Down To The Wire

Monday already? Where does the time go?

Saturday morning dawned and, for once, it wasn't raining! I wore the previous day's chazza shop find, the Frida Kahlo tee shirt, underneath my Lucky Brand dungarees and some Superga plimsolls I'd snaffled from the £1 charity shop last Autumn (total outfit cost - £4!) and, after a breakfast of poached eggs & hollandaise sauce on sour dough toast, spent a large part of the day with Lord Jon in the garden.

The deluge has watered our new plants in nicely. The stumpery is looking good already.

The honesty is in bloom.

One of our new digitalis (foxglove).

The irises are on their way.

Hard to imagine that the euphorbia was a single stem I'd plucked from a crack in the kerb during a lockdown walk.

I had an exciting parcel through the post from my friend Elaine - a fabulous Indian shawl and some fancy teabags wrapped in gorgeous Morris & Co paper and accompanied by a gorgeous hand painted card! Thanks so much, Elaine. I'm sorry I haven't had time to thank you properly yet.

I played around with the thread from my box which Fifty & Counting and Between Me & You suggested could be for crochet, probably for making doilies and dressing table sets (and that'll be the day I'll check myself into an asylum). I experimented with crocheting around gemstones to make into pendants. Mmmmm.... still needs some improvement.

Tea was carrots, corn on the cob and parmentier potatoes, generously infused with chilli.

Late for the party, we've finally started watching The Wire and it is every bit as good as I'd hoped. Could it be the best cop show ever made? The signs are very promising. We watched three episodes on Friday night and two more on Saturday.

William spent Friday night asleep on the chaise and on Saturday night deigned to join us in bed although his yowling got me up at 5.45am (one of the joys of living with a cat that I'd forgotten about!) I made mugs of tea, brought them back to bed and cracked on with my next book - my first by Walter Mosley. It was Shelley that recommended him and, wow, what an incredible writer he is. I was halfway through it by the time we got up.

I wore a heavy cotton block printed dress from my Spring capsule wardrobe along with my bruise coloured suede coat, River Island hat and Timberland boots (all charity shopped). These copal beads must be the best 50p I've ever spent!

It had been a fortnight since we'd last been to the clearance chazza at the top of town and we were raring to go, arriving just as the shutters were rolled up.

1960s Count Christie tee shirt; 1980s Adriano Rizzo lace-up boots; Ben Sherman chores jacket (new wit tags, currently retailing at £165); Plus size brocade steel corset; embroidered leather cowboy boots; snazzy shirt; Fringed embroidered moccasin boots; Porter & Ash Hawaiian-style cotton shirt; 1980s Lizsport braided velvet bolero; 1970s fancy dress mini; 1980s Shirley, London wet-look showgirl bralet; 1960s Double Two Courtelle roll neck; Moncler wool beanie (with tags still attached).

Back at home we ate noodles before Jon cracked on with his accounts - with a little help from young Mr Woolberforce. Meanwhile, I listed some stock on eBay and wrapped the weekend's sales. 

After the other half of Friday night's pizza (and salad) we retired to the lounge for Gardener's World on catch-up and two more episodes of The Wire before I retired to bed with my book. Just as Jon was locking up William appeared and spent the night on the chaise.

He (William, not Jon!) got me up before the alarm went off, shouting from the bottom of the stairs for his breakfast. After my Wii Fit workout I wrapped the last of the parcels before Jon got up and joined me for breakfast. I spent most of the morning reorganising the Kinky Shed, attempting to separate the stock into ebaying and festivals. Jon put a couple of rails up in the house, which isn't ideal, but a necessary evil at this time of year.

I unearthed some summer stock I'd packed away and, after ironing it, listed it on eBay.

The weather still isn't playing nice but I was determined to crack out the Lottas so I wore merino wool tights with them. This bargain William Morris gilet is perfect for wearing around the house, toasty warm, massive pockets (for my camera, clothes pegs and the shed keys) and with plenty of room for movement.

Although I've been reading blogs, I've not had time to comment on any yet but I loved seeing Sheila's friend Bev's Mary Quant Daisy doll (HERE). I had quite a few of the Mary Quant dolls as a child, most of which I sold over the years to fund my travel habit but two still survive.

If you've been reading my blog for a while I'm sure you'll remember them. 

Here's Daisy Longlegs. Standing at 15 inches tall she was the biggest of the Mary Quant dolls. She came in this pink satin dress and peep toe wedges. There was a gold headband but it got lost over the years.

Perhaps this is where my love of all things spy came from, Havoc, Mary Quant's secret agent doll. I loved her so much, with her biker jacket, catsuit, bovver boots and machine gun she was the coolest thing ever. Luckily I saved up and bought two so they didn't both get ruined when she fought with my brother's Eagle-Eye Action Man!

Tea was a bosting Greek Salad with Lidl's rye bread...Jon is the Greek God of salad making!

I'm off to binge watch more of The Wire. See you soon!