Dressember Day 1: Terry’s Invisible Spear
I had to laugh when I downloaded these photos off the camera: I actually wore this dress, and photographed it against the snow, earlier this year, so it’s Day 1 of Dressember and I’m already repeating myself! I guess this must be my Snow Dress. Feeling the chill? Why, reach for a green tartan dress, of course!
I also had to laugh at the boots, which I got in some equestrian shop or other when I was about thirteen, and went horse riding every weekend. They’re currently the only boots I own which are suitable to be worn in the snow, and this fact is the ultimate vindication for my dad’s habit of never throwing anything away, ever. In fact, he’s looking at this photo right now and shouting to my mum, “I KNEW it was a good idea to keep those things in the garage for significantly longer than most people keep their houses! I TOLD you!” If my 13-year-old self could somehow magically be shown these photos, meanwhile, she’d be going, “Seriously? I never get any new shoes, EVER? And I move to the Arctic circle? And THIS is why I’m always being told to work hard at school?!”
In non-dress-related news, Terry and I seem to have swapped personalities lately. Don’t worry, he hasn’t been obsessively shoe shopping and whining about the weather: I refer to the sleep talking. In fact, not once, but TWICE this week I have lain in bed, smugly secure in the knowledge that there are no crustaceans in MY bed, no sir, while Terry runs screaming around the room in his sleep. From what I can work out, what we’re dealing with here is a “Someone Hiding in the Wardrobe” situation. Uh-huh, one of those.
(Vintage brooches: the square one belonged to my gran, the bow was a birthday gift from my parents. It was made in the 1920s; they’d probably like me to point out that they didn’t actually BUY it back then…)
It always starts the same way with Terry. First there is a long-drawn out, almost comedic “Noooooooooo!” This is uttered in a tone of bitter resignation, almost as if that which Terry has been waiting all night for has finally come to pass, and now he must deal with it. He does this by dramatically flinging the duvet off the bed (and off me, naturally), and running to the other side of the room (I say “running” – it’s about three steps to the other side of the room, maybe two) clutching what I can only describe as an invisible spear above his head.
I don’t know how I know it’s a spear he’s carrying. I mean, he has consistently denied all knowledge of The Person in the Wardrobe when confronted with news of these nigh-time shenanigans. All I can tell you is that when I look up and see him running across the room, my first thought is always, “Oh, there’s Terry with the invisible spear again.”*
And once he reaches the wardrobe? He faces up to it, threateningly, then turns and stares around the room in utter confusion. “Where is the mystery man from the wardrobe?” his expression seems to say. “Where is my invisible spear? WHO AM I?!”
“Put the spear down and come back to bed,” I tell him, still feeling smug that it’s not me running around the room in the middle of the night for once. And within seconds he’ll be back in bed and sound asleep, with no memory whatsoever of the night’s events.
I, meanwhile, get to lie awake for hours, thinking, “Hey, I wonder what IS in that wardrobe? What did he SEEEEEEEEEE?”
* Since I wrote this, Terry has told me that he’s remembered the dream he was having during the latest sleep talking extravaganza, and it wasn’t an invisible spear he was carrying, it was me. I am the invisible spear. So that’s… weird.
foreveramber
[New Post] Dressember Day 1: Terry’s Invisible Spear – via #twitoaster https://foreveramber.co.uk/2010/12/dr…
Roisin
Oh, poor Terry! Although I am having a little laugh at the idea of Terry holding you above his head like a spear!
I really like that tartan dress, it’s a good choice. And your hair looks particularly gorgeous in those photos.
Amber
I guess it’s flattering that he thinks he could carry me above his head with one hand! (Flattering to him more than me, maybe 😉 )
La Rouquine
New reader, I love that blog!
This dress is stunning, especially with those brooches. And OMG, the boots you had at 13 still fit you?
Amber
Thanks 🙂 I think my feet had stopped growing by then, although I may be underestimating my age when I got them. I know I’d stopped riding by my mid-teens so it would’ve been around then. I’ve worn the same shoe size my entire adult life, though!
Fi
Gorgeous dress! Want!
Also: how is the pile of snow outside your house bigger than you are?!
xx
Amber
Ha, I wasn’t joking when I said we’d had a lot of snow!
Terry
That pile of snow is my baby 🙂
Kristabella
Love the dress! Although I couldn’t stop thinking “where is your coat, young lady?”
Because apparently I’ve turned into my grandmother.
Amber
Ah, I was only outside for a couple of minutes – any longer than that and I’m in at least five layers!
Steph
That dress is gorgeous! I feel guilty that half of Britain is under snow and I still haven’t seen a peep here in the West Country (still cold enough for me to be wearing my coat, hat, gloves and scarf indoors though – no central heating!)
I am laughing so hard at your account of Terry’s sleep-spearing. Reading your blog entries is the highlight of my web-browsing 😀
Amber
Oh my goodness, I have no idea how you’re surviving without heating – I’d be whining up a storm! I keep seeing Twitter updates from people saying “I’m still refusing to switch the heating on! I’m wearing a coat, hat and scarf indoors instead!” and I just don’t know how they do it – I’m a complete baby about the cold, though…
Steph
I’m basically just sitting as close as I can to the electric fire and whinging my little head off (I’m a baby about the cold as well)!
Tali
Oh I love the brooches! They make the dress look so.. noble!
What a story.. I once saw my sis sleepwalking and I still remember it as one of the most terrifying moments of my life. How do you cope with each others sleepwalking?)
Good luck with the challenge!
Amber
Well, I think we’re just used to it, really – it doesn’t scare us or anything, we just roll over and go back to sleep 🙂
Grit and Glamour
That dress is fantastic! And the boots…stylish and functional. You look sensational!
♥ V
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Fashion Limbo
what a pretty dress and love the boots by the way. Snowing over here in Brussels and you are so encouraging me to wear a dress! Now i just have to figure out how to wear several pairs of everything and brave the weather!
arlene
Oh Amber, I laughed and laughed throughout this post xxx
Mitr Friend
Nice dress!!! Loved the check pattern!!
But tell me, how could you manage without anything to cover your head in that snow???
Amber
I was only standing in front of the house for about a minute – it’s not so cold that you couldn’t cope without a hat for that long!
Nina
Haha, this is hilarious. Sorry I’m so late reading this (Internet was broken), but it was hards to contain myself, chuckling along.
Great post, thank you so much for the laugh ^^
Niko
Ha, you are all wrong, being Terry’s (older) brother, I happen to know that he has a particularly, virulent OCD which is related to cleaning.
The “Evil Dust” is one of Terry’s recurring nightmares, he is actually jumping out of bed to dust the wardrobe with an imaginary feather duster 🙂
BTW nice brooches, I would love to have a look at them when we are next up.