So That Was Xmas...

Despite an eight hour session in 'Spoons the previous day I was up and on the Wii Fit before 7am the following morning. After fruit & yogurt for breakfast my brother popped round with our Xmas present and stayed for a cup of tea. The rest of Xmas Eve was mostly spent cleaning the almost-finished bathroom, keeping out of Jon's way while he wrapped my presents and delivering the last of the cards to the neighbours. Amid much excitement I took delivery of my Vintage Pony Awards which are now taking pride of place on the mantelpiece in the middle room.

WEARING: 1970s Tori Richard psych maxi (swapped with a fellow trader), Vintage blue velvet marabou trimmed opera coat (£20, vintage shop in Birmingham city centre, 2013), orange fedora (retail buy)

I cooked a cauliflower cheese with roasted carrots and parsnips for tea and we watched Defiance on the i-Player, the final episode of A Christmas Carol and Martin's Close, a brilliant half-an-hour ghostly courtroom drama on BBC4 set in the 17th Century. As is usual on Xmas Eve we abstained from the booze so we'd enjoy it all the more with our curry the next day.

On Christmas Day Jon got up and made tea and we opened each other's presents in bed. We had our usual fresh fruit and yogurt breakfast, opened the rest of our Xmas presents and then showered and got dressed. I wore a 1970s gold lame Victor Costa Romantica dress ex-blogger Joyatri gave me when we first met back in 2012 along with my Egyptian Revival necklace and bracelet.

Jon whizzed off to pick up a Dead Relatives Society member and after exchanging presents we grabbed some booze and walked down to the curry house where we met up with the usual suspects, pulled crackers, groaned at the dreadful Xmas soundtrack and tucked into our Indian feast.

After poppadums, me (the sole vegetarian) tucked into vegetable pakoras and a stuffed Romano pepper while the carnivores ate chicken tikka, sheikh and shami kebab. For my main course I had stuffed aubergine with tikka Quorn pieces and the others ate slow roasted spiced lamb shank. The fragrant turmeric & coriander potatoes were to die for. There was gulab jamum with vanilla ice cream (Jon ate mine) and a choice of coffee or chai but I'd put my camera away by then. 

We said our goodbyes to the staff and the rest of the crew and spent the evening watching three Luca Zingaretti (Italian actor of Montalbano fame) films accompanied by rum & cola (Jon) and rhubarb & ginger gin with Indian tonic (me). We didn't eat again.

WEARING: 1960s nylon maxi dress (£5, charity shop, October 2019), Vintage enameled Moroccan pendant (Stockport Vintage Village, 2014)

On Boxing Day, after cheese on toast for breakfast (how very decadent!) we spent a lazy morning reading. At midday we walked into town having lunch and a couple of beers in 'Spoons (Mediterranean vegetable lasagne and salad for me, fish and chips for Jon). A large proportion of the clientele seemed to consist of couples carrying huge Primark bags intent on arguing with each other. Xmas, the season of goodwill to all men, my arse. 

After a wonderful few hours spent making rough plans for our forthcoming Indian adventure and reminiscing about previous trips, we walked back and spent the evening watching the entire BBC political drama series from the Nineties, House of Cards. Still stuffed from our lunchtime treat we just had a slice of Stollen for our tea.

WEARING: Early 70s Dollyrockers maxi (£5, charity shop, 2018), vintage 1950s Tyrolean souvenir belt (gift from Helga, 2011)

Yesterday morning, after a two day break, I was back on the Wii Fit and discovered I'd lost weight since Tuesday. I never overeat at Xmas. After breakfast (fruit & yogurt) we moved the pictures around in the bathroom to accommodate a new print and a handmade plant hanger that we'd been given for Xmas. Jon wanted to replace the bathroom door but the replacement (another Edwardian four panel skip find) was slightly too big and his ancient saw wasn't up to the job so he suggested we pop into town to get a new bit of kit. Utter madness! The main car park was full with a queue stretching halfway down the road and hoards of crazed looking people, laden down with shopping bags and rolls of Xmas wrapping paper, thronging the streets. 

We picked up the replacement saw and decided to pop into the charity clearance shop to deposit the two books I'd read over the last week. The chazza is next to a huge sportswear emporium and we were amazed to see hundreds of people rifling through what looked like endless rails of identical greige synthetics like their lives depended on it. As we entered the charity shop a gang of men clad head-to-toe in sportswear stood at the store threshold yelling, "Wanna look in there?" "You can f*ck off" and laughed hysterically before heading back into the safety of the sports shop.

Their loss! While they tussled with the masses over dodgy sports attire I scored a Miu Miu mohair and wool Italian-made tank top from their hugely successful 2003 collaboration with the legendary French cartoonist, Raymond Peynet (1908 - 1999) for £2. It would originally have retailed for around £700. Who needs sales when there's charity shopping?

 One of my Xmas presents from Jon was this beautiful fair trade Frida Kahlo Day of The Dead crewel work cushion cover which was handmade in India. As it's an odd size, he was planning to track down a cushion pad after the seasonal retail madness had died down, but I saved him the trouble by spotting the perfect sized cushion displayed on a settee in the furniture department. I removed the pad from the cover, handed my £1 and the cushion cover back to the lady on the till and left delighted.

After a lunchtime bowl of vegetable chilli noodles, I spent the remainder of the day taking up the hem of my Pakistani block printed kaftan and replacing the handle on one of our jute shopping bags whilst Jon acquainted himself with his new gadget. Jon made roasted vegetables with haloumi for tea and we started watching a subtitled Dutch crime series called Blood Pact accompanied by rum and gin.

WEARING: Vintage wool housecoat, Antique Moroccan Hand of Hamsa beaded necklace (£1, car boot sale, 2013. 

Today, like most Saturdays, started with a vegetarian sausage sandwich. Jon successfully cut the replacement door to size and rehung it. I've done three loads of washing, trimmed my hair and was contemplating starting my India packing but I've just taken delivery of a parcel that's come all the way from Lahore and might just have to do some house-y style stuff instead. Plans for tonight include a pizza, a little more rum and watching the new Norwegian thriller, Wisting.

Hope you've spent the last few days doing exactly what you wanted to - we did.

See you soon!