Urban Camo

I've worn this All About Audrey crushed velvet dress, bought second-hand via Vinted, to the pub but yesterday was the first time I'd worn it charity shopping where it not only got lots of love but brought us some chazza luck, too.

2 x unbranded cotton prairie skirts, a Topshop maxi with the £35 tags still attached, a 1980s English-made fake fur coat and a contemporary faux snow leopard coat for the Kinky Shed and a Frida Kahlo tee-shirt for me. 

 Vintage 1950s souvenir scarf from Paris, 1970s St Michael scarf, 1970s Van Heusen shirt, 1960s patchwork suede handbag & a British-made 1980s Harrington jacket for the Kinky Shed. Jon's keeping the American Apparel tee-shirt (their tee-shirts are USA-made & great quality) and the box of thread is for me.

A Jamaica track top with the tags still attached, a 1970s American-made satin jacket and a Ted Baker wool bomber jacket with the most insane lining which Jon's pinched. 

Autumn Meadow maxi dress from hip Venice Beach label, Raga (currently retails at $120), vintage 1960s tartan wool dressing gown, vintage 1960s Indian cotton maxi dress by Java, Vintage Ben Sherman shirt and a NATO-issue camo jacket.

These English Heritage bone china measuring cups are decorated with a design inspired by 18th Century Chinese wallpaper. They're a bit twee but really useful for Jon as he's always having to ask me to show him the difference between a dessertspoon and a tablespoon when he's cooking!

These bronze souvenirs cost a fortune in the museum gift shops in Greece. Athena with her spear, Athena with her chariot & the Spartan warrior were £1 each and the lady on the counter gave me the tiny Minerva with blue enamel eyes for free! Some chancer on Etsy's got the same Athena with spear listed for £165...utter madness! 

Constance Collier as Athena (1912) by Charles Buchel (1872-1950)

Often referred to as Pallas Athene, Athena is the goddess of wisdom, war and heroic endeavour and is the patron of Athens. She is depicted with a shield and spear and the aigis--a snake-trimmed cape adorned with the monstrous visage of Medusa. Her consort is the owl. 

I blend in with the garden so well I could be in camo!

 

Until yesterday I only owned one tee shirt so Frida makes it two. I was excited to see that it was from the Freida Kahlo Corporation but after I got it home was horrified to discover a Primarni label inside the side seam. No wonder it was only £1! 

The bluebells continue to bloom, the wild garlic has just started to flower and there's frogspawn in the pond. It ain't particularly warm today (12°C) but its starting to look a lot like Spring.

During lockdown we made it our mission to tame the garden, five years on and the wilderness has won the battle. I can't watch Gardeners World any more, it makes me feel inadequate.

All is not lost though, this clematis has bloomed for the first time, I rescued it from the clearance shelf in B&M last year.

Over the last week we've rewatched the wonderful Boys from the Blackstuff (currently on the BBC I-player) and binge-watched the superb Australian Apple Cider Vinegar  & British Toxic Town on Netflix. 

Swords and sandals at the ready...we've just started watching Troy: Fall of a City (originally on the BBC, now on Netflix). I'm not saying I'm a geek or anything but the category for tonight's Pointless prize final was gods and goddesses named in Homer's Iliad & Odyssey. All three of my answers, Demeter, Thetis and Hephaestus were pointless! 

Thanks for reading, see you soon!