Royal Friendship Knot!

The Duchess of Cambridge is a Scout Volunteer and on Friday attended a training day for volunteers in Cumbria.  The weather was very snowy as it has been over much of the UK this past few days.  Anyway what caught my eye was that Catherine was wearing her UK Scout scarf with a teeny weeny Friendship Knot - woohoo!!  Here is the proof!  Pics from the Scouts website/Daily Mail (I think!)

Cleaning Hermes Scarves

Disclaimer - I accept no responsibility for any accidents you may encounter by following what I have written below! Hermes do not recommend washing scarves and say you should dry clean.  However, I have washed scarves and this post is based on my own experience.  If you decide to proceed you do so at your own risk.  Sorry to say this but got to cover my back - hope you understand.

In reply to a query - I have always washed my flat Hermes scarves.  Plisses cannot be washed as you will mess up the pleating and plisses are a specialist clean preferably via Hermes themselves.  

It is a risk to wash scarves, and is against Hermes advice,  but the modern ones seem to be fine in my experience with a quick hand wash.  I believe that older vintage scarves can bleed colour due to different dyes being used in earlier times.  I have had no problems with my silk twill 90cms or vintage silk 70cm in fact the 70cm are the best for washing.

To wash I use Woolite or Stergene which are delicates hand wash liquids.  It is important to use cool to cold water to avoid any dye runs - wear washing up gloves to protect your hands from the cold if you need to.  Some people put some colour catcher cloths into the water as well to be double safe.  Fill a clean washing up bowl or clean sink with cool/cold water and add a small amount of washing liquid - you don't need much.  Keep the water as cold as you can bear - or wear washing up gloves to keep your hands warm.  Then in with the scarf - work quickly and keep the scarf moving at all times do not let it sit in the water that is how colour runs can start.  I tend to squeeze the water through the scarf  several times.  Once you feel the scarf is clean take the scarf out of the water and gently squeeze the excess water out of the scarf and drain the bowl or sink.  Then fill your bowl or sink with fresh cold water and rinse, repeat this with fresh water as many times as you feel is required to get the detergent out of the scarf completely.  

To dry the scarf I place it onto a clean towel and roll it up then wring the towel gently, this will remove a lot of the water.  Then I iron the scarf dry with a clean cotton man sized handkerchief between the scarf and iron in case of spits from the iron.  I gently push the side of the iron up against the roll of the hems from the scarf side, but do NOT iron over the hems they will have to be left to dry naturally if you want them to remain plump.  Washing scarves does allow you to re-plump hems if you have acquired one that has been ironed previously.

For stains:- if I know of any stains then I gently work a little drop of the washing fluid into the spot before washing the scarf - I have also found for make up stains that a gentle face wash gel can be good for removing make up.  I guess some stains like oil will require specialist treatment - you can try with those silk wipes you can get in tie shops and M&S or go to a reputable dry cleaner.  

With dry cleaning scarves ensure that you speak to the cleaners first - impress upon them that the hems must not be pressed and that they should not pin or staple any tags into the scarf -the label is OK but not he scarf as this can cause irreparable damage.  Check that the cleaners are using "perk free" chemicals as otherwise the silk can be damaged.

Hope this helps but don't blame me if you have any accidents!

Farewell to Venice

Well it's time to finish off the Venice trip so here are a last few pics.....I visited the Doges Palace whilst in Venice which gave a few different views:-

The main courtyard.

The Bridge of Sighs.

The view from inside the Bridge of Sighs across to
S Giorgio Maggiore - this is the last view the 
prisoners would have seen on their way to be 
incarcerated - hence the name "Bridge of Sighs" 
as the prisoners would sigh at their last glimpse 
of Venice.

The beautiful marble stairway.

The Palace Courtyard

Venice Street by night.

Cafe Quadri (I think) at the end of the day!

On the last day there was an 
Aqua Alta with resulting floods 
in St Marks Square - it made 
for some lovely photos!

The Basilica reflected.

The Square like a mirror!

Here you can make out the water draining away 
as the tide recedes.

Snowy white gulls replaced the grubby
pigeons in the Square!

My trip back to the airport took me up 
the Grand Canal.

A large gondola - Traggetto - a public 
bus equivalent!

Approaching the Rialto again.

The magnificent sunset as I arrived at the airport. 
A fitting end to my trip!

Goodies from Venice

I got a few nice things in Venice:-

I like to buy local art - this tiny picture caught my eye.

I found a lovely silk crepe scarf with pansies on....

and the shop had a matching raspberry fur collar.....

It was a bargain €19 reduced from €99!!!!!

and has a useful clip on the underside.

I missed Pegase but found an "alike" at Trevisan.

I really like this colour.

My red Murano glass necklace (as before)

And my pink necklace.

 

The Food of Venice

The foodie shops of Venice make for some delicious looking photos:-

The Rialto Market

 
Lovely dried spices - reminds me of the 
Hermes Aux Pays d'Epices scarf!

Nuts, sun dried tomatoes, fruits....

Fruits and beans

Fresh squid and fish

Lovely selection of cabbage, Romaneso 
cauliflowers etc

Clememtines.

A delicatessen with lots of fabulous hams!

The cheese shop!

Semifredo ice cream "cake"

Traditional ice creams.

Italian cakes and biscuits.

Marzipan and glace fruits.

Fabulous coloured pastas!

Every colour and shape possible!

My ice cream - Strawberry and 
Crema del Doge - delish!

Venitian Glass

Back to Venice which is famous for its Murano glass - nowadays you need to be careful that you are not buying cheap imitations from China - you need to look for the Murano glass stamp.  Generally though the price is a big clue! Here are some of the lovely items you can buy:-

Fabulous handmade shells - I adore these!

And the mushrooms are so cute too!  
I have these at home.

A lovely large heart.

Lovely millefiori pendants.

Fabulous fish!

Hearts and cherries.

Some of the glass bead jewellery you can buy.

A lovely modern style necklace by Le Perle.
I brought some of these home. 

And some of their other designs.

My purchases!

No surprise a pink necklace.

Here you can see the shimmer and patterns
in the glass.

And I had to have this lovely red one!