Red, white and blue

I had a lovely sunshine-filled week off work last week. 

Here I am in that classic Union Jack colour combo inspired by Helga the Great. 1970s cotton midi skirt courtesy of our Curtise (Missing In Action at a local charity shop, last known sighting: Sheffield)

We fitted in a quick trip up North to attend a christening, which somehow we managed to miss. However we did make it for the buffet afterwards. Oops. 

I baked a Nigella Apricot, almond, rosewater and cardomon cake. It was a bit of an acquired taste, but by the time we'd finished scoffing the whole cake between the two of us, we'd definitely acquired it. 

I also pottered in the garden, hung out at the allotment, went out for dinner and....what else? Oh yes, I bought a car! 

I've been driving a red Nissan Micra for the last 12 years. Not the same vehicle; when one died, I went out and bought a replacement. My friends who'd teased me about me driving a Noddy car, had a good old belly laugh over that. I did too. They assumed I'd be upgrading. But I don't know anything about engines, and all the mechanics I spoke to agreed the old style Nissan Micra was a good reliable car. So, that was my logic. But really, that model is too old now to go for a hat trick, so I knew it was time for a Brave New World.

I asked my tennis chums for advice and one of them suggested a Fiat 500. Brilliant Nicole got it absolutely right. It's small, economical and I love its retro design. I found this one over the border in Derby.

I know I will feel a little bit blue when I take the little red car to the scrappers, but it turns out the future is white. I love driving round in this little car. 

What's new, pussycat?

Lately I've been having a bit of a Spring purge, chipping away at all the endless things I don't need. It's the usual pass it on to friends, charity shops and ebay scenario. I try not to pass anything more to landfill than absolutely necessary.

I'm hoping eventually to be able to reintegrate the small bedroom back into the house as usable space, maybe with my sewing machine set up so that it's much easier to do little sewing projects. In the meantime, every now and again, I claim the dining table and then there's fabric and thread everywhere for a few days.

I've taken up patchwork again, slowly. I'm sure I'll decide eventually what to use it for.

Sometimes a stray pin finds its way onto the sofa or rug, and then there's a massive yelp as human flesh yields to sharp pointed metal. I get told off and hang my head in shame, but somehow it keeps happening, so I think everyone will be pleased when the sewing department is rehomed.

I knocked up this little bag with some leftovers. It's very useful for days out. The turquoise fabric is what's left after making a dress and a pair of shorts, and the pocket fabric also has a matching cushion and porch curtain.

I know you're supposed to stand three quarters on and do something with your leg to make you look slimmer. Maybe even brush your hair. But, let's be honest, this isn't Vogue.
I've been growing that belly this winter, since I've been unable to play my beloved tennis, but it's time to sort it out. Walking, salad and weekend-only alcohol are on the cards.

I've also been following the rule of dealing with things on the mending pile before starting a new project, so hems have been altered and other scintillating things of that nature. The dress above was a 1960s Hawaiian dress before, but huge and in a different style. Luckily the main pieces were intact so I unpicked it all, made a pattern from another dress I wear loads in the summer, and remade it.

The much worn 1960s dress having a day out in Dordogne, last September

My current project is to recycle loose covers from our old sofa, which, after 20 years service, has been retired. I'm currently unpicking what feels like miles of stitching. In its next life, it will be a dress.

Talking of creative things, a while ago, I received the most wonderful surprise package. I came in after work to find it on the kitchen island. I was mystified, so I started ripping it open. Everything about it was beautifully done. The penny was starting to drop. It was a gift from the lovely and talented Lynn after I commented on her blog. I once had a writing case very like this, which had belonged to my dad, and which was stolen in a burglary, years ago. So this replaces it. I can put special bits and pieces in it.

Thank you so much Lynn, it was the kindest thought. I love it. x

So how about you, has Spring had any effects on you? Any cleaning and tidying? Or are you inspired to start a new project or regime?

I loved hearing about what's happening in your towns and villages, thank you.

Now is the Wetherspoons of our discontent

Well, that's what Vix and I thought when Curtise turned up, scandalising us with news of a bad review of one of the three Wetherspoons we had to choose from on our inaugural tour of Leicester. If there was a bad one, we missed it. And we gave it a fair shot, visiting two thirds of their offering during our few short hours there.

Must have been someone with higher standards than us.

I love this picture of these two giggling away

In the Victorian era, Industrialisation happened in Leicester, with textiles, hosiery and footwear bringing wealth to the city. These grand buildings of the time are so impressive. On the left, the white building looks like a chateau with its external staircase, and the opulent copper door on the right is definitely meant to be seen

Leicester is one of the oldest cities in England, dating back to Roman times, and unlike many other cities, has managed to retain a large number of its historic buildings. The first one we spotted was this amazing Art Nouveau building, built in 1901, The Turkey Cafe.

