Treasure Tuesday

Two exciting things happened this week.

I got home from work on Tuesday to find one of our friends in, chatting. She was delivering a parcel of treasure for me from another friend who she'd met up with a few days earlier.

What a lovely surprise! Thank you so much lovely Gina! X

Wendy Wales is behaving herself in company, but Claudia Capri is giving a bit of side eye. She'll need to pack that in.

My parcel of treasure included a 1960s shift dress and a 1940s style dress, a polka dot skirt, age unknown, two cardis, a couple of tops, a pair of dolls and some sparkly beaded necklaces!

I've already worn the shift dress, but forgot to take a photo, and the cardigan hasn't been off my back

The very next day I started wearing my goodies; first up the skirt. It's an acetate fabric, handmade. I feel it could be anywhere from the 40s to the 60s, but I just don't know.

Things will look even nicer once they're ironed, but I don't do that type of thing willy nilly. It's purely on a needs basis in this house.

She also delivered an invitation. 'We're going out on Saturday. There's a halloween party on in the pub. We're all dressing up. Are you coming?'

Well, why not?

The party turned out to be an Oasis tribute band with an amp so powerful I could imagine little green men singing along on Mars. Well, if they knew the words.

I stuck tissue in my ears, like the old fogey I am. Mainly we smiled at each other for a couple of hours, and did the odd bit of sign language, but when the band had a break, we did some intensive chatting and agreed to a rematch later on this month.

A disco. We're going to a disco. That's going to need an outfit. Can't wait.

Autumn update

A lot of the time I don't have much of interest to share, and therefore don't post, but I've noticed that I still enjoy it when other people post about everyday stuff, so, here's a little catch up, just to say hello.

I had to pop down south last week to deal with some family stuff. My big sis still lives down there so it was a lovely opportunity to go and see her.

My sis works in the cafe at a vintage bazaar. She's always been good with food and is very sociable, so it's the perfect job for her.

After she finished work, we went to visit a relative in hospital. I knew it would be the last time I would see him, so it was the chance to say goodbye. Now he's gone, the last of his generation. As kids we adored him, he always made us scream with laughter. Even to the end, he retained his sense of humour. When the nurse came in, he said with a massive cheeky grin, 'I've got a present for you' and produced his bed pan.

My accommodation and me, the morning after the night before, feeling a little bit delicate. The cheeky tenants took the bathroom mirror with them when they left, so I had to use my ipad as a mirror. Necessity is the mother of invention.

I was staying in my mum's empty house and was a bit worried about how it would be, whether memories of how she was when she was living there would make me sad and keep me awake. I needn't have worried. My sis took me out on a pub crawl. Turns out it wasn't maudlin thoughts which kept me awake, it was the wine headache! But we did have fun. A friend from when we were teens has a wine bar in town, so we ended up there, having a good old laugh with him.

Get home, take shoes off, drink coffee, eat toast, go to bed. There's our newly tiled fireplace in the background there, still getting used to it.

I spotted this dress in the vintage bazaar. It's a paisley maxi dress, probably late 60s or early 70s. I wore it out last Friday night when we caught up with friends for drinks.

Then on Saturday after work, my lovely friend Angela came over, bearing gifts! This mirror belonged to her uncle. When his house was cleared out, she discovered it and thought I might like it. She's not wrong!

Thanks Angel-face! xx

A few days in the Dordogne

At the back end of September we had a few short but lovely days in France, in the Dordogne. It's wine-growing country. We had quite the eventful journey out there, but when we finally landed, the first thing we noticed was that even the tiny airport was surrounded by vines.

The number of vineyards is only equalled by the amount of castles. We only had time for a taster, so our three remaining days took in a chateau, a vineyard and a few little bastide towns.

We went with our friends Claire and Serena. They had the genius idea to do a wine tasting, and since it would have spoiled the experience if one of us had to drive, we found a vineyard near to our gite, strolling down country lanes to get to it.

