Stormy Weather

  Our favourite Black Country town was a hive of activity when we popped over on Thursday morning. With Storm Dudley on his way out and Storm Eunice imminent, the public had been advised to stay in on Friday so the world and his wife were making the most of their freedom.

I wore the Ankh earrings I bought from a charity shop in Tewkesbury the previous day along with the vintage cheesecloth maxi dress I'd bought from a charity shop before Xmas and a Dilli Grey reversible block printed jacket I'd found online for a third of the original retail price.

So what did we find? A very posh 1980s Louis Feraud gents wool overcoat which originally retailed at Harrods, an Agnes B teeshirt dress, an Indian block-printed cotton tunic by Anokhi for East's Artisan label, a vintage St Michael velvet blazer, a 1990s Indian cotton maxi skirt, a 1980s official Disney Winnie the Pooh teeshirt (I haven't gone mad, its festival stock, I loathe Disney), a 1960s Pakistani velvet shoulder bag (a mini version of my tote bag), a 1980s Wallis snakeskin print jacket, a 1960s Shamba English-made raincoat.

I spent the remainder of the day laundering my finds and catching up with Blogland. The previous evening we'd started watching The Frankenstein Chronicles, a marvellous Gothic horror set in early 19th Century London with a brilliant British cast led by Sean Bean.

On Friday morning Lord Jon nipped to the supermarket for booze and bread before Storm Eunice arrived. I spent the morning getting mundane stuff done, signing off my end of year accounts, cleaning, watering houseplants and replacing the handle of one of the Indian tote bags we always take charity shopping with us. In normal times I usually bring a few back from India and, after a two-year absence, the existing ones are starting to wear a bit thin. 

Eunice arrived at lunchtime and we held our breath, hardly daring to look at our hundred-foot tall London Plane trees battered by 80mph winds. With our getaway within touching distance, Jon took himself off upstairs to provisionally pack his bag.

We're off to South East Spain where the average daytime temperature is around 19°C dropping to around 7°C at night so it's short-sleeved shirts and shorts by day and jumpers, jeans and a jacket by night. He'll travel in the jacket, jeans, boots, hat, scarf and teeshirt and the rest (including socks and pants!) fit into the 40x20x25 John Rocha leather holdall which he bought for £5 in a charity shop about three years ago, knowing it would come in useful one day.

With Jon being so organised I thought I'd better follow suit, pulling out four Indian block printed cotton dresses from the wardrobe, my new reversible quilted cotton jacket, crochet beret, silk Kantha scarf, cowboy boots, some canvas plimsols, sunglasses and vintage leather bag. Does it all fit in my 40x20x25 bag? Yes!!

I'll travel in the jacket, the red maxi dresses (with a silk cami & thermal leggings underneath) along with the scarf, hat and cowboy boots.

We won't need many toiletries - soap (plus dish), bamboo cotton buds, eye-makeup remover wipes, a travel-sized sunscreen (which will also act as a moisturiser), bamboo toothbrushes and a travel-sized tube of toothpaste. As we're away for less than a week Jon won't bother shaving and I won't need to wash my hair. 

Also taking but not pictured - a small bottle of hand sanitiser, comb, a hair tie, tweezers and a nail file. We'll be wearing our facemasks and taking spares. I'm splashing out on eyelash extensions so it'll just be lipstick, blusher and eyeliner in my make-up bag. Jewellery will be kept to a minimum, put on once we've got through security - it's bad enough with my fake hip setting off all the alarms without all my metal!  

When Jon came back upstairs with mugs of tea on Saturday morning he handed over the camera. We'd had a visitor and he'd managed to take a few photos. Look at that face! We often spot this adorable ginger boy snuffling around the border at night, interested in the catmint that grows there. He looks off his tits in that first photo, doesn't he? We've called him Lewis after Damien Lewis, the other good looking ginger male. I expect he's another refugee from the colony. 

Saturday was local walk day and I posted photos of our wander around Heath Lane cemetery in the sleet over the weekend. Once we'd dried off we spent the day lazily, watching repeats of a Place in the Sun and wasting time on the internet. Later on, we drank rum and cola and watched the rest of the Frankenstein Chronicles.

Sunday brought torrential rain and icy temperatures. I was excited that the vintage Nigel Rayment hat I'd snaffled in Tewkesbury matched my 1960s green velvet maxi perfectly and the brim was wide enough to act as an umbrella although I did have to clamp my hand to the crown when we walked down to Wilko's as the wind was rather ferocious.

As usual, we popped to the clearance charity shop, handing over a pair of boots Lord Jon no longer required after finding an alternative the previous week.

We came home with a Gap ruffled cotton blouse, a pair of Bertie leather knee-high boots, 1980s St Michael midi skirt, an All Saints shirt, a raffia belt, 1980s Peter Martin cropped wool jacket and a shirt which had been hand-embroidered by the previous owner.

We'd not seen him for a couple of days but Cat turned up on Saturday, Sunday and Monday for his dinner. We've decided to call him Oliver, or Ollie for short, as he always wants more.

 

When we got back from town Jon noticed that some thieving scumbag had stolen the registration plates from our works' van, which had been parked outside the gates in the avenue. After informing the police and the insurance company, Lord Jon ordered a new set and tried not to get over-anxious about our number plate being used in a bank job and us being banged up.

Later we watched The Great Pottery Throwdown and the stylish (and fascinating) BBC three-part documentary series Bent Coppers whilst Storm Franklin raged outside. The winds kept us awake for most of the night and continued well into Monday. 

Our London Plane trees are still standing but the one on the right looks like it's leaning - eeek!

See you soon!