Seven Days is Too Long

This week I'll be obsessively checking my NHS app for the results of last week's X-rays. I won't lie, with my limited mobility, life has been a bit of a challenge lately. Up until four months ago, I could walk fifteen miles in a day without a second thought but now a fifteen minute walk to the pool and back pretty much wipes me out. When I'm swimming I'm invincible, people comment on my speed and my technique, impressed that I can swim a mile in 41 minutes but, on dry land, using a stick to support my useless hip, I'm regarded with pity, I walk so badly that people step aside to let me pass, cars stop and wave me across the road and even the town centre smackheads have started to ask me if I'm okay. 

Still, onwards and upwards, I never fail to find joy from exploring my extensive wardrobe and getting dressed each day.

Last Tuesday I wore a Seventies Soul co-ord (as the kids call 'em) I bought from Vinted last year topped with the amazing vintage blush pink suede waistcoat I bought from Rachael, who sells on Vinted and turned out to be a regular reader/commenter along with my American -made Frye Campus boots and a necklace I bought in Jaisalmer. 

By way of a change Nikki came over to Walsall. Jon drove down to the station where we picked her up and drove back to ours as she'd never been before. 

Then we headed to Spoons in Walsall for a couple of pints of IPA and their legendary sweet potato, chickpea and spinach curry. 

If you've ever visited the Black Country you'll know how friendly the natives are, it's impossible to go anywhere and not strike-up a conversation with a stranger, most of the time it's lovely although we could have done without the elderly chap in Spoons who announced...Look at the state of you, your hip's gone, ay it? before regailing us with his, his late mother's and all his neighbours' ailments for the entire time we were in there.

Thanks for a fab day, Nikki  - see you soon! 

My appointment for x-rays at Walsall Manor hospital was at 8.45am on Wednesday morning (five weeks since I'd visited my GP, beating the NHS target for a 6 week wait). Considering it was rush hour, the roads weren't busy, we got there 15 minutes early. I was seen straightaway so we were back at home by 9am. We went for a lunchtime swim but forfeited a look around the charity shops as we were starving. I wore this vintage Mayur Indian cotton dress and wished I'd worn a jacket, it wasn't the warmest of days.  

I had a parcel to drop off at Ajay's on Thursday morning and Jon joined me for a stroll down the road. 

I wore my 1970s Oasis Trading block printed wraparound skirt with this All About Audrey recycled sari tunic, a combination I'd not tried before and rather liked them together. 

I was delighted to discover that the first of our Oriental Poppies had flowered. We'd had a disapointing show last year as the border was so overgrown but after a mad weeding session earlier in the month they've got a bit more space to do their thing. 

Our friends Lynn and Brendan popped round later and we spent most of the afternoon chatting. Later it was the final of Race Across The World, the best series yet and we were delighted with the result!!

After two weeks of unseasonable cold, torrential rain, thunderstorms, high winds and hail, I was a bit sceptical when the BBC forecast glorious sunshine and sizzling temperatures for the weekend but true to their word, Friday was sensational! Inspired by our poppies I dressed in my orange sari silk All About Audrey maxi dress. 

After our early morning swim, breakfast in Spoons and a wander around the chazzas we spent the rest of the day sunbathing.

And the sun encouraged another poppy throw off her fuzzy jacket and reveal her beauty.

On Saturday morning, after walking to the post box to post a letter, I stripped off my Daughters of India maxi dress (via Vinted, obviously!), changed into a bikini and spent the day in the garden. clearing another overgrown border and finishing Honour by Elif Sharaf, the book I'd started the previous day. 

The temperatures are similar to those in Greece so it's the perfect opportunity to give my holiday wardrobe a trial run. I brought my Tevas out of hibernation on Friday (they were last worn in Tenerife back in December) and my feet couldn't be happier.

It was another day of sunbathing on the lawn ...after Jon had mowed it. I started reading Susanna Gregory's Restoration thriller, Intrigue in Covent Garden.

As the pool was closed for the Bank Holiday,  we swapped our usual Monday swim with a Sunday one. It was another scorcher of a day so I tried a other potential holiday dress, my Naked Generation Aurora kaftan, bought from Vinted for a song. I bought my headscarf in India so long ago that the Paise coins printed on it are no longer legal currency.

