Saturday Night

This was only the second meeting of the http://www.croydontrans.org.uk/ support group I have managed to attend, they are an excellent group of ladies, and made me feel very much welcomed and at home, I was soon quite relaxed.   That is I was comfortable in the company not as in “relaxed as a newt”.

On my way to the meeting

There were only four of us there on Saturday, which while it may seem like a disappointing turn out did mean that we could have some in depth meaningful conversations, or in my case frivolous meaningless banter.   It was especially nice to meet up with Helen again.   Helen organises us, rounds us up and keeps us under control.   Seriously she is magnificent.

Helen works in a very macho environment which is not naturally sympathetic to someone going through transition, yet what really struck me seeing her again after seven months was how happy and contented she appeared, I must assign a lot of this to the progress being made with her transition.   In a situation where I suspect many people would want to be supported become introverted and very self centred, Helen is going out giving presentations, promoting tolerance of thse of us who are a bot different in our gender idintity, helping various groups to understand who and what we are.   I am going to nominate Helen for the Independent Pink List awards.

and on my way home afterwards

It is always good to know you are not alone especially in something like cross dressing which society in general seems to frown upon so a support group like this one is very important, or maybe essential.    On a serious note I would strongly recommend joining a local support group meeting other girls in the same or similar positions to yourself, and just relaxing, realising that you are not alone.

I have often heard it said that 1 in 100 men cross dress to some extent or another, if that is true then there are at least 1,500 cross dressers in Croydon alone, if you all came to our meetings we would not all fit in the “Bird” we would have to meet at the Fairfield Hall, now there’s an aspiration.

The Weekend starts here

Written Friday Night

Here being the sofa, with a glass of beer, and maybe a whisky after dinner.   I have been working really hard this week laying a new lawn for one of my customers, so I am just physically worn out.

However tomorrow I have plans, there are lots of chores around the home, daughter ferrying to do and a couple of rugby matches to watch, but highlight will be a meeting of the Croydon Trans group in the evening.   The group meets the second Saturday of each month, but with one thing and another I have not been able to get to a meeting since my first one back in March.   That meeting was great so I have been looking forward to going to another ever since, it's just that my schedule has not allowed it.   Well this weekend I was planning to go to Cardiff on Saturday morning, but I need to visit and quote for a potential job, so the trip has been delayed by 24 hours.   This means that I can go on Saturday night, it also means that I may not be posting for a couple of days.   I will try to pre prepare some posts, but no promises.

Now I need to decide what I am going to wear.   The weather has just changed we have gone straight for high summer to mid autumn, and I am still confused.   I expect a lot of women will be wearing jeans or other trousers this weekend,but when I have the opportunity I want to wear a dress, at the very least a skirt.   I will report, and hopefully have a few photos as well.

French Trip (part 3)

I am doing this all by memory, so I may have some place names wrong, but I think the idea will come through OK, Well Sunday morning arrived after a great Saturday night, as I got up showered and got dressed the thought that I had been called Monsieur by one of the staff last night rankled.   Everyone else I had encountered on this trip had called me Madame and had treated me properly as a lady should be treated.   I thought I'll show 'em and got out my Daisy Dukes, wearing them over some pink/purple leopard print tights and my knee high FM boots.   Maybe this wasn't such a wise outfit choice, there were times later in the day when I regretted it.









Gloria in the highest car park available

Breakfast was uneventful and relaxed, I then got under way heading north again.  I was soon passing the town of Langres, this is on a hill and is visible from miles around, it looked interesting so I made a small detour and visited.   Langres is still a Military town with active regiments stationed there.   Of more interest to me are the old battlements and defenses.   I parked Gloria up and decided to have a walk around and take some photos.

The Ramparts

It was as I was walking around that I began to worry about my wardrobe choices.   The heels were perhaps just a little too high, the shorts maybe a little too short, and the wind just too strong.   As I was walking around the town taking in the sites, appreciating the hill, the cobbles and the lack of a street plan I began to realise that these boots were not made for walking! However these tights were made for attracting attention, and maybe I just didn't want that much attention when I was struggling with the combination of cobbles and heels.   That having been said, what a great place, and what wonderful views.   After a nice easy day I stopped at a Campanile motel at Bar-le-Duc within easy reach of Calais for my ferry home the next day.   The hotel was on an out of town estate, so I just had a couple of drinks in mt room , and dinner at the hotel.   I fear I may have had slightly more wine than was good for me, but overall another good day made into an excellent one by dressing how I felt, and I still had my nail polish on!



