There's More To Life Than Books (But Not Much More)

The weekend weather was glorious, so much so that on Friday night I decided to pack away the heaviest of my dresses and replace them with my sleeveless maxis I keep stashed in the suitcase on top of the wardrobe.

 I walked down to the parcel shop in this 1970s India Imports of Rhode Island maxi dress which I've had for almost ten years. 

 

As I've got my warm weather wardrobe in place I've also swapped over to my brighter lip colours. I've been on the hunt for the perfect orange for years and I think I've finally found it. Although it lacks the staying power of Maybelline's Super Stay in Heroine, their Vivid Matte Liquid in Orange Shot is a proper in your face tangerine. I buy it from eBay (I paid £3.21 including P&P) as, typically, it's now discontinued!

On saturday morning I finished The King's Sister, Anne O'Brien's brilliantly researched novel about John of Gaunt's youngest daughter, Elizabeth of Lancaster, passed on to me by my friend Lynn. If, like me, you're unfamiliar with O'Brien's work, she's just as brilliant a historical novelist as Phillipa Gregory, a riveting read.

In the afternoon I started (and finished) one of the books I'd bought when I went charity shopping on Thursday, Out of the Easy. Set in 1950, it follows Jo, the estranged daughter of a New Orleans prostitute, who lives & works in a bookshop and dreams of a college education but her plans are thwarted following the murder of an enigmatic customer.

Although we'd planned to watch a film on Friday night we ended up getting stuck into season 4 of Fargo starring Wes Anderson favourite Jason Schwartzman along with Jessie Buckley, Ben Wishaw and Chris Rock.

 I had a couple of parcels to drop off on Sunday morning so we walked down to the Lidl lockers in the blazing sunshine. It was another day for baring arms, wearing my denim waistcoat and a vintage Oasis Trading wraparound maxi.

The rest of the day was spent lazing on the lawn in the sunshine. I started and finished Who Is Maud Dixon? which, after seeing the stage play last week, turned out to be not dissimilar to The Talented Mr Ripley, full of scheming shenanigans, unbridled violence and thrilling twists & turns. Highly recommended!

It was no jacket required for my walk down to the pool on Monday morning, layering an All About Audrey wrap top over my David Silverman pinafore dress. I managed to shave a minute from my personal best, swimming a mile in 41 minutes. I wish I was as agile on dry land as I am in the water! 

Another afternoon of reading in the sunshine, this time absorbed in Dearest Intimate, a novel following the lives of three generations of women, from a cross-dressing opera star to her intellectual granddaughter, trapped in an abusive marriage. The gripping narrative shifts between rural Pre-war China, the chaos of Japanese occupation and modern day Singapore. If, like me, you're a fan of Lisa See, you'll love this.

The sun had ripened our crop of Spring rhubarb which I harvested, peeled and turned into a crumble.

What a shock to the system it was this morning (Tuesday), with a return to the oppressive grey skies and distinctly chilly temperatures.

Still, it was an excuse to give this vintage St Michael wool blouse an outing before I folded it up and saved it for the Autumn. 

With the garden waste due to be collected in the morning I did some gardening and managed to fill the bin. I would have carried on after lunch but it was just too chilly so I spent the rest of the afternoon reading. 

What are you reading at the moment?

Thanks for reading and see you soon!

Blister In The Sun

Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts on Botox and fillers so eloquently on my last post. I'm delighted to know that I'm not in the minority after all. Sod the Aesthetics police, here's to visible ageing! Let's age disgracefully, together we'll flaunt our crow's feet, our thinning top lips and our wrinkles...if I'm going to let myself go, I'm happy to do it in the company of so many fabulous women! 

On Sunday I pulled this vintage hand-embroidered Greek blouse from the wardrobe, held it up against the rail and this Anokhi skirt and waistcoat (also by Anokhi) made their presence felt. I swear I could almost hear them whispering choose me, choose me! I'd never worn these three items together before and loved the look....some may call it shopping your closet, I prefer wardrobe alchemy. My plaits look so much better with the face-framing layers I had cut in last year.

Although we'd been warned of high winds and intermittent showers, typical British bank holiday weather in other words, Easter Monday was beautiful. Before nesting season Jon had pruned the hawthorne and as the council's garden waste collection has resumed after its Winter hiatus, we chopped it up and got a large proportion into the brown bin, under the watchful eye of William who, with the warm weather, has thrown off his house cat mantle and returned to his erstwhile garden cat persona.

Remember how those of us lucky enough to have gardens relished working on the during Lockdown? Well, despite how much pleasure our attempts to tame Stonecroft's wilderness gave us, the return to festival season and our frequent European trips proved more alluring and it's once again become a haven for foxes, hedgehogs, barn owls, bats and the odd tomcat.

I wore a 1990s chiffon maxi dress bought from the £2.99 charity shop last year with an All About Audrey recycled cotton blouse over the top. I was thrilled to find another pair of the peep toe suede boots I wore on repeat in the early 2010s, eventually trashing them at Glastonbury. How on dearth Vinted knew I needed a replacement pair I'll never know but they popped up in my feed priced at £6 and the rest, as they say, was history!

The Gala remains closed and due to Easter closures we'd not been for a swim at our adopted one since last Wednesday (don't worry, I still use my Wii Fit on the days when I don't swim). I could hardly sleep with excitement on Monday night! As usual, it was very busy and we had to share lanes but the fellow swimmers are friendly and it was all very good-natured. 

There's not been many days this year when I've been able to peg the washing out on the line. 

A swimming day calls for clothes easy to take on and off, no faffy belts or rows of buttons. My beloved vintage Indian silk kaftan is perfect.  

