The Distancing Diaries - 2nd & 3rd July, 2021

 

On Friday morning, after my last Wii Fit workout of the week, I booked next week's National Trust trip, wrapped my eBay parcels and caught up with Blogland. We'd run out of fruit and had a couple of slices of Jon's organic spelt loaf for breakfast.

The forecast was for a cloudy start with an afternoon of sunshine and 24°C heat so, as we were walking into town, I opted for my light and airy Dilli Grey midi dress with some vintage sunnies I'd had for years.  The sole purpose of our mission was to buy some oven cleaner but obviously, we couldn't walk past the town's charity shops without popping in.

What did we get? For the stockroom we found a lightweight wool zip-up jacket from high-end gents outfitters, Moss; a 1970s sundress by Erla of London; a contemporary navy cashmere overcoat by Jaeger; a 1970s bespoke worsted wool blazer by Austin Reed; an early 1960s cotton housecoat from Dorothy Perkins; a checked wool waistcoat by Viyella, a reissued design from their Victorian archives, still with the original tags; an incredible 1970s beaded silk top by Hilary Floyd of London (the designer behind one of my most favourite dresses (HERE) and a new-with-tags animal print boiler suit.

We found a few things for us, too!

• I'd spotted a crisp bit of cotton in a lovely earthy shade when we were in the clearance charity shop last week on the plus-size rail but it was all crumpled up and the plastic cube on the hanger said "26" so I'd assumed it was a modern piece as size 26s are a fairly new thing. As it was still there I had a closer look and realised that "26" corresponded to the waist measurement and upon unfolding it discovered it was a gorgeous vintage skirt with marvellous fringed pockets & glass buttons, labelled A Vyseboro Production. 
• A set of three framed freaky kids for £3? Perfect for the Wall of Misery!
• A gold coin necklace.
• Neither of us has read any Ngaio March, the striking covers attracted us.
• This set of 1970s stainless steel spice canisters with glass-topped lids are wonderfully tactile and of super quality, a huge improvement on the old glass jars with poorly fitting cork lids we've used for years.
• Jon loved this insanely cool 1980s shirt featuring Moghul princes and prancing horses. It's labelled Mellow by Angli and made in Denmark. It'll be perfect for Greece.

 Walking back along the avenue, another neighbour stopped in raptures about how good the front of the house was looking. The nasturtiums are starting the flower and the Sweet Williams and mixed Dianthus are a riot of colour.

The wildflowers are starting to bloom...just in time for National Meadows Day, which is today (3rd July).

And look, Lynn! Auntie Gladys's sunflowers are imminent!

By the time we'd eaten our noodles, the sun had broken through the clouds and it had started to heat up. I threw our finds into the washing machine, ate our lunchtime noodles and after I'd pegged everything out on the line, I stripped off into a bikini and prostrated myself on the lawn with my latest read. I've read most of Ian McEwan's books but not this one, with an unborn child witnessing a heinous crime, I'm already gripped.

We were back indoors for Spain vs Switzerland's 5pm kick-off, beer in hand and pizza in the Rangemaster. Switzerland were so unlucky to lose on penalties. With less than 15 minutes till the next game, Belgium vs Italy, we moved to the lounge, cracked open the rum and watched another heart-stoppingly exciting match. Halfway through I realised it was the deadline day for paying our pitch fee for the only festival we're trading at this year and had to dash over to the PC and transfer the cash...phew! 

Jon was awoken by the lads at 7.30am and after he'd tended to their needs he made tea and brought it back to bed where we lay and read until just after 8.30. After Jon went downstairs to start breakfast, I stripped and changed the bed and loaded the washing machine, but as it had been drizzling for most of the night and showed no signs of stopping, I was forced to dry the bedding in the tumble-drier.

After veggie sausage sandwiches, we were feeling distinctly jittery and decided we were suffering from PMT (prematch tension). We sang along to World in Motion and Three Lions (Football's Coming Home) and got even more nervous about tonight's match. To take my mind off the football, I treated myself to some gardening shoes in the Crocs sale (don't laugh, Jon's already a fan!) and moved the waistband button on the skirt I'd bought in the charity shop yesterday it fitted my 24" waist.

Channel 4's catch-up wasn't working so, on Wednesday night, we hadn't caught up with The Pleasure Principle as we'd originally intended instead opting to revisit The Serpent, the stupendously good BBC drama about the real-life serial killer, Charles Sobhraj, who preyed on young hippies in the 1970s. 

The Serpent's costumes are fantastic, there's every style from the ramshackle hippie attire of the young backpackers, the mainstream clothing worn by the Dutch ambassador's wife to the bohemian glam of Sobhraj's partner in crime, Marie-Andrée, who rarely appears without her trademark oversized sunglasses, a headscarf and a bracelet dripping with diamonds & rubies. To distract myself from all things football I decided I needed to create a Serpent-inspired outfit.

While Marie-Andrée favours a denim midi, I thought my new-to-me cotton skirt would be perfect for the sweltering temperatures of downtown Bangkok. My bracelet, handmade by a lovely blog reader using broken bits of vintage jewellery, is far more me than diamonds. The Indian silk-screen printed scarf was a charity shop find and the vintage oversized Polaroids were from a car boot sale a good decade ago.

Hello, hydrangea! Isn't nature amazing? Just look at the intense purple of my geranium Little Monster alongside the vibrant oranges & yellows of my Empress of India nasturtium and the dazzling hot pink of the geraniums!

I thought I'd lost last year's penstemon but it's back in all its electric blue glory! The crocosmia is imminent and the drumstick alliums are gradually turning purple.

After a good hour spent tending to my houseplants we caught up with last night's Gardeners' World with a mug of tea and some buttered malt loaf and then inspired by Adam and his trusty sidekick, Ash the cat, had a wander around the garden between showers to see what had popped up overnight.

The pond's looking very lush and alive with froglets and freshwater snails.

Half-an-hour of dead-heading and pottering and we were both starting to feel a little calmer although that all went to pot when we turned the TV on and the build-up to England vs Ukraine has already started. It's the Czech Republic vs Denmark first though, just time for a quick shower, to change into my lucky red bikini and crack open what could be the first of rather a few beers. 

Come on, England!!!