71 Degrees North

Okay, so it's not 71 degrees north, but it's been so cold today it certainly felt like it. It didn't snow again here in the Midlands, but layers were certainly the order of the day, and once I was in the office there was no way I was heading out of it again.

I've just burned my arm on the oven checking on hubby's birthday cake (the big day is tomorrow) and it really stings.

Anyway, here's today's outfit, taken in my pre-decorating living room but you may notice we've actually pulled the carpet up already. One more day and work starts on our living room, I'm so excited.

Boots - Duo Boots; Socks - Primark; Tights - Pretty Polly;
Kilt - Vintage (Via Salvation Army shop); Jumper - gift;
Vest - John Rocha; Scarf - Vintage

Culture Vulture strikes again

Yesterday morning I awoke to find it had snowed overnight. It was only a light dusting, but it had settled and left a nice white glow to the world. I have to say, despite the weather reports all week, I was shocked to discover the snow there as I was adamant that the week had been too mild for snow. Nonetheless, I had a car boot sale to go to, so I pulled on my big heavy jumper, woolly hat and hiking boots and took the short walk to the local bowls club that was holding the small indoor sale. It looked as if the harsh weather conditions had frightened off the majority of sellers, so it took me literally 15 minutes for a good peruse of the whole sale where I managed to pick out the following little gems, before walking home. I know that the snow can be terribly inconvenient, but I do like getting wrapped up and walking out in it. 

Ladies Parasol £1.00

Unopened ladies handkerchiefs - £1.00
Recipe Notes book - 10p

L-R Top, skirt, tunic - £1 each

Once home I popped a bread pudding in the oven since it's hubby's birthday next week, and he's got to bring lots of goodies into the office. I thought it best to make an early start with it.

During the afternoon, I dropped hubby and step son off at the cinema to go see Harry Potter, then I went and got Mum as we were going to head to the local church bazaar. It's years since I've been to a church bazaar, so I didn't know what to expect. It was good though, there were lots of stalls selling jams and home made cards, and we were able to get some fruit punch and mince pies and on the bric-a-brac stall I even managed to find this Vintage Welsh tweed handbag, which the old lady let me have for 20p. It needs a new strap, but once that's sorted it's going to make a lovely little messenger bag and for 20p I can't really complain.

Welsh tweed messenger bag - 20p

After having some dinner and walking the dogs, it was time for us all to go out again. For hubby's birthday, we'd booked to go and see Dracula at Rugby Theatre. Again, I didn't know what to expect, my Mum has pretty much every film of Dracula ever made on DVD so I'm no stranger to the story having been brought up on it, but I'd never seen it on the stage and thought it could either be really good, or really bad. Thankfully it was really good. It stayed close to the story of Dracula that I'm familiar with, including his arrival at Whitby on the Demeter, and the characters of Lucy, Mina and Jonathan Harker, and the play was cast really well too. It was great, and we all really enjoyed it. When I was about 13 my Mum bought me the book of Dracula, and I remember reading it, but it's so long ago that I feel I need to read it again because, it is a really good story. So that's two theatre visits in as many weekends, aren't we good? When we come out of the theatre though it was painfully cold, even the heaters in the mini struggled to get us all warm.

Dressed for the theatre
Boots - Doc Martens; Dress - Vintage; Cardy - East (via jumble sale);
Faux fur jacket - Car boot sale; Bag - Vintage (charity shop)
Beret - Oasis

Hubby's new jacket arrived yesterday too, so we thought we'd show you with a hubby outfit shot.

Hubby's theatre outfit

This morning, after a nice lie in I was up baking yet more sweet treats for hubby's colleagues, a pineapple upside down cake, and chocolate brownies (which I've never made before) so they are going to have a veritable banquet this week. As well as this we pulled up our living room carpet, the first stage of our long overdue decorating of the living room hoorah.

Also folks, don't forget I have a load of stuff finishing on eBay this evening. Find it here.

By the way folks, don't forget I have a bundle of stuff finishing on eBay this evening, see it all here.

Catching up with friends

Hi folks, I wanted to write this blog lastnight, but for some reason my technology wasn't co-operating and I'm hardly a techno whizz, so I just gave up on it. Thankfully it's being much more agreeable this morning.

I've had quite a nice week really. It's been terribly busy at work, but that's how I like it. Early in the week I nipped into town to check out a few charity shops as the weather had pretty much prevented me from walking in on other days. Anyway, I went to a charity shop I don't usually visit, and it's a good job I did because I stumbled on these beauties. I can't wait to wear the 60s frock, isn't it gorgeous?

