A Long Weekend

A three-day weekend with no plans, no fairs and no urgency to do anything at all. What a treat! So what have we got up to? We celebrated our town's glorious diversity, that's what.

Walsall Market, November 2017

Over 12,000 Sikhs live in Walsall, 6% of the town's population.

The lady at the front is wearing a dastaar (a turban), her friend wears a chunni (scarf), the larger blue turban worn by the man behind her is called a dumalla. The little boy's head covering is known as a patka.

Founder of the faith, Guru Nanak (1469 - 1539), desired a Sikh to:

• Believe in one god
• Do selfless worship at all times (not just in times of need)
• Do service to humanity without any self interest
• Share and care, especially with those in need
• Earn an honest living by ensuring that no action leads to cheating or exploitation
• Shed all inequalities, rich or poor, man or woman
• Be compassionate
• Be open to the views of others on all matters
• Practice brotherhood and not be self-centred
• Be not scared of death

On Saturday, as part of this year's 550th birthday celebrations for Guru Nanak and last month's Vaisakhi festival, we visited the town's New Art Gallery for an afternoon of festivities. We tried a session of Kundalini meditation, watched a performance of Gatka (a Sikh martial art), were entertained by a bhangra dance group, tapped our feet to some dhol drumming and were fed for free, too.

The Midland Langar Seva Society was established in Walsall in 2013 to provide hot food and drinks to those living on the streets, in schools, safe houses and in poverty. Since then it's been rolled out to 24 towns and cities throughout the UK, providing over 30,000 meals a week to those in need. On 25th December, 2018 the charity took over Birmingham's New Street railway station and provided a sit down Xmas dinner to over 200 homeless people. What a wonderful way to honour the Guru's teachings.

Inspired by the Sikh philosophy of caring and sharing, we've both registered with the charity, DKMS, as potential blood stem cell donors, in the hope that one of us could be a match for a blood cancer sufferer. If you're 55 or under and resident in the UK you can apply HERE. 

I haven't done the seasonal wardrobe changeover yet because it's been too damned cold. Not that there's that much to do, my velvet dresses get tucked away in the suitcase on top of my wardrobe and my flimsy halterneck dresses take their place. It's been a mild winter so I've been able to wear the cotton dresses and skirts I usually save for India throughout the season. If, like me, you spend a large part of the Summer at festivals, you'd be daft to pack away your gloves, boots, thermal undies and coats. What I have done is to organise my collection of vintage sunglasses, as storing them in a vanity case and having to tip them out every time I need a pair is a pain in the proverbial. Now I can find them at a glance thanks to the couple of retail glasses stands found in a charity shop.

SUNDAY NIGHT: 1960s paisley print cotton peplum-waisted maxi dress by Can Can, London (eBay, 2018); pewter ankle boots (La Redoute sale, 2017); Indian pendant - made by me using a Banjara coin necklace and a Rajasthani enamel pendant.

On Sunday night we met up with the gang for beers and a curry to belatedly celebrate both Liz & Adrian's birthdays which had been on 29th March. It's been an absolute age since we all went out.

How groovy is that label?

WEARING: Vintage Foster Menswear needlecord blazer (nicked from the stockroom); Levis jeans (birthday pressie from me, 2018); Raf Simons tee shirt & Kurt Geiger suede ankle boots (both charity shopped); Block printed scarf (Gujarat, 2018)

This graffiti has been springing up all over Highgate, our area of Walsall. Jon's posing in the Brewery Entry (the alleyway that leads from the now derelict Victorian Highgate Brewery and the avenue we live on). 

Some details from Jon's outfit. How exciting to find some Panini football stickers in the pocket of Jon's blazer, a little clue as to the age of the jacket - Pat Nevin played for Chelsea between 1983 and 1988.

As we were out last night and haven't seen the series finale of Line of Duty yet we've gone out of our way to avoid any spoilers. This morning rather than risk turning on the TV or reading some blabbermouth's post on social media, we braved the car boot sale for the first time this year - hoping against hope that nobody we spoke to would let slip the identity of H.

WEARING: Vintage Indian cotton gauze midi dress and Frye boots (both eBay), 1970s suede jacket (found by a friend in a charity shop)

The details. These banana leather Frye Campus boots were a lucky eBay find in 2017 - they'd never been worn and had a Buy-It-Now price of £35. The price on the box? £335! Madness. The vintage sunglasses (like I need another pair!) were 50p from Cancer UK last Friday.

The cold weather and the overcast skies must have put a lot of people off as the boot sale was a lot smaller (and less busy) than usual.  We walked around for ages before we bought anything (Primark, Primark and more Primark) but found a few interesting bits in the end. (Apologies for the dishevelled state of my purchases, I've washed them all now!) 

Clockwise from top left: Ltd edition Adidas jacket; Vintage Indian silk dress; 1930s tailcoat; Daks Signature tweed jacket with suede elbow patches; 1980s Hong Kong made paisley shirt; 1980s Indian-made applique jacket; Vintage Indian silk dress; Old skool tracksuit top; Distressed, bleached & frayed Levis jacket; Derby Tweed plus fours; Vintage Indian silk dress; 1970s novelty print gent's shirt featuring a couple playing the piano.

In addition to shopping, culture and socialising I've finally swept up all of last autumn's leaves from the garden (the perils of living with 27 trees.) It's taken 6 tip runs, six council brown bin collections and a couple of donations to friends' compost heaps to rid ourselves of the bloody things and there's only four months until it all starts again....

Line of Duty awaits, see you soon!

Linking to Patti & the gang for Visible Monday.