The Distancing Diaries - 3rd & 4th December, 2020

 Thursday morning was grim, it had been raining since the early hours and icy cold. Neither of the lads were keen on staying outside and were already back in bed when I started my Wii Fit workout. After breakfast Jon & I decided against the walk we'd originally planned to do, instead I did a quick catch-up with blogland, thrilled to visit Ivana's blog and find myself! How fabulous are her sketches? You can visit her HERE.

I took myself off into the lounge & cracked on with my crochet whilst Jon defrosted the freezer and started compiling our online supermarket order to be delivered in a fortnight's time thus avoiding the Xmas madness.

Just before our noodles Richard the postman arrived bearing parcels, which included a recent eBay finds, a 1960s India Imports of Rhode Island handloom pinafore dress with a huge single pocket which the seller had listed in the wrong category so I won it for £5.50. The photos in the listing made it hard to see whether it as maxi or midi length and was delighted when it turned out to skim the floor, perfect for winter layering or summer sunshine.

After lunch I completed my latest make, a hat for Jon. He wanted a pompom in burnt orange (yarn left over from my granny square waistcoat) and I must admit it's a great choice, much better than a matching one.

As a treat I had a bath, I'd not had one in months! The houseplants get to spend more time in the tub than I do. 

Tea was bangers, mash and peas...not particularly photogenic but very tasty and perfect for such a miserable day. Later we watched half of the utterly compelling The Trials of Oscar Pistorius documentary series on the BBC iplayer. 

Friday was cold but mercifully dry. My first job of the day was to book a National Trust excursion for my birthday on Sunday which proved tricky as nearly everything in tier 3 was fully booked but I persevered and found something in the end! After my Wii Fit I did a load of washing, hung it up in the utility room, and took the plants down from the kitchen shelves for a long soak in the sink, giving my Aloe Veras their monthly spritz while I was at it. 

After breakfast Jon popped to the vets as it had been a fortnight since he'd taken Frank and the vet had suggested a follow-up appointment. Meanwhile I'd had a flurry of eBay sales the previous evening so I packaged them up and Jon whizzed them round to the Post Office before popping to Morrisons for some groceries.

I put the upstairs houseplants in the bath to soak before settling down to a bit more crochet. Richard arrived with another eBay find. 

Words can't express how fabulous this vintage 1960s Indian dress is in the flesh, it's hand woven with the most amazing neckline and huge puffed sleeves, almost museum worthy. I was slightly worried that it might be too big as the seller had listed it as a 38" bust but she must have been confused by the "38" woven on the label, the European size and not the chest size. The bust measures 32" so it's a perfect fit. Phew! I wasn't looking forward to taking it in.

After our noodles I suggested that we drove to the clearance charity shop as the rain had returned with avengeance and a walk around the block didn't seem very appealing. Jon soon had his mask and coat on.

We had to giggle, not only were several of the items we'd donated when I'd cleared out the Kinky Shed adorning the models in the window, Jon even managed to buy back one of the books I'd dropped off the last time we'd visited! We also came back with a 1980s patchwork bomber jacket, a Paul Smith shirt, a British-made jumper and a pretty Indian cotton blouse that stank of that hideous lillies on LSD washing powder but looks pretty on. Another fail was spending 50p on what I thought were a pair of black lacy tights that turned out to be both footless and an XXL. They'll be going back next week! Serves me right for not taking my reading glasses shopping with me.

Apologies for the poor picture quality - it was almost dark and peeing it down (but thankfully no sign of the predicted snow) when Jon took my photo. It was clearly an Afghan kind of day, one of my vintage dresses and my beloved coat which is the warmest thing known to man (and me!)

Tea was pizza, salad and a beer! We're drinking rum later and shall be watching another of Steve McQueen's Small Axe films (Red, White & Blue was stupendous) as well as the final installment of the Oscar Pistorius documentary. 

I won't be posting until Monday so, in the meantime, stay safe and see you when I'm 54!