Vintage Slip - £1.49, Vintage dress - £3.99
YMCA shop

I also bought this cute little body to display my brooch collection on

Mini Mannequin - 99p BHF

Wednesday evening I went late night shopping with Mum. I didn't buy anything, but I do like to go late night shopping a couple of times in the run up to Christmas as it just gets me in the Christmas spirit.

Thursday lunchtime I met up with the delightful Roisin for lunch, and we went to a pub we hadn't been to before, The Squirrel. It was really nice inside, very warm and with open fires and a christmassy feel to it. We had a lovely lunch nattering about everything from dresses (of course) to Christmas presents, and decided that we'd definitely be coming back to the Squirrel for pre-Christmas drinks next month.

Thursday evening we popped off to visit Mr. and Mrs. R. I was still holding onto the ladybird books I'd managed to bag for her at the jumble sale earlier this month. Thankfully I had actually bought the right ones for her and she was really pleased. It was really good to catch up with them both, they are very dear friends but unfortunately, as is the case with the majority of my friends, we don't get to catch up nearly as often as I'd like to.

Yesterday the book people were doing their monthly sale at our offices. I went down there with the intention of buying nothing... but alas this Mad Men book caught my eye and I couldn't resist. I'm glad I didn't resist though, it's a hoot and I'd recommend it for any Mad Men fan.

A Horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse

This weekend has been blissfully relaxed for me, and yet I still managed to be tired this morning. Monday morning syndrome.

Saturday morning I stayed in bed. It doesn’t happen very often that I get a long and slovenly lie in, but my word when it does what bliss it is. I didn’t emerge from the duvet until shortly before noon, which I don’t think I’ve done for a great many years now… not unless I’ve been unwell.

Once I’d had some brunch, and armed with the cake I’d made the night before, we set off to visit the in-laws. En route hubby and I were having an extensive conversation about Morris Minors, and how you don’t really see many of them around Coventry. Seconds after finishing the conversation a beautiful sky blue one drove past us, and then we saw one which was pretty much a wreck sitting on someones drive. Hubby suggested I go and knock the door as they may want rid of it off their drive and then I could restore it and use it, but I had to point out to him that my mechanical knowledge of cars is zero and his is no better and whilst I’m happy to get a car that needs some things doing to it, and to potter around with my Haynes manual in hand, a project of that scale would be far too much for someone of my knowledge and abilities to take on. That’s not to say I wasn’t tempted for a while though.

We reached the in-laws to find an empty house, they’d gone shopping. Still armed with a cake, that was looking increasingly attractive, we returned home and waited for the in-laws to come to us. Once they came, we all had tea and cake and sat around looking at some old photographs as my step-daughter was looking for a picture of hubby and her grandma to put in her locket.

Me at the theatre

Saturday evening, when everyone had gone, hubby and I went to the Belgrade theatre to see Richard III. It was really unfortunate as it was meant to by hubby, me and mum going, but Mum took ill on Saturday and decided that she couldn’t make it. There wasn’t enough time to offer out the ticket to a friend, so the ticket went to waste.

Richard III was really good. I wasn’t that familiar with the plot before, I knew some of the quotes, but that was about it. The actors in this production were amazing though, and while I did find this a difficult play to keep up with (look away for a minute and someone else has been murdered) they performers really brought it to life. The lead role was played by a very charismatic and strong actor, and in true traditional Shakespeare style even the female roles were played by men. It was very enjoyable, not to mention educational.

Sunday morning, we were up with the lark to go to church. We haven’t been in some weeks, but unfortunately we didn’t have time to stay for coffee and a chat with some of our friends there as we had so much to fit in. After a quick visit to Central 6 where we bought four candles (and the young shop assistant had no idea why we were laughing at that) for our newly placed bathroom candle sconces, we stopped in on my mum who was looking a little better. She was about to put her little Christmas tree up when Bailey decided he liked one of the decorations she’d bought for it, stole it and killed it. Of course he got away with it, he gets away with everything… little blighter lol.

Once back at home I set to work on my Christmas cake. The fruit had been soaking in brandy all night, so our kitchen smelled like an alcoholics bedsit, but the fruit was lovely and plump. After my first attempt last Christmas I really enjoy making my Christmas cake, and thought I’d almost left it too late as those things taste better the longer they are left. I think with around 4 weeks to go though I have plenty of time to feed it on lots of brandy so that’s it’s moist and tasty ready for Christmas day. The problem is I now have a cupboard full of fruit for Christmas cake, perhaps I should make another one and auction it off to raise money for my Morris Minor lol.

