Ta-dah! Tuesday - Minute Make - Map Letter

Hello, bit late this morning as we've had a busy weekend away and I hadn't written anything for today's post. But hey, the fact that I did this project all of 10 minutes ago proves that it really is a minute make! I picked up the plain wooden letter 'Z'  - for our surname - at Allders department store for just a couple of quid as they're sadly in administration again. [Although it's good for sale bargains]. The very very elderly motoring atlas of Great Britain was 10p at a boot sale as it was over five decades out of date and completely falling apart. 

I found the page with South Wales and simply stuck it down to the letter with decoupage glue before cutting around it with a razor blade. The previous owner of the atlas has made disparaging comments in pencil all around the coast -  for Gower it says 'beautiful bays, popular, but no hotels. Mumbles might be OK if desperate'. Charming! Mind you, some of the B&Bs along the coast road have been there since the ark docked further down the bay. Carmarthan is deemed 'disappointing' and 'useless for visitors as shut on Sundays'.

X marks the cultural hub that is Pontardawe. We were the village with a nightclub - a sticky-carpeted mecca for valley boys and girls

Did you watch the Opening Ceremony for the Olympics? I had a great time with the other half, a bottle of wine and Twitter - it really comes into its own when massive cultural events are televised, even if you're not usually a fan. I thought Danny Boyle did an incredible job, my tongue even removed itself from my cheek on one or two occasions. If you fancy saying hi - I'm @FHCShopping.

Oh, and the Christening was lovely. Sorry to disappoint but Boy2 behaved impeccably in the Church and afterwards, where my sister had laid on enough cakes to feed to the five thousand (most of whom had been invited). The boy of the moment - nephew Gethyn - is a complete doll, although he was happier once out of his Christening gown. It belonged to his great-grandmother, clearly he's not a fan of vintage yet.

Baby G

What have you been up too? Link up below as usual.

Lakota x

Frock on a Friday - Hell Bunny Asuka

Due to popular demand - cough, cough Sarah Misfit - here is my new dress. And me in it. Yes indeed, expect rivers of blood and plagues of locusts and all that soon. I won it in a blog giveaway from the delightful Betty Bee, and the dress was supplied by Soho's, who stock all kinds of rockabilly/alternative/goth type gear. Nice isn't it? It has a massive twirly skirt and the print has koi carp, skulls and scary geishas with sewn up mouths. Also rather fabulously, the dress I'm wearing is available in sizes 6 to 20. The sizing comes up large due to the shirred elastic at the back - I'm in a 10 which still has plenty of room in, rather than the 12 I sent back for being way too big. Bear this in mind if you buy, although it makes a pleasant change! Hell Bunny do lots of other 50s shaped dresses with amazing prints, I may well add some more to my wardrobe now I know about the label. Thank you very much for a brilliant prize Betty.

This is the one half decent picture. And I still had to crop a Thomas the Tank Engine tent out to my right. I need Sarah's photoshop skills to put me atop a unicorn or something.

Trying to get one photo which didn't make me want to rip off my own arm so I had something to beat the camera with was traumatising enough, so don't be expecting outfit posts too often. It doesn't help that Mr FHCS - the one with a decent camera  - smirks the whole time and only takes about 9 pictures before admitting defeat. I have pointed out that if he was a wildlife photographer he'd be lying on his stomach in a hide for 17 hours waiting for a rodent to scurry past, but he claims this would be preferable.

Dress - Hell Bunny - Asuka Print

Felt flower - homemade

Petticoat - eBay

Sunnies - Guess via TK Maxx

shoes - not on my feet

Like The Grudge, only with her hair up

Have a lovely weekend y'all. I'm off to my nephew's Christening. At the last one I attended boy2 was confused by the priest's robes and kept bellowing 'Is that the King? Where is the King going?'. That's when he wasn't chanting 'Evil, evil, evil' through the rest of the ceremony, having heard the Godparents being told to renounce it. Sigh. He always makes an impression.

Lakota x

I hope you've all been and entered my giveaway. You can win lovely jewellery from Gemmipop Designs.

Ta-dah! Tuesday - Gemmipop Designs Giveaway

What do you think of my new brooch? I bought it from the lovely Gemma at Gemmipop Designs on Etsy, who I discovered via our respective blogs. I love how she's brought the traditional cameo design right up to date, and the fact that it kind of looks like me when I have my hair back.

