The Distancing Diaries - 21st & 22nd May, 2021

 Friday was another wet and miserable day and, to add insult to injury, unseasonably cold and windy. It's almost guaranteed that my poor Welsh poppies choose to bloom on the day their petals get battered into submission. 

It was so bad that I didn't venture further than the front border, even the lads were pissed off with the weather. I booked next week's National Trust visit, did my last Wii Fit workout of the week and put yesterday's laundry into a basket ready to put in the Kinky Shed when the rain had stopped. After breakfast, we walked down to the vaccination centre and got our second jabs, which, according to scientist superstar, Jonathan Van Tam, means that we'll be fully protected in between 7 to 10 days - yay!

Putting off the inevitable climb up the Hill of Doom, we decided to explore the town centre chazzas having only visited the clearance charity shop since all the Covid madness started.  Everyone wore masks, sanitiser was freely available, one-way systems were in place, and customer numbers were limited. One of the shops was due to close down on Saturday as sadly the local hospice chain had become a victim of the pandemic. The manager was really happy to see us as she'd saved some vintage stock in the hope we'd pop in before the doors closed for good.

What we got: a  pair of unworn 1960s denim workwear dungarees; a Merc Mod shirt; a 1970s bomber jacket; a 1980s cotton velvet waistcoat by Burton; Laura Ashley wool maxi coat (what a shame it's not my size); A vintage military-issue trench coat; Some super groovy 1970s nylon pants still in their packaging & a waist slip. 

A 1960s London-designed wool coat; 1960s beaver lamb coat (aka treated sheepskin); a Pier One tropical print cotton shirt and six unworn vintage slips. I'm keeping this box of postcards and notelets featuring the iconic Afghan Girl, after Don McCullin Steve McCurry is my next favourite travel photographer. I've been admiring these glass terrariums online for ages and couldn't believe the charity shop was selling the pair for £1.99, they retail at £15 each!

 

I was thrilled to spot this original Wallis off-the-shoulder top in amongst the knackered Primarni & snagged synthetics and, judging by how pristine the label was, it had never been worn. A bargain at £2! A high street stalwart since 1923, the chain sadly went into administration in 2020 and was bought out by the British fast-fashion giant, Boohoo earlier this year. The 1970s garments bearing the brown & cream logo have, in my opinion, always been the coolest. The label just goes to prove that you should always ignore sizes in vintage garments, I'm a UK size 6-8 in contemporary clothes! 

We got back from town soaked to the skin. After our noodles, I spent the afternoon trying out the new-to-me top with the rest of my wardrobe whilst Jon had a major wardrobe clearout, donating a bin bag of stuff to the Kinky Shed and stuffing another bag with charity shop donations ready to drop off on Sunday morning. 

After putting the bathroom plants in the tub for a soak we had tea, pizza with sweet potato chips. Later we watched Scotland's Home of the Year, The Killing and Gardeners' World accompanied with rum and cola and armed with a notepad & pencil, ready to scribble down Monty's gardening tasks for the weekend. 

On Saturday Jon was up first, made tea and brought it back to bed where we lay and read until 8am. We'd been warned that we might feel rough after our second jab but we were both absolutely fine, not even a heavy arm like we had last time. I stripped and changed the bed, loaded the washing machine and stripped off my nail paint whilst Jon made breakfast, veggie sausages with baked beans. Richard arrived with the post which included this vintage Ayesha Davar block printed cotton top I'd won on eBay last weekend and which I wore immediately. It's got the boxy shape of a teeshirt without the floppiness.

The perfect gardening top, the kangaroo pouch pocket is just the right size for stashing my string and secateurs!

SATURDAY: Ayesha Davar top worn with 1970s Papillion wraparound midi skirt (both eBay), vintage wellies (jumble sale) and 1970s Polaroid glasses (charity shopped by a friend)

Jon wore the £1 1990s Duffer of St George sweatshirt he bought from a charity shop on Wednesday for the first time (it's the proper label, not the line they produced for the now-defunct department store, Debenhams). It took three days for it to dry! Yes, those are his gardening Crocs, he loves them.

With a mainly dry day forecast, after I'd put the new stock away in the Kinky Shed, I cracked on with some work outside, potting up my patty pan squashes and raking up the debris from the previous day's high winds whilst Jon nipped to the supermarket for some essentials. My alpines are loving this cold, damp weather, unlike us! The temperature had plummeted low enough for me to pull on a wool coat.

I was just raking the cleared bit outside the gates when Jon got back. After he'd put away the shopping we planted our wildflowers, sowed the grass seed, covered everything with a net and gave it all a thorough watering - just in time for the heavens to open.

We had a bowl of noodles and decided to drive up to the garden centre for some inspiration, leaving with some lemon balm & a couple of courgette plants to replace the ones we'd grown from seed which had been decimated by the slugs. We continued on to B&Q where I found a barred horsetail for the pond, a loganberry reduced to £1 and two Acers on special offer. Back at home we popped the courgettes in the greenhouse, immersed the new plant in the pond, stuck the lemon balm in the herb bed and left the rest standing in the rain.

Jon at Coughton Court, July 2020 (more HERE)

After our visit to Coughton Court last summer we'd decided we wanted a bog garden or at least a lush, densely planted area around the pond. I think we're getting there.

The ferns are slowly unfurling and the bluebells are putting on their best show ever. 

I grew the hostas from a pack of Wilko bulbs. The glossy leafed plant is the bizarrely named, Bear's Breeches, we found it growing behind the shed and moved it. 

The herb bed's coming along a treat. We've got coriander, rocket, sage, anise, parsley, thyme, oregano, marjoram, bronze fennel, Sicilian mint, black peppermint, summer savoury, chives and now lemon balm. There are two varieties of basil, mustard cress & caraway on the windowsill in the utility room.

Tea was salad and garlic bread accompanied with a glass of wine.

Our rum-fuelled entertainment later will probably include Channel 4's The Great Garden Revolution at 8pm which, if you've not had the pleasure of watching, is a joy, full of fresh ideas for gardeners of all abilities.

Tomorrow is supposed to be another shocker weather-wise, not that it'll stop us venturing out to explore the clearance charity shop in the morning.

See you soon!