The rest of my Sunday was spent listing things on eBay. I’m having a ruthless clear out of stuff but the only problem is that listing all these things on eBay is like having another full time job. It’s so onerous. It’ll be worth it in the long run though if I get my car, I just have to exercise a lot of self control to not spend the money that’s making its way into my Paypal account… afterall, it’s not real money is it?

Money in the kitty

Over the past few days I've finally made a decision. I've been giving everyone the pip with my constant meanderings about cars. I love classics, but didn't know what I could afford, even though I knew what I wanted. Well, now I've decided (I'm a typical indecisive Libran, making a decision for me is a big deal). With a bit of clever saving, and selling of some of my lesser used stuff on eBay I think I can be in a position to buy my dream car by next spring. What is your dream car I hear you cry? Well, it's one of these babies.

Morris Minor image from Classic Car Y2U

So, anyway, in light of this I've been listing some of my stuff on eBay again, if you want a nosey then it's all here.

Make it Friday

Friday's are great aren't they? The end of the working week, you know you can have a shandy pop on a Friday night because you haven't got to get up at 6.30 the next morning and turn out to do an honest days work. 

Yesterday, when I got home I found that my bag of fresh lavender had arrived from eBay. I knew that if I left it aside, I'd never get around to making the lavender bags to hang in my wardrobe, so as soon as I'd had my zapped meal, I sat in front of Children in Need and made these.

Homemade lavender bags to scent my wardrobe

The black one is a bit of a cheat, it's a gauze giftbag that something else came in, but I thought it was ideal to decant the smell of the lavender around. The other 2 I made from scraps of material from a project I'd completed earlier in the year. I've still got a little bit of lavender left, so I may make another one for my mum since she's a big fan of lavender.

Along with that, I was also tasked with making a birthday cake for my father-in-law. Hubby can make a nice cake, but for some reason the in-laws do look forward to a cake I've baked. FIL has been looking forward to his birthday cake for a few weeks now... more worryingly he's also looking forward to my Christmas cake that I've not yet started. Perhaps this weekend. Anyway, I made him a farmhouse fruit cake glazed with marmalade. I can't wait for a slice of it later. 

Homemade farmhouse fruit cake for FIL birthday

How we could all benefit from a bit of vintage

On Tuesday, hubby had to travel to the far reaches of North Yorkshire. Unwilling to be dropped off in the office at 7am, I opted for a lie in and to get the (unpredictable) bus to work. It was while I was hanging around at the bus stop for half an hour, for a bus that was excessively late, with the winter frost biting at my toes and my nose threatening to drip at every opportunity that I realised how healthier (not to mention stylishly prepared) we would all be if we adopted a more old fashioned way of dressing.

Photo courtesy of People tribe

Let’s start with undergarments. During previous decades, and right up until about the 70s, both men and women paid a lot more attention to their undergarments. For example, how often do you see the line of a mans vest through his shirt these days? Never I’ll bet you. As for women, there was always a selection of undergarments to pop on under clothes, and even as the century rolled on it was unlikely that a woman would leave the house without her stockings and a slip, and sometimes even a longline bra. I personally love slips, I think that they not only provide that first layer of warmth under which to trap the air, but they also give a nice fluid line for whatever is going on top of them to rest on. I don’t own enough of them, and that’s for sure, but I think I may check out eBay for some original vintage ones to keep me toasty through the winter months. Then of course there’s the trusty girdle. Okay, I can’t imagine sitting at my desk all day with a girdle on, but lets face it, it’s going to be a hell of a lot warmer than the majority of pants on the market, and you can even get some nice ones from places like What Katie Did that are very good reproductions of vintage styles.

How often have you spoken to an older lady and she’s commented that, she’d never have left the house as a young lass without her hat and gloves? It just wasn’t done, and not only did it look exceptionally smart but it fulfilled a variety of purposes. Everyone knows that you lose a huge proportion of your body heat through your head, but not if you have a hat on. A hat doesn’t have to mean a woolly beany either, nor does it have to be vintage (I know some people are funny about such things) but there are an absolute array of all types of hats on the market now and with a scour of charity shops, eBay or your local market you’re sure to bag a rather excellent hat of some description. Gloves, in my view, have a dual purpose and I do actually think that we would benefit from wearing them in summer and winter. Not only do they protect your extremities from falling off while you’re at the bus stop, but just think of how many germs are spread by hand. How many surfaces you touch in a day that someone else has sneezed on, or handled while unwell. Instead of using gloves as a barrier, we spend our whole day loading chemicals onto our skin to kill it all (and all the nice oils that keep our hands soft) off. Again, you’re not going to sit at your desk and type wearing a nice pair of lacy gloves are you? But you also probably wash your hands regularly at work, but I definitely think that wearing gloves has to limit transfer of infection.