I went for white because I knew immediately which jacket I'd wear it on, but cameo lady is also available in loads of other shades. She's made from acrylic and costs £6.00.

Gemma also uses her laser cutter to create lots of cute animal brooches, as well as necklaces, earrings and cufflinks. Here's a few of my picks from her shop:

Pear brooches - £6 each - apple also available

Fancy Goldfish brooch - £6.00

Cat's Eye Glasses necklace - £12.00

Poodle brooch - £6.00

Star Earrings - £5.00

Black Swan brooch - £6.00

Happily, Gemma has offered one follower of Faith Hope and Charity Shopping £10.00 to spend on pretties from her shop - yay!

The giveaway is open to all followers of my blog - UK and overseas. All you need to do is visit Gemmipop Designs and then leave a comment on this post saying which your favourite item is. Please also state how you follow FHCS and make sure you leave a way for me to contact you.

For an extra entry you can follow me and Gemma on Twitter, also tweeting I've entered to win @gemmipopdesigns jewellery with @FHCShopping http://tinyurl.com/btbum2o

Alternatively you can gain an extra entry by blogging about the giveaway or putting the following badge on your blog.

I will draw a winner on 5th August. Good luck!

Do link up your ta-dahs as usual, that's if you've done anything other than eat '99s now that the Summer has finally made an appearance. [I'd really appreciate it if you'd please link back to this post if you do add your own.]

Lakota x

Something for the Weekend - Epic Rap Battles of History

Will Shakespeare, you rock! Even if you do have to 'translate what you said on the opposite page'

These battles really make me laugh. I love Gandalf vs Dumbledore too. Which is your favourite rapping wizard?

 See also Michael Jackson taking on Elvis, and the epic all time baddie battle, Hitler vs Darth Vader.

Lakota x

Nails inc Special Effects 'Sprinkles' Review

Mr FHCS is pretty well trained. On our anniversary last month I was quite excited to be presented with a glossy carrier bag from Nails inc, which he'd visited under his own steam to facilitate my polish fetish. [Obviously carrier bags are mainly exciting for what's inside them. I'd have been less thrilled and more divorce-y with an empty one]. Anyway, he'd braved the scary orange ladies of House of Fraser and they'd assisted him in choosing some of the latest goodies. As well as some top coat and a selection of 5 mini pastel shades, they'd steered him towards the new 'sprinkles' range.

 I won't go into one of my rants about how I'd rather strangle myself with bunting than give house-room to shabby chic signs adorned with cupcakes or read pink covered chick lit called 'Welcome to the Cupcake Cafe'. [Is there a random name generator for these somewhere? I sense a new post coming on]. I am bemused at how sticking a load of icing on a sponge somehow infers it with 'vintage' status. But you can imagine I did look slightly suspiciously at my favourite nail polish brand when I saw they'd hopped onto the creaking shuddering surely-the-wheels-will-come-off-this-soon bandwagon. There's a frickin' cupcake on the lid! Gaaah! But OK, let's give it a chance. 

Nails inc - Sweets Way

The first one I tried out was Sweets Way, which has a pale milky base, with small silver. pink and blue glitter. It goes on well - not gloopy like a lot of glitter polishes - and neither do you have to spend ages redistributing the glitter with the brush, it spreads out evenly. The glitter itself is slightly mattified, so you have a subtle shimmer as opposed to in your face sparkle. The overall effect is very like thin glacé icing with, yes - you guessed it - sprinkles. So less like a cupcake with buttercream and more like a traditional fairy cake with 'hundreds and thousands'. I did two coats and a top coat and it lasted pretty well. Textured polishes are always easy to touch up if they chip and this was no exception. And I liked it! It's very girlie, but it would be a great look with ice-creamy pastel shades, or for a wedding.

I also tried Sugar House Lane, which is a latte coloured polish with matte black and white glitter particles. I loved this one, but it didn't really say 'cake' to me. More 'shared house kitchen flashbacks':

matching your nails to your 90s kitchen worktops - the new trend

Nails inc - Sugar House Lane 

Anyway, this one got loads of compliments and is definitely more edgy looking, but it's all a matter of taste and mood. There are another two in the range - Topping Lane (pink) and Pudding Lane (Blue). 

