Vintage Vixen: Watching, Wearing, Walking, Reading

We're currently celebrating Tony's birthday elsewhere in the Midlands but here's what I wore, watched and did during the second half of last week.

On Wednesday, for a morning of charity shopping, I wore black and gold block prints (vintage Phool and contemporary East).

I was excited to find these Roman replica 22ct gold earrings on eBay for a fiver. I blame Gladiator II for my recent obsession with all things gold.

On Thursday for swimming and 'Spoons it was vintage suede worn with a Zara skirt (bought second-hand) and an ancient navy thermal polo neck.

On Friday for more charity shopping it was head to ankle vintage (the boots were Clarks, bought in 2023)

The 1960s copper & turquoise pendant is stamped Handmade in Malta. At £1.20 it would have been a crime not to buy it! The dress is 1960s Ayesha Davar, the vintage Kuchi waistcoat used to belong to my friend Cheryl.

On Saturday, for a Winter walk, it was Levi's and vintage Anokhi.

I love the sleeves on this shirt although getting a coat over them requires some tricky manoeuvres!

I was thrilled to spot Girl, Woman, Other in a charity shop on Monday, the 2019 Booker Prize winner "must-read about Modern Britain and womanhood". I'm loving it.

A friend at the baths told me that The New Art Gallery were giving away old exhibition catalogues and hardback books as part of their 25 year celebrations so we wandered up there after our Thursday swim.

I didn't intend on coming out with so many but the gallery manager insisted I took one of everything before inviting us to the 25th Birthday celebration party later in the month - I'll be there! It gave Jon a good workout walking home with them in his backpack!

I love an art book or three!

This is our amazing town centre gallery, home to Garman-Ryan Collection, bequeathed to the people of Walsall by Katherine Garman, widow of Sir Jacob Epstein. You can read about it HERE.

Designed by British architects Caruso St John, it was built with public funding at a cost of £21 million and admission is free. It is five storeys high, is clad in pale terracotta and the interior is lined with Douglas Fir and lashings of concrete. The lift features the voice of Walsall legend Noddy Holder who announces the floor numbers in his Black Country dialect.

On the subject of Walsall landmarks, here's another, St Matthews Church where my parents married. It was rebuilt in 1820 although part of an earlier church, built in 1220, still remain. We walk past it when we take the Hill of Doom into town and back twice a week although I've not set foot in there since 2010.

The snowdrops were out when we wandered through the churchyard on our Winter walk on Saturday morning. The last burial was in the 1850s.

This week we've been glued to Belgium bank heist thriller, De Dag on Channel 4/Walter Presents, recommended to me by Val who blogs HERE. We also watched The Babadook on Netflix, an Australian horror film with shades of The Shining and marvellously scary.

And News of the World on Netflix, a magnificent Western with stunning cinematography starring Tom Hanks and directed by Paul "Bourne Identity" Greengrass.