Hip and Happening!

You can tell that the weather's taken a turn, I'm posting twice in a week!

First things first, shortly after posting my last blog, I had a phone call from my GP as he'd finally got the results of my pelvic x-ray. As suspected my right hip is well and truly knackered and I've being referred back to the orthopaedic department at the hospital to undergo a total hip replacement. On the bright side my prosthetic left hip is perfectly fine despite being over 20 years old. 

Tuesday isn't a swimming day so, as usual, I spent half an hour on my Wii Fit doing a mix of yoga and muscle-building exercises. As I have no strength in my hip, there's a few exercises I can't do but plenty that I can. The last thing I'm going to do is allow myself to be defeated and sit on my arse all day. 

The highlight of my day was getting my nails done and, for the first time in my life I went for a French manicure but with neon tips. The photos don't do Charlotte at True Beauty's work justice, I can't stop looking at them! 

It was a day of wildly changeable weather, a morning of grey skies and torrential rain & an afternoon hot enough to sit in the garden in a bikini. I wore this All About Audrey dress to the salon, bought from Vinted with the tags still attached. 

Jon had a dental appointment first thing on Wednesday morning so we swapped our early swim for the lunchtime session which was crazy busy, at one point there were 14 of us! 

As it wasn't particularly warm I gave the groovy 1970s cat jumper I bought from a charity shop last week an outing. 

Later on, we continued to watch For All Mankind but a comment my lovely friend Kezzie left reminded me that I hadn't mentioned Two Weeks In August, currently being aired on BBC1. A drama about a group of friends who meet at university and now, in their 40s, hire a Greek villa for a fortnight. I was expecting this to be a bit wishy-washy and fluffy but it was a excellent watch, quite dark with a marvellous blend of hedonism, beautiful scenery and Greek mythology. Two Weeks was actually filmed in Malta and Gozo but it looked very much like Greece. Well worth watching. 

Thursday started with another Wii Fit session. William, as usual, decided he needed to join in, standing on the balance board and headbutting me while I did my press-ups and side stands, rubbing around my ankles during the Downward Facing Dog and climbing on my back when I did the Plank. 

With the shorter, face-framing layers my hair is pretty wavy. This is what it looks like after I've washed it and left it to dry naturally. 

It was another day of mixed weather but I'm in Summer mode now so it's bare arms all the way. I wore this 1970s Imported Classics block-printed Indian cotton maxi with my trusty vintage denim waistcoat and one of my many Indian silk screen printed scarves I've bought from charity shops over the years. It was quite sunny when Jon & I went for a walk around the block later, hence the sunglasses! 

I spent the afternoon sorting out the clothes I'm taking away to Greece with me whilst Jon rung the insurance company to get my hip included on our travel policy, an additional charge of £26 - a small price to pay for peace of mind! 

I started reading my 40th book of the year, My Husband by Maud Ventura, translated from French, the original language of publication. The book caused a sensation in France and it tells the tale of a besotted wife who demands devotion from her husband. It has been compared to both Gone Girl and to Patricia Highsmith's work, that's good enough for me.   

Friday (today) started with an early morning swim followed by breakfast in 'Spoons and a mooch around the charity shops. I wore this 1970s David Silverman pinafore with one of my All About Audrey recycled sari wrap tops (via Vinted).

Talking of charity shops, I was excited to find a tube of Philip Kingsley's Swimcap for £1 - it retails at £26. 

As an adult I've never worn clothes in bed so when I went into hopsital for my first hip replacment I had the added stress of having to rush out and buy nighties the day before. This time I'm going to be more prepared so I snaffled this £3 Zara nightie, with the £27.99 price tags still attached, and have already packed it away with the charity shopped dressing gown I bought the other day. 

From the same charity shop I also bought this Deco-inspired ceramic plant pot for £3. 

When I bought the Umbrella plant in the photo below it was the size of the one on the windowsill (this was grown from a cutting we'd taken from it), now look at it! I've run out of moss poles to support it....

If you cast your minds back to Lockdown you may remember us planting a wildflower meadow on the rubble-strewn patch of land outside our gates. Isn't it pretty?  

We're starting on season 2 of For All Mankind later. Who'd have thought I'd ever be interested in a drama about space travel, certainly not me! Season 1 got me hooked and reeled me in and its not just rockets and Russians, there's sexism, prejudice and dodgy politics not to mention gorgeous late 60s/early 70s fashion and a groovy soundtrack. 

Have a fabulous weekend, see you soon!