The Distancing Diairies - 23rd & 24th January, 2021

 It was Jon's turn to get up first on what was a very frosty Saturday morning, he saw to The Lads, who kept their outdoor adventures to the bare minimum, anxious to get back to the warmth of the house. We drank tea in bed and read till 9am. I stripped and changed the bed, loaded the washing machine and joined Jon for a breakfast of veggie sausage, mushroom and egg sandwich.

Once dressed we walked past the Guru Nanak Gurdwara at the bottom of the road into the area of Walsall known as Palfrey. A rural settlement until the mid-1800s, the name Palfrey is derived from the Latin Paraveredus, meaning a well-bred, light horse and is so called as horses were kept here. Like its neighbour Caldmore, Palfrey is a tangle of Victorian terraces and corner shops and, reflecting the ethnic diversity of the area, there's halal butchers, Indian sweet centres and Afro-Caribbean fruit & veg shops.

Our main mission was to visit Palfrey Park, the first park in the borough to be awarded a national Green Flag Award. Somewhere that, despite living in Walsall my entire life, I'm ashamed to say that I'd never visited until Saturday. When I asked Jon if he had he revealed that, as a 17-year-old, he worked for the Parks Department and used to mow the grass there. One morning he'd been first to arrive at work and had found the dead body of an elderly man. Not something that would have you rushing back to visit.

The park, then known as St George's Recreation Ground, was established in 1886 and, after a local newspaper campaign for the addition of bandstands in several of Walsall's public parks, the council commissioned George Smith & Sons of the Sun Foundry, Glasgow to build three for a combined cost of £90. The bandstand, erected in 1890, soon became a popular fixture with concerts being performed regularly however, the demand for live events had waned by 1948 and the bandstand was removed. 

Palfrey Park underwent a regeneration programme in 2000 and heritage and lottery funding paid for a reproduction to be built. The colours used replicated Walsall's 16th Century Coat of Arms.

In 2005, John McKenna, a renowned sculptor, was commissioned to design and fabricate the structure of the Palfrey Horse, which was made using small sections of locally produced stainless steel.

The park has a kids' playground, a bowling green, a full size basketball court, a multi-use games area and an outdoor gym, currently closed due to Covid restrictions.

 A dad was trying to teach his three young children the rules of cricket and told us that it wasn't going well whilst generations of ladies dressed in Punjabi suits, saris, Puffa coats & trainers greeted us warmly as we strolled along. In fact everyone we encountered, of all ages, genders and ethnicity returned our hellos and smiles, no wonder the park has won an award for being a welcoming place. 

We've always suspected that Frank originated from Palfrey, close enough to our house but far enough for a cat to get confused and lose his bearings - here's the evidence, a twin!

We were amazed - and impressed - with this informal conservation area. Who'd have thought such a thing existed ten minutes walk away from our front door?

Walking through this wooded glade we could almost have been in the grounds of a grand National Trust estate, not a corner of a post-industrial urban sprawl of Walsall. I still can't believe I'd never been to Palfrey Park before, talk about being a tourist in my own backyard.

Just across the road from the park entrance stands The Orthodox Church of the Nativity of the Mother of God. The church follows the traditional Byzantine chant on worships and, in line with Walsall's diverse population, conducts services in English, Greek, Romanian and Slavonic languages.  

They used to have fantastic jumble sales here back in the 1980s. I once kitted out an Indie rock band in an array of 1970s novelty printed tab collar shirts, all still in their original shop wrappers!

Back at home I just managed to pose for an outfit photo before the snow started.

My Wear:Sleep:Repeat challenge continued. Friday's Phool midi dress got a second outing, this time worn with the vintage Indian block printed waistcoat Liz & Al bought me for Xmas and my Tuscan sheepskin hat (75p from the Salvation Army in 2011).

The details: A selection of tribal cuffs (from friends); Afghan headpiece worn as a necklace (eBay), Pewter leather boots (La Redoute, 2017), Indian earrings (inherited from Mum)

It was an afternoon of snow flurries, answering ebay questions, editing photos and catching up with Blogland. Tea was cheese, crackers, tapenade, olives, fig & balsamic chutney (a year past the sell-by date but still very tasty!) and pickled onions eaten in front of the TV as a change from the kitchen table.

The previous evening we'd discovered All The Sins, a crime drama from Finland, on Walter Presents and watched three episodes back-to-back. Accompanied by rum & cola we watched the rest of the series.

On Sunday morning I was up at 7.30am, making tea and bringing it back to bed where we lay and read for an hour. I dyed my eyebrows and lashes & epilated my legs before joining Jon in the kitchen for toast and mugs of coffee and, as usual, I painted my nails whilst watching The Andrew Marr Show. Originally we'd intended to walk down to Wilkos for bird food, soda crystals and light bulbs but it started to snow heavily and showed no signs of stopping so the plans were shelved. The Hill of Doom is a scary enough prospect on a dry day.

The previous day I'd received my accounts back so I paid the accountant's bill online, signed everything off and, with the snowfall slowing down, we took our chances and walked around the corner to pop them through the accountant's letterbox.

The snow was deep and fluffy and squeaked like icing sugar as we walked along. 

Back at home I stripped my coat & mittens off and posed for an outfit photo. 

Wear:Sleep:Repeat continues.

Exactly a year to the day I was wearing this Anokhi dress in Goa with nothing else except a pair of chappals and a shedload of jewellery. Today I'm wearing it with Saturday's vintage block printed waistcoat, the Armor Lux Breton I scored from eBay last weekend, my me-made hat and my wellies not to mention my thermal leggings and Nordic socks.

The details: Indian sponge coral beads (vintage fair, 2018), Carnelian earrings (Afghan refugee charity via ebay) and freshly painted The Way You Make Me Teal nails by Barry M.

After listing the menswear I'd photographed on Friday, I put my wellies back on, trudged outside to the Kinky Shed to put everything away, collected the weekend sales and wrapped them up ready for the twice weekly Post Office run tomorrow. 

A poke around upstairs revealed my stash of vintage Banjara dowry coin necklaces so, having recently won a couple of fabulous tribal pieces of jewellery on eBay & in-keeping with my one in, three out rule, I photographed and listed them along with a photo of Laxmi, who I've bought many pieces of tribal jewellery from over the years.

It might be past his belly but Stephen loves the snow!

Tea was a naan bread pizza, Jon's way of using up any scraps. 

While Jon relives his childhood and watches Ski Sunday, I'm having a blog comment catch-up before we settle down for the evening's viewing. After all the murder, religious fanaticism and gore we're planning on watching a film, a Finnish comedy (Heavy Trip) about the adventures of a hapless heavy metal band. 

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Goodness me...it's STILL snowing! 

Stay safe, warm, healthy and happy and I'll see you very soon.....