My Vintage Aquascutum hat

Finally, handkerchiefs. In the good old days a gent wouldn’t leave the house without a handkerchief in their top pockets (and didn’t they look dapper too). Likewise, a woman would likely have a small cotton square in her bag to gently wipe her nose, or her tears if need be. Don’t get me wrong, if used wrong I do actually think that handkerchiefs can be pretty gross. If you have a cold, buy a pack of disposable tissues, it’s seriously more hygienic. There are few things however that I find more irritating in the cold weather than continuous sniffling. If I’m on the train and someone near me is sniffle, sniffle, sniffle all the way, I could scream by the time I am getting off. A handkerchief would be a much more agreeable way to deal with the situation and far more environmentally friendly than using 100 disposable tissues for a watery nose that comes as standard in this sort of weather. I can’t stress enough though the importance of using disposable when it comes to colds and flus, and also the importance of washing cotton hankies each time they are used. Also, despite the plethora of vintage ladies handkerchiefs on eBay, wiping my nose in something that has already been used is one of the few things that would totally give me the cringe. As such, I’m going to be looking for a pack of inexpensive, new or at least unused in the charity shop, ladies cotton handkerchiefs on my travels. I’m sure I’ve seen unopened boxes of handkerchiefs in the charity shop as many people get them as gifts but never use them.

Handkerchiefs, useful to flagging down a lift when you're fed up of cycling.
Image courtesy of Nanalulus linen closet

So, as you can see I had a long time to think while I was at that bus stop, and have ended up making myself look like a germ obsessed hypochondriac, but the next time I’m out in the cold I’ll be using my own tips to make sure that I’m stylishly warm and armed with something elegant to stop me from sniffling.

Wardrobe Malfunction

Boots - duo boots; Leggings - vila; Dress - Monsoon;
Waistcoat - Vintage Welsh Tapestry; Black top - M&S

Where: The office
When: 16th November

Yesterday morning was freezing, and it was also a rare occasion where I had to take the bus to work since hubby had to make an extremely early start to go to North Yorkshire. As such, I put as many layers as I could physically bear on. Unfortunately I hadn't realised before leaving the house that the seams in this dress were weakening, and at some point in the day I ended up with a hole, conspicuously located right near my posterior. Thankfully I had a jacket with me that I was able to cover the offending damage with. I'm not going to repair this dress, I've had it years and wore it lots so I am going to go by Vix's example and salvage everything I can from it including the jewels from the neckline and the zip and since the dress is silk I was thinking of making something from the material, maybe a cushion or some eye masks.

Thank you to my official photographer for the day, the delightful Miss. F.

Chilly mornings and Regents Park

Yesterday I had to go down to London for a meeting. Now, I'm the sort of person who can get very excited about something I've done hundreds of times, and yesterday was a good example of this. As soon as the train had got out of the city the scenery came alive. There was a low crisp white sun and mist over fields and trees. Unfortunately the Virgin Pendolinos don't really lend themselves to taking photographs through the windows so even though I tried, none of them came out very well, this was about the best, even so you can't see the mist.

Once I was in London, I had time to walk to my meeting which was in the beautiful Georgian terraces of Portland Place. En route, I took a slight detour to Regents Park. I'd never been before, and was greeted with beautiful fountains, urns of flowers and wide open paths. It was gorgeous and made me realise that actually, London is littered with some very beautiful spaces.

Boots - duo Boots; Suit - Hobbs; Jumper - Wallis; Red top (worn underneath jumper) - Next;
Scarf - vintage Jacqmar; Coat - vintage Aquascutum; Beret - Oasis;
Bag - Vintage

Where: London
When: Monday 15th November

Unfortunately, after my meeting, I stopped for lunch at Pret a Manger and found a very long black hair in my wrap. I have to say though the customer service in there really made up for it. There was no question about getting my money back, and also a free cappucino and the manager also took my details assuring me that head office would be in touch and may offer me something like vouchers or something for my trouble. In my view, these things can happen, hairs can go astray, things can go wrong, but what makes it a bearable experience is all down to the way in which it is handled and I have to hand it to Pret a Manger on this, they did very well.

Craft Sunday

Yesterday afternoon I spent my time sewing, I was very productive getting a fair bit done on my long suffering dress, and also making a decent start on hubby's waistcoat. My best achievement of the day however was making a new bed for my Mum's dog. She's been needing to buy him a new bed for a long time, but dog beds seem to be so very expensive. Instead, I found some remnants of the orange cord I'm using to make my dress and made what is essentially a huge pillowcase. We then filled it with two pillows and tucked one end in (so that the pillows can be removed and the bed washed).

