The Distancing Diairies - 13th & 14th January, 2021

 After my Wii Fit session on Wednesday morning I caught up with blog reading before joining Jon for our fruit & yogurt breakfast. I mopped the kitchen and utility room floor, which I'd only done a few days previously but trudging back and forth into the garden to take photos had left its toll on the quarry tiles. I washed Jon's white tee shirts - I wait for them to mount up to make turning the machine on worthwhile -and hung them up to dry in the utility room.

Continuing with my Wear: Sleep: Repeat challenge, I rewore Tuesday's Renjoy maxi skirt, this time combined with my ivory Ayesha Davar blouse & a Reiss wool felt fedora (both from eBay), a 1960s lace-up suede waistcoat Liz bought me for Xmas 10 years ago, Snag 80 denier tights and my Gohill's exotic snakeskin boots (bought by my favourite teacher in 1966 and passed on to me, blog post HERE).

The details: This huge silvered African brass bangle belonged to my Mum, the agate bracelet was a 21st birthday present from my workmates when I worked as a sous chef at a private golf club back in 1987 (thirty-three years ago! Where did my life go?) and the mirrored Banjara earrings were bought from a roadside stall in Goa in February, 2020.

Here's my exotic snakeskin boots in all their glory. The photo was taken a few years ago but they're still as lovely.

It was a wet, gloomy and thoroughly miserable day which scuppered my chances of taking any stock photos outside. I swept and mopped the stairs, dusted the Wall of Misery frames and sorted out the dressing table drawer in the spare bedroom, donating a top to the Kinky Shed and relegating two ancient pairs of leggings to the duster pile.

After lunch Jon received a text message to say that the bedding we'd ordered from La Redoute was ready for collection at Ajay's, the convenience store opposite the Guru Nanak gurdwara, so we combined picking up the parcel and buying some peppers from Johal's with our permitted daily exercise. Des Pardes, if you're wondering, is a Punjabi language newspaper. After English, Punjabi is Walsall's second most widely spoken language. Quite a few of us throw in the odd bit of Punjabi into our day-to-day conversation.

The Victorian-era Whitehall Infants School, opened in 1899 as a mixed school. Until 1893 all schools were single gender so boys and girls being educated together was still relatively new although segregation remained within, hence the separate entrances. The school was forced to close on several occasions when the military requisitioned the building during WW1 and attendance dropped dramatically after the infamous Black Country Zeppelin Raids in 1916. With echoes of today, in 1918 the school closed for two months due to the Spanish Flu epidemic. During WW2 air raid trenches were dug in the playground and some of the school's staff were seconded to help with rationing and evacuations. Whitehall School moved to new premises in the late 1980s but the school is still used as an adult education centre (or would be if we weren't in lockdown). The building is now Grade II listed but back in the 2000s it was scheduled for demolition. Whilst I'm delighted that it was saved I can't help but be a bit disappointed as we'd originally been given first dibs on the contents by the director of the company tasked to tear it down.

For most of my life this building, directly opposite the bus stop to West Brom, was a TV repair shop (something I only ever see in India these days). It's since been converted into a house but the Victorian owl plaque has always fascinated me. Isn't he fab?

Tea was the usual Wednesday one of halloumi with roasted vegetables followed by several rum & colas. On Tuesday we'd discovered a Nordic Murders we hadn't seen so Rebecka Martinsson:The Arctic Murders was our viewing choice for the night along with the first installment of Death in Bollywood, an investigation into the suspicious death of British actress Jiah Khan. Despite the serious subject matter it was good to see our beloved Mumbai on the TV especially the glimpses of Chowpatty beach where, eleven months ago to the day, Jon & I posed for this Valentine's Day photo.

The torrential rain that had started the previous evening was still lashing down when I got up at 6.30am on Thursday. The Lads did their stuff outside and rushed back in, soaking wet and disgruntled. After my Wii Fit session I put away yesterday's laundry and started a blog comment catch-up before our breakfast. I wrapped my ebay sales and Jon whizzed them round to the Post Office. I keep my packing supplies in Jon's music room, this is what confronted me when I opened the door this morning....

By the time I'd updated my business policies on eBay, answered a couple of potential buyers' questions and ironed some stock it was lunchtime. After a bowl of noodles we noticed that the rain had stopped so grabbed our coats and took ourselves off for a walk around the block. 

Jon discovered this 1980s C&A wool & suede bomber jacket in the stockroom and decided it would be far better in his wardrobe than in anyone else's. I'm inclined to agree.

Continuing with my Wear: Sleep: Repeat challenge, I'm wearing Wednesday's lace-up suede waistcoat with my vintage India Imports of Rhode Island block printed maxi dress (eBay) & an embroidered polo neck jumper (from East). 

The details? A pair of silver, carnelian and turquoise Turkoman earrings (eBay), my cherry red Doc Marten Darcie boots (Facebook selling site), several of my Indian & Tibetan bangles plus a metal bangle which was handmade in Laos using aluminium recycled from bombs dropped during the Vietnam War (a present from Liz).

I spent the afternoon photographing men's dressing gowns ready to list over the next day or so. Although nothing beats selling face-to-face the good thing about selling online is not having to listen to someone telling you that My Dad/Mum/Grandma had one of them every five minutes.

Tea was pizza and salad, just by way of a change. Tonight we'll be watching Death in Bollywood and whatever else takes our fancy. 

Stay safe and well & see you soon!

Thanks to Hazel who suggested a photo montage of my Wear:Sleep:Repeat outfits so far.