Life in a Midlands Town

I left you on Tuesday evening to meet up with the gang in The Black Country Arms.

Followed by Indo-Nepali food in Gurkha Bhojan.

I'm glad I didn't pack away all my velvet dresses when I created my Spring capsule wardrobe (I'm not as daft as I look!), Tuesday night's weather was cold, wet and downright atrocious and my Kharibu dress kept me cosy. 

Wednesday was even worse, even my early morning Wii Fit session didn't manage to warm me up. We picked Liz up and drove to Piper's, a fabulous family run garden centre across the border in Staffordshire, which Gill, a friend I've made through my blog, told me about a few years ago. Liz & Adrian were both off work so they popped over and joined us. 

Not only are the plants plentiful, great quality and amazingly good value, there's also a resident cat! Last year we'd spent the grand total of £12 on the garden so we had a complete splurge, buying a fig tree, an echinacea, lavender, two primroses, a couple of heucheras, a hellebore, a tray of trailing geraniums, a couple of different varieties of digitalis, an alpine, a curry plant plus pots of oregano and coriander.  All shopped out, wet, windswept and freezing cold, we retreated to Cyril's, the on-site vintage tea room for coffee and toasted teacakes. 

Wearing a hat in 45-mile an hour wind probably wasn't the best idea!

Levi's shirt, vintage India Imports of Rhode Island maxi skirt, 1970s tooled leather belt, evil eye earrings and a vintage brooch from Moseley Vintage Hub (where Graziella has some fantastic costume jewellery).

Too cold and wet to do much more than unload the car, we cranked up the heating and spent the rest of the day indoors.

Tea was a pasta bake using some of the mushrooms and the sugar snap peas from the Waste Not box. We spent the evening with rum & cola, caught up with Interior Design Masters and the next thrilling instalment of Race Across The World.

Considering this fella wouldn't set a paw inside the front door a couple of weeks ago, William made himself very much at home on the chaise.

 By way of a change I had a small vegetarian breakfast after my swim on Thursday morning. £4.41 and 337 calories (not that I count them but its good to be aware of what one consumes).

Second hand Zara embroidered Indian cotton maxi, charity shopped 1990s Warehouse leather belt, stack of tribal bangles, chazza-shopped necklace.

We managed to get most of our new plants in the ground (or potted up) and the lawn mowed for the first time this year before the heavens opened and we were forced to scuttle back indoors. I'd have taken photos but rain stopped play. 

Tea was a Vintage Cheddar, spinach & cauliflower pie on offer at Lidl with the asparagus and the rest of the mushroom from the Waste Not box (I sauteed them in olive oil, added flour & milk to make a roux and seasoned them with black pepper and wholegrain mustard - ugly to look at, delicious to eat!)

We watched the first two episodes of the new season of Astrid:Murder in Paris on Walter presents. It's an easy and rather sweet watch and the first series was equally enjoyable. 

This morning, after a Wii Fit workout and breakfast, we set off to our second favourite Black Country town for a charity shopping session. 

Although it was still raining and, at 8°C, not particularly Spring-like, at least the wind had dropped.

Under my bruise-coloured suede coat I wore one of my Dilli Grey block printed dresses with some tribal jewellery. The bracelet with the browny-red stones was a Twenty-first birthday present - not quite an antique but, at 35 years old, definitely vintage! I'm also wearing my incredible 1960s suede lace-up boots my fab friend Gisela found for me.

For the Kinky stockroom we bought....a Daisy Street (alternative British label) novelty cardi with the tags still attached; A silk velvet colour-block maxi from Monsoon's 1980/1990s Twilight collection; Anokhi for East block printed Indian cotton midi dress; Converse All Stars in gold leather; 1970s Spanish-made ostrich leather clutch bag; 1960s raffia sun hat; 1970s wool tank top; 1970s wool maxi coat and a 1980s black velvet blazer.

SOURCE

And, don't call me a witch, the day after the sad news of her death at the age of 93....

A Mary Quant cable knit cropped cardi. Not an iconic 1960s piece but, by the look of the label, one of her collaborations with Freemans catalogue in the late 1970s/early 1980s. (UPDATE: It sold immediately!)

Here's the keepers....

A Mexican raffia clutch bag (£2) - perfect for sultry Greek evenings.

Continuing with the Mexican theme...a brand new Viva La Frida ceramic planter for £3.

Now containing a spiderette and hanging from the landing window. 

And these things come in threes, don't they? I never wear tee shirts but hey, it's Frida Kahlo so I'm prepared to make an exception! I thought it might be made in a Chinese sweatshop from somewhere appalling but no, the care instructions are in Spanish and it was made in Buenos Aires! Price? £1!

Lord Jon paid £20 for these limited edition Nike KDVV trainers in hazelnut suede. They've never been worn. The Native American-inspired textile feature on the heel is rather snazzy. 

And finally...this vintage wooden box stuffed with embroidery thread (and needles!) for £2. One of the threads was wrapped around a fragment of the Daily Mirror which contained an article about the conviction of suspected Soviet spy, Klaus Fuchs, in April 1950. I wonder how many times that box has been opened in the last 73 years.

I'm off to drink rum and eat pizza, see you on the other side!