The view from the Ramparts

Tip, My Hero

Tip Wilkins is the hero of Skinhorse her he is starting a normal day at Annex one

to make more sense of this yo may like to go to http://skin-horse.com/  Tip Wilkins is the Human liaison for Project Skinhorse, he just happens to be a dead sexy cross dresser - a bit like me.

More on my French trip will follow

France (Part 2)

AH the joy of waking up in a French Hotel, and realising that I still had yesterday's nail varnish on.   Now when I am away I am afraid I quite often end up drinking a little too much, going to bed too late, and waking up late  feeling pretty poor.   This time I had hit the sack at a sensible time, and felt great, also thanks to the Lancome potions I had taken with me I think I looked pretty decent as well.

So after a shave and shower, I got dressed and put my face on.   After this time I can't remember what I wore that day, but I know it was something a little more fem than the average driver of an old white transit van!   I also knew that I would have to get changed in order to make my delivery, which would be around lunch time.   Breakfast was taken in the lounge with about half a dozen other guests, while I was noticed no one seemed to take any undue notice of me, other than maybe a lone female should expect.   All the other guests and the staff were all very friendly and helpful, I love this place!

This being a Saturday I was not expecting much traffic, but the run down to Dijon was much slower than expected, fortunately after that it cleared and I was able to make reasonable time, arriving at my friend's sister's house around 2:00 they gave me an excellent lunch - real French farm house cooking in a french farmhouse kitchen, then the husband son and a neighbour helped unload the furniture into a barn attached to the house, I felt almost guilty at being welcomed so well, helped so much and then being given a food parcel to take home, when they were paying to make the trip in the first place.   Anyone who thinks the French unfriendly or arrogant, needs to travel more!

After I had left with an empty van I made a quick change back "into something more comfortable" and decided that as I was a little ahead of schedule I would avoid Motorways and take a much more scenic route back north towards the Channel.   It was only when well onto the return leg that I realised I had left my phone charger at the hotel the previous night.   So a quick charge across country passing by Autun, Montbard, and Chatillon-sur-Seine, then across country back to Langres, it was only when I got back to the hotel that I realised I had no idea how to ask for my charger back.   Somehow with a combination of my very limited French their non-existent English sign language and the help of another guest I got my charger back.   This was an interesting, totally non commercial, encounter and I am sure that the way I was dressed was never an issue.   Either I pass better than I think or even the rural French are quite liberal.   It was a little early to stop so I carried on for another hour or so north before stopped for the night.  

Ready for a night on the town

I was a little tired and stopped at the first Hotel I came to, it was fairly modern, clean and inexpensive, but no restaurant. I was assured that there were plenty of places to eat in town and that I would be OK, even on a Saturday night.   Before having a shower and getting changed I decided to have a bit of a walk around town, true there were plenty of restaurants, one was way out of my price bracket another was little more than a bar that did sandwiches another just a Pizza joint.   The outstanding option was the towns casino.   This looked good, not to pricey, and an opportunity to glam up on a Saturday night.

Although I seem to be showing a lot of leg in a rather short skirt, in my defense these are actually culottes, teamed with a black satin blouse and my grey M & S jacket, plus all the bling I had with me!   As I walked down the main street I did indeed begin to feel as if I might be showing a bit too much leg, but I certainly wasn't going to go back and get changed, as I was leaving the Hotel I'm sure one of the staff wished me a pleasant evening ending with "Monsieur"!

Getting to the Casino, I went up to the Restaurant and asked for a table, but found that since I hadn't booked there was nothing for me! on to my second choice, the same again, all booked, I was beginning to feel a little persecuted, but persisted   I didn't want to go to the pizza place, or a bar for a snack, after all I had had a long day and I just wasn;t dressed for it.   Eventually I found an excellent restaurant that was happy to accommodate me next to the bar "if I didn't mind". I had an excellent dinner, a pleasant chat with another tourist, enjoying myself so much I stayed for a Cointreau with my coffee after dinner, before going back to the hotel and bed.

This was another great day, and I planed to make the most of my two remaining uninterrupted fem days in France.   I'm sorry I can't remember the exact place names, but it was about seven months ago, and I am getting old......

France (Part1)

Back in March I was asked by a friend to deliver some furniture to her sister in a village not far from St Etienne, in France, this meant a round trip of about 1700 miles, on my own with expenses paid.  Of course I agreed.   We loaded Gloria up on the Thursday afternoon, every last bit of space was used, I even had a nice little wooden occasional table on the passenger seat next to me!

