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

Saturday is the only morning when Jon is first up and out of bed. He sees to the lads, makes tea and brings it back to bed where we lie and read, or in his case, snoozes, until hunger or a cat get us up. This weekend was no exception and, as usual, once Jon was back downstairs, I stripped and changed the bed and filled the bathtub with houseplants.

It was grey and chilly outside but, buoyed up by the previous evening's Gardeners' World, after our sausage sandwiches we did some more work outside. Jon pulled up the leeks, emptied out the compost bin and dug the contents into the soil ready for more crops. I'm glad he did it and not me, I'm not a huge fan of worms!

I swept the patio, planted some patty pan seeds and transplanted more nasturtiums and then gave everything a thorough watering. 

After a break for Ryvita and cheese, we walked around the block delighted to note that there wasn't a scrap of litter to be seen anywhere. We liberated a euphorbia and a couple of other interesting looking plants from the cracks in the pavement and back at home we potted them up. 

The sun had made an appearance and we sat outside with a coffee, thrilled to see that our visiting pair of collared doves had returned from their winter break. 

Tea was a Higgidy pie (spinach & aubergine masala for me, meat for Jon) with Charantais carrots, peas and jacket wedges. We watched our Saturday evening guilty pleasure, The Hit List and thought about giving The Killing on BBC4 a go (maybe next week) but ended up sticking with Waking The Dead. Needless to say, rum was consumed and we were both struggling to keep our eyes open by 10pm.

The Way You Make Me Teal - Barry M

On Sunday morning I had a wander around the garden while the tea was brewing, taking it back to bed and reading until just gone 8am. We had toast for breakfast, I painted my nails and we watched some of The Andrew Marr Show before losing interest and wandering off in search of stuff we could donate to the charity shop - I filled a bag with books we'd read, an unopened roll of vintage wallpaper and the boring Levi jeans I'd worn in the garden a few weeks ago while Jon boxed up an old hi-fi system that Tony had given him.

Leaving the house for the weekly charity shop trip, if that's not an occasion to dress up then I don't know what is! I'm wearing a vintage 1960s Krist Gudman of San Francisco patchwork maxi dress (a gift from ex-blogger Krista back in 2012), my Lamani crescent necklace (India), original '70s purple suede platforms (charity shop) and some vintage Tropical sunglasses (eBay).

 

As I felt like being a bit fancy, I gave my £1,045 Victoria Beckham navy leather Quincy bag its first outing. Needless to say, I didn't pay that much - it was £3 from the charity clearance shop back in October. I think the last time I carried a bag was back at the beginning of 2020, they're pretty obsolete these days. 

We drove into town and handed over our donations then had a joyous rummage for 45 minutes, the shop is enormous, the other customers are well behaved and the soundtrack is fabulous. I'm not really a fan of Abba but they suited the mood on a laid-back, sunny Sunday morning. After popping our purchases in the car we walked down to Wilko before driving back and having a coffee in the garden with Liz & Al who were returning the wheelbarrow they'd borrowed last week. 

What did we come home with? A rather snazzy tailor-made gents vintage tweed jacket & a groovy tie-dyed Fruit of the Loom tee shirt (both destined for the stockroom), Jon found himself an old school Adidas bomber jacket, a western shirt and a pair of River Island suede boots and I snaffled a brand-new pair of suede-lined Rockport leather for pottering around the garden in. There was also a gorgeous Seasalt, Cornwall green linen artist's smock but Liz is an artist and, as she'll be exhibiting her work at an exhibition in St Ives next month, so it's only right it went home with her! 

How cool is my £2 planter from the chazza? It started life as a promotional tin for Benefit cosmetics but I knew it would be far better suited with a trailing plant in it. The greenery - a variegated Ficus, a tray of petunias and some honeysuckle were all from Wilko.

My find of the morning had to be this beast! A vintage terracotta lion's head planter for a bargainous £3. I love him.

It reminded me of the one I'm forever taking photos of whenever we visit Packwood. 

After our noodles, the MyHermes man arrived with a parcel containing the amazing thing I'd bought on eBay before 6am on Friday morning. Talk about speedy!

Behold the fabulousness of my Anokhi block-printed cotton jumpsuit! As you'd expect from my favourite maker, it's beautifully made with French seams, mother-of-pearl buttons, adjustable shoulder straps and side pockets. Look at how perfectly aligned the print is, too.

There was a gorgeous yellow, cotton-lined French Connection maxi dress included in the parcel so I emailed the seller asking her if she'd made a mistake and needed me to return it but she replied to say it was a free gift! 

Despite the forecast being a bit rubbish, Sunday afternoon turned out to be dry and fairly warm. Jon planted his spuds in bags, watered the garden and topped up the pond whilst I dealt with our new plants before lying on the lawn for a couple of hours, repositioning a button on my new-to-me jumpsuit and reading more of Heresy.

Tea was pizza with ready-made potato wedges and, in a bid to steady our nerves for the series finale of Line of Duty at 9pm, we had a bottle of ale each.

See you soon!