The Distancing Diaries - 19th & 20th May, 2021

Shefali Oza, our weather presenter on BBC Midlands Today, said that Wednesday would be the driest day of the week and anyone planning a lie-in ought to be up and out early to make the most of the weather and after my Wii Fit workout and our fruit & yoghurt, we were.

Jon set to work on Gilbert refitting his exhaust pipe, removing the front grille and wiring in the new headlamp, bought to replace the one that fell off & smashed into a million pieces when we got home from Attingham a couple of weeks ago.

Meanwhile, I sewed some more lettuce seeds in another old lampshade and dug up another clump of wild geranium & planted it elsewhere.

Today was the day I would sort out the area in front of the shed earmarked for demolition. Of course, just as I'd started, Shefali was proved wrong and we had to dash inside to shelter from the torrential rain. 

As if by magic the rain stopped as soon as it had started and the sun was shining again and I was able to continue with my mission...with a break for noodles, obviously!

Inspired by Calke Abbey's spectacular plant theatre I'd been inspired to make my own budget version.

Ta-dah! 

This Edwardian stepladder has been in the garden for as long as I can remember and was falling to bits but I couldn't bear to part with it as I adore the original arsenic green paint. I removed the rickety rungs, sawed them down to size and screwed them to the frame to create supports. The shelves were planks salvaged from the woodpile. In the absence of auriculas, I used my potted sempervivums.

The tropical backdrop I've stapled to the shed was one of a pair of something called Scenesetters, large plastic sheets printed with a jungle design, which I bought from a charity shop for 50p a few years ago, always knowing they'd come in useful.  Of course, the vintage Rayburn, car engine and cast iron radiators are still there, I just cropped them out of the photo!

After I'd finished I lounged on the lawn soaking up the afternoon sunshine with my book. While he was making us a cup of tea, Jon received a call from the vaccination centre asking if we could come down on Friday for our second jab. We were originally booked in for a fortnight's time but with the worrying rise of the Indian variant, the NHS are keen to get all of us vulnerable groups done as soon as possible. Obviously, we said yes. 

Tea was a super spicy veg Madras served with masala chips, mango chutney, home-grown coriander and half a garlic nan. Later we drank rum and watched the first two episodes of Scotland's Home of The Year, 2021 (many thanks to Anne for letting me know there was a new series) followed by The Great British Sewing Bee. The previous evening we'd started The Killing which we never saw the first time round as we were in India. I found the book a bit slow going but the series is far better.

On Thursday morning I had a wander around the garden, removing the lids from the water butts in readiness for the forecasted rain. After my Wii Fit session, I swept the rugs in the lounge and caught up with Blogland. When we'd had our breakfast, we headed off to another of our favourite charity shopping towns for a morning of rummaging. 

Mindful of the weather forecast I posed for an outfit photo first. The vintage Indian cotton Adini maxi dress was £3 in one of the charity clearance shops back in 2018, friends found me the 1970s British Mist suede jacket at a car boot sale, the Reiss hat was from eBay and Jon took the Jones the Bootmaker pony skin leopard print boots in part exchange from a festival customer who didn't have enough money knowing I'd love them (I did!)

It had been over a year since we'd last visited this Black Country town and two of our regular chazzas had closed down reducing the total of charity shops to eight. The £1 charity clearance shop is usually mad busy but due to Covid restrictions only five customers are allowed in a time, we had to queue to get in but what bliss to have the rails almost to ourselves! All the shops had sanitiser available and absolutely everyone wore masks, although most people found it hard sticking to the one-way signs (including us!) 

What we bought: 1940s worsted wool gents collared waistcoat; 1970s jumper by Whim!; 1980s black cashmere & wool overcoat by Horne Brothers; English-made Harrington jacket; 1960s Welsh Woollens coat; Dedicated organic cotton fair-trade shirt (£79 on their website - Jon's keeping it) .....Sorry about the gloomy lighting, it was too wet to contemplate outdoor photos.

1970s Missoni-esque cardi (I'd keep this if I wore knitwear!); Duffer of St George sweatshirt; 1980s Italian-made cotton leisure shirt; 1970s Dunn & Co Harris Tweed jacket (now Jon's); 1980s lined mohair & wool mini skirt by Charlotte Halton (early River Island); 1970s St Michael gents smoking jacket.

I found this bespoke gents jacket in amongst the womenswear. The quality of the fabric stood out a mile, 71% virgin wool, 16% silk and 13% linen with a silk lining printed with Converse boots, embroidered with the previous owner's initials and complete with a pocket square. When I researched the label when I got home I nearly fell off my chair, this jacket currently retails at £1,500 (HERE)

The second fabulous wrist adornment in less than a week - this hammered silver bangle was £1 - it's a keeper!

It's lovely to return to our old routine, a couple of hours of rummaging, getting home and tipping up the charity shop bags on the lounge floor and having a good look at everything before slinging it in the machine and hanging it all up to dry. While we were eating our noodles, Izzy the postman knocked with a parcel containing a rheum palmatum (ornamental rhubarb), which we'd been mesmerised by during last week's visit to Upton House (HERE). There are lots of plant nurseries selling their wares on eBay and well worth a look if you're after something specific.

Upton's ornamental rhubarb, not ours!

 Braving the wind and rain we planted it near the pond. Jon threatened to bury me if I didn't behave but I reminded him that if the flat-earthers were to be believed, I was microchipped from my first Covid jab and the government would easily be able to track me if I went missing.

Tea was a beetroot salad with a vegetable frittata. We'll be watching more of The Killing and a couple more episodes of Scotland's Home of the Year later.

See you soon!