wonder to whose mother Houdini ended up speaking?!
I forgot to tell you that my book "Now We are Sixty" arrived yesterday!
It is in excellent condition; I am very pleased.
I am thinking, though, that I should re-read A.A.Milnes "Now We are Six".......before starting on my new acquisition!
A quiet day planned for today......I shall have time to do my crossword!




Hello, Ros!
Is "brown furniture" a collective term, like "white goods?
I am actually after a white wardrobe......but want one approximately 4ft wide and 23 inches deep.
The problem with buying from Gumtree or Freecycle , or their ilk, is the transport......and then the carrying of the wardrobe, up all the stairs, to our second landing!
I know what you mean about clothes sizes!
I looked at waterproof overtrousers in Sports Direct.......
They would have been fine were I an elephant!

Yes, getting wardrobes upstairs can be a real headache. One of my friends bought one from a shop which delivered. However, the delivery men said "We don't take wardrobes upstairs" until folding money changed hands. And then they knocked a very valuable plate off the wall on the way.
I thnk brown furniture means what it says. But if you gotone free, you could hire a man with a van, and paint it.

Ah! You're up at last, Elle!
Good morning!
Lovely day here, too, and windy!
My book's great!
Now, Houdini went on to debunk these seances by demonstrating through trickery how the mediums conned and cheated the public.
This was not long after the Great War and there were thousands of broken hearted mothers and wives whose sons and husbands had been killed, attending seances and "spooky meetings", hoping to make contact with lost loved ones.
These mediums were charlatans and Houdini exposed them.
So, well done, Harry!
It is a tricky puzzle today!
If you do locate a wardrobe, Elle, look up Gumtree for a "man and a van" to deliver it.
I have done that and been very pleased with the lads who helped me.

Hi, Rusty!
"Up at last", indeed!
I would have you know that I was up at six o'clock as usual!
And I had taken the dog out for her usual couple of hours walk, before posting to you on here!
I have been looking at wardrobes in Argos...there is a wide selection, but the downside is that one doesn't get to see them "in the flesh" before purchase and erection!
I do not think a theoretical picture is adequate...
I like to "see" in front of me, what I am about to purchase!
But... I now have a problem.......
My husband is going off the entire wardrobe idea.....
He is now saying that he prefers the wide expanse of space which at present is only occupied by a double seat, which is situated next to a small table on which rests the phone
I'll admit it does look nice...and I love the seat ....but the practicality of another wardrobe will easily override my aesthetic appreciation!
Well done, Houdini!
I had no idea that he had exposed fake mediums!

Hello, Elle!
Just teasing about you getting up late!.
I know you are an early bird!
I know what you mean about seeing before buying.
And a lot of Argos (and others) furniture is self assembly.
Well, you'll know best if you need another wardrobe or nay.
Are you planning on buying a lot of clothes?
Yes, Houdini spent the latter half of his career exposing fraudulent mediums.
He even testified before the US Congress about it.
He told his wife, Bess, that if it was at all possible to contact her from "the other side" after he died, he would.
They agreed a code phrase he would use.
After Harry died, Bess waited for ten years for contact, but it never came.

Good evening, Rusty!
It's not that I'm planning to buy a lot of clothes, Rusty......but rather that I do not have space for those I already have!
I have an "overflow" hung on my bedroom door in polythene zipped clothes bags!!
I shall have a rethink and a sort out......
Admittedly, although I do want the wardrobe.......I am reluctant to lose the seat!
It is very useful having it there, at the top of the house, if there is a need to answer the phone there.
Maybe there is room to compromise/ negotiate....?
I am impressed with Houdini!
I knew nothing about his exposures of fraudulence, in court.
And I love his forethought in planning a password, should he have been in a position to contact his wife "from the other side"!
I've not quite finished my crossword...I may need help later.....

Good evening, Elle!
Well good luck with your new wardrobe or sort out!
Houdini was a good man.
He brought a bill before Congress to outlaw fortune telling.
I do not know if it passed, but he did not like to see folk paying good money to hear a load of rubbish from a fortune teller.
Bess held a seance on the anniversary of Houdini's death for ten years, but no message came.
Bess said ten years was long enough!
24a is a new God to me.
I really liked 1d, and 10a.
Took me a good while doing it!

Hi, Rusty!
I think my favourite clue was 13a: release.
I couldn't parse 1a and 6d?
1a: unspoilt = flawless (def)
It - Italian
spot - location
but "un"? where did that come from?
And 13d: attache = diplomat (def)
I could go no further with the parsing?
And 10a I simply could not do!
I have A?A?R?M??T?C?L
What should I be seeing here?
Help needed, please!
I found a lot of answers fitted in once I had the crossers...and then I had to work out the parsing!

Hello, Elle!
1a, "one Northern" is "un" or " 'un", for "one".
13, is " a TT ache", TT being tee-total. OK?
10, Stories can be "ana", the second part is to do with speech.
I thought it a smashing clue!
It was a good tricky puzzle, I think!