Living

I signed off in a hurry on Wednesday afternoon, keen to curl my hair before our friends Lynn and Brendan picked us up and drove over to Lichfield. After an atmospheric riverside stroll, we enjoyed a feast in Ask Italian.

I've nicked the images of Ask's website (HERE). We shared the trio of arancini filled with spinach & ricotta, beetroot & goats cheese and pumpkin served in a gloriously tomatoe-y sauce and for mains, I had the Spaghetti Lentil Ragu, a delicious combination of green lentils and roasted vegetables in a sundried tomato sauce and Jon went for the Calzone Carne Piccante, a folded over pizza with pepperoni, ham, beef and red wine ragu with sauteed mushrooms, mozzarella and chillies.

 

Brendan and Jon adjourned to 'Spoons whilst Lynn and I made our way to Lichfield's Garrick Theatre for an evening with the novelist, Philippa Gregory.

After a witty, engaging and intelligent address, Philippa encouraged questions from the audience and Lynn was one of those chosen, asking how she felt about when TV adaptations of her work were wildly inaccurate for example in The White Queen, Richard III's defeated army at The Battle of Bosworth fled to the forest in the snow when anyone with an interest in The Wars of the Roses knows that the battle was fought in August.

 

We queued and chatted with the other fans after the show and Lynn got her copy of Dark Tides, the second in Gregory's Civil War trilogy which started with Tidelands, signed.

Reading is the new rock and roll!

The following day we were up and out just after 8am for a swim followed, as usual, by breakfast in Spoons. 

Last night's evening with Philippa Gregory had reminded me of the last time I'd attended an evening with a favourite writer - the late, great Howard Marks at Wolverhampton Wulfrun Hall back in 2009. Marks, a former Oxford undergraduate and international cannabis smuggler, claimed in his autobiography Mr Nice that the posh boutique he'd help set up in Oxford in 1970, Annabelinda, was used as a front for his work with MI6. He also claimed to have funded the move from small premises on Park End Street to 6 Gloucester Street to provide a respectable front for the wealth gained from his drug dealing.

AnnaBelinda's early 1970s designs often command £££s so I was overjoyed to find this wool and velvet trimmed pinafore dress in the clearance chazza last year. The fabric, like most of AnnaBelinda's designs, is by Liberty and looks very similar to the wallpaper in the staff quarters in Wightwick Manor so I'm pretty sure it's a William Morris design.

Vintage AnnaBelinda wool pinafore worn with Libeskind, Berlin boots and Rawhide suede coat (all charity shop finds)

Needless to say, we popped into the charity shops on the way back home, snaffling a 1980s deadstock brushed cotton waistcoat, a Hobbs Mid-century inspired print mini skirt, a 1950s wool and mohair coat by ABC Models, London W1 and a 1970s Norfolk (shooting) jacket which sold within half an hour of me listing it on eBay.

 After finishing Icelandic crime drama, Sisterhood, we tuned into The English, the BBC's new six part Western starring Emily Blunt. I must admit, it was Emily's wardrobe that had attracted me when I'd seen the trailer as Nikki and I are always complimented on our Cowgirl Chic when we're out and about, but although the costumes were to die for, the cinematography, the acting and the story were f*cking incredible.

On Friday morning we signed up to Our Future Health, the NHS's largest ever health research programme to help prevent, detect and treat diseases. Born with a debilitating birth defect and receiving a state of the art Furlong total hip replacement (for free!) at the age of 39, I owe my fit, healthy and active life to our incredible National Health Service. As volunteers we have to answer an in-depth questionnaire and attend one of the designated sites to give a blood sample and have our weight and measurements taken. I'm not great with blood - I always used to pass out when I was a donor (something I can't do after my numerous transfusions) - but I shall warn the nurse when I attend next week! You can join up HERE 

I swear my hair is growing longer before my very eyes! 

At the end of Summer I only pack away my skimpiest dresses, the rest are out and about all year round. On Friday I wore my Dilli Grey Emma maxi dress with an embroidered shaggy gilet over the top. Originally from Urban Outfitters and priced at £69.99, I found it on eBay with the store tags still attached for £15. At a balmy 16°C I was more than warm enough to walk down to The Light, Walsall's town centre cinema.

This week's film choice was Living, a screenplay by the Nobel winning writer Kazuo Ishiguro and based on Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan Illiych. As usual, I never read reviews before watching a film, preferring my judgment not to be clouded, but with the fabulous Bill Nighy in the lead role and the writer having written The Buried Giant, The Remains of the Day and When We Were Orphans, all books I've loved, I knew I was on to a winner. 

Set in post-war London, lonely widower, Mr Williams (Nighy), learns he has a terminal illness. The buttoned-up bureaucrat, deciding that he needs to live a little, escapes to the seaside and has a wild night out with a bohemian stranger. Back in London he bumps into former colleague, the effervescent Miss Harris and is captivated by her zest for life. Mr Williams yearns to "Be alive like that for just one day!" and uses the time he has left to seek redemption.

   

After watching cinematic masterpiece, The Banshees of Inisherin, a fortnight ago, I was pretty sure it would clean up at the Oscars but I now reckon that Living will give it a run for its money. If ever you need something to persuade you that life is for living, this is the kick up the arse you need. Go see it!

 

The daytime screenings are never busy and there were only a handful of people in the auditorium. We were delighted to bump into Dawn & Neil, who share our love of quirky British films and Eileen, the  teacher from our junior school who gave me her Gohil's exotic snakeskin boots (story HERE).

Ye-haw! After binge watching four episodes of The English the previous evening Saturday saw me out in the avenue dressed in my cowgirl chic, sweeping up leaves and chatting to passers-by.

My chambray blouse is Gap via the clearance chazza, (also the source of my Accessorize corset belt, 1970s Indian silk screen printed scarf and tan leather riding boots), the vintage India Imports of Rhode Island maxi skirt and Proper Toppa hat are from eBay. The earrings, made by an Irish designer using Walsall leather, were a birthday present from Liz & Adrian. The yard brush was off the market.

That's my exercise done for the day, I'm off to continue with my next crochet project....six squares down, 34 and two halves to go!

Have a bostin' weekend! Jon and I are meeting up with more of our fabulous friends tomorrow for some Black Country fun and frolics.