January Blues

The blog title reflects my wardrobe, not my mood. I'm wearing my other new dress, a Dilli Grey maxi I'd admired on their website for several years. Fully lined with pockets and French seams, if it didn't have a label, you'd assume it was vintage, the finish is so good.

I know that we're only eleven days in but this month has been a revelation so far. It's only the second January that we've spent at home in years and I don't suppose I can count January 2021 as the nation was in lockdown, the pubs, restaurants & shops were shut, we weren't allowed to meet up with friends or leave town without good reason.

I'm not sure if Spoons was so empty because of Covid or that dry January thingy where people give up alcohol for a month and, going by those I know who've done it, drink twice as much in February to make up for lost time, which kind of defeats the object. 

We met Tony at just before 2pm and rolled home some six hours later. 

We chatted to a dapper gent called Gerry, a regular who normally we only wave at. He usually sits with a group of equally smartly dressed retirees who drink wine by the bottle and argue over the cryptic crossword in The Times but was alone yesterday. A retired music teacher, he showed me some incredible photos taken during the years he spent teaching in Nigeria in the early 1970s.

Although remarkably similar, this isn't one of Gerry's photos (it's from The Guardian) but Nigeria had a fantastic psych-laced funk music scene back in the early 1970s and the fashion was amazing - I used to have a vintage Lagos-made psychedelic maxi which I wore until it fell apart.

Me in my Lagos maxi dress - Gokarna, Karnataka  2012

We ate! Tony had an Empire State burger, Jon had char-grilled chicken with a naga chilli and citrus glaze and I had my usual, a Mangalorean roasted cauliflower and spinach curry.

Just before we'd left for the pub I took delivery of an exciting parcel from Allie, who you'll know from her always thoughtful comments on my blog. She lives in Japan but is in the UK at the moment visiting her parents. I wore one of the bangles as soon as I tore the box open and shall be pampering myself with the facemask, nail oil and foot pack later. Thanks so much, lovely lady! 

Now, what was I saying about January being a revelation? There was I thinking that the chazzas would be bursting with unwanted Xmas presents, overpackaged naff toiletry packs, novelty mugs and hideous ornaments and little else at this post-Xmas slump. Wrong! So far we've been charity shopping five out of the last eleven days and we've never seen so many great quality coats, jackets and all-wool jumpers. 

Here's what today's visit to our favourite Black Country town yielded: a 1980s Frank Usher beaded cocktail top, a 1980s St Michael Argyle jumper, a 1970s St Michael Shetland wool jumper, a 1980s handmade fisherman's jumper, a 1950s Scottish mohair scarf, a Hackett, London all-wool jacket, a 1970s St Michael wool coat, a Farah shirt, a 1960s Richard Draper of Glastonbury sheepskin jacket, a 1980s St Michael mohair cardi, a 1960s Saluki fake fur jacket, a Duffer Irish-made denim jacket, a 1970s Crimplene gents dressing gown, a Free People leopard print backless midi dress and a 1980s lined wool cardi (called a coatigan by some!)

A few things for me! I couldn't resist this Zara jumper which I spotted poking out on the kid's rail, it's like an odd mash-up of Little House on the Prairie and a Scandi Noir detective. I think this tooled leather wallet is a 1960s souvenir from North Africa, I've had bags very similar before. The Monsoon wool-blend coat (from their Winter 2016 collection)  has been on the rails of one of the more expensive charity shops for ages but had been marked down to £3 this morning making a total spend of £4.

It might be three sizes bigger than my usual size but I loved how it looked when I slipped it on over the vintage Alpnani blouse, charity shopped beret and Dilli Grey maxi skirt I was already wearing. It's a woven textile as opposed to a knit but only the sleeves are lined, so it has the weight of a coat but the relaxed fit of a cardi. 

In cat news, our little visitor came for breakfast yesterday and was lurking in the bushes when we got home from Spoons waiting for his supper. We left a bowl out when we went out this morning which was empty when we got back and he popped back an hour ago for a couple more bowlfuls. 

Tomorrow's set to be dry, cold and sunny. Our favourite conditions for a National Trust outing. In fact, I think I prefer our winter NT trips to our summer ones - what has happened to me? 

See you soon!