Here's my finished product, my client was very pleased, not to mention my Mum who saved at least £15, and me since I was able to use up some remnants that may have otherwise have gone to waste.

A lovely warm orange cord handmade dog bed

Jumble it up

I've had a quiet, and yet pleasurable weekend so far, and am having the luxury of writing my blog from the pit... ah bliss.

Friday morning when I woke up I had a very ugly and sore stye which had appeared on my right eye, giving me the droopy eyed expression of a punch drunk boxer. The lovely Caroline had invited hubby and I over to Leamington Spa to spend the evening in the pub, but alas with my painfully deformed eye, socialising was the last thing I wanted to do so I declined the invitation and resigned myself to a night spent in front of the stupid box.

Boots - Swap; Legwarmers - Vintage Camden; Leggings - Next;
Shorts - army Surplus; Jumper - Vintage Camden; Jacket - Gift;
Sunglasses - Givenchy

Saturday morning, the stye was still there, but thankfully it was sunny so at least I could hide behind some shades. We were up bright and early and went to visit the in-laws, who along with hubby seemed to find my outfit particularly amusing. There's sympathy for you hey? Anyway, after a couple of hours there we paid a flying visit to a local antiques barn in search of a wall mounted display cabinet for our ornaments, but without much luck.

I was particularly excited about my Saturday afternoon plans. Ever since starting to follow the lovely Vix I've been in search of local jumble sales, as the bargains she gets are just unreal. Finally, I located one in a nearby, well heeled village, Berkswell. I picked mum up, and we found our way out to the village which in itself was astoundingly beautiful (and became our new 'place we'd live if we won the lottery' location). Even though we arrived 15 minutes before the start there was already a well formed queue, which we joined onto the back of, waiting with our 20p admission fee in hand. Once inside it was madness, I had forgotten what jumble sales were like not having been to one in at least 15 years. It really is warfare inside, and I found that having worn a jumper and a hat I wasn't really best placed to dive in without working up a sweat. Mum found herself being elbowed out of the way of the handbags stall, while I battled in on the clothing. Such fun. We stayed there ages, and I must have spent no more than £5 and yet came away with a lightweight jumper, a cardigan, a skirt, a cook book and some ladybird books for my friend Mrs. R who collects them, a tweed jacket for hubby, a lightweight summer shirt for hubby and a satin scarf for hubby and what I think has to be my best purchase, a beautiful green onyx lamp base and a shabby chic vintage floral lampshade to go on it. For a grand total of £1 I was overjoyed with that purchase, which is now my bedside lamp.

L-R: East Cardigan; Principles Skirt; Laura Ashley Jumper
Each at 25p

Green Onyx lamp base and floral lampshade
50p each

My bedside table including my lovely new lamp, my religious statue that I've
had since I was a child, my prayer to St. Martha candle, perfume, toiletries,
glass of wine lol. The little box in the foreground was a gift to my mum when
she was a child. 

Mum was also very pleased with her spoils which included new jumpers and the most gorgeous Chinese nightgown which frankly, if I'd have seen first, it would have been mine. I think being smaller than me she was able to dive in better than me... that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it. Nonetheless, we loved the jumble sale and I'm definitely going to be checking the free paper (which was where this one was advertised) every week now. We finished off by celebrating our bargain hunting in a beautiful village pub The Bear.

By the time we'd got back and ran a few errands the evening was pressing in, and we hadn't planned to do anything very exciting. Saturday evening we had a full house as my mum was up, as were the step children so we bought in pizza from Pizza Express, which I have to say was pretty disappointing on this occasion, and watched Bram Stokers Dracula. So it was all very laid back and relaxed which is sometimes, just what you need.

This morning, I couldn't face going to church with my lazy eye still firmly in place, so I've stayed in bed and later on I'll be doing lots and lots of sewing, as well as cooking a sausage goulash which is one of the recipes I found my 20p recipe book from the jumble sale. Such simple pleasures can give such joy.

Chasing after hats...

Boots - Duo Boots; Skirt - Fenn Wright Manson (via eBay);
Jumper - Next; Blouse - Gift from Vix, Coat - Vintage Aquascutum;
Hat - Vintage Aquascutum; Glasses - Osiris; Bag - Radley

When: Thursday 11th November
Where: The office

This photograph is taken on a little bridge over a brook near my office and this must have been one of the few breaks in the horrific weather we'd had all day. It was Armistice day here in the UK, and despite having bought 2 poppies (because I lost the first one) I managed to pull the worst faux pas and forget to wear one at all. I didn't of course forget to observe the 2 minute silence though.