At the wheel, you can just see the
table next to me

Friday morning I got up early and left before the family had got out of bed, planning to get the 7:30 Dover - Calais ferry.   A nice easy journey down to Dover, a restful crossing and I was in France.   Going through passport control and customs no one checked anything, although I ran over a weighbridge for my own interest no one was interested in the weight, or contents of the van.   The only questions asked were when my ticket was checked they wanted to make sure that my journey really was for pleasure and not business, well I certainly was planning to enjoy myself.   And no one was interested in how I was dressed, at that point a rather unfetching combination of skinny jeans, trainers, and sweat shirt.

After getting clear of Calais port you go directly on to the excellent French Motorway system, at the first opportunity I pulled into a parking area, and sorted out my appearance, I put the padding into my bra, put on my makeup and wig and changed my shoes.   My plan was that other than the actual delivery I would be Fem for the whole trip, up to passport control on the way home.   As the day wore on and the miles mounted up as I headed south, so also the weather warmed up, the sweat shirt was soon discarded leaving just a nice light weight pink top.   I had a packed lunch with me as I wanted to save time (and money) and make as much distance south as could that first day, so my only encounter with anyone else was when I had to stop to tank up with diesel, a total non event.



Dressed for dinner

By about 5 O'clock I had been going for quite long enough, decided that it was time to stop and find an hotel, so I pulled off the Motorway and headed for Langres, I decided that I would stop at the first Logis De France Hotel I saw, if I didn't see a Logis, I would head into Langres town centre and find anything with a bed.   Just before getting in Langres is the village of Saints Geosmes, which I found had a very nice family run Hotel and restaurant, which is part of the Logis network.   Logis de France is an organization of 300-plus smaller hotels, mostly akin to an American inn, which are almost always connected to a fine restaurant. The Logis de France are a great option for those who want a true French lodging experience, but the assurance of certain standards. Logis de France's independently-run inns average 19 rooms, so they are on the smaller side without being as tiny as a chambre d'hote.   I will admit that much of the attraction for me is the restaurant bit.   I stayed at the Jum'Hotel on the main road, but the restaurant was in the Village in a much older building.   If I had realised that they had the two Hotels, I think would have chosen to stay at the older one, however it did give me a nice walk before and after dinner.



dinner, mm snails!

Naturally I wanted to get washed and changed before eating so after a shower I popped on the LBD, and glammed up a bit.   As a general rule the French don't dress up much to dine out, at least not outside of the big city centers, so I didn't want to go too far, and at this point I was still a little nervous of going out and about in a strange town, where I only have a limited grasp of the language.   Of course I had nothing to worry about, everyone I encountered was very nice, and the dinner was excellent.

One little thing did give me a little problem, when I sat down at the restaurant I was asked if I would like an aperitif, of course I did (I had been on the go, mostly driving for over 12 hours at that point) but this was the first time Paula had been in this situation, I simply didn't know what I drink!   I ordered a Pastis, and although it was OK it is not Paula's drink!   Otherwise dinner was marvelous, snails, stuffed chicken breasts, local cheese and a dessert of mouse au chocolate, actually two small dishes of mouse and one of a lemon sorbet, all washed down with a local white wine and followed by coffee.

So; two regrets, that I was not with anyone to share the experience, and that it had to come to an end, more than balanced out by an excellent experience, and being able to go to bed, wearing a nice nighty and not having to clean off my nail varnish.





Better Now

Not me
(Well only in my dreams)

This morning when I posted I was a bit down, you may have noticed.   Well my morning's work was all admin at home on my own, not long after posting I thought "This is silly" so I went upstairs and got changed, WOW the relief just from dressing at home, nothing too serious, just a casual top skinny jeans and my knee high boots.   I didn't bother with the full slap just some foundation eye shadow and lippy, and did pop on a wig.   After all you never know when someone will pop round, a girl ought to look presentable.

It then struck me I had to go to the bank and the post office, well what the hell, I wasn't going to get changed until absolutely necessary.   So the bank staff saw a different side of me, I'm sure they noticed but were far to polite to comment.   Really in London it was too hot for the outfit I was wearing and I definitely had a bit of a glow on my top lip ( Ladies glow, Gentlemen perspire, Horses Sweat ).   I popped into a couple of charity shops and came away with a nice pair of black stilettos and another black skirt.   I wonder if I have found my colour pallet or if I need to be more adventurous?