Vix looked like a Russian Princess with her huge furry hat, whilst Curtise and I followed in her wake as ladies-in-waiting. My favourite example of the Vix effect on this occasion, was when one fellow came up to us and said, 'hold on, didn't I just see you...at London Fashion Week?' We had to laugh.

When we saw this road sign, we knew we were in exactly the right place. Cheap: our motto and our byword.


When this day out was in the planning, Curtise sent me a text: 'Your mission - should you choose to accept it - is to research chazzas, vintage shopping and Wetherspoons in Leicester. Yes, I know - homework.'

Back in the early to mid 1980s, my boyfriend at the time was at Uni in Leicester, so we used to go to this market to get our fresh veg. There's Lineker's, good old Gary's family business.

One foot in the grave? No, we've got plenty of days out left in us.

Well, I'm not one to shirk my responsibilities, so I set to. Turns out Leicester has rather a good vintage selection, of which we visited three.


Our favourite was Dolly Mix Vintage. Three floors of frocks, from antique to the 1980s. The interior was rather inspiring too, with a loft style room, filled with quirky props and plenty of windows for light. I noticed a definite Eastern influence. We agreed we could happily live in a space like that.

I absolutely loved this little corner which was set up as an artist's studio with a poster of a Thai Prince above it

No day out is complete without a lunch break at the aforementioned Wetherspoons. We've become so predictable. Mexican bean burgers all round. They had a pint, I had a glass of wine. Because, as my companions like to point out, I'm a lady.

In case you were in any doubt.






Shopping fix sated, we decided to have a bit of a mooch around. We knew we wanted to visit King Richard III, who has found his forever home in the Cathedral after spending a frankly impolite amount of time kicking his heels beneath a car park.

We paid our respects, and all agreed we love the smell of a church. That mix of history, wood polish and incense.

So, what did I manage to find? A couple of 1970s German cotton cushions, with a really cute print and a fabric box were my favourite purchases. But I also came home with some great gifts from the girls. The funkiest pair of vintage Wellies from Vix, plus a zip pull for my dodgy shoulder and an enamel pendant. From Curtise, my very own Skirt Supplier, a fab 70s midi skirt and a 70s does 40s top which fits me to perfection.

In a nod to my Irish roots, I wore green and a shamrock for St Patrick's day

Such is the success of our trademark days out that my sister and I are going to do one soon. Coming to a town near you?

A cheeky day out

Went out, didn't we?

Photo 'borrowed' from Vix, oops, sorry, thank you.

I bought that sheepskin coat on our day out. I thought it might be a bit football manager circa 1976, so I asked Q what he thought. He had two words for me.  Del Boy  :D

Went for a day out to get away from all the boring stuff and have a laugh. It was just what the doctor would have ordered if we'd explained the symptoms:

Too many days spent at work

Too many things getting on our nerves

Not enough boozy lunches

If you've ever wondered how Vix manages to find quite so much vintage, quite so easily, we now know the secret. She has magical powers. She doesn't so much look for vintage as divine for it. It's like Moses with the Red Sea, she just walks into a shop and the hangers on the rails part to reveal treasures. We trot along behind, open-mouthed.

If you suffer from these ailments, what you need is a girly day out.

Sparkling beauty!

Go and chat through your dilemmas, try on something sparkly and fabulous, egg each other on and eat chips for lunch. Then, five minutes after leaving the pub, turn around and go back in again for more wine, just to seal the deal.

The perfect Jean Varon wedding dress, empire line, maribou trimmed and with a train fit for a Queen

I promise, you will feel much better.

Two exciting looking parcels for later in the month and look! A sequined boob tube disco dress from Curtise. Are you all crazily jealous?

Trust me. I'm a blogger.

Three go chazzing in Chezza

It's been nearly a year since we last went to Chesterfield and its fabulous Thursday market. Can't believe we resisted the urge for so long.

It's like a posh car boot sale. You find all sorts, with prices ranging for pennies to pounds. I rather liked these chairs. I'm a bit of a sucker for a piece of 1940s chintz. But the thing which is keeping me awake at night is a gilt demi-lune table which I decided against. The stallholder is rather dashing with a mop of blonde hair, which makes him look like Tarzan. Since everyone has to have a name, he is Lord Greystoke. His stock was all rather beautiful, picked up in France I would say.

