Post ......and Packing!

I was treated to a parcel of joy from my fabulous pal, Tamera, and had to test drive these fab flares right away.

Velvet with rhinestone studs, just right for popping into town to start my Xmas shopping.
(yes, I did say start, I loathe the whole thing and live in the faint hope that if I ignore it for long enough it'll go away). 

Tamera also sent this beautiful card, hand-made by her.

And some killer 1970s dressmaking patterns! Thanks, Tamera, I can't wait to get cracking on some of these.

Jon's got 'flu, he's confined to bed with no appetite and hasn't even had a fag since Saturday - he must be ill. To entertain myself I got cracking on my Goa packing and got the summer suitcases down from the top of the wardrobe and emptied them out on the bed.

Out went anything white/cream (pale clothing becomes ingrained with orange dust due to the laterite in the sand), anything needing to be worn with heels (no kerbs, you'd be mental to pack any) or worn with bras, slips or belts (too hot for all that fuss).

WARNING: Look away now if the sight of a bare-faced, near naked, middle-aged woman offends you!

Next I scraped my hair back, stripped off my make-up and stood in front of a well lit, full-length mirror & tried everything on. Anything that looks halfway decent when I'm at my worst gets chucked on the "Possible" pile. 

Once I'd decided on the best of the bunch I laid it out on the bed and made my final choice. 

Burgundy crochet bikini (bought at Anjuna's Flea Market), Purple crochet bikini (made by Nelly) and paisley bikini (car boot sale)

Three bikinis, crochet ones for sunbathing and a more modest one for our early morning beach strolls (I don't want to alarm the fishermen by baring too much before 8am).

I travel in a pair of boots and take a couple of pairs of Indian-made leather sandals, one pair go in my hand luggage which I slip them on before landing. I wear them until they fall apart, getting the odd repair done by the roadside cobblers you'll find on every street corner of India. Most of the time it's bare feet as we're on the beach morning, noon and night.

 A fringed lace poncho and up-cycled tie-died blouse for coverage in less touristy areas along with my trusty denim waistcoat and a couple of cropped tops.

Two maxi skirts, I'll travel in one to save space.

Psychedelia galore - a catsuit, two maxi dresses (top left beauty from Krista) and a groovy full length hooded robe for the beach. Bright colours & wild prints so the dirt won't show up.

Sarongs are a great to towels,virtually weightless in a backpack & dry quickly. The hand-made vintage curtain tote multi-tasks as hand luggage, a beach bag and for shopping whilst the Rajasthani leather cross-the-body bag is for sight-seeing and nights out. There's a couple of vintage silk scarves (one was a birthday pressie from Em) for tarting up my hair, two pairs of 1970s sunglasses & a massive reversible sun hat, too.

Books, jewellery & toiletries left to do then I'm ready! 

Velvet flares worn with 1970s crochet poncho (£1, car boot sale), 1970s Madeira souvenir basket (£1.95, Acorns Hospice), 1970s felt hat (courtesy of Zoe) and a heap of bastard jewellery (including a necklace won in Glynis's giveaway)

Talking of bastard jewellery have you checked out the Xmas edition of VOGOFF magazine?

I'm linking to Patti's Visible Monday!
See you soon.