The Last Ever Distancing Diaries - 16th, 17th & 18th July, 2021

We're having a heatwave, a tropical heatwave! On Friday I was out watering the pot plants at the crack of dawn before doing my last Wii Fit Workout of the week and wrapping my eBay parcels. I washed my hair and sat drying it outside in the sunshine before Jon got up and joined me for breakfast.

There was much excitement as we were off to visit our friends, Claire & Gareth, who we hadn't seen in almost two years. We met seven years ago as trading neighbours at a V Dub festival in Shropshire, hit it off instantly and went on to enjoy some crazy festival times together, a highlight was dressing up as Disco Unicorns, catching the eye of Martin Fry, the dapper lead singer of 1980s pop legends, ABC and having Poison Arrow dedicated to us. 

It was the first time we'd been in a pub for 16 months and you know what? Masks and hand sanitiser aside, it felt no different to those heady days before Covid.

And what a pub! The Roe Deer was previously known as Lawnswood House, built in the Regency style for the Foley family between 1813 and 1816 during the reign of King George III. 

The toilets are rather fabulous, too!

The lads had a rump steak sandwich with Dijon and tarragon mayonnaise, onions, fries and battered onion rings to share, Claire went for the sweet potato, aubergine and chickpea Malaysian curry with coconut rice & steamed pak choi and I opted for the broccoli and Stilton quiche with crème fraîche new potatoes, baby gem lettuce, grapes and caramelised pecans.

After exploring the Roe Deer's beautifully overgrown walled garden and swooning over the derelict gatehouse, we wandered through fields and along canal towpaths in the glorious sunshine. Hands up those of you who thought the Black Country was all derelict factories and post-industrial gloom?

The Garden Tiger moth

We popped into the famous Ashwood Nurseries, often seen on TV gardening shows.

 It looked tantalising good from the other side of the canal bank....

And didn't disappoint once inside, either.

I was tempted with several plants but the broiling heat and the walk back would have probably killed any potential purchase.

Back to Gareth & Claire's we wandered around their fabulously eclectic home and garden, drank gin in the sunshine (well, Claire & I did!) and posed for a few blog photos. Check out Claire's blog HERE.

Back at home (a half-an-hour drive away), we tended to a somewhat parched garden and two rather annoyed cats who'd been left to fend for themselves for hours. After a plate of cheese, pickles and crusty bread we cracked open the rum, watched the rest of the Hemingway series and Adam Curtis's stupendously good political docu-film Bitter Lake.

On Saturday morning Jon was up first, sorted out the lads and brought mugs of tea back to bed where we lay and read for a while but, as the weather was so glorious, didn't want to linger for too long. I stripped and changed the bed and cleaned the bedroom whilst Jon sorted out breakfast.  I pegged out the washing and marvelled at how gorgeous the poppies were that had sprung up overnight.

After our sausage sandwiches (veggie for me!) I popped out and did some top-up watering. It was set to be the hottest day of the year so far. I was wearing that incredible Dior slip my lovely friend Tricia had sent me. She'd bought it from a chazza a decade ago to cut up for crafting, I'm so glad she didn't! 

We worked through our to-do list, cutting back, planting out, feeding vegetables and weeding beds at a slow and steady pace. 

I was chatting with my friend Cat the other day and she'd mentioned line props. There was a wooden one at my parents' which I'd meant to rescue when I'd sold the house but completely forgotten about. I had a search online and discovered that several high street stores sold plastic ones really cheaply but really fancied a big sturdy wooden one so Jon had a rummage in the woodpile and made me one. The laundry dries a lot faster when it's not doubled over to stop it dragging on the floor. Nice one, Cat!

After I'd raked up the helicopters from the lime tree (it's that time of years, again!) The remainder of the day was spent on the lawn basking in the glorious 29°C sunshine.

Tea was pizza and salad, with onions dug up from the garden. They were wonderfully sweet and delicious!

Up to date with Beck and not fancying any European drama on Walter Presents we started to watch High: Confessions of an Ibiza Drug Mule, more for the travel porn than the foolish young woman who ended up banged up for attempting to smuggle £1.5million worth of cocaine out of Peru. We drank rum and despite warnings for a hut and humid night had no problems at all sleeping, we never do!

On Sunday morning I was up first and wandered around the garden as tea was brewing. Our first ever rose, Cuba Dance, had bloomed. I brought tea up to the bed and started my next book, having finished Earthly Delights in the garden the previous day.

We had toast for breakfast and I painted my nails in Barry M's All The Things She Red whilst we watched Andrew Marr.

I'd had another sort out of the Kinky Shed and there was a bag of donations to drop off at the charity shop so we drove into town, handed them over and had a rummage. 

We came back with a 2-foot tall vintage glass vase, two Indian block-printed cotton throws still in their original packaging and a historical novel.

After noodles, we posed for photos before stripping off to our sun-worshipping gear. I wore a 1970s cotton maxi dress from a charity shop I've had for over a decade and often accompanies me to Greece. At 31°C the temperatures had beaten yesterday's record for the hottest day of the year so far. 

Jon wore another travel staple, his vintage silk Gabicci shirt and the best accessory known to man, a large white cat with black splodges, otherwise known as Frank.

 

With the heatwave set to last throughout the week, Jon braved the shed and pulled out our Danish mid-century loungers. We bought the pair for a car boot sale for £7 years ago, possibly the bargain of the century.

Jon was trying to research the maker "Haaning & Co" and came across this vintage slide for sale on eBay. That's our bed!

Our black peppermint's going mad in the herb bed so I made some Morrocan mint tea and we drank it on the lawn, from vintage Indian tea glasses. I found the Art Deco teapot in a skip when I was a teenager. 

I'd got halfway through my latest read when I decided I didn't enjoy Peter May's style of writing and stuck it in the charity shop bag ready to donate next Sunday. Life's too short for bad books! I shall start The Music of the Spheres, later. After taking it in turns to water the garden we cracked open a beer and ate cheese, biscuits and pickles for tea. Later we'll be watching more of High unless we find anything that looks more appealing. 

**Tony's just told us that there's a new series of Baptiste starting on BBC1 tonight, so that's our entertainment sorted!**

And that's it...the last of The Distancing Diaries. Life returns to normal in England at midnight when social distancing, masks and restrictions are no longer mandatory (or will it?) I'll have to start thinking of imaginative titles for my blog posts from now on.

Thanks for your company, friendship & comments over the last 16 months. See you soon!