I hand-washed some of my white cotton clothing and hung it on the line in the sunshine. I finished yesterday's book and started on An Island in Greece: On the Shores of Skopelos, a reprint of the Michael Carroll travel memoir originally published in 1965 (decades before Mama Mia made the island a tourist hotspot) . Jon brought out some ice cold Mojitos, which were very welcome.

The cats are loving the sunshine and are eating like horses!

After tea, the sun had disappeared behind the London Planes, so I spent an hour in the garden, tackling the overgrown area beside the Kinky shed before joining Jon in the lounge to watch the rest of Broadchurch. What should we watch next? I'm thinking the latest Yellowstone spin-offs, I'm missing Beth & Rip.

 On Monday I was up at 5am and it was already 18°C.  After seeing to the cats and topping up the birdbath I spent half an hour on my Wii Fit before Jon joined me for breakfast. After a stroll down to the Lidl lockers Jon tackled the Laurel bush (no nesting, we checked!) whilst I took me usual position on the lawn.

I didn't wear this Dilli Grey dress last year so it felt new and exciting when I put it on for my walk this morning. Hmmm...another potential holiday dress, I wonder! We've got a huge luggage allowance but, you know us, it'll be carry-on only, baby!

Thanks for reading, see you soon!

The Darling Buds of May

May already! Where on earth has this year gone? 

On Wednesday we skipped our post-swim Spoons breakfast as we'd arranged to meet Tony in there for lunch and much as I like Walsall Wetherspoons, visiting twice in one day might give us a bit of a reputation.

It was the first time I'd worn this All About Audrey recycled silk maxi dress. I'd been watching it on Vinted for months and snapped the sellers hand off when she offered me a substantial discount. It still had the original tags attached. 

 

 I reinvested some of the proceeds from the charity-shopped Clarks boots which I sold on Vinted. As I already own a pair of these boots in velvet (from their collab with Liberty) I knew these Hudson beauties (handcrafted in Portugal) would be comfy....and they were and, of course, navy blue with orange is the perfect combo. 

We spent six hours in Spoons, getting back home in time to start watching the final season of Fargo.

 

We'd been dreading Thursday as William was due at the vets for his annual boosters and he's the world's worst traveller. He was furious at not being fed and aunched himself at me whilst I was doing my Wii Fit workout, biting my leg! 

Miraculously we managed to get him there and back without incident. The vet, a young woman we'd not met before, was very pleased with his overall health but said that he was overweight and needed to lose half a kilo. No more fresh chicken or treats!

I wore the co-ord featuring a Mucha print of Sarah Bernhardt which I'd made from a tatty vintage Sears kaftan last year.

My profits from my Clarks boots didn't just cover the Hudson boots, they also paid for these Adidas Vs Nizza high top flatforms which felt like I was walking on air when we did our Vinted parcel drop off.

I started reading All The Light That We Couldn't See, demolishing a third of it before tea (what a stunning read). Later we watched a couple more episodes of Fargo with a break for Race Across The World in between.

Today (Friday) kicked off with an early morning swim followed by a Spoons breakfast and I was delighted to discover that their avocado muffins with pico de gallo, a poached egg and a rocket salad were back on the menu. 

After a mooch around the charity shops we headed home. I snaffled a handful of interesting things for the Kinky shed, a lovely 1980s Indian rayon midi skirt by Flowers, a pair of vintage red glittery jazz shoes, still stuffed with their original tissue paper and a lurex turban trimmed with rhinestones.

Our magnificent Laburnum burst into bloom this week...

One of our geraniums, Little Monster, flowered this morning,

As did the Bearded Iris.

Before changing into a bikini for an afternoon of basking in the sunshine, I wore this vintage block printed Indian cotton maxi dress and this gorgeous 1960s Indian embroidered jacket, both found on Vinted during the winter. The dress was £4 and the top, which had been listed for almost 2 years, wasn't much more. 

I was joined in the garden by next door's feisty tabby, Kitty.

I can't believe how quickly Fridays roll round. Jon's currently blasting out a couple of his latest vintage vinyl finds, Come Inside (Feedback Max) by Thompson Twins and Back A Yard by The In Crowd while I slice up the limes ready for our rum and colas. (Chin chin!!)

Thanks for reading and have a fabulous weekend!

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!