Nailed It!

We've been enjoying some glorious Spring weather with dazzlingly bright sunshine and cloudless, almost Mediterranean blue skies, although the temperatures are hardly tropical (it was 2°C when we walked down to the baths this morning). By way of a celebration my nails are painted Captain Blue, a colour that just shouts Summer!

In recent years I have become what some folk disdainfully call "the kind of woman who gets their nails done" - in other words a spendthrift trollop. Guilty as charged! I absolutely love my regular gel manicures. Not only do my super-strong & healthy, chip-free nails do my fabulous jewellery justice but, more importantly, I'm helping to support True Beauty, a locally-owned independent salon and the professionally qualified female technicians who work there. We're all quick to moan about our ailing high streets but the only way we can save them isn't by whingeing, its by spending our money with businesses that aren't fast food or fast fashion chains. 

This was what I wore on Saturday to walk into town to drop off my Vinted sales parcels and to do some tidying of our hideously neglected garden. You may remember my dress, a vintage Indian block printed midi by Amber of Jaipur, which I bought at the Puerto de la Cruz Flea Market when we visited Tenerife in December. I didn't even bother to haggle over the €4 asking price. The 1970s Anokhi waistcoat was a Vinted find and I bought the pendant in Gujarat back in 2017. 

On Sunday, for another walk down to the lockers, I wore a vintage Indian block printed dress by Geeta Enterprises - another Vinted buy - with a denim waistcoat I bought from a charity shop last summer for a couple of quid. 

I've been wearing these white leather trainers a lot lately,  which I bought from a charity shop a couple of years ago. They're from a German-based company called Groundies who believe that walking barefoot is the most natural way to move and employ fairly-paid workers in Portugal to hand craft their footwear. These trainers are absolutely brilliant when my arthritis is playing up. They retail at €129 - I paid £4.50!!! I'm almost too scared to wear them too much and ruin them.

I bought these enamel and brass tribal earrings in Panjiim, the state capital of Goa back in 2020. The Gucci-ish sunglasses were from a supermarket in Rhodes. 

We had the house repointed and repainted at the end of last year, although it looks a billion times better I'm missing all the clutter. I can't wait to get my window boxes planted up and have masses of geraniums and nasturtiums spilling out from our terracotta pots, but I shall be patient and wait until May when the danger of frost is over. 

    

Over the weekend we weeded the gravel, the cracks between the pavers and the front border and shifted the wrought iron table, chairs and bench to the patio area from elsewhere in the garden. Our house is south-facing and this area is a wonderful suntrap, the thermometer regularly records temperatures in the high 20s when it's only12°C everywhere else - we can pretend we're on holiday on sunny days!

 

We bought the table, chairs and bench from a clearance sale twenty years ago. They could do with a lick of paint, I need to have a rummage in the outhouses, I'm sure I've got half a pot of this pale green somewhere.

On Monday, for a trip to the charity shops, I wore a vintage Indian cotton block printed dress I bought from eBay for £3.50 in 2018 and my gold Adidas trainers which Jon found in a charity shop earlier this year (and were worn to walk 54 miles around Cyprus last month!) 

Talking of charity shops, this lot was one of Jon's best recent hauls - all from the same shop on the same day. 

I've fallen behind with photographing our charity shop finds of late but here's my latest Vinted buy, Speedo Endurance swimsuit with the tags still attached (the seller bought the wrong size and couldn't be bothered to return it). I love the trippy print and it got lots of love from my mates down at the swimming pool this morning. Excuse the demented expression, it was 7.30am!

I'm meeting Nikki in Birmingham tomorrow for some culture, curry and craft beer. 

See you soon!