The Distancing Diaries - Day 92 & 93

On Saturday I was awake first (well, technically it was Stephen who'd been running up and down the bed since before 5am). Miraculously, it was a sunny start to the day so I loaded the washing machine, let the lads out and brought tea back to bed where Jon & I read until just after 8am.

Jon made a start on breakfast whilst I stripped the bed, hung the washing I'd done earlier on the line and put another load in to wash. After we'd eaten veggie sausage sandwiches, I gave the houseplants their fortnightly feed and pegged out the rest of the washing. 

Researching clocks the previous day I'd stumbled across a website selling Indian vintage and reconditioned furniture where a piece of industrial salvage had caught my eye. After thinking about it for most of last night, I had a look on eBay and found someone selling the same thing for a fraction of the price and, as it was a Buy-it-Now listing, soon snapped it up. I'd also been looking at tiles as, although we'd got enough in the shed to tile the area behind the painted Welsh dresser base, we wanted something different elsewhere in the kitchen. I made a note of the measurements, cut a piece of cardboard to size, and Jon worked out how many we needed. As delivery costs were expensive (almost half the price of the tiles) Jon called the shop and arranged to collect them later in the week.

Although the earlier sunshine had vanished & the sky was looking somewhat ominous, Jon decided that he was going to go for it with the circular saw outside. Meanwhile, once I'd filled the garden waste bin and fed Jacob, I had a cupboard that needed dealing with. It's a cute little thing and cost me 50p from a car boot sale a few years ago. 

As I was waiting for the paint to dry the heavens opened and I had to dash up the garden to rescue the washing and Jon threw a tarp over his woodwork. Once the rain had passed over we resumed our outdoor activities although I decided not to risk putting the washing back out.

The postman arrived with a parcel from Spain from my fabulous friend, Senora Allñutt (find her blog HERE) who I met in London just over a year ago. Her Mum recently had a clearout and Monica thought that our festival-goers would appreciate her 1990s stripy Mango top, the old-school waterproof jacket and two pairs of white shorts her parents wore in the 70s along with a book that looks really interesting and a gorgeous handmade card.

I liked the look of her Mum's high-waisted Joper white denim shorts and, as the sun had suddenly reappeared, thought I'd give them a try. I've never owned a pair of white shorts in my life and I love them!

I finished The Greek for Love and lazed in the sun for the rest of the afternoon. Once Jon had given the tomato plants their fortnightly seaweed feed, he and the lads joined me.

Once my second coat of homemade chalk paint was dry, I sanded the cupboard down and waxed it. I'm not sure where it's going to go or what I'll keep in it but I like it a lot more now.

Tea was pizza with salad and a glass of beer. We watched an amazing documentary, Tutankhamun in Colour, where the photos and film footage of Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon's discovery of the boy king's tomb were colourised making them so much more real than the black & white originals. We also watched an excellent film,  99 Homes, on the BBC i-player. Needless to say, as it was Saturday, rum was consumed.

Sunday, day 93 of lockdown, and yet again, I woke first. I fed and let the lads out and brought mugs of tea back to bed where we read until 8.15am. I started a new book, I haven't read a crime thriller for ages.

I put away the laundry that had been hanging up in the utility room since yesterday and Jon toasted crumpets for breakfast which we ate whilst watching Gardener's World in the kitchen. Inspired, I went through the seed box and selected some seeds to sow later. Jon popped round to Tony's as they had a few groceries to swap (beer for us, coffee pods for him) while, a day later than usual, I painted my nails, deep-conditioned my hair and epilated my legs.

This week's colour is Barry M's All The Things She Red.

We'd been promised a warm day and, despite it being cloudy and rather chilly, I thought I'd give the patio plants a thorough watering just in case, like yesterday, the weather improved later.

I'd just planted some watercress, spinach and French beans before the rain started and I had to dash back indoors. These two weren't as fast as me, seeking shelter beneath Gilbert.

Jon returned with the beer and some fresh fruit he'd picked up from the Co-op on the way back from Tony's. We had a vegan pasty for lunch and afterwards Jon continued with his woodworking while I washed the ornaments I wanted to put back on the old railway sleeper above the cooker.

As you can see, I came up with an idea for yesterday's painted cupboard. Jon hung some of our collection of antique glass bottles inside it.

If you live in an old industrial area like we do, all you need is a spade and you're almost guaranteed to find Victorian bottles in your garden. These were all discovered in our last house, a Victorian terrace that backed on to a railway line. Prior to moving in with Jon, the first house I bought stood on the site of an old buckle factory and I was forever digging up rusty belt buckles. As Stonecroft started life as three Eighteenth-century farm labourers' cottages all we ever seem to dig up is old animal bones (at least I hope that's what they are).

A trio of mid-century Polish enamel coffee pots. The green one was my parents, it came from Habitat in the 1960s, the other two were car boot finds.

These Dartmouth Pottery glug jugs were my Grandma's.

This 1930s Indian elephant was 50p from one of the house clearance stalls at the Thursday morning car boot sale. His faceted glass eyes make him a cut above the mass-produced tourist tat you'll often find in India these days.

These Staffordshire Greek Revival vases (circa 1850) were my Grandma's, she bought them from a jumble sale in the 1950s. Obsessed with Greek mythology as a child, I'd always loved them.

The Victorian painted metal lion came from the parental home and used to live in my brother's bedroom who, like Jon is a Leo.

This Victorian chalkware bust was 25p from the town centre flea market.

This 1930s Kashmiri papier-mâché vase was another 50p find from the Thursday morning car boot sale. It came from the same stall as the elephant.

These Irene Series horses head vases were £1.99 from a charity shop a couple of years ago. They are marked "Foreign" as goods produced after WWII and made in Germany or Japan often were, as it was considered unpatriotic to buy anything made by our wartime enemies.

WEARING: Lightweight kaftan (Mumbai, 2018), silver hoop & chain earrings (our sorely-missed festival neighbours, Shilpa Silver), silver & malachite pendant (Flea market, Goa 2002) 

The rain let up long enough for me to nip outside and pose for a photo. There's nothing new to see, this kaftan has been worn on repeat during lockdown, but I'm trying to post everything I've worn over the last 93 days for posterity.

Tea will be bread, cheese, salad and pickles once I've had a shower and washed my hair. I'm wildly excited about The Luminaries on BBC1 at 9pm tonight. I read Eleanor Catton's book, upon which the series is based, on the beach in Kos a couple of years ago and it was utterly spellbinding.

Stay safe & see you soon!

PS I've fallen behind yet again, I promise to catch up with blogs and comments very soon.