Chateau Terre Vielle, that's our wine drinking table right there

There we spent an idyllic afternoon in the autumn sunshine, drinking red wine and having big fat juicy psychology discussions. The only thing that was missing was some tasty snacks. We spoke of olives and crisps and cheese. All that talking made us hungry, so we bought another couple of bottles and skipped off home all perky, to eat and drink some more.

Chateau de Beynac, Dordogne

The castle we went to featured in a Luc Bresson film called Jeanne d'Arc. It was everything a castle should be; huge and imposing, and the view over the river Dordogne was beyond compare.

The stables containing three old nags :)

It turns out that the village below the castle was used in the filming of Lasse Halstrom's Chocolat too. I'm going to have to rewatch it to see if I recognise anything.

We spent three days chasing markets. The booklets and the tourist information clearly stated where they were and on which days. We travelled expectantly here, there and everywhere. No markets to be seen!

We finally screeched to a halt at the market in Bergerac just as they were packing up. With minutes to spare, Serena and I both managed to bag ourselves a straw basket. Our dedication and tenacity paid off!

We had a nice mooch around Bergerac with its half-timbered buildings and impressive church. We even found Cyrano, lurking in the undergrowth.

Other than that, we ate, drank, chatted, laughed, basked in the sunshine, swam in the pool and generally enjoyed just being together at our gorgeous gite.

 A wonderful time was had by all. I generally only have one question after a holiday, and that is, where to next?

A summer trip to London

Back in August, we went down to London to stay with my little sis in her very stylish flat for a couple of days. Liv's a wonderful hostess and great cook, who keeps the food and drink coming; just how we like it!

She's a bit camera shy, but somehow I managed to get a few snaps...

We spent a bit of time mooching around, a little trip up to Herne Hill and Brockwell Park, with a nice walk home through all the back streets, admiring the lovely old houses and gardens. London's a great city for walking, especially if you have time and it's a summer's day.

This is a park straight from the 1970s, the glory days of English parkland! You could just see that photo on a coaster, couldn't you? Crazy paving and the miniature houses. That's especially for you, Em.

We had tickets to go and see the Elvis exhibition at the O2. I think I'm right in saying this is the biggest exhibition of artifacts they've ever had, outside of Graceland, from whence they were borrowed.

Such a little cutie. Did you know his 3x great grandmother was a full blown Cherokee? Morning White Dove. Isn't that a beautiful name?

Elvis died on my dad's birthday, when I was ten. They immediately scheduled a season of programmes about him including a selection of his films. Our parents let us have the black and white portable TV up in our bedroom, which we plonked on a chair. My sisters and I spent most of the summer holidays laid on our beds, with the curtains closed, kicking our legs, singing along to the songs and debating who fancied him the most.

Pestering the poor fellow in my 1960s Hawaiian jumpsuit. You have to dress the part.

Looks like it was me!

There was some fabulously groovy posters, but the lighting was such that it was difficult to photograph anything well. But look at this one. The girl to the left of Elvis is in a bikini which looks like it's made from exactly the same print as my dress! 

It's a sign. Of what, I just don't know.

I really like what this telegram says about Elvis as a person:

'Dear Colonel

Please convey my thanks to the various groups in Memphis who have suggested a special homecoming for me when I return to Memphis. However I wish to return to Memphis the same way that any other serviceman returns to his hometown, without ceremony or fanfare. I served as they served and was proud to do it. Seeing the city of Memphis, my family, friends and fans will be the most welcome sight in the world to me. I appreciate their kind gesture and know they will understand and I am glad you are in agreement with me on this.'

It was a great exhibition, with a really happy feel to it. There were loads of fascinating things to look at. You heard his voice, both speaking and singing. It felt like a celebration and everyone came out smiling.

A stitch in time

Do you ever find being a grown up is a bit flippin' dull? Too many jobs to do, not enough fun to be had?

I've been making shortbread this year. Delicious.

