Stormy Weather

With the rain lashing against the windows and the winds battering the trees, Storm Arwen had already arrived when I rolled out of bed at 6.30am on Friday morning, having had a wonderful night's sleep beneath the new wool duvet. 

Our brass Eid lights cast a welcoming glow in the kitchen on a miserable morning.

 After breakfast, we decided to tick a few jobs off the to-do list. First was cutting up the old duvet and using it to restuff some cushion covers, saving it from landfill.

I bought these hand-embroidered climate change cushion covers from my favourite fair-trade company, Ian Snow's sale several years ago, follow the link at your peril, there are about a hundred things on there I'd buy if I could.

Jon repotted the cheese plant. When he'd finished I tried out a tip I'd learnt the other day and polished the leaves with the inside of the banana skin, they came up a treat.

My tradescantia cuttings had finally developed roots so I potted them up in the handmade £1.50 ceramic planter we'd bought on our charity shop trip the previous day.

I was going to hang it in the bathroom but the green is a perfect match to the arsenic walls in the kitchen so I hung it up in the inglenook instead.

The other £1.50 planter we'd bought did end up in the bathroom.

Between showers, I managed to dash outside and take some stock photos and list a few things on eBay whilst Jon mended the bannister which had been hanging at a strange angle for far too long.

After lunch, we walked to the postbox on the corner to post a parcel. I did have a coat on (it was freezing!)

WEARING: Kharibu block printed dress (eBay), vintage Indian cottage waistcoat (Last year's Xmas present from Liz), Mjus boots, planished silver bangle & '70s sheepskin hat (charity shop finds), Heatgen thermal polo neck & leggings (M&S seconds, bought from eBay)

In recent years the UK has embraced Black Friday and when he got up I'd told Jon that I'd bought a massive telly and an American-style fridge the size of a garden shed while he was still asleep. Funnily enough, he wasn't fooled!

Stephen Squirrel had spent most of the day slumped on landing, across the heating pipe. He managed a couple of hours rampaging around the garden before the heavens opened and the winds raged with renewed ferocity. We could hardly hear the tv above the noise outside.

The forecast had warned of wintery showers but we were surprised by how much snow greeted us when we opened the curtains on Saturday morning. Stephen refused point-blank to set paw outside and instead lay with us in bed while we read until 8am.

After veggie sausage sandwiches, Jon went out on an emergency dash for rum as supplies were running dangerously low. Meanwhile, I cracked the ice in the birdbath, topped it up with water and replenished the feeding station.

WEARING: Schott NYC pea coat, Fat Face cashmere jumper, canvas cap and Clarks' boots (all charity shop finds), Levi 510s (eBay), Antiqued leather cross-body bag (bought in Rhodes)

Lord Jon wore the Schott NYC woollen pea coat he'd snaffled on Thursday. He'd unbuttoned and washed the detachable fake fur collar before I had to chance to photograph and feature it in last week's collage of charity shop finds.

 

His coat currently retails at £428 so the £5.95 he paid was a bit of a bargain. Who needs Black Friday deals when you've got Black Country charity shops? 

WEARING: 1980s Indian block printed dress (Olds Cool Traders), Frye Campus boots(eBay), me-made hat and vintage Aran cardi (charity shop)

As costs per wear go, I've had this £3 cardi a week now and I think it owes me money!

With it blowing a gale outside, I spent a lazy afternoon sewing a craftism banner.....Lynn sent me the book, it's so inspiring.

Before curling up in the lounge with the wonderful Matthew Shardlake, finally reaching the end of the 650-page book I started a fortnight ago.

The old fella's got a particularly fluffy coat this Winter, I wonder if we're in for a bad one?

Tea was Jon's paneer & bindi (okra or ladies fingers, depending on where you're from) Punjabi-style curry which we ate whilst watching a surprise government update where BoJo informed us that masks in shops and on public transport would be mandatory from Tuesday in a bid to slow down the new Omicron variant. No change for us as we never stopped wearing them.

It was an evening of rum, cola and The Americans. We're 15 episodes in now, with 60 more left to watch.

On Sunday morning, I followed Stephen outside, poured boiling water on the birdbath only for it to freeze over moments later. I took mugs of tea back to bed and lay reading till almost 9am - I love Jo Nesbo even when his books don't feature Harry Hole.

After negative lateral flow tests, buttered toast and the Andrew Marr Show, we got dressed and headed into town for our weekly clearance charity shop rummage and it looked like most people had already taken heed of yesterday's government update and were pretty much all wearing masks.

With the exception of his Farah jacket, a reissue of a 1943 military pilot's uniform, bought in a charity shop four years ago, and some vintage leather gloves, Lord Jon's wearing exactly the same as he did the previous day.

I'm wearing a vintage '70s Anokhi skirt, a Reiss felted wool fedora & Mascob for Liberty velvet Badin jacket (all eBay), Mum's Biba lace-up boots, an embroidered leather Kashmiri belt (charity shop), a hand-embroidered blouse bought in Greece, a gold leather bag (India) and some wool beer-mittens, knitted by Liz.

We came back with a canvas Helly Hansen jacket; a 1980s orange leather cartridge bag; a fold-up barbeque, a couple of paperbacks; some leather combat boots from Zara; a Light of Asia, Madras Indian cigar box (McDowells, makers of the white rum we always drink in India, sold the company in 1951 so its at least 70 years old) and a pair of 1970s crepe-soled Italian sheepskin-lined suede boots which fit me perfectly - hooray!

It's still icy cold, the snow is still falling and to add to my woes, Jon's only gone and passed on his cold. I never get colds and this is the second in six weeks. I'm off to take a couple of echinacea tablets and curl up in front of the fire with Jo Nesbo.....I'll see you soon!