£11 each from Nails inc

They're  £11 each, although Nails inc has recently launched in the USA through Sephora, and is a lot cheaper there. They seemed to work out at more like £6 per polish. Very galling for the British girls who made the brand what it is, but there you go. If you're heading to the States I'd leave some room in your suitcase. Otherwise you could  - like me - become a Nails inc VIP and get 10% off everything on their website. Membership costs £5 for a year, and you get a free full size polish on joining, points with each purchase towards money off, and a gift in your birthday month.

What do you think? Have you tried these? Which is your favourite?

Lakota x

For how to remove glitter nail polish without tears - see my post here.

Ta-d..errrrr, no nothing to show Tuesday

It was all going so well with this link up, I'd managed to have something to show or tell every week and it had kept me motivated. And this week I appear to have reverted to type. It's the last week of the school year, the kids are still waking up at 5.30/6.00am every day and charging about making a racket - and I've got nothing. I've made a few more earrings which I haven't shown, but reckon that must be getting boring by now, and I can't be bothered to photograph them. I've got a new dress, but it's really too wet and cold to have worn it. I've hoovered under my bed. [a couple of guitars, many shoe boxes, two spiders, some denim shorts and a really really hideous amount of dust]. My friend has lent me Fifty Shades of Grey. It appears to be every bit as terrible as you'd expect. I know it's supposed to have been based on Twilight fan-fic but in case you are as behind the ahem, cultural curve as I am, Anastasia is basically Bella+Sookie Stackhouse with every annoying trait heightened and what appears to be multiple personality disorder [If anyone needs binding and gagging it's her 'inner Goddess']. Oh and a similar obsession with control freaky men, but with extra spanking and a non-disclosure contract. 

Thank goodness for a brand new boxset of Dexter to save the day.

What should I be reading/watching/doing? And what have you been up to?

Link up below.

Lakota x

Mission Impossible? In which I choose a new wife for Tom Cruise

Oh TC, it could have been so perfect between us. I don't mean to brag, but I think I'd have been the ideal amalgamation of your first three wives. Boobs of Mimi Rogers, pallor of Nicole Kidman and childhood superfan like Katie Holmes. [She might have had a poster on her wall, but I had scrapbooks!]. Every impassioned fist pump, every gleaming smile, each glint of what was later proved to be maniacal religious fervour in your eye - it was all so special. Remember that week in France, when the only CD I had was the soundtrack to Top Gun? And that birthday cake my mum made, where you were framed in marzipan and had signed 'love Tom' in icing across your chest? The way you and Bryan Brown introduced me to cocktails at the age of thirteen and now I can't go an evening without vodka? But the timing was never right for us. I had homework to do, you had award ceremonies; I had my French GSCE to revise for, you had the Irish accent to murder. [Cocktail and Far and Away. Impressive]. I'd have happily eschewed heels for you, but by the time you ditched Nicole I was already married to a short guy who can make a mojito. Them's the breaks.

And now Katie Holmes has made a run for it. Joey finally got together with Dawson and discovered that - despite those long evenings of platonic snuggling - he's only now thought to mention that actually, he's descended from alien beings called thetans, massacred by intergalactic dictator Xenu, and whose spirits live inside volcanos. O-kaaay. But hey, he's her soulmate, and has a great smile - so what if he's bat shit crazy a little eccentric?

Seriously? I thought you were just kidding with that 'War of the Worlds' stuff

Anyway, my point is that while our story never got to be told, I don't begrudge Tom happiness. In fact, I'd like to help him find love again, no man should stand on the red carpet alone. If he was happy for Scientology bigwigs to interview for his last wife, I'm sure he won't object to my putting forward a few candidates.

Bachelorette Number 1 - Miss Katie Price

He's got an 'ology? He must be well clever

 I know, I know - but just bear with me here. At first glance the mega boobed model and reality TV star might not seem like the perfect consort for Hollywood's highest paid midget, but consider the evidence:

Dentistry! They both boast a set of veneers of migraine inducing brightness, Katie won't have to worry about 'British teeth' jibes when she hits Hollywood.