My To Do list is a right little dictator. When it's not looking, I manage to squeeze in a bit of what I fancy. And that usually involves eating, drinking, sleeping or making things.

Red and black currants from the allotment combined make a lovely jam

My first ever batch of homemade scones, with our homemade jam. A cream tea is a must at some point in the summer

One of the things I will most miss about the summer, is the ready supply of fresh flowers from the garden

Just as the summer has decided to turn the lights off and vacate the building, I've started making summer wear. I don't give up that easily. My most frequent phrase during the month of September is 'Indian Summer'. In the early days I say it in a jaunty, optimistic tone of voice. Upbeat. By about the 15th, if there's no sunshine I start to waver, but we're not there yet, so it's playsuits all round.

I had a pattern for the shorts, but made the top up as I went along. It turned out OK. That's my best cheesecake pose

I always push it with the fabric, ekeing it out, often sewing bits of fabric together to make a piece big enough to cut a pattern piece out of, but this time I think I've achieved a PB (personal best). Pushed it to the max. There's just about enough fabric left to make a jacket for a mouse.

Once again, my mum was the inspiration for this outfit. Here she is in summer 1966, camping in the Alps, pregnant with me

Also, a while back, I made a bikini! As you do. Well, after a fraught experience in a changing room, I've discovered that vintage bikinis aren't quite cut for my proportions, shall we say. This was a soft as silk curtain from Chesterfield market. It's lined, but yet to see water, so not sure whether it will be like one of those pens where the pin up girl is in a bikini when you hold it one way and butt-naked when you hold it the other way. I'll need to test it out in the bath before I hit the pool. Don't want to be asked to leave. With the leftovers, I made a matching bag.

Hope you are finding the time to squeeze some fun things in amongst all the grown up necessary stuff. Have a great weekend everyone.

The Good Life

Looks like we've been on one of our trips out, doesn't it? To a nice country place, with lanes and cute houses.

It's easy to be fooled.

This is actually in the heart of inner city Nottingham. It's St Anns Allotments, the oldest allotments in the world and a grade 2 heritage site. We went before a while back and came away wanting to be part of it all. So we put our names down and waited.

When we took over the plot last October, we opened the gate and beheld a field of waist-high weeds. The only thing to do was slash and burn. I have pyromaniac tendencies, so spent many a winter day stoking the flames with my eyes streaming, going home smelling like a smoked kipper.

He's done most of the hard work. All the landscaping has been done using the bricks of a collapsed Victorian building found on the site. I wanted to rebuild it, but he's got ideas of his own. That serpentine path is a thing of beauty. My job is weeding. I take it very seriously. I have instigated a war on thistles. Brambles and rosebay willow herb are in my top secret dossier too.

Peas straight from the pod. So sweet. 

Flowers everywhere. Mother nature is kind. We've had wild roses, sweet peas, bluebells, forget me nots, ladies lace. The list goes on. But we also decided to plant a flower border as you come in. I did a patch of cosmos next to a patch of snapdragons. The morning glory hasn't really taken off, but really we can't complain. Practically everything else has.

Those are beans there, Trail of Tears they're called. They are a native American bean, delicious, they squeak against your teeth when you eat them. We've planted them in with the sweet corn, just as they do. 

We've been eating like kings. I think I've consumed more potatoes this summer, than in the last three years. We've had them every which way we can think of. Boiled potatoes, mashed potatoes, roasted, sauted and fried, we've even had dauphinoise. Yeah, check us out!

Beetroot houmous, so delicious and the colour is amazing. That's broad bean pesto in the background. To die for. Seriously.

We have had to give courgettes away to anyone who crosses our path. Again, we have used every recipe we can possibly think of. Although he tells me I need to make a cake next. Haven't done that yet.

Kale with courgette and roasted cashews, with an olive oil, honey and lemon dressing. Heavenly.

Spinach daisy. We're turning into Tom and Barbara. Just need some pea pod wine...!

Apple blossom in spring and plums ripening in the sun. I like the life of a farmer's wife.