Shortly after taking this photograph on leaving the office after work, I caught up with my colleague to walk part of the way towards town. As we were walking by the train station my hat blew off in a gust of wind and I had to chase it down the street, screaming as my colleague looked on, it's a good job she knows me well or that could have been terribly embarrassing. Anyway, my hat didn't escape on this occasion you will be pleased to know.

Androgyny

Shoes - Deichman; Skirt - Vintage; Shirt - Hubby's; Tie - Hubby's;
Waistcoat - Wallis (via Charity Shop); Glasses - Missoni

When: Wednesday 10th November
Where: The office and lunch with a good friend

Sometimes when I get up in the morning I just feel that I'd like to dress a bit more masculine... ok it's not that masculine with a skirt, but the tie is always a traditionally male accessory isn't it? Anyway, I felt very in control and I suppose a little power dressed in this outfit yesterday, not to mention toasty with the layering beneath my shirt and with the waistcoat. This photograph was taken in my office stairwell as it was just too grim to venture outside.

Bonfire Night

Remember remember the fifth of November

Gunpowder, treason and plot.

I see no reason why gunpowder, treason

Should ever be forgot...

I've had a nice weekend again this weekend, aren't I a lucky girl? (warning, this is going to be a picture heavy post)

Friday, bonfire night, we were intending to go to the local rugby club where they were holding a fireworks display, but the weather was so grim that we decided not to go, and instead to try to find a display the following evening if the weather improved. As a consolation prize, Mum and I decided to go to the pictures to see Burke and Hare, only to discover when we got there that it was no longer showing. We were really disappointed and it seemed that the whole weekend was to be a total wash out. We resigned ourself to a drink in Old Orleans, before I dropped Mum off and left for home where I promptly fell asleep on the sofa while hubby and my step-son watched Saving Private Ryan. 

Taken at the Custard Factory
Boots - Duo Boots; Dress - River Island; Belt - River Island;
Top (worn under dress) - gift; Waistcoat - Wallis Via charity Shop;
Leather Jacket - Gift; Scarf - Paris; Flatcap - Hubbys;
Handbag - Jones the bootmaker; Sunglasses - Givenchy

Saturday morning, hubby and I got up pretty early to head over to Birmingham for some fabric. Hubby's got 3 waistcoats, 2 of which are my Christmas presents to him, that he wants swish new satin backs put in. Anyway, parking up, we decided that we'd head to Urban Village vintage shop in the Custard Factory first, and I'm so glad we did. The last time we went there I'd managed to bag a bargain dress and hubby a lovely tweed Christian Dior suit, so we expected good things of it again. I was thrilled to spot this gorgeous tweed cape, and I was so adamant that I would like it. Unfortunately when I put it on though I felt decidedly more caped crusader than girl about town, so I was resigned to not buying anything. Just then I spotted the most delightful retro radio. I've been after one of these portable radios for such a long time, but the Roberts ones tend to be really expensive, I had never seen a cow print one before. This one is Bush, and I've actually got it on in the background now as I write this, it's fabulous, and was an absolute bargain. I'm going to have such fun with it, not just in the kitchen but also on picnics and camping trips in the summer.

My New Cow Print Radio

Hubby was also successful bagging himself a gorgeously heavy Nepalese wool jumper for the winter. We finished off our mini shopping jaunt in fancy silk stores, which is just a huge massive shop full of every fabric you could possibly imagine. Hubby chose the lovely satins for his waistcoats and then we set off back home having had a very pleasing morning of shopping. 

During the afternoon, I popped along to Nuneaton. I've not been to Nuneaton, despite it being a very local town, in such a long time I thought it would make a relaxing alternative to my usual manic shopping trips. Also, it's usually pretty good in terms of charity shops. On this occasion though there wasn't really an awful lot for me to buy and I came back empty handed apart from a bottle of Cava. 

By the time I had returned home, hubby had located an alternative firework display for us to go to. Once the step children were collected, and we'd both wrapped up nice and warm we jumped in the car and took the 10 minute drive to the bonfire. When we arrived the streets were lined with parked cars, so we had to park a little bit away and walk to the venue, it was a local village hall and we certainly weren't expecting what we found. When we got there a huge fire had already been lit, and the flames seemed to be reaching up to the sky, there were amusements and games, food stands and lots of children with sparklers. It was fabulous and brought back all my childhood excitement for such things. 

