All Change!

Don't worry, I'm not talking about New Year's resolutions, they're not my thing. I can tell you already that 2025 will be mostly be spent wasting time and money searching for rare and beautiful clothes, taking far too many holidays and having as much fun as is humanely possible without getting arrested. Why change the habits of a lifetime? Oh yes, and because we're not normal, we aren't going to any NYE parties, Jon and I started a tradition a few years ago and choose to celebrate waking up alive on New Year's Day so we'll be heading to the pub tomorrow instead.  

The change I'm referring to is finally hanging the collection of vintage framed prints which have propped up against the landing wall for the last couple of years, gathering dust and inevitably causing one of us an injury when we crash into them on the way to the bathroom in the dead of night.

I've been obsessed with Flamenco dancers since my Dad bought me a doll back from a business trip he took to Madrid when I was five. The little circular Vermeer print was 50p in a charity shop. The vintage kaftan by Jake in India, a label which was sold in Liberty back in the early 1970s, was snaffled for a pittance from Vinted on Boxing Day and arrived this morning.

The black wallpaper is by Laura Ashley, bought in the early noughties, the patchwork bedcover, curtains and bolster were all made by me using knackered vintage clothes, curtains and bedlinen.

More Spanish art, A Spanish Dancer by Scottish artist, Sir William Russell Flint (1880 - 1969) and Toreador by French artist, Bernard Buffett (1928 – 1999). I've had the Buffett print for so long, he was still alive when I bought it. The pink velvet noticeboard is a new addition, bought this morning. My Radical calendar is ready for me to open tomorrow and scribble my dates on - read about this fabulous company here although, if you're the kind of person who describes people like me as woke, you'd probably implode.

Good old Tina, who's constantly moving around the house, along with one of Norman Parkinson's 1970s fashion shoots for Vogue (and another of my obsessions as a kid) - both chazza shop finds. The lining paper was painted with Farrow and Ball's Down Pipe when we bought the house almost 19 years ago and were trying to be historically accurate with Georgian paint colours. The room's in dire need of redecoration but I can think of better ways to spend our time and money (travel!) 

The Trechnikoff Rose in the Workshop is a rare signed print and cost a quid from a charity shop years ago. The 1950s teak antelope was a present from Liz a few Xmases back which I'd been meaning to hang for ages. 

Decluttering is definitely not going to be a New year's resolution...I love my stuff! 

Although I'm selling more than I'm buying on Vinted there's a few new-to-me things creeping in - like this incredible Suzani coat reworked from a vintage Uzbek chapan. Expect to see a lot more of it in 2025!

The weather's not been ideal for outfit photos and, as I'm typing this, the wind's getting up and the windows are rattling, so I've been posing indoors. Transforming the former shit tip into the magnificently moody music room with a metallic ceiling was probably one of our biggest achievements in 2024.

Today's outfit for collecting parcels and going sofa browsing (will 2025 finally be the year I convince Jon to ditch the knackered leather settee for an opulent velvet one?) I'm wearing a Dilli Grey Indian cotton block printed midi dress (bought in December, 2022) with some Clarks platforms (January, 2023) and a charity-shopped tribal necklace. 

Contemporary Afghan-style dress (Vinted) and burgundy leather cowboy boots (Urban Outfitters sale) worn for a trip to the chazzas. We spent £11 & came home with two incredible coffee table books, one on the world history of art and the other on the art on display in Birmingham Art Gallery, a Finnish merino wool polo neck for Jon and an Indian embroidered cotton blouse for me.

A Dilli Grey block printed cotton maxi skirt (October, 2022) and a vintage 1970s Anokhi quilted blouse with bishop sleeves (eBay, 2020), the gormless expression is all my own! You can't see my feet but I'm wearing my trusty Frye Campus boots, bought new in their box (labelled £335) via Ebay in July 2019 for £35. This was for a walk into town to drop off our Vinted sales. 

Vintage Phool midi skirt (part of a suit, online seller, 2019), All About Audrey art silk wrap top (Vinted), 190s Liberty, London silk scarf (car boot sale, 2009), River Island cap (via the charity shop, 2022) and my Mum's original 1960s Biba boots for a walk into town with more Vinted sales parcels. 

Wishing you all a happy & healthy New Year! 

Thanks so much for your continued friendship, comments, messages, cards and letters, you're the best. xxx

The Distancing Diairies - 9th & 10th January, 2021

On Saturday morning Jon was up first, made tea and brought it back to bed where we lay chatting until 9am. As he needed to pop to the vets to pick up Stephen's prescription he left me in charge of the sausages. I stripped and changed the bed, loaded the washing machine and threw it in the tumble drier 15 minutes later. By now Jon was back and we ate our sausage sandwiches. 

