Florabundance

You know I love a floral print.

And purple, I love purple too.

Told you.

I found this little purple jacket on a £1 sale rail in a charity shop, and very useful it is too as an alternative to my denim jacket. 

Everything charity shopped, apart from Charlie - he was a freebie.

Jacket, top, vintage Austrian crystal necklace and bangles - charity shopped

1970s Debroyal maxi skirt - vintage fair

Sandals - retail (sale)

While I was visiting Patsy the other weekend, we visited Helmsley, a pretty North Yorkshire market town.

The imposing ruins of Helmsley castle.

 The walled gardens were a real treat.

Beautiful borders...

and fabulous blooms.

So much vibrant colour, I loved it.

And the best garden seat ever.

I could have stayed all afternoon.

You'll have to excuse me, I haven't got much to say at the moment. I think working all through the summer holidays is leaving my brain slightly doughy and my energy levels depleted.

 So I'll let this little Russian-made sweetheart wave goodbye for me! She's grateful because I rescued her from the charity shop bin.

I'll come and visit you all soon, I promise.

xxx

The flowers that bloom in the Spring

I'm not quite sure where that week went but it's flown by, and here we are at the weekend again. Yippee!

This is what I wore on Wednesday; a customer in the charity shop admired my dress, and told me I was very on trend with my florals. She'd clearly read the same Observer fashion article as me, so we had a bit of a laugh about that. 

 

 

 

I must say I like my dress far more than the pieces selected to accompany the article (above) and at 99p from Ebay, it was a great deal cheaper. 

(Incidentally, that blue top on the right, the polo shirt with the hardly-floral-at-all print? Topshop, £85. Can you believe it?)

 

 

1970s maxi dress - Ebay

1960s jacket, shoes, belt and bangles - charity shopped

1960s carpet bag and necklace - gifts

1960s brooch - The Queen's Drawers

 

 

No one puts on a big blobby rose pattern before striding into a boardroom and closing a billion dollar deal, writes Alice Fisher. 

 

She might be right (although there are a whole load of assumptions begging to be questioned in that sentence) but since boardrooms and high-flying deals aren't really my thing, I'll happily continue to wear my beloved floral prints. 

As it happens, the world of employment, if not exactly the boardroom, is beckoning; I've applied for a job as a charity shop deputy manager. I'll keep you posted.

What else is new?

Well, this dress is - new-to-me anyway. It has glittery gold lurex stripes, huge sleeves, and I love it. 

Thanks, Em, what a great gift!

1970s Dumarsel maxi dress - gift from Emma

Hat, necklace and bangles - charity shopped

1960s beaded bag - car boot

Ankle boots - community fair

 

 

This little Wade cutie was too sweet to leave in the 50p basket in a charity shop. 

He's Scamp, from Disney's Lady and the Tramp (1956).

 

 

I found a vintage sheet for a couple of quid which would make a lovely dress. If I ever get round to doing some sewing...

There are forget-me-nots all over my garden...

and tulips...

and cats.

Just how I like it.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

xxx

She wants to be flowers, but you make her owls

 

In Welsh mythology, there is a legend about Blodeuwedd, a woman created out of flowers.

 

I always think of this as my Blodeuwedd dress; I feel as though I am growing out of the ground.

Fanciful today, no?

 

I only know about this myth through one of my favourite children's books, The Owl Service, by Alan Garner. It's a sparsely-written, haunting book, published in 1967, seething with class prejudice, tensions between the Welsh and the English, a disturbing atmosphere, and a background of mythical sexual rivalry.

 

 

 

I'm not sure I got all that when I read it as a kid, but revisiting it as an adult was an eye-opener. 

 

(There's a great review here, if you are interested.)

 

Sadly, I have searched the house for my copy and cannot find it anywhere; now where on earth could it be?

 

Blodeuwedd is later turned into an owl as a punishment for betraying her husband...

 

 and look what we have here!

 

The owl on the right was a gorgeous handmade gift to Nina from our dear friend Kylie; Nina wanted to make one, so the one on the left is her version. She did most of the sewing herself (I helped with the buttons and stitching up the gap at the end.)

