I'd Have Got Less For Murder....

Over the last few days we've been subjected to Arctic blasts, heavy frosts and snow. My poor daffodils have taken a right battering so, despite not being a fan of cut flowers, I've rescued the squashed ones and stuck them in one the Glug Jugs I inherited from Grandma.

 Rather than stick the heating on, on Thursday Jon and I took ourselves off to the matinee screening of Phantom of the Open, based on the true story of Maurice Flitcroft, a crane driver (and dreamer) from Barrow-in-Furness who took part in the British Open despite never having played a game of golf in his life. 

 It stars one of our favourite actors, the wonderful Mark Rylance - check him out in Bridge of Spies, so good I've watched it four times! Don't be put off by the golfing theme, its a wonderfully quirky and life-affirming film, at which we Brits excel. The 1970s costumes, especially the knitwear, are fabulous. 

We also watched Fish Tank on Netflix, a stupendously well-acted film which, if like us you're a fan of Ken Loach, you'll love.

We saw The Lost Daughter weeks ago (also on Netflix) but in the excitement of visiting Alicante I neglected to mention it on my blog. Olivia Colman plays a woman who takes a solo trip to Greece but becomes fixated by a young mother and her daughter she sees on the beach. I loved how the film tackled the fact that not all women are naturally disposed towards motherhood (I'm certainly not!) It's an incredibly powerful watch and Olivia Colman is magnificent.

Our swimming comeback continues, we've clocked up 50 lengths this week.

 Festival season is really happening! Cornbury confirmed our pitch this week and we had to pay the invoice for Glastonbury earlier today. It's the perfect excuse to carry on charity shopping (not that we need one).

What did we find? A rather lovely handmade ethnic tapestry jacket, a 1980s satin bomber jacket with Keep it Country emblazoned across the back, a copper bangle, a handmade 1970s cotton blouse, a 1990s crinkle sun dress, a 1980s wool midi skirt in a William Morris print, a 1930s fur cape (we seldom touch fur but I have a regular who has requested one and, with any fur we sell, all the proceeds will go to an animal charity), a 1980s Alfred Nippon "Executive Dress" (whatever that is), a 1970s hankerchief sleeve scarf print midi dress by the British boutique label, Shubette, a 1960s quilted dressing gown (but would make a fantastic coat) and a customised army jacket - perfect for a muddy festival!

Labels? Most of the time we couldn't give a toss about them, until we find them in charity shops! 

 Marc for Marc Jacobs cotton dress with pockets (£405), Daniel suede espadrilles, handmade in Spain (£89), Keith Haring sweatshirt (?), Katherine Hamnett organic cotton tartan shirt (£160), Play by Comme des Garcons applique tee shirt (£69), Adidas Campus trainers (£75), Fred Perry wide leg track bottoms (£90), Co-presenter of The Great British Sewing Bee Patrick Grant's Community Clothing Scottish-made merino wool cardi (£79) and some top quality British-made suede winklepickers by alternative label Underground (£178) - that's over a thousand quids worth of gear - if we'd been daft enough to buy it new!

Friday 1st April was our Never Had A Wedding anniversary, marking thirty years of unwedded bliss. That was us back in the early 1990s back in the days of the serial killer fringe and pre-digital camera.

I celebrated with my first haircut in almost a year (not even a trim at home) and had a whopping half an inch lopped off the ends - ditching the dryer, washing my hair once a week (and often less) and deep conditioning treatments have worked wonders. I went to a hairdressing academy in the town centre and my cut, blow dry and tousled waves by a sweet female apprentice cost half the price of the salon I normally visit. 

It's the third time I've worn this Nekane NKN dress but the first time it's appeared on my blog. According to the label the dress is: an artisan garment with hand made embroidery and applications, designed with love in Barcelona (where my virtual friend Diana lives) and made in Spain. It appeared as one of those pesky pop-up ads and I loved it at first sight (damned algorithms!) but at £185, I couldn't justify the price so looked on eBay and found it in my size, new with the tags still attached for a sixth of the retail price. I clicked the Buy It Now button faster than I've ever done in my life.

The tribal necklace was from a car boot sale about ten years ago, the olive green velvet boots and tasselled earrings (still carded) were charity shop finds as were the silver planished bangles.

Jon's wearing his Gabicci wool cardi, Levi 510s and some rather snazzy Jones the Bootmaker suede boots snaffled from a charity shop last year. Apparently suede footwear is a "micro-trend" this year, not that it makes much difference to us, we never stopped wearing it!

Are we all dressed up with nowhere to go? No! We celebrated our anniversary with a slap-up dinner at Kouzina, Walsall's Greek Cypriot restaurant (there's also a branch in Birmingham's posh Selfridges store).

I'm glad we booked, we had the last table. In addition to the other diners, the two big tables were reserved for a surprise 70th birthday - luckily for us the party arrived just as we'd ordered - and there was only two waiting staff (one of those was also the chef).

It was just one beer as Jon drove there - we didn't fancy a three and a half mile walk in a hailstorm! 

We ordered Greek Platters for one (and one with a very big appetite by the size of the tray!) I chose falafel and haloumi served with tzatziki and tirokafteri dips, Athenian flat bread, minted coleslaw, Greek salad and skin-on fries.

Jon chose the pork souvlaki, Greek kefte (beef & lamb) and the houmous and tahini dips. 

I had Mythos and Jon had Keo, a Cypriate beer that isn't quite as strong as mine (the advantages of me not being a driver!) 

 Thirty years? I'd have got less for murder....