Working for the Rat Race

Back in the dark days of corporate whoredom, by the end of this week I'd have organised two thousand Xmas dinners, over a hundred buffets and supervised a handful of outside events at the partners' swanky country estates, having broken up numerous fights in the kitchen, dealt with my chefs' histrionics & tantrums and fended off the advances of the drunken letches for whom I catered. I'd have spent the following week either half-dead or dead drunk. Never a day goes by when I don't get out of bed and thank my lucky stars I had the courage to escape the rat race. I still love a drink but the stress, which often induced me to drink myself into a stupor, got stuffed years ago (along with the Xmas turkey).

 At 6am on Monday morning the thermometer was reading 12°C and after days of dressing in all of the layers, a Miss Polly by Polly Peck 1960s maxi dress and a vintage fringed waistcoat (with a suede jacket over the top) was enough for a walk down to the baths. My heel tip fell off on the way into town but, unusually, there wasn't a queue at the cobblers and he was able to repair them whilst I stood in my socks.

After a half-mile swim, a 'Spoons Mushrooms Benedict breakfast and a tazz around the chazzas we did a bit of grocery shopping on the way home, spending £1.50 on a Lidl Waste Not box and 45p on a bumper pack of wonky peppers reduced to clear in the Co-op. Big shop for Xmas? Not on your life! That's for normal people, I'll never be one of them.

On Tuesday I was knocked for six by the news of Terry Hall's untimely death. For those of us who grew up in the post-industrial wasteland that was Thatcher's Britain, he was the voice of our generation. I've seen The Specials on multiple occasions, most recently at Cornbury in 2019 and at Beautiful Days just a matter of weeks ago, where Jon filmed the video above.

With deliveries due, I spent the day at home, crocheting whilst listening to 6Music with so many moving tributes to both Terry Hall and to Martin Duffy, a member of Primal Scream and formerly with Felt and The Charlatans (after Jon's time) when Liz and I saw them supporting Oasis at the legendary Knebworth gig in 1996. That's an early selfie taken on the day, 28 years ago!

I crocheted a tank top and finished a skirt I'd started at the weekend.  I got lucky finding some quality wool in a charity shop last week at a bargainous 50p a ball, normally it's all 100% acrylic and in horrible wishy-washy colours. The teal glitter yarn I've used in the tank top is particularly fab.

I wore an embroidered Ayesha Davar cheesecloth maxi with a me-made crochet tank top over the top. I'm so used to wearing hats, I'm starting to think I look strange without one.

There's a new series of the wonderful Vienna Blood currently on the BBC I-player. We watched the second episode on Tuesday night. The British-Austrian psychological thriller series is set in Austria in the early 1900s and the costumes, the female cast's updos and the Art Nouveau interiors are a visual feast. 

On Wednesday we picked up Liz for a day of charity shopping, calling into the Oldbury branch of Wetherspoons, The Court of Requests, for lunch.  Built in 1816, the grade II listed building, served as a Court of Requests, a magistrates court, a police station and a library until being bought and refurbished by Wetherspoons in 2012. 

We tried out the new salad menu, Liz and I had haloumi and roasted veg (with a pint of lager each) and Jon had chicken and bacon with a non-alcoholic beer before heading back to Liz's for a catch-up with Al, a couple of her homemade mince pies and a present swap.

Later we watched the BBC documentary, The Hacienda - The Club That Shook Britain, where Lord Jon was a permanent fixture back in the Madchester era. An excellent watch if you disregard the appearance of rent-a-gob Noel Gallagher, it's doubtful that he ever set foot in the place.

On Thursday I overslept and it was a mad rush to make tea before tuning into English Heritage's live feed to watch the sunrise over Stonehenge along with thousands of others across the world. We went for our last swim of the year (the baths are closed next week) before a 'Spoons breakfast and, with yet another mild day, I didn't need too many layers, just a vintage Indian cotton block printed Phool dress, cashmere wristwarmers and this new-to-me suede cape over the top.

When I spotted what was listed as a "hunting cape" (a new one on me, too!) on eBay last weekend with a Buy-it-Now price of £6 I thought I was seeing things and pressed the buy button in a mad panic. Despite the postal strikes, our postie Izzy delivered it just three days later. Although some of our post has been in the system for over a fortnight everything we've been expecting arrived eventually including these two 1970s suede suits I bought for my birthday....

I did buy the orange one for stock but I made the mistake of trying it on and now it's in my wardrobe!

This week's charity shop finds have proved to be a somewhat monochromatic-looking affair apart from the 1960s rainbow suede belt. There's some unworn Keith Haring baseball boots, a 1980s blingy belt (made in Italy), a vintage Kangol angora hat, a 1950s Scottish cashmere and wool reversible scarf, a military-inspired waistcoat, a 1980s fake fur, a St Michael velvet shawl collar coat (which looks like it's come straight out of Stevie Nicks' wardrobe and is sadly far too big for me), an embellished bugle beaded cocktail top, two unworn 1980s St Michael "Pure British Wool" cardis, a 1990s Monsoon angora cardi with a rhinestone button and an unworn DKNY 100% linen waterfall cardi.

After a quick blog catch-up I'm going to spend the afternoon crocheting with Tinker Tailor Solider Spy to keep me company. I'm not sure how many times I've seen this - or the original TV series with Alec Guinness - but I never get tired of it, it's a cold war masterpiece.

Lord Jon and I have a day out planned for tomorrow, I'll be back with tales of adventure very soon!