When I was changing the bed I realised that it had been four years since we'd last bought new bed linen so I had a look at La Redoute (my go-to place for pure cotton bedding) and treated us to this gorgeous responsibly produced duvet set along with some organic cotton pillowcases and a sheet from their winter sale. Not super cheap but their stuff lasts years. 

We went for a walk, rather than doing our usual circuit of the block we carried on along the main Birmingham Road looping back on ourselves. Considering we're in lockdown we couldn't believe how much traffic was on the roads - where on earth is everyone going? We spotted some painted rocks and again passed the GP surgery which still busy with Covid vaccinations. It was the first time in almost a fortnight that there wasn't snow underfoot although it was still bitingly cold.  

Back at home we thawed out with a coffee. I uprooted the nasturtiums in the border which had been killed off by the snow and then took stock photos in the garden. As usual I was wearing all the layers! My 1960s suede & sheepskin coat (from Second to None), a 1980s Anokhi dress (eBay), Mum's Biba boots, a Missoni scarf (charity shop) and my me-made hat and matching beer mittens. There was a thermal bodysuit, leggings and welly socks as well but you don't need to see those!

I spent the rest of the afternoon uploading my listings to eBay. Afterwards I emptied the kitchen cupboard to check if we needed anything as we've booked a supermarket delivery for Monday which we'd arranged in mid-December. After the rules were relaxed for Xmas Day, I was convinced that Covid numbers would be off the scale, not that I needed to be a genius to work that one out.

Tea was a shared tin of baked beans with vegan sausages and sweet potato fries topped with grated cheese. We'd finished watching The Serpent the previous night and spent the evening watching back-to-back episodes of the new series of Spiral. Needless to say, a few rum & colas were consumed. 

I was up first on Sunday morning, I mopped the kitchen floor, made tea and brought it back to bed where we read until 9am. Breakfast was a couple of slices of toast eaten in front of The Andrew Marr Show. After doing a load of washing and hanging it up to dry in the utility room, I photographed a few more jackets and coats and listed them on eBay.

Lunch was a vegan sausage roll each.

The plate was part of a 1960s dinner service Mum & Dad had for a wedding present. It's Focus by Barbara Brown for Midwinter or balls in boxes, as I called it as a child.

As the government advice is to stay local, we interpret our permitted once daily exercise as being a walk around the area in which we live and not driving somewhere to do it. A police car passed us, no doubt checking on the gangs of hardcore drinkers who pandemic or not, always congregate at the top of town. We avoided engaging in a conversation with a bloke in a tracksuit sipping Special Brew from a can, muttering about how England was becoming a police state.

The Duke Of Wellington, formerly a pub with a marvellous Victorian tiled bar, now converted into flats.

St Matthew's church from the front. That's the Hill of Doom, always a killer when you walk back from town loaded with charity shop finds.

Modern but attractive, the reclaimed bricks they used to build this terrace help.

Walsall's industry, past and present. W. Thacker and Sons, manufacturers of equestrian fittings since 1845, Walsall Brake Services which closed down in the 1970s; a clothing factory, which is still operating and a tandoori oven manufacturer. 

WEARING: 1980s Tricoville cape (£5, car boot sale), pompom hat (made by me), Gohill's exotic snakeskin boots (a hand-me-down from my favourite teacher)

When I was sorting out stock to photograph the previous day I found my trusty Italian-made 100% wool Tricoville cape, a festival staple for many years. I'm a sod for sticking stuff in the stockroom with no intention of selling it, just to make space in the wardrobe. 

I can't stand the colour grey, it shrieks conformity and the need to blend in, but I'll forgive the colour as it's deliciously warm and holds many happy memories in its folds.  

Why on earth hadn't I thought of wearing this rust ribbed polo neck under my Anokhi pinafore dress before today? I love it when wardrobe inspiration strikes.

The rest of the day was spent wrapping eBay parcels. Keen to keep travel to a minimum, Jon drops the parcels off at the Post Office twice a week, although if the Covid numbers continue to climb at the alarming rate that they are doing then I shall take advantage of the Royal Mail's new collection service and pay to get them picked up from the house. 

Tea was half a pizza with salad. I'm not sure what we'll be watching later but Jane's suggestion of Traces, based on a book by Val McDermid and currently on the BBC i-player sounds like a possibility.