The day started off cold and wet, but look, the sun shines on us bloggers! There's Vix, Curtise and Curtise's lovely friend Joanne.

Some more lovely ladies, stallholders Jo and Amanda, plus this beautiful gardener with her psychedelic dress and yellow headband.

I wore this fabulous skirt given to me by Curtise, who pretty much clothes us all with her fabulous gifts.  The blouse belonged to my grandmother and was originally white. Vix pronounced it vintage M&S. With my russian scarf, the look I was going for was Romanian gypsy woman.

We spent a large part of the day snuggled up in Wetherspoons. It's become such a tradition we can't imagine going anywhere without one. 

Look at Curtise's face! Those eyes are pleading for me to stop taking photos and pour us out our liquid desert. How could anyone resist? 

We always have such a lovely time together, chatting, laughing, rummaging, posing. We meet the kindest strangers, who are always happy to join in the fun and take our picture, like here, in the poshest loos.

But it's not just the kindness of strangers, my friends brought presents too! A 70s Marks and Spencer blouse and a Style dress pattern from Vix, and a Dutch doll from Curtise. I bought the cute little Spanish embroidered postcards and the orange curtains. I have hopes of transforming them into a trouser suit!

Look, more clothes from Curtise! I look a bit Housewife, 49 in this wrapover African fabric dress which fits me perfectly, and I get to be Vix's twin in this Horrockses 1970s maxi skirt. 

Anyway, they say a picture paints a thousand words, so here's the day in picture form. We three out having a FAB time! 

Let the bloggy-get-together season commence!

Stoneywell: a magical Arts and Craft home

Last year when we went off for a little holiday down in the South East, we joined the National Trust. It's a year long membership, so we're on a mission to see as much as we can in that time.

Today we visited the most wonderful house; Stoneywell, an Arts and Crafts gem, designed by the architect Ernest Gimson for his brother. I love residences which are on a really domestic scale. It's much easier to see how people lived than in a great stately home.

This one is in the perfect location, set in the middle of the plot, with nobody else around.

Chanelling Fragonard's The Swing.

A swing from a tree is just so romantic, my dream house would definitely have one.

This was their summerhouse, where the family would decamp for the warm months, and the overwhelming feeling is that this is a house in which to have fun. The garden has tennis courts, a woodland for the children to run wild in and a garden which is the antithesis of formal.

Window seats, that's another one for the dream house. Add in open fires, and beautiful wooden floors and we're making some nice progress.

The house is build in a valley, on bedrock. The steps are hewn out of the rock. Everything about the house feels so organic. It's the lack of straight lines and the use of natural materials. All the walls are white as decreed by the architect, and there is lots of oak and stone from the nearby quarry.

The architect also designed a lot of the furniture. Everything fits together so well. I have a new found affection for this movement, the furniture is so simple in its lines, but beautiful in its handmade construction. Kind of reminds me of the mid century stuff which is so popular at the moment.

Imagine walking up those stairs to bed if you were a little bit tipsy! I love the red velvet cushions with the mossy green candlewick bedspread.

The front door. All the doors are made from beautiful pieces of wood and have so much character. That second door leads down into a pantry. You know that's going on the ideal home list.

This was a house built with children in mind. There are so many child sized nooks and crannies, there is so much room to run around in and, one of my favourite things; there are so many sets of stairs, that you could go up one set, run around and then come down another. As the house is built into the landscape, it ends up on different levels. In the master bedroom, you can climb out of the window into the garden.

Books arranged in nooks and crannies, and chairs everywhere for the family to sit down and get absorbed in them. I've never been much of a fan of William Morris textiles, but they fitted in well here. 

The eponymous stoney well. Prospective brides marrying into the family had to jump that well as a kind of initiation. Unless they were Olympians with the legs of Serena Williams, I suggest they all ended up wet. That little round building reminds me of buildings in France.

Vintage Austrian dirndl found on a day charity shopping in Bristol with my friends Helen and Sian. Clogs bought in Stockholm, neon pink tights from the market, stripy top and cardi from the chazza, bag from Em, gloves from Curtise

The inspiration for my outfit today was Truly Scrumptious in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, when she was prentending to be a marionette. 

What do you see? You people staring at me?

Car picnic! We could have gone to the tea shop and had some cake, but instead we took our packed lunch and found some woodland to park up in. Flask coffee, one of my true loves. If you ever want to see me smile, simply offer me food.

I often think of houses as characters in their own right, with their own personalities. When I watch films, I pay as much attention to the setting as the characters and plot. This house was happy, fun-loving and very relaxed. 

How about you? I'd love to hear, what's on the list for your dream house?