Nips and Tucks! Katie's always been upfront about her inflated chest, trout pout and use of botox, whereas  Tom says he has never had any surgery and never would. Putting aside the fact that it's widely claimed he had a nose job as a teenager, he doesn't appear to have altered in appearance since, ooh, sometime around the millennium. Perhaps achieving the top operating level in Scientology allows you to simply stop ageing. Also, Katie recently tweeted her new qualification in spray tanning. Although Tom tends to shun the orange look in his lady friends - we know that Katie likes a man who resembles an oompa-loompa. You only have to look at former husbands Alex Reid and Peter Andre:

Alpha, Bravo, Tango

 Maybe she could cut down on the fake bake herself and aim the nozzle at Tom instead. 

Oh. Someone already has

Parenting! Scientologists believe that children should be treated as mini adults, with their whims and caprices pandered to as though they were reasonable requests. This is why the Daily Mail has treated us to five years' worth of pictures of Suri - over-tired and sulky looking, with unbrushed hair and wearing high heels. Katie seems to have a similar philosophy to Tom, judging from photographs of her daughter Princess Tiaamii sporting fake eyelashes or straightened hair. No clashes about how to raise the kids if these guys blended their families. And think of all the new recruits to Scientology!

Suri Cruise - lipstick, heels and handbag

False eyelashes for Princess, age 2

Mummy's got the GHDs out

Media Frenzy! There's nothing the celeb rags like more than the pointless joining of names to make a super-couple - see 'Bennifer' and 'Brangelina' as cases in point - but it would be a shame to lose the frankly genius 'TomKat'. And now we don't have to! And how much easier for Tom to not have to bother learning a new name! None of that "Yes, Ka..errr, darling". Katie would finally break America - scoring a decisive killer blow to Victoria Beckham in the process - and the editor of OK magazine would spontaneously combust with utter joy.

I make a compelling case, I'm sure you'll agree. But impressive as the assets she'd bring to the partnership are, perhaps she'd be a little too in your face for the Hollywood types to handle.Which brings us to my next suggestion.

Batchelorettes Number 2 and 3 - The X Factor Girls!

Dannii Minogue

Vs

Sinitta

Height! No ditching of the killer heels required. Whereas Nicole Kidman and Katie Holmes could pop their beer on his head when wearing stilettos, at 5"2, Dannii's beloved collection of sparkly Gina sandals would be safe if she were to start dating Tom. Sinitta's not much bigger at 5'4" - you can put those elevator shoes back in the closet Mr Cruise!

Compatibility! Back in the dark ages when Sinitta was the squirly haired pop strumpet of the day, her main hit was 'So Macho'.

Her guy has 'got to have big blue eyes' - check! 'Be big and strong' - Ok, he's not the tallest, but he has some pretty impressive abs for a guys of 50. And finally - she claims to want 'a man who will dominate me/Someone who will love and protect me/And take care of my every need'. If you believe the tabloids that includes opening your post and emails 'for security', and hiring goons to follow you around. Oh, and living with his mother. But some girls like that, right? Right?

Past Dating History!

Ladeez...

A neon smiled megalomaniac millionaire who lies about his height?

Tom's quids in!

Batchelorette number 4 - Just who is this fresh faced beauty?

Eek!

Be happy Tom. And please don't sue me.

Lakota x

Ta-dah! Tuesday - How to remove glitter polish - without losing your mind

If you're a polish addict or regular reader of nail blogs then you'll know the secret already, but if you're just a casual user and only indulge on weekends - yeah yeah, you can give up any time you want  - you might want to read on. Glitter polish - a sparkling celebrity party the night before; the devil's own come down the morning after.

Seriously, you will be surrounded by drifts of cotton wool in your bathroom, crying with frustration and acetone fumes as you waste 45mins of your life trying to get the damn stuff off. The polish part dissolves, leaving the now colourless glitter seemingly attached to your nails with super-glue. [DO NOT be tempted to avoid nail polish remover altogether and pick it off in chunks using your teeth whilst watching Gossip Girl, men inexplicably seem to find this an unattractive trait. Also, it's not something you want to be ingesting].

Anyway, all you need is that same cotton wool and polish remover*, but you want to soak a separate piece for each nail.  Position each bit of cotton wool onto the nail, and then secure it with a strip of tinfoil folded into a parcel around your fingertip. Watch some telly for 10 minutes, and then remove the foil and cotton wool from your first nail, by firmly pressing down on the foil and twisting the cotton wool over the nail as you go. You'll find that the polish comes off pretty much entirely in one go, and any glitter left at the edges is no longer welded on, but can be simply wiped off.

