Illustrious Ancestors, Charity Shop Finds and A Night Out

 After Monday's Wii Fit workout, I ironed the stock I'd washed the previous day and, after breakfast when Jon had left to do the post office and supermarket run, I wrote some eBay listings and started photographing the stock. After lunch, Jon took over with the remainder of the photos and I uploaded the lot to eBay.

Don't adjust your screens, I'm wearing trousers! It's the Baukjen organic cotton cargo pants I found in the charity shop on Sunday morning. Although I'd never actively go out and buy a pair, I really liked wearing them. If I'd bought all these garments new I'd have paid £592.90! Crazy for such an unremarkable (but very comfy) outfit which, incidentally, cost me just over £30 for everything.

WEARING: Baukjen cargo trousers, Clarks' Orinocho Club boots, vintage Indian silkscreen print scarf (all charity shopped), Armor Lux Breton top & Mascob for Liberty "Badin" velvet jacket (eBay)

I spent the rest of the afternoon reading Philippa Gregory's The Kingmaker's Daughter and, unbeknown to me when I started it, several of Lord Jon's ancestors take central roles in the story.

His 17 x Great Uncle, George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence (1449 - 1478) was the brother of Edward IV and Richard III and married to one of the Kingmaker's two daughters, Isabel Neville (her younger sister, Ann is the daughter in the title of Gregory's book). Though a member of the House of York, he switched sides to fight with the Lancastrians before reverting to the Yorkists. He was convicted of treason by his brother Edward IV and features in two of Shakespeare's plays, Henry VI, part III and Richard III. He was privately executed in the Tower of London on 18th February 1478 and chose to be drowned in a butt of Malmsey Wine - what a way to go! 

The Duke and Duchess of Clarence, immortalised in a stained glass window in Cardiff Cathedral

Isabel died in 1451, eight weeks after giving birth to their third child. George believed she had been poisoned by an agent of Elizabeth Woodfield, Edward IV's wife, his accusations and unauthorised executions of the people he believed responsible led to the charge of treason.

His father-in-law was The Kingmaker, Richard Neville, the 16th Earl of Warwick (1428 - 1471) and was the wealthiest and most influential peer of his age. In addition to Warwick Castle, Cardiff Castle and Middleham Castle, Neville also owned Barnard Castle - a place forever associated with Dominic Cummings, BoJo's former political advisor. 

If it hadn't been for the act of treason committed by his 17th great-uncle (and the Crown seizing his assets), Barnard Castle could have been Lord Jon's!

On Tuesday I woke to discover that my Amarylis had bloomed. I planted the bulb on Boxing Day and have been waiting patiently ever since. After breakfast, we drove over to our second favourite Black Country town for a spot of charity shopping.

Finds included five hand-knitted cardis, a 1970s reversible Welsh wool cape, an Edinburgh label kilt, a jumbo cord jacket, a Ben Sherman shirt and a Billabong ski jacket which originally retailed at over £250!

Here are the keepers! A Kashmiri enamel vase, a Norman Parkinson framed print (my all-time favourite fashion photographer) and a small West German Fat Lava pot to keep my floor vases company.

After a day in casual gear, I was itching to dress up. I wore my vintage Ritu Kumar for Monsoon Indian block printed dress (eBay) along with a handmade beret and the Irregular Choice suede boots I'd bought from my two most recent charity shopping expeditions. How insane are those heels - cowgirl meets Art Deco!

After an afternoon of laundry and other mundane tasks, we met up with Liz & Al and went out, out (as the kids like to say).

We started in the Aldridge branch of 'Spoons, The Avion. Originally a thousand seat cinema, the Art Deco Cinema De-Lux was opened in 1938 by George Formby. It ceased screening films in 1967, becoming a bingo hall for the next 40 years and, after lying derelict for several years, was bought by Wetherpoons and restored.

After a couple of pints in Spoons, we crossed the road to Laboni for an Indian feast. Laboni is an anagram of Albion, as the owner, is a West Bromwich Albion fan (one of our local football teams).

Liz & I had a Mixed Vegetable Relish with pilau rice, Al had chicken dupiaza with a plain nan and Jon had Garlic Chilli Bahar with a bullet nan along with a plate of chips to share. We brought a bottle of Shiraz with us as Laboni is unlicensed. 

On Wednesday morning I was up and out just after 7am as I had a cervical screening booked at my GP's surgery, a free service available to all women aged from 25 to 64 years old. Up until the age of fifty, it's offered every three years and after that, every five so, when I said goodbye to Jill, the practice nurse, it seemed very strange to say to her, I'll see you when I'm sixty!

What I wore. I rarely plan my outfits. I open the wardrobe and pull out the first thing I see, there's nothing in there that I don't love and if I put something on and don't feel it then out it goes. On Wednesday it was the turn of this teal and burgundy block printed Anokhi dress, bought from their Chowpatti Beach store in Mumbai, back in 2020. 

WEARING: Anokhi dress worn with 1970s suede coat and Aldo fedora (both charity shopped), second hand Doc Marten Diva boots, vintage Banjara coin necklace (bought in India twenty years ago)

Jon was up by the time I'd walked back from the surgery so we had breakfast. We had intended to go National Trusting but decided to postpone it until the following day as it was damp and drizzly, popping out for a bit of charity shopping instead.

We came back with a printed needlecord midi dress (made in England!), a 1960s Sears velvet cowboy shirt, a 1970s smock dress, an amazing gold showgirl jumpsuit (also made in England), a vintage straw hat, an Italian wool fedora, a vintage sequin bag, a souvenir Flamenco record with a set of slides (marked Barcelona, 1964), three singles: Green Onions by Booker T and the MGs (1964), Hey Girl, Don't Bother Me by The Tams (1964) and Jungle Rock by Hank Mizell (1976) and a pair of Italian suede knee-high boots.

I cracked open my 8th book of the year, another Philippa Gregory novel. You won't be at all surprised that it features more of Jon's illustrious ancestors!  His 14 x great-grandmother, Alice Boleyn (d.1538), was the aunt of Anne Boleyn and the other Boleyn girl of the book's title, Mary.  

I couldn't find any portraits of Alice but here's where she grew up, Blickling Hall in Norfolk, which has been under the care of the National Trust since 1940. It's a bit too far for a day trip but we do have another magnificent house to visit tomorrow, I'll report back in a few days with tales of our adventures. 

See you soon!