The Kylie owl is called Owlie. Hmm, I know; very poor.

I suggested Athena for the new owl, but Nina rejected that in favour of Archimedes. Guess who has reached the Ancient Greeks on the school curriculum?

So Archimedes he is.

 

More flowers, but cats instead of owls, and perhaps that's Mellors, come to call on Lady Chatterley.

 

This groovy 1970s tin tray was a charity shop find last week. The ladies in the hospice shop laughed at me for buying it, but I think it's beautiful. It cost 50p.

I'm easily pleased.

 

 

 

1970s maxi dress - Ebay (99p)

Bangles, sandals, belt, and sunglasses - charity shopped 

1960s bracelet - local vintage shop

1960-70s steel pendant - flea market

So what else have I been up to?

We watched Saving Private Ryan, since it was the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings. I hadn't seen it before, and didn't realise it would be quite so harrowing. Poor Owen sobbed right from the start, but he made it through, and we have had some really interesting conversations about the reality of violence and war, and how it affects people afterwards. And with a bit of luck, it's put him off ever joining the army.

I took my big girl for her first bra fitting. She'll be mortified that I've told you, so keep it quiet, OK?

My mum never took me to be measured, she just guessed a size, and I didn't have a proper fitting till I was in my twenties. Needless to say, it was a revelation and I had been wearing the wrong size.

Don't worry, I'm not going to flash my cleavage again, I'm reining myself in.

 

But I will tease you with a sneaky peak at this;

 

 

 

 

such a quintessentially 1970s fabric could only ever be made into a pair of flares, right?

I'll show you the finished article next time, I just need some hooks and eyes for the waistband.

 

And such is my new-found sewist status that my friend Sue asked me to come and chat to her daughter, who wants to start making her own clothes. We pinned and cut out a pattern for a skirt on Friday night (thankfully before I drank too much wine...) 

 

We're all getting the sewing bug, isn't it exciting?

 

 

 

 And that's been my weekend.

 

I am woefully behind on commenting on your wonderful blogs, so I will rectify that as soon as possible. 

Hope everyone is well!

xxx

 

Turn around, ask yourself

How I love the school holidays!

I don't love the snotty cold I have at the moment, but I am highly appreciative of the lie-ins, the lack of schedule and homework, and the general lazy arse-ness of it all. 

I am taking full advantage.

Hurray for vintage maxi dresses and my Favourite Best Ever Sandals. 

(Art Company, bought online and half price 4 years ago, and worth every penny.)

1970s After Eight by Lerose dress - Ebay

Shirt and bangles - charity shopped

Sandals and sunglasses- retail (sale)

Necklace - gift

1960s Sherman maxi dress - Ebay

Sheer jacket and bangles - charity shopped

1960s necklace - flea market

I went on a bit of a chazzathon with my mate Sue on Monday - we had daughters in tow, who did pretty well out of it.

Is there any doubt of the benefits of charity shopping?

Our haul of a Reiss skirt; dresses from Cos and Mango; Melissa, Clarks and Vans shoes; and sundry other bits and bobs (including a vintage Spirograph set), with no greater price tag than £4, would surely convince anyone of the benefits of secondhand shopping.

What else have I been doing?

Pegging out the washing to take advantage of the weather; 

doing the pub quiz with my darlings of the Ladies Purse (don't ask; any quiz where the winner only scores 11 out of 20 is clearly Too Fucking Hard); 

and meeting up with old friends for a debrief about the vagaries and perils of Life.

1988-9; I lived with Sal and Claire; we are still friends. We reminisced about parties, relationships, snogging rashes, twin tubs, and music.

Rings and first bangle - charity shopped

Second bangle - gift

This is such a lovely time of year; the blossom on my ornamental cherry tree only lasts about 2 weeks, but I do love it when it comes.

  Blue sky, white blossom, green leaves...

 easy to see where the inspiration for this outfit came from.

I hope everyone has a great Easter weekend.

I'll leave you with a favourite musical memory from 1989.

xxx