After warming ourself by the huge fire, we opted to buy some sparklers, a hot dog and a beer. Unfortunately, it wasn't until we were back by the fire that we realised we hadn't brought along anything to light the sparklers with, so we just enjoyed our hot dog and beer and waited for the display to start. At about 8pm, the music struck up, and the first fireworks were set off. Although I've been to many firework displays over the years, I'm not sure I've ever seen one set to music before and it was really good. There was a good 20 minutes of massive fireworks going off, lighting up the night sky and causing the crowd to ooh, aaah, and clap loudly. It was stunning and we couldn't believe the quality of the show considering it hadn't been too expensive to get into. 

Once the wonderful fireworks were finished, we walked back to the car and returned home to light up our sparklers in the garden and try writing our names in the sky with them. Then we put on a DVD, unfortunately, I fell asleep on the sofa again so went off to bed. 

Me by the light of the bonfire

Hubby looking all Autumnal

It's been a fabulous weekend, but today I'm just going to be relaxing, I've baked a lemon drizzle cake and I'm going to have a nice long bath shortly, but I'm so pleased we managed to find a replacement fireworks display because really, I'm just a child at heart. 

Lady in Red

Shoes - M&S Via charity shop; Tights - Unknown; Skirt - Betty Jackson via charity shop;
Waistcoat - Welsh Tweed via eBay; Shirt - Hubby's; Coat - Fever; Hat - House of Fraser;
Bag - Gift

When - Wednesday 3rd November;
Where - The office

I threw this outfit together this morning in a bit of a rush, but actually when I got out of the door I realised that I hadn't really done too bad... perhaps I should dress in the dark more often. Anyway, I've never had an outfit illicit so many comments before, maybe it's the hat. The security men in our building love having a banter with me on most mornings about one element or another of my outfits, its usually my hats, this morning they decided I was the Godfather (or the Godmother as they later corrected). Another of my colleagues nicknamed me little red riding hood, and the lady in the bank told me I looked exceptionally smart. I'm also getting a little bit more used to using the Gorillapod... I think it works better if I don't look at the camera, any tips for posing techniques when using a Gorillapod gratefully received.

Camden

Sorry for neglecting you readers. The truth is that I’ve been so busy running up and down the country for work related appointments that I’ve not had time to update you about the lovely day I spent in London with hubby at the weekend… better late than never though so here goes. 

Once in a while London Midland do this fabulous offer where you can download a voucher and buy a ‘day roamer’ for only £10 per person. This allows you one days travel on the whole London Midland network, and last time the offer was on we went to Liverpool for the day, this time however we decided to go to the big smoke for a day spent trawling markets and charity shops.

Sunday morning we got the first train out of Coventry, which actually wasn’t that early and didn’t get us into London until near 12. I’d printed out a list of Mary Portas approved charity shops in London, and so our first destination was one near South Kensington Tube on Brompton Road. We were really excited thinking that we’d surely pick up some wonderful bargains here, since the Time Out listing had promised designer suits for around £30. Not a bit of it, I personally didn’t spot anything for less than about £80, so it was nice to browse but we didn’t buy. Having had one disappointing experience with lack of bargains, we decided to ditch the charity shops in affluent areas approach and head straight for our main destination, Camden Market.

Boots - Doc Marten; Socks - Primark; Jeans - Primark; Blondie T-shirt - Gift;
Belt - Gift; Waistcoat - River Island; Scarf - Diane Von Furstenberg via eBay;
Bag - Kipling; Hat - Portsmouth

I was surprised at how packed the tubes were for a Sunday afternoon, and that combined with the humid conditions that we prevalent in London made me really pleased that I hadn’t put a coat on. In no time at all we were heading to Camden, and the belly rumbles were setting in just in time to grab a snack at one of the many food stalls there.

Beautiful buildings in Camden

Bustling food stalls

Hubby found a Mexican food outlet, and had delicious fajitas. I couldn’t find my usual favourite, Moroccan stall, so headed for a Polish one instead where I tried Golabki. It’s like a pork mince and rice combination, served rolled up in a cabbage leaf with a tomato sauce. It was kind of nice, but a bit plain. It was very filling though, which is always good with me as I do like my grub. We trawled each and every market stall we could, flicking through the delightful crafts, and vintage wares on offer. At this point I should point out, my shopping trips with my Mum are very different to my shopping trips with Hubby. My Mum likes to frequent big shopping centres and department stores and intersperse her shopping with frequent cappuccino breaks. It’s altogether much more ‘ladies that lunch’ and I do really enjoy it. Hubby on the other hand likes to rifle through junk shops, charity shops, markets and so forth looking for something unique or an absolute bargain, absorbing the hustle and bustle and massive range of things on offer and I do really enjoy that too… so between the both of them I have the best of both shopping worlds. I have to say, if we all go shopping together (which we do on occasion) hubby gets fed up with Mum and I in department stores, and Mum gets fed up of hubby and I in junk shops… so it’s best if the never the twain should meet when shopping.

