The Distancing Diaries - 21st & 22nd November, 2020

 Jon was up first on Saturday morning, saw to the lads and brought mugs of tea back up to bed where we lay and read until 8.30am. After he'd gone back downstairs to make a start on breakfast I stripped and changed the bed, loaded the washing machine and joined him at the kitchen table for sausage sandwiches, veggie for me, meat for him & Frank. Stephen hates human food. 

The postman arrived with a parcel containing a vintage 1960s Chelsea Girl Indian block printed maxi dress that I'd seen on eBay last week and clicked Buy It Now before anyone else spotted it. The seller had mentioned that part of the hem had come down so I found an episode of Money For Nothing to watch on the I-player and sat for half-an-hour stitching it by hand.

 In the mood for more sewing, I decided to transform the East tee shirt Elaine had sent me in last week's surprise parcel into a Bollywood-tastic cushion. 

I measured a cushion pad and, adding an extra 1" to each side, marked out the size in chalk on front of the tee shirt (to ensure the print would be in the right place) and cut it into two squares. I turned the squares round so the fronts were facing each other, sewed three sides on the machine, turned it right way round, inserted the cushion pad and hand-sewed the fourth side adding some pink pom-pom trim from my stash to make it even more Bollywood. 

Elaine wondered if I knew who the actress was, she looked familiar but I couldn't place her so I got my Bollywood books out and found her, it's Hema Malini (b.1948). Appearing in scores of films she married her co-star Dharmendra (seen in the red shirt) in 1980. She has been a politician since 1999, representing India's BJP party and is an award winning animal rights campaigner. 

She also appears in one of my all-time favourite Bollywood movies, Sholay.

 

Dave the brickie called to say that he'd be round on Sunday as it was a bit too windy for negotiating ladders. Jon & I went for a walk around the block and snapped some photos of the Covid testing centre at the university campus round the corner, a snapshot of 2020 preserved for future generations. 

Jon & I have signed up as volunteers to trial the new Covid vaccines. There's no guarantee we'll be called but we're more than happy to help if needed, the sooner we see the back of this dreadful virus the better. UK residents can register HERE. In 2006 the NHS provided me with a total hip replacement & an award-winning Furlong prosthesis, liberating me from twenty-eight years of pain. As I can no longer give blood it's a way of giving something back.

WEARING: Vintage Alpnani kaftan, Reiss fedora & Lottas clogs (all eBay), 1970s tooled leather belt(charity shop), 1960s suede and sheepskin jacket (Second To None, Walsall)

Back at home we watched another episode Money For Nothing before I took myself off upstairs for some self-care, removing my nail paint, epilating my legs and washing my hair, to which I'd applied jasmine oil earlier in the day.

Tea was a buffet of bread, cheeses, crisps and pickles, accompanied by a bottle of beer. The drinking continued with rum & cola whilst we watched Spooks.

The lads got me up before 6am on Sunday morning, I let them out and sat in the garden in my dressing gown, watching them stalking field mice in the rockery and sniffing around places where other cats had visited during the night. The sky was navy blue, the stars were glittering and there wasn't a soul around. I went back to bed, slept until 7.30, then got up, made mugs of tea which I brought back to bed and we lay and read for an hour.

Breakfast was the usual lazy Sunday affair, a couple of slices of toast accompanied by the Andrew Marr Show followed by my weekly nail painting session, this week its the turn of Barry M's Night Sky, inspired by my quiet 10 minutes outside with the lads earlier.

 Jon assisted Dave the brickie. The early morning skies had been an indication of a beautiful day, although it was bitterly cold the sun was shining and the sky a brilliant shade of blue. Shirley, our neighbour from the house opposite, crossed the road to tell Jon off about wearing shorts in November.

Meanwhile indoors, I mopped the stairs, swept the rugs in the middle room and did some laundry, hanging it to dry in the utility room. After Dave had finished and tidied up, Jon locked the ladders away and we had noodles for lunch. Jon hosed down the outside of kitchen window and I gave the panes a polish but it ended up looking worse than when we started so I shall give it a proper going over tomorrow.

In these days of no meeting up with friends and all the pubs being shut it would be madness to save clothes for best so my new-to-me Indian block-printed Chelsea Girl maxi got its first wear and, combined with thermal undies and chunky socks, was as cosy as can be. In normal times I'd be considering taking it back to India but for the first time in 20 years there's sadly no chance of that happening. It's going to be a long Winter!

The 1970s navy suede Nordiska belt was bought from the 20p Man at the Thursday car boot sale years ago, the Banjara torque was a roadside buy in Goa back in February and the pendant was a gift from blog reader Alison which she'd made from an antique knife and some embroidery silk. Check out her Etsy shop HERE.

Lotta of Stockholm clogs and Nordic socks. My new favourite thing.

The afternoon continued in a lazy fashion, I caught up with blog reading and commenting & Jon watched nonsense on the TV whilst preparing tea. 

Stay safe & see you soon!