The Distancing Diaries - 1st & 2nd January, 2021

 Happy New Year to one and all! 

The bargain £1 William Morris 2021 calendar is now out of the cellophane wrapper & in use (sadly no dates scribbled on it yet!) and I'm delighted to see that January's featured print, Pimpernel, matches the blouse I bought from the same chazza three weeks previously.

On Friday morning Jon was up first, bringing mugs of tea back to bed where we read, and the lads lounged, until just gone 9am. I'd left the upstairs plants soaking in the bath overnight so sorted them out before going downstairs and having a sausage sandwich for breakfast (I know, that's our usual Saturday breakfast but Jon got the day mixed up).

After putting away the previous day's laundry I braved the garden to take some stock photos whilst Jon continued with the number crunching. It was colder than ever, even with my fingerless mitts my fingers were so numb I had trouble operating the camera. 

Being the crazy woman that I am, I risked hypothermia by taking my coat off to show you the waistcoat Liz & Al bought me for Xmas. I'm not completely daft though, there's a bodysuit, thermal leggings, an underskirt and woolly wellie socks under this Indian gauze dress!

FRIDAY: Vintage Indian gauze dress (eBay, 2018), Mum's Biba boots, 1970s sheepskin hat (charity shop), Vintage block printed waistcoat (Xmas present)

I spent a couple of hours measuring, writing listings and uploading my photos to eBay then sat in the lounge and started on the crochet I'd been intending to get around to all week whilst watching the New Year's Eve edition of The Great British Sewing Bee on the i-player, and although it was another celebrity special, the participants were more competent and the winner was brilliant. I turned the TV off and finished my crochet, another hat - this time in a mustard coloured Aran yarn.

How many hats does a person need? Jon asked me earlier. With the prospect of the remaining winter months at home with only a daily walk around the block to keep us sane...a lot! 

For tea we used one of the spice kits Tony had bought us for Xmas and made a Malaysian Rendang curry with turmeric rice. The recipe had suggested tofu as an alternative to beef for non-meat eaters but we used paneer as we had half a packet open in the fridge. Not the most beautiful looking dish but wonderfully spicy and just the job on such an icy day.

We settled down in front of the TV with wine (white Zinfandel for me, Rioja for Jon) and started rewatching Any Human Heart, the 2010 TV series based on William Boyd's masterpiece and in both of our top five list of the best books we've ever read. 

A sign of an outstanding book is one we read and keep on the bookshelf rather than passing it on or handing it back to the chazza from whence it came.

I was up first on Saturday, made tea and promptly tripped up the stairs whilst carrying it back up to bed, waking Jon up with a litany of expletives. I'd only spilt a bit but managed to create one hell of a mess. After mopping it up I went back to bed and read until 8.15. Jon got up to see to the lads and I stripped and changed the bed, loaded the washing machine & we had fruit and yogurt for breakfast. 

Jon headed off in search of grocery supplies whilst I wrapped the latest eBay sales. Once he was back we went for a walk and, although it hadn't been forecast, it was snowing yet again. There's a small gated park around the corner which is usually locked but it was open this morning so we had a wander about. Usually pretty quiet, it was a busy day at the Covid testing centre with a queue of cars waiting.

I bet you didn't know Walsall was home to British Judo. Full of surprises, that's our town. And talking of surprises, despite it being there since 1999, Jon and I had never noticed this Millennium Marker before, engraved with these words by Belfast artist David Dudgeon,

Down a wandering path

I have travelled,

Where the setting sun

Lies upon the ground.

The tracks are hard and dry

Smothered with

The weather’s wear,

My mind did move

With them that had

Before me seen,

Trodding down the ground

A track for me to follow,

Leaving marks for others

A sign for them to follow.

We regularly pass this masterpiece of hedge trimming, although the man with his shears is a recent addition.

Back at home we had a bowl of noodles. I left Jon to the accounts whilst I cleaned the spare bedroom.

Inspired by a similar Banjara blouse I'd seen in Sarah Jane Adam's book, Life in a Box, (courtesy of dear friends, Lynn & Philip) I thought I'd dress my mannequin in one of mine.

  In the 1980s I used to stand and stare wistfully at a trio of ceramic flying puffins in a cool interiors shop in Birmingham city centre but I was a penniless student and couldn't afford the hefty price tag. In 2018, more than thirty years later I found an identical set in a charity shop for £1.99 . After taking this photo I realised that the middle one was wonky, went to straighten it, knocked it on the floor and smashed it to smithereens. I'm such a clumsy oaf! 

I'm wearing my Shubette of London, 1960s mythical beast maxi, bought from another trader at a vintage fair in Walthamstow back in 2018. I've worn it to markets & fairs (that was us trading at London's hip'n'happening Brick Lane), for pub all-dayers and even last year's birthday night out with friends. Now all those activities are off-limits it's worn with wellies & woollies for walks around the block.

I had a rummage through my wardrobe and packed away a few more things, including my gold crochet wedding dress, a floor length psychedelic velvet waistcoat, a peacock blue opera coat and a marabou feather trimmed cape. Much as I love wearing my fabulous clothes every day, some of them just don't lend themselves to stout walking boots and a stay-at-home lifestyle.

Tea was the rest of the Rendang curry sauce and turmeric rice, this time Jon had chicken and I had rosecoco beans. 

Source

Tonight we'll be drinking rum, checking on the snow (which is still falling) and counting down to 9pm when the new series of Spiral starts. 

Cheers, stay safe & see you soon! 

PS Apologies for not replying to your comments on my last post yet, normal service will be resumed shortly,