The Distancing Diaries - Day 136 & 137

On Monday morning (day 136) it was just Stephen who accompanied me downstairs at 6.30am. Frank hadn't eaten the previous day, had gone to sleep on the bench on the landing when I went for a shower at 6pm and was still there when I got up, it was unusual for him not to join us in bed for a cuddle. I did my daily Wii Fit session, took a mug of tea up to Jon and when he joined me for breakfast at just gone eight we decided to call the vets and book him in. After we'd got dressed we sat outside in the sunshine, drinking coffee, compiling a to-do list and flicking through one of our gardening books as we were expecting visitors.

Earlier this year I'd sold some land to the lovely couple who'd bought the parental home and, after giving my brother half, we'd enough cash left to replace all six upstairs windows which, although we'd had them patched up 15 years ago, were now beyond repair. Living in a conservation area we have to replace "like for like" so have to have wood framed windows (although we're upgrading to double glazed ones to make Stonecroft more energy efficient). Rather than a window company we're using a long-established local joinery firm who specialise in working on heritage homes. The boss visited last month and the quote was a lot less painful than we'd expected. Yesterday, armed with masks and hand sanitiser the chaps who would be fitting the windows came round to take precise measurements. Due to Covid there's a bit of a backlog but they should be installed by the end of Autumn. I'm excited about having windows that aren't draughty, don't leak, don't smell mouldy and won't leave a trail of flaking paint and wood when we open them.

Monday's outfit was a handmade (but not by me) 1970s patchwork maxi skirt with a recycled sari silk wrap top, vintage Polaroid sunglasses, a silver pendant from Goa and some of my new Afghan earrings.

The rest of the morning was spent deadheading, watering and generally pottering around the garden. We'd expected sunshine and showers but it turned out to be dry and rather lovely. After a break for noodles, Jon emptied the works van to clean the interior and I attempted to wash the blanket we use on the bed when we're camping at festivals.

The washing machine had been playing up for a while. A Hotpoint ex-display model we'd haggled over in a now-defunct electrical chain in the mid-2000s, it kept sticking mid-cycle, usually remedied with a swift kick, and the spin function was hit and miss to say the least. When Jon went to retrieve the blanket the door handle snapped off in his hand. Oh dear! Leaving him to prise open the door with a screwdriver I went on-line to find a reasonably priced, A++ rated washing machine with a 6 kg capacity, basic functions and an energy-efficient speedy, cool wash. British company Bush had the best ratings and plenty of positive reviews and at £179.99 (including delivery) was within budget, so we placed an order and arranged for it to be delivered on Saturday.

As promised, I did my roots and read my book in the sunshine for twenty minutes while the dye developed. Tea was a can of carrot, coriander & lentil soup Jon had found in the festival food stash. It had passed the sell-by date but we ate it anyway, accompanied by some of Jon's homemade bread.

Source

Later we started to watch the chilling BBC documentary series The Rise of the Nazis, but had to turn it off part of the way through episode two as Jon had nodded off. Talking of nodding off, we abandoned A Suitable Boy twenty minutes into episode two on Sunday night. Man, it was so bad it was shocking, I couldn't bear to waste another minute of my life on such melodramatic drivel.

I'm going to have to re-read Vikram Seth's masterpiece, the TV adaptation has ruined my memories of the book

On Tuesday (day 137) Frank followed me downstairs at 6am, hoovering up the rest of the food Jon had put down for him when he'd got him out of bed at 1am. Although he seemed a lot brighter I kept him in when Stephen went exploring, getting a growl and a hiss for my trouble. I did my Wii Fit session and Jon joined me for our fruit & yogurt breakfast soon afterwards as he needed to be at the vets for the first appointment of the day.

By the time I'd washed up, mopped the kitchen floor and dressed Jon & Frank were back, the vet said it was nothing to worry about but gave him a combined antibiotic & painkilling jab just to be on the safe side, like humans cats can have a couple of off days. Both lads are booked in for their boosters on Friday morning which'll be a logistical nightmare.

Today's outfit was an early 1970s Phool midi skirt with a quilted hem, a vintage cheesecloth blouse by Ayesha Davar and a Gujarati amulet necklace.

After a coffee we drove into Walsall. We called into the clearance charity shop as I wanted some printed cotton clothing to chop up for face masks. This proved to be easier said than done as almost all of the stock is discarded high street fast fashion and is almost entirely synthetic, but I managed to find three decent pieces (including a rather nice Indian block print) in addition to a vintage hand-rolled scarf & 1970s tooled leather belt for a total of £9.

Next stop was Wilko where we bought some new mugs to replace the chipped charity shop horrors we'd been using for years and some seeds (lettuce, beetroot, red leaf basil & radicchio). I wanted white thread but it was out of stock so I bought a houseplant instead - as you do.

Although masks are only mandatory in shops I noticed that almost everyone who passed us in the street was wearing one. My choice for our shopping adventure was the one I'd made last week from a 1970s Tatton by Bevis screen printed curtain which I thought complimented my tan Lottas and the pom-pom embellished basket I bought for £2 from the clearance charity shop earlier this year, still with its "Handmade by artisans in Vietnam" tags attached.

Back at home we christened the new mugs, I repotted my zebrina and hand-washed the charity shop garments (no washing machine!) and pegged them out on the line. After the previous day's warm sunshine, today was a bit of a let down, with feeble 16°c temperatures and a brisk wind, but at least it dried the washing quickly.

After our noodles Jon popped out for fresh fruit and cat food as we were running low on both. On his return he sanitised the lot before spending the afternoon sanding down and painting the boxed-in kitchen pipes.

Meanwhile I fired up the sewing machine and, using the remains of an old cushion cover, I made a couple more William Morris Strawberry Thief face masks.

Tea was posh shop-bought sour dough pizza with sweet potato fries and we'll be watching the rest of the Nazi documentary we started last night, that's if Lord Jon can stay awake. Mind you, he is 54 tomorrow!

Stay safe, stay fabulous and see you soon.

PS Apologies for not yet responding to your comments on my last post or visiting any blogs, I'm not sure where the time has gone, I blame the cats. I haven't even wrapped any presents yet.