The props department for 'Edwina Scissorhands' were working with a tight budget

Ta-dah!

Now you've got an extra half hour to play on the internet and ignore your offspring make the world a better place. Add your world enhancing links below. [and please don't forget to link back here]

Lakota x

*I use Cutex, from Boots or Superdrug.

Bits and Pieces

I've not done a second hand buys post for a while. I have bought stuff, but nothing massively exciting or photogenic. Books, DVDs, a couple of tops - I'm sure there's other stuff too but I've not got round to photographing it. I went to the Vintage Fair in Camden this afternoon and managed a complete blogging fail - taking no pictures and not managing to buy anything either, despite there being some really amazing dresses on the rails. The good part was that I met up with fellow blogger Clare for the first time - the lovely Miss Simmonds Says - who was a far more successful shopper than me and came away with flower earrings to match her frock, a hat with fake blooms, and a white cotton dress made for skipping gaily through meadows.  [As is her wont]

We had a quick scoot round the Sue Ryder shop afterwards, where she beat me again, scoring some gold Clarks flats and a gloriously insane necklace with a fimo tiger head; but I did manage to find some 7 for all Mankind jeans - aka the jeans of the awesome arse - for £6.95. Not quite what I had anticipated coming home with, but I do have a weakness for designer denim (they seriously do make a difference round the bum) and it's always nice not to spend $174.00 for the privilege. Someone had presumably ditched them because the denim covered button had frayed a bit. Luckily even I can manage replacing a button.

7 for all Mankind - Donna Trouser Jeans

 I have used my stunt double but be assured they look EXACTLY like this on me.

Um, what else? I've added a few more annuals to my collection - Girl and Jackie from 1988 (40p each) and Curtise kindly remembered my proud status as a former Twinkle cover girl and sent me the 1977 annual. 

Manic looking cover girl de rigeur

Curtise also sent me this gorgeous linen wall hanging with a Noah's Ark design, which is usually on display in Boy2's bedroom. I chose not to photograph it in situ as that would have involved a marathon tidying up session. Apparently the 'socks and pants on the floor' gene manifests itself from an early age. The colours and graphics are so appealing - although I worry for the poor snails who are in danger of being stomped on by Mr and Mrs Cow.

Made originally for the World Wildlife Fund

It was the boys school Summer fair last weekend, and I was suckered into running two stalls - books and bric-a-brac. As usual, the PTA had been begging for donations of good quality toys, books, fancy goods etc. I have no idea why a primary school fair was deemed the ideal recipient of this paperback:

but someone was obviously thinking "Aah, yes, rampant and creepy pornography involving schoolgirls - perfect for a book stall frequented by children!"

Bric a brac proved to be popular, but I just made up prices on the spot, so hopefully I haven't let anything too precious go for 20p! I brought home this little sectioned glass dish, which is proving useful in the bathroom for keeping jewellery safe while I have a bath, as opposed to just dumping it on the windowsill or edge of the sink.

Glass dish £1, assorted bought and made earrings, butterfly ring a gift from Kylie

Kylie also kindly sent me various other lovelies including a gorgeous notebook and some nail varnishes, and possibly knowing of my utter lack of a sense of direction - this vintage tea-towel instructing me to 'know your  Great Britain'. Kylie of course is the queen of tea-towels and always has great examples on her blog. Check out her most recent post for a royal example which has succeeded in giving Prince Charles a 'blue steel' gimlet gaze, whereas poor Princess Di appears to have been hit in the face with a shovel, as well as having hair reminiscent of a badger hair shaving brush.

I know neither my 1970s Great Britain nor my iron

I'll be back for Ta-dah! Tuesday so get ready to unleash your best makes, finds and outfits - and I'm also working on finding a new wife for Tom Cruise. Currently I'm leaning towards exporting Katie Price, but I'd love your suggestions!

Lakota x

Linking up with Flea Market Finds

and 

Magpie Monday

                                                            

Something for the weekend - Masterchef Synesthesia

A year on, this still never fails to put a smile on my face. Masterchef edited into a techno classic.

Enjoy!

