The Distancing Diaries - 22nd, 23rd & 24th December, 2020

On Tuesday morning I did my Wii Fit workout, put away yesterday's laundry and caught up with blog reading. After our fruit & yogurt I wrote the neighbourhood Xmas cards and finished my crochet. The postman delivered a wonderful box of handmade treats from friends Lisa & Mark who we'd met when we used to trade at Stockport's Vintage Village and shortly afterwards DPD arrived with the last of the online Xmas present purchases.

Lisa is experimenting by combining resin with vintage and has my taste spot on, this pin tray she made me matches the 1970s Michael Johnson print in the spare room.

Lunch was a Roquefort sandwich with a handful of Indian chilli snacks.

Jon and I wrapped presents in the lounge then went into separate rooms to wrap each other's gifts. 

Liz prints her own wrapping paper, too.

Tuesday's outfit was a 1970s Tori Richard of Honolulu maxi dress bought from a secondhand stall on the market five years ago. The seller let me have it for £4 instead of £5 as his friend had bet him £1 that he'd never sell anything so ugly. I'm wearing it with my thermal polo neck (from eBay) and a felted wool hat from a charity shop. The Lamani pendant came from a flea market in Goa about 15 years ago. 

We went for a walk around the block and posted our cards, remembering to deliver one to Frank's second home, thanking them for all the fuss, toys and treats throughout the year. I've never known us to post the neighbour's cards until at least Xmas Eve and often as late as Xmas Day. I'm so organised this year that I'm starting to feel like a grown-up!

Tea was a saag paneer with sweet potato wedges and a quarter of a nan bread. After a blog catch-up I joined Jon and watched a four part documentary series we'd started the previous evening about The Peter Falconio Case. Although it was fascinating we were both struggling to keep our eyes open, more to do with the wine we had with tea rather than the programme content.

WEARING: Vintage wool housecoat (our friends G'n'T), Coat (nicked from the stockroom), pompom hat (made by me), Russian folklore belt (charity shop)

On Wednesday I did my Wii Fit workout whilst the lads dashed about soaking wet and bedraggled from the torrential rain. I dyed my eyelashes, threw some washing in the machine and, after breakfast, had a blog catch-up. We drove over to Liz and Al's to hand over their presents and called in at the council tip on the way back to deposit the old radiators and some soggy cardboard. Money for Nothing often films from the Walsall tip but sadly there was no sign of the lovely Jay Blades.

Bitterly cold, windy, depressingly dark and wet, there's not many positives about Wednesday's weather other than it meant I was able to wear the 1950s leopard print sheepskin coat I'd borrowed from the stockroom last week without boiling to death.

Back at home we had noodles before I took everything down from the kitchen shelf and gave it a wash.

I swept the rugs in the lounge, moved the Wii Fit module and plastic Virgin Mary off the Mid-Century lamp table, replacing them with some plants, a framed William De Morgan print (bought from last year's birthday trip to the Jackfield Tile Museum HERE) and a vintage bamboo Buddha. If you fancy a New Year project, HERE'S how to I made my patchwork lampshade.

In the mood for swapping stuff around, using one of the pink trees and the Dala horse from Lisa & Mark's parcel, I got Liv and Sven's lounge ready for some seasonal fun and frolics.

The Lundbys will be at home on 25th December with just the cats for company. They aren't big on Xmas, as long as there's plenty of booze, some decent tunes and a cheeseboard then they're happy.

Like us, Liv and Sven aren't fans of The Beatles so have no idea where that Yellow Submarine album came from. Somebody must have forgotten to take it home after the last party.

There was another government announcement during the afternoon but moving into tier 4 didn't apply to the Midlands and the North so gyms, hairdressers and non-essential shops will remain open for the time being, much to Tony's disappointment, he works in retail and will be back at work on Boxing Day.   

Tea was halloumi with roast veg. Accompanied by rum we watched The Tailor of Panama, adapted from the John le Carré novel. It was watchable but nothing amazing, I'd forgotten what a terrible actor Pierce Brosnan is. 

It was a relief to wake up to a dry day on Thursday although I had to chip the frost off the top of the bin to squash a bit more rubbish in it. I did my Wii Fit workout, put away yesterday's laundry and watered a few of the houseplants and we had toast for breakfast. 

In normal times we meet the Dead Relative's Society for a curry on Xmas Day but obviously that's all gone out of the window and instead Tony is coming round for lunch. I prepped tomorrow's veg and after Jon nipped out for groceries, scrubbed the utility room, added a fresh towel and hand soap (so our guest has his own bathroom), mopped the floor in both there and the kitchen and cleaned the hall. 

Jon was back surprisingly quickly as the supermarket was pretty quiet. The neighbour called round with a bottle for us and a Xmas present for Frank and shortly afterwards Marcus (my brother) dropped off our presents. As a professionally qualified chef & a hospitality manager for many years, I find the old habits hard to break, and devised a time plan for tomorrow's dinner and sticking it to the fridge door. As our college lecturers drummed into us, remember the five Ps, Piss Poor Planning leads to a Poor Performance. (Sorry, chefs like to swear!)

WEARING: Vintage Afghan dress (Facebook selling page), Afghan gilet (eBay), sheepskin hat & tooled leather belt (both charity shopped), beer mittens (handmade by Liz)

After yesterday's thoroughly depressing weather, today was glorious although bitterly cold. We had our noodles, bundled up and went for a walk for a walk around the block, chatting to neighbours and returning the Happy Christmas! greetings shouted at us by strangers in cars. We needed a mug of tea when we got back to defrost our frozen fingers before sorting out a tablecloth, cutlery, plates, napkins, glasses & condiments for tomorrow's dinner table which we put to one side in the utility room . 

When I was buying Xmas gifts from the salvage & antique website these candlesticks accidentally fell into my basket. They started life as spinning bobbins in an Indian cotton mill. Chunky, battered and with a rich and fascinating history, I love them! They'll be adorning the dining table tomorrow, too.

Once I've caught up with blogland we've got a date with The Royal Tenenbaums (there's a rule in this house - no Xmas TV!) which will be accompanied by half a posh pizza. 

Whatever your plans are for tomorrow have a wonderful Xmas and thanks for your company, comments and virtual friendship. See you on the other side!