A Night At The Opera

Tuesday 10th November. A 30 minute Wii Fit workout before breakfast. Whilst Jon did the accounts I walked down to Ajay's to drop off a Vinted sales parcel and then continued over the hill to Lifestyle Express to pick up a cheeky Vinted buy.

 I wore one of the £5 art silk dresses I bought from Mrs Kaur's haberdashery shop last year, a charity shopped Morris & Co. silk scarf, my Falmers vintage denim waistcoat and a Rawhide suede coat (£2 chazza shop, 2019). 

And my Vinted buy? A vintage block printed kaftan, identical to the one I've been wearing since 2018. I think they call it future proofing!

Listed as similar to All About Audrey, this is the real thing and an absolute bargain! 

Back at home I spent two hours sweeping up leaves ready for Wednesday's brown bin collection.After lunch I finished reading The Wax Child and did a bit of sketching.

I spent the evening with Lynn at Walsall Light, our town's independent cinema. We enjoyed a couple of goat's chese artisan pizzas and started on a bottle of rosé (it was cheaper to buy wine by the bottle rather than the glass...honest!)

The Light was one of 22 cinemas across 19 countries to live stream The Royal Opera House's premiere of Carmen and, clutching the rest of our wine and our complimentary programmes, we took our seats.

Although Bizet wrote Carmen 150 years ago, this production was set in 1970s Spain during Franco's dictatorship. I know nothing about opera and this was the first I've ever seen. I was blown away by the performances especially the two American leads, Ginger Costa Jackson who played Carmen and Russell Thomas who played Don Juan. I was especially impressed with the authentic 1970s clothes, which must have taken months for the costume department to source. Sex, violence, incredible voices and spectacular outfits, what's not to love? 

If we'd bought tickets for the same seats (seven rows back from the stage) they'd have cost £343 each. Tickets for the live stream are less than £20 (with concessions for the over 60s). Walsall Light are repeating the performance this coming Sunday (details HERE). If you're interested in the RBO's live event screenings, HERE's the link. 

Wednesday 11th November. Despite not going to bed until after midnight, we were up and out for our early morning swim at 7am. On our rainy walk into town, to Jon's embarrasment, I sang Habanara at the top of my voice all the way into town.

A 2km swim and a Wetherspoons breakfast later, we headed home. I wore a 1960s belted suede jacket and a 1970s Louis Caring maxi dress. 

After wrapping my Vinted sales parcels, which Jon dropped off, I spent the rest of the day shortening my new-to-me kaftan and repairing a couple of dresses whilst listening to 6Music. After tea we watched a couple more episodes of Breaking Bad and this week's Race Across The World.

Thursday 12th November. After my Wii Fit workout and breakfast we dropped off our Vinted sales parcels and drove over to the suburbs of Birmingham for some charity shopping. 

  We came back with three vintage hats, including an unworn 1970s Kangol trilby.

A cool fake fur jacket (always popular at festivals)

A Harris Tweed waistcoat

A wooden print of Edward Burne-Jones Pre-Raphaelite classic, The Golden Staircase.

Spear of Destiny's 12" single Never Take Me Alive (1987)

For Tony - The Christians 12" single Hooverville (also 1987)

Fleetwood Mac's Tusk album (1979)

I've been after some knee high boots to wear with my midi dresses for ages (they need zips so I can get them on and off if I wear them to the pool). I was excited to spot these Jones Bootmaker 1990s leather beauties for the bargain price of £3 and to further add to my excitement, they fitted my skinny legs perfectly. No broom in a bucket syndrome (as my Mum always called it!)

What did I wear? 

My newly altered kaftan with a charity-shopped Moroccan leather belt, vintage suede coat, 1970s tooled leather bag and, as it was so cold, one of my sheepskin hats came out for the first time this season. I spent the afternoon reading. After tea, we watched another episode of Breaking Bad before cheering on our boys for the England Vs Croatia match.

Friday 13th November. A frosty start for our early morning walk to the pool. After clocking up another 2km we had breakfast in Spoons before looking around the charity shops. Jon found himself some skinny chinos, a pair of Karrimor walking trainers and a waterproof jacket way cooler than the one he already owns. I bought a couple of books, especially delighted to discover a Sebastian Faulkes novel I'd never read.

What did I wear? A suede jacket, my All About Audrey lace wrap top (again!) and a super cool 1970s  woven maxi skirt.

It was the first time I'd worn this skirt, it was deliciously warm and fully lined in purple acetate. How cute is the label...Jobrey, Fashioned for Loveliness! 

Back at home I rearranged the pictures on the bedroom walls to accommodate my recent finds before popping down to True Beauty for a manicure. Later I did some sketching and attempted to catch up with Blogland.

Breaking Bad or a film? I'm not sure what we're doing later but I can tell you that it will involve a glass or two of rum!

Have a fab weekend, see you on the other side!