Lakota x

Winners - Vintage Fashion Fair London

The winners of a pair of tickets to Vintage Fashion Fair London this Sunday are:

Miss Simmonds Says

Athyn

Sarah (among the dancers)

Mrs D

sky-blu-pink

[Please note I have edited this post as I have redrawn after some original winners told me they couldn't make it]

I have email addresses for some of you but please could you all confirm ASAP with an address that you check regularly. The tickets will be emailed to you from the organisers once I have sent your details.

Congratulations and say hi if you see me there! [^That's not me, sadly]

Lakota x

Ta-dah! Tuesday - Taking the Biscuit

It was nine years of wedded bliss for Mr FHCS and I earlier in the week, so we celebrated with a school time game of hooky and hit the South Bank again - luckily on the warmest day we've had in a while. I dug out a 50s sun-dress, and boy2 raised his game compliments wise, and declared me to be "as beautiful as a jammy dodger"! Something of an improvement on previous remarks, I think you'll agree.

I mention this not to boast about my obvious innate biscuity beauty, but because the day seemed to have a theme from the start. [I'll leave out the parts where we watched a trapeze artist, listened to poetry in Mandarin and ate a fish-finger sandwich. I am ruthless in my journalistic ways.] Anyway, we went to the Southbank Centre shop - kind of pricey, but sooo good for modern design and stuff to decorate the home you imagine you have when you read Living Etc. I have several imaginary homes, obviously, but whether they're sleek and modern or more ramshackle and involving poultry; they all have a playroom which needs furnishing. [It's imaginary! I know a real playroom would be filled to capacity with lidless felt-tips and lego]. But look! Wouldn't these cushions be lovely for it? And the children would treat their screen-printed loveliness with complete respect and never use them as weapons or stepping stones across shark infested carpet.

They're made by genius designer Nikki McWilliams, and you can find her shop here.

She - and the Southbank centre - also sells her wooden biscuit brooches. I was kind of tempted by the jammy dodger given boy2's earlier comment, but am realistic enough about my look to know that 'demented children's TV presenter gone to seed' is not a good one for me. They're cute though, eh?

Biscuit brooches £6.00 each

When the boys had friends to play I'd have to serve their biscuits on Yoyo Ceramic's modern homage to Homemaker china -  Yoyomaker.

I have a small collection of Homemaker, but I do think one large plate with the new interior icons (what, no laptop?) would make a good counterpoint to it. Or it would make a great wedding present for ultra stylish types, don't you think?

We had a wander around the shops of the OXO tower too, and came across the Suck UK shop, which is always great for quirkily designed bits and pieces [check online for lower prices first though]. Having seen Zoe's awesome word making biscuit stamper she bought in Japan, my eye was ready to be caught by these slightly less labour intensive versions. You can get 'Home Made', 'I Love You', or perfect for fans of none too subtle come ons Alice in Wonderland - 'Eat Me'.

Cookie Stampers

The silicon part is removable for easy cleaning.

They come with a recipe for vanilla cookies, but as I had baking to do for the school Summer Fair, I tried it out with my fail-safe gingerbread recipe and it worked a treat.

Ta-dah!

Here's the recipe if you want to give it a go yourself.

Proper Gingerbread
6oz self raising flour
1 heaped tsp ginger
1/2 tsp mixed spice
2oz sugar
2oz butter or baking margarine
3 heaped tablespoons golden syrup
(this is enough for a family, I doubled for the school fair)

1. Mix the flour sugar and spices together and make breadcrumbs with the butter. It's quicker with a mixer but you can do it all by hand.
2. Add the syrup and mix to a stiff dough. This is really a lot easier and less sticky with a mixer. If you pour some olive oil into your tablespoon first, and then tip it out again, you'll find the syrup slides straight off the spoon.
3. Roll out onto a floured surface to about 1/2 centimetre thick. Cut out your desired shapes, or stick to circles and stamp with your stamper.
4. Transfer to a trays lined with greaseproof paper and cook at 160c for 20 - 25 minutes. Cool on wire rack. Don't overcook, they'll harden once they're cool.

So, what have you all been up to? Add your thumbnail to the linky below, and don't forget to link back to Ta-dah! Tuesday in your post. If you can visit some other participants too that would be great. I feel like death at the moment so might retreat back to bed, but I promise I will get around to checking out all the links as usual.

Lakota x

PS. Don't forget my giveaway closes today - you could win a pair of tickets to Vintage Fashion Fair London in Primrose Hill. If I've shaken off this hideous sore throat I'll be there!