Anyway the point is that this little trip managed to cheer me up no end, I still have all the same problems, it's just that I'm not getting brought down by them now.

The week ahead, RWC, and too much "stuff"

Well Monday morning has arrived right on schedule, which in a way is a shame, since I could have done with it being a few hours late.   It has been a long summer and I am feeling very tired and run down.   Due to the family's financial situation I have not had a break this year, and cannot see how I will be able to afford one until next year, this is beginning to take its toll.   On Friday we were meant to have our loft insulation renewed, the team arrived took one look at the loft and realised that they could do nothing to help, different equipment was needed, a different team will come back on Tuesday to do the job.   In the mean time we have lifted the boards and all the contents of our attic are spread around the house.

My weekend was spent sorting out my vans, selling "stuff" on e-bay and disposing of other "stuff" through Freecycle, clearing the garage of "stuff" so that more "stuff" can go in in it's place.   I am exhausted and surrounded by "stuff".

I know I am functioning at a lower level than I was a couple of months ago, I need to take a break even it is just for a couple of days.   This coming weekend I should be travelling to Cardiff to visit relatives ( this will not be a rest since the reason for the visit is to do things for them that they cannot do for themselves ) I was also hoping to go to my local CD support group in Croydon on Saturday night.   Since I have no work booked for Monday I think I may stay in London on Saturday, go to the support group, travel to Cardiff first thing Sunday and come back slowly on Monday ready for the evenings rehearsal.   One way or the other I will find some time to dress, and I will let you all know what happens.

In the mean time I have been going back over a trip I had in March this year, and will be posting a few items on this very enjoyable little adventure.



The New, Jonny Wilkinson

Now for something completely different, I have been watching the Rugby World Cup, as a former player I am very interested, but this is not really the place for discussing Rugby, I just wanted to say a bit about the players strip, I don't like the new tight shirts, on a sartorial level or a practical one, it seems to make binding for the front rows very difficult.   But the point I wanted to raise is that I think England look wrong wearing white socks!   The traditional England colours are white shirts, white shorts and black socks.

The old, featuring Fran Cotton

More Fran Cotton, better known now as the CEO of Cotton Traders

Gloria

In my line of work a van is an essential, and I use the essential type of van, a Ford Transit.   I had always promised myself that if I ever had a Transit, I would call it Gloria (as in "Sic Transit Gloria Mundy"), so when I bought the van she quickly became Gloria.



You can see her name on the door

In the light of my earlier post on Translations, I have to wonder about Gloria a bit, she hasn't shown any odd tendencies, other than a severe sulk while we were in France together earlier this year, but then I was the one who was dressed ( but that's another story), and one I promise to tell

Translations

This came up the other day on a forum I belong to, I like it so much that I thought I would share

So we're all aware of the terms Transgender, Transvestite and Transsexual, but did you know there are so many more categories than that? Here are just a few examples:

• Transparent: When your father is actually your mother.
• Transistor: When your brother decides to become your sister.
• Transcontinental: A lady living in New York City named Paula that used to be a man named Paul in San Francisco.
• Transport: A long haul truck driver in a red cocktail dress named Bob.
• Transubstantiate: When you try to justify your reasons for cross dressing.
• Transpose: You pretend to be a cross dresser.
• Transmission: Two twenty year old guys in black skirts and white blouses riding around on bicycles handing out the Book of Mormon.
• Transplant: Your gardener Freida used to be your gardener Fred.
• Transient: A homeless cross dresser.
• Transact: An actor who cross dresses.
• Transverse: A poet who cross dresses.
• Transmute: A cross dresser who cannot speak.
• Transunion: Militia that the Confederacy feared the most.
• Transpirational: A minister who cross dresses.
• Transpire: You are nervous about cross dressing and you sweat a lot.
• Transfuse: Cross dressing electrician.
• Tranship: Luxury cruises for trans people.
• Transcend: When Kimmy uploads new pics to Flickr.
• Transcript: A doctor who writes hormone prescriptions.
• Translator: A procrastinating cross dresser.
• Transformation: Several crossdressers at the Wal-Mart check out line.
• Transylvania: The brand of light bulb most flattering to crossdressers.
• Transit: Remembering to keep your knees together when wearing a short skirt.
• Transgression: Two cross dressers fighting over a bra on sale at Victoria's Secret.
• Translate: Oops! I've got to go!