Stay safe and see you soon!

The Distancing Diaries - 5th & 6th January, 2021

Tuesday morning started with a Wii Fit session, followed by a thorough dust, mop, sweep, polish and scrub of the lounge. I love it when I've cleaned, the wonderful aroma of pine, beeswax and turpentine from Lord Sheraton's Wood Balsam lingers for days.

Tuesday's sunrise was particularly spectacular and Jon and I stood transfixed watching the golden clouds scudding across the almost lilac skies.

We'd just finished our fruit & yogurt when our friendly MyHermes driver arrived with a parcel containing a jacket I'd won on eBay before Xmas. It was worth the wait, an early 1970s Anokhi piece which wouldn't be out of place in the Museum of Hand Printing in Jaipur (which we visited in 2019, HERE). Lockdown or not, I wore it straight away. No sense in saving anything for the right occasion. I can't believe it only cost £10. 

While I was upstairs getting dressed the postman delivered my sweet-smelling Lush half-price sale order. The bathroom smells absolutely gorgeous.

With the UK now in lockdown and with the instructions to stay at home, I thought it would be the perfect time to list some vintage lingerie on eBay, a far more attractive alternative to tracksuit bottoms for wearing around the house.

It was still bitterly cold with intermittent snow showers and temperatures well under the seasonal average so, rather than risk freezing my t*ts off in the garden, I opted to take stock photos indoors. The Cole & Son flamingo wallpaper on the landing seemed like the perfect backdrop for these flimsy confections.

TUESDAY: Vintage Anokhi shirt & maxi skirt (both eBay), Lamani Raj-era pendant (Anjuna Flea market, 2002), 1970s sheepskin hat (gift from an ex-blogging pal back in 2010)

I've taken to wearing a hat indoor most days recently, not only to stay warm but because my roots need doing and I keep leaving it too late in the day to do anything about them.

After a break for noodles, I cracked on with the eBay listings. Jon had been working through his to do list, his tasks today included taking the rope lights down in the lounge, repotting the Devil's Ivy and refurbishing some vintage car lights using some yellow film he'd bought from eBay. 

Tea was the other half of the pizza we'd had a few nights ago & salad. We watched an episode of The Nordic Murders that we'd missed and the second part of 24 Hours in Police Custody.

On Wednesday I did my Wii Fit workout, logged onto the PC and, to my delight, discovered that almost all the vintage lingerie I'd listed on eBay the previous day had sold overnight. Whilst we were having breakfast we had yet more snow. Mr Blackbird was peeping in at us through the kitchen window so I braved the cold to break up the ice in the bird bath and threw him a handful of mealworms.

Talking of vintage lingerie, I don't just sell it, I wear it. Here's what I change into after I've had my evening shower/bath. It's a maxi-length 1960s quilted house dress that zips up the back and ties at the waist, bought for 20p from a car boot sale. Like the padded silk cheongsan I wore on Monday, it's like wearing a duvet. As it's Bri-nylon I can wash it, hang it up to dry and it's ready to wear within the hour.

WEDNESDAY: Scotch & Soda coat, Rockport boots, maroon wool jumper (all charity shopped), wool scarf (FabIndia), Levi 510s (eBay), pompom hat (present from me, 2016)

After a telephone catch-up with Liz (we're old school) I spent the rest of the morning wrapping parcels and mending a few less than perfect items I'd found lurking in the back of the stockroom. Jon had placed an order for some wood and dealt with that when it arrived. After our noodles we followed the lockdown rules by only leaving the house once - combining an essential food shop with our daily exercise by walking down to Johal's for some fresh fruit & veg and taking the long way back. 

WEDNESDAY: Vintage Afghan dress (eBay), Hindu deity buckle belt & handmade beer mittens (presents from Liz), pompom hat (made by me), 1960s maxi coat (secondhand stall on the market), 1960s cranberry suede go-go boots (car boot sale)

The rest of the afternoon was spent wrapping more ebay parcels - I think everyone's trying to cheer themselves up by treating themselves to vintage clothes. Jon's not going to be popular at the Post Office tomorrow!

We've got halloumi with roasted veg for tea (the peppers, spuds and red onions were super cheap down the road) and with ten limes for a £1 it would be rude not to have a few rum and colas for afters! I'm not sure what tonight's viewing pleasure may involve, maybe we'll have a look at The Serpent (recommended by my friends Betty and Brummie Sue).

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Wherever you are in the world stay safe, stay well and stay at home!