A glorious day with temperatures hitting the low 20s, after a spot of weeding I sat and read in the sunshine with my sleek companion (Jon did a tip run with the remainder of the hawthorne trimmings). 

X-Rated ladybirds! 

I've been plagued with arthritic pain for a while and in recent weeks have been using a walking stick to get about. The only time I'm pain-free is when I'm swimming (hence the reason I'm obsessed with going). I finally put my big girl pants on today and saw the doctor. In 2006, following my total hip replacement op I was told that I'd need my right hip replacing within a couple of years so I don't suppose I've done too badly - it doesn't mean I want it, though! 

Being a stubborn cow I still insist on walking everywhere, even if it takes me a while. I was worried these Converse x Missoni All Stars might be a bit too flat but Jon found some gel insoles in the cupboard and they were fine for my two mile trek into town this morning. 

My purple Dollyrockers maxi got so much love that I was stopped countless times by women admiring my outfit. One lady asked if I was spiritual, I didn't have the heart to tell her that the only spirits I'm into are alcoholic ones. The quilted Indian block printed waistcoat is a 1970s original with a Chelsea Girl label. 

I've got so many pairs of sunglasses I'd forgotten about these beauties I found whilst rummaging through a basket in a Black Country charity shop last February...a pair of genuine Fendi sunglasses, no less! The model is Opal, the colour is Bordeaux and they retailed at £230...I paid £1! I might get them glazed with my prescription, they're so comfy! 

Back at home we were treated to a visit from our friends Brendan and Lynn and had a fabulous afternoon chatting in the sunshine. Lynn and I have an unofficial book club so we swapped a few reads, I'm currently halfway through my third book of the week, I'm a solar powered reader! 

Isn't the bookmark Lynn gave me beautiful? It's by the British icon artist, Hanna Ward (HERE). 

I'm off to harness my spiritual side and crack open the Lidl white rum..cheers! 

All Killer, No Filler

Hello, Blogland. I'm on a roll, my third post in a week! Before I crack in with sharing my outfits here's a question for you...Botox and fillers, yay or nay? I've realised that I'm in the minority on planet TikTok and the vast majority of over 40 year old women on there embrace aesthetics, in fact someone actually commented that all women these days have fillers and Botox and you're letting yourself go if you don't. 

I don't always love what I see reflected in the mirror but I don't dislike it enough to spend hundreds of pounds having stuff injected into my face. Yes, at 59 years old I've got wrinkles, my jawline's not as firm as it was and my eyelids are a bit wonky but I can swim a mile in 41 minutes, I weigh the same as I did when I was a teenager and I've got so many amazing clothes I get palpitations just opening my wardrobe. Bemoaning my looks as a teenager, my mum told me that pretty was all well & good but ultimately forgettable and it was far better to be interesting and memorable and 16 years after her death people still talk about her and her unique style. I love this photo of her and her mates, taken in 1963 when they busked their way around the Isles of Scilly (she's the one with the killer tan and shades!) 

 

You know me, if there's money to burn it's spent on clothes, travel, gel manicures and Wetherspoons all-dayers!

I didn't need it but this All About Audrey tunic had been popping up on my Vinted feed for a couple of weeks and when I checked, the seller had a couple of items that always sell well at festivals, so I bought a bundle and was awarded a 20% discount for my trouble, making the tunic just 80p! 

I wore it over the All About Audrey dress I wore to the swimming pool (and on Wednesday's blog post) and loved combination of the print and colour and it's 80% silk, making it a joy to wear. 

On Thursday, for a walk into town, I wore it as a top with the incredible vintage velvet maxi skirt I'd scored for £3 from Vinted a couple of weeks ago. Could that dusky shade of rose pink be a more perfect match? 

 We didn't have a specific mission in mind, we just thought we'd better pop into the charity shops in case the staff were missing us (they were!) 

There wasn't much to take our interest but I was delighted with these Last of Pompeii mugs still in their boxes and priced at £1 each. Researching the maker when I got home, they're a Spanish company who produce ceramics for museum gift shops and, as you know, I find a museum gift shop very hard to resist!  

I can never resist a glossy photography or art book and the novel, The Story of a Marriage sounded intriguing. A firm believer in buying British my grandma used to buy her nighties and underwear from David Neiper. I was excited to spot these metallic leather mules for £2 in the clearance charity shop (they're on the website for £58).

Good Friday always feels like weird day and doubly so with not being able to go for our Friday swim as the pool was shut. I thought I'd dress like a woman from the Wild West and wore the skirt and blouse I'd sewn (with Liz's assistance) last year. 

Here's a tip for instant youthfulness, forget Botox, stand facing the sunlight, it'll take years off you! 

Yesterday afternoon meant my three-weekly nail appointment at the salon. Goodbye Ink, hello Sage! 

Inspired by my nails I went for a green-themed outfit today, the skirt I'd made from a bolt of vintage Anokhi fabric I'd bought from eBay during lockdown, an All About Audrey recycled cotton sari top I'd snaffled off Vinted and my trusty vintage denim waistcoat. 

Although we'll be flying the official Three Lions flag when the World Cup kicks off (that's if the world hasn't imploded by then), our existing flag was looking very tatty because it kept getting tangled up in the magnolia tree. Jon moved the flagpole a bit further away from the wall and hung this rather fabulous flag of flags he'd bought from a charity shop years ago. 

Can you see William? 

 He couldn't resist writing something derogatory about the leaders of two of the countries represented on the flag but unfortunately he forgot to put something underneath the fabric when he scribbled on it and now we've got rude words on the kitchen table! 

Thanks so much for all the kind messages about our 34th Never Had a Wedding anniversary, stay fabulous and have a fantastic weekend!