Hubby's outfit shot

Anyway, back to Sunday, we stumbled on this army surplus stall, which had terrific things, so I managed to get a great pair of beige tailored shorts that I can wear with leggings for a mere £5, but they had shirts and jackets and even boiler suits if you’re that way inclined. I do get excited when I find an army surplus store as they seem to be so few and far between. I also bought a great Aran knit jumper from a great vintage stall which is as heavy as lead… it’s going to be so warm in the winter months and was exactly what I’ve been looking out for.

Bargain Hunting

After a few hours of trawling the stalls my friend Mrs. J called me to let me know that along with Mr. J and a few more friends they had arrived in Camden and were in a pub. Hubby and I set off to find the pub, and we all had a lovely catch up sat outside sipping a nice brandy to put the heat back in my body. We hadn’t all seen eachother since the wedding (although I’d seen Mrs. J a couple of weeks back) and so we had a right good chin wag before everyone had to set off again. Mrs. J and co were heading off to Cyberdog, but I found a frock shop en route and so we had to say our goodbyes under Camden bridge, although with dresses at over £140 (and they weren’t that stunning) I felt I should have stayed on for cyberdog really.

Lovely friends

Finally, and purely by accident, I stumbled upon the Morrocan food stall. It had been hours since I last ate and so I was glad of the delightful chicken tagine and rice as hubby and I dragged our tired and overwalked bodies around the remainder of stalls that we hadn’t seen yet. Camden is such a big place, but the greatest attraction for me is the diversity of what’s on offer. Amongst the hundreds of vintage stalls (some cheap, some not so) lie ethnic crafts, goth fashion stalls, cyber dance wear, bongo drummers, mulled wine… and it attracts an equally diverse crowd because of this. It’s such a fabulously buzzing atmosphere.

Bongo

Bright lights big city

Camden market has lots of horse related sculptures scattered around

By about 7pm we’d been around all of the stalls we wanted to see, and started making our way back to Camden town tube station. Across the road from the market though, we found one last vintage shop, and a quick peak revealed some lovely blue fair isle type leg warmers at an absolute bargain price. I was really pleased with my spoils as I’m now kitted up with the things I need for winter, and it was kind of a cost neutral shopping trip since I’d sold some stuff on eBay too. Hubby had also found the trip fruitful, bagging a vintage tweed waistcoat and red silk handkerchief.

Back on the train we were both tired and happy, and since we were travelling by London Midland it was a longer journey than we’re used to. It was a long day, and being terribly tired bed was straight where I went to try and get a bit of shut eye before I had to return to London the following morning for a conference. I do love Camden though, and the trip was certainly worth the exhaustion.

Queue jumper

Taken in front of the transport museum.
Boots - Swap; Tights - Pamela Mann; Leather Skirt - eBay;
Jumper - Monsoon; Gilet - Charity Shop; Bag - Kipling;
Poppy - Royal British Legion

On Saturday I started the day by going wallpaper shopping with hubby for our living room decorating project, coming up in December. We were so pleased to find exactly what we wanted, and afterwards I decided to have a wander around town. It was busy of course, but a trip to the charity shops turned up a great little bargain of a suede waistcoat (the second I've bought this week) and so I was really happy. Then I paid a visit to one of my favourite high street shops, River Island, where they were having the mother of all sales. I was overjoyed to find a lovely bargain, but once I got in the queue my mojo was completely punctured by some crazy lady of about my age who decided she was going to start a full blown argument with me because, despite the fact that when I had joined the queue she was stood miles away from it, she insisted that I had jumped in in front of her. Honestly, if you're over by the sweets texting, and I stand behind the last person in the queue how am I jumping in ahead? She started accusing me of taking advantage because I was tall and she wasn't (have a word!) I held my own as I'm not one to back down lightly, and on her way out of the shop, having been served before I had finished being served she said to me "See, you pushed in and I still finished first... crime doesn't pay". By this time I was seeing red... I really let rip at her and she quickly beat her retreat out of the shop door! Honestly, some people should just not be let out near others should they? Anyway, that kind of clouded my shopping trip, typical Coventry.

One highlight of my day in town though was buying my poppy from this delightful chap. His outfit, he informed me, is typical of that worn by the soldiers in 1914, and it felt really rough. I really do think the work of the British Legion is fabulous, so if you haven't been out and bought your poppy yet then please do!!!