She's not there

Day Off + Things To Do (x many) = Fuck It.

I went to the General Cemetery instead.

Bright sunshine...

blue skies...

acid greens...

and plenty of sun flare.

It's been a while since I visited, but this place always calls me back.

Trying to explain it to someone who has never been and doesn't share the Victorian Graveyard Love makes me sound like a freak. So be it. 

It felt a little different; much of the overgrowth has been cut back and some trees have been cropped.

Necessary, I know, as part of the ongoing renovation work, but part of me regrets the loss of the wilderness...

although there is enough left to enjoy. 

I went to enjoy the silence, only to find myself sharing the space on this occasion with more than the occasional dog walker. 

A gaggle of school girls with their teacher working on an art project; a chatty man with his over-friendly if delightful dog; a couple of young women sharing a fag on a bench as they rehashed the events of the night before and planned their future festival tent arrangements; and two drunk-ish men with a supply of cans. 

No matter - they all passed through and left me to myself. 

Having posted photos of the cemetery before ( here, here and here), I was interested to see if I could see something different this time.

  

There are some gravestones I hadn't spotted before. 

Ubique is the motto of the Royal Artillery Regiment; Army Pensioner George Myers had been at the battles of Sebastopol and Inkerman during the Crimean War.

The shield-shaped headstone is for Annie Paine, Adjutant of the Salvation Army, promoted to glory April 25th 1914. Interestingly, there is a second inscription underneath for Helen, beloved wife of Major Jonah Evans, who died a year after Annie. Sisters? Secret lesbian lovers? I'm hoping for the latter.

And if I have already photographed most of the graveyard, I can always tinker with effects.

I know how she feels; I feel like shaking my fist at that non-existent God too.

I had a brief scan over my recent blog posts and was struck by how dull they have been; a dirge of repeat complaints about how busy I am, and tired apologies for poor blogging form. I'm boring myself, never mind you.

1960-70s lurex maxi skirt - Ebay

1970s velvet jacket - Leicester vintage shop

Sunglasses - vintage market

Ankle boots - charity shopped

I need to just stop. I don't intend to stop blogging, it's too precious to me - the friends, the conversations, the connections, the inspiration and ideas, I need them all. And I need this outlet for whatever nonsense is circling around my brain too.

But I am keenly aware of my lack of presence in the blogging world, and I feel guilty, frustrated and disappointed.

I'm going to wait until I can do this properly again.

Please don't bother trying to find her - she's not there. 

Hopefully it won't be too long.
And I hope you'll wait for me.

xxx

Hey babe, let's go out tonight

Hello? Anybody there?

I hope so; it's odd being away from blogging. I've felt a disturbing echo of ancient adolescent angst, a fear that everyone else in the world is off having all the fun without me... 

Life's been going on as usual.

 

Work is busy - January is obviously Major Clear Out Month, the donations have been piling in. The vintage shop still isn't open but it's looking likely for February. We'll see.

1970s blouse and maxi skirt, 1960s Astraka faux fur coat, suede waistcoat, vintage leather gloves, beret and ankle boots - all charity shopped

 

We've had a mere dusting of snow, which has made a change from the incessant rain. The garden is a quagmire, the cats and I are not impressed.

 

 

 Jess' winter fluff, on the other hand, is very impressive. 

 

On Saturday, we all went to see An Inspector Calls at the Lyceum theatre (the building on the right).

Over dinner afterwards, we debated the nature of the mysterious Inspector, admired the staging of the production, and discussed whether polemic makes for good theatre. Well, Simon and I did - the kids may have been ignoring us and troughing their puddings at this point.

 

 

It was snowing by the time we went home.

 

 

Thank you for your kind comments on my previous post.

And in the spirit of getting back to normal around here, I'll be joining Patti's Visible Monday, and coming to visit everyone. What's been happening?

xxxx

The Bouquet of Girls Stories

September; that Back to School feeling.

The kids have returned with next-to-no fuss, and I got myself off to Chesterfield flea market for the first time in months.

The market never changes, there is always plenty of tat, chat, and something that makes me exclaim look at that!

The fruit and veg are plentiful and cheap too. We had cauliflower cheese for tea.

Here's Sue, surreptitiously squeezing the peaches (six for a quid).

I love the illustration on this 1970s sewing patterns, and these labels take me straight back to my teenage years. I shopped in Chelsea Girl, but Van Allen was a bit more grown-up and expensive, I think. (Both the 1970s maxi skirts with these labels were sadly too tiny for me.)

I'm regretting the fact I didn't buy the Orpheus sheet music to put in a frame; I was in a production of it at school (as a nymph and a goddess in the chorus. Typecast, obviously.)

Nostalgia overload - we had this album when I was a kid. I still love to belt out The Carnival Is Over, much to my kids' bemusement.  

These made me think of Em. Paul had no trousers but was still marked up at the oddly precise price of £23 (they spelled Sindy's name wrong, I was itching to correct it.)

The French Madonna and child are rather lovely, but that doll with the blue eye shadow looks as hard as nails. 

No wonder that kid looks glum; he has ended up discarded in a box of tat under a market stall. 

More fabulous vintage illustrations and some French maps. 

 My purchases:

1960s curtains, £3 (but will I ever have time to sew again?)

1960-70s OBD* thermometer plaque, £1

1950s brocade evening dress, £8 (I'm gutted it's too big for me, I'm scared to try and alter it, so I think I will have to sell it) 

1970s elephant pomander, 50p, to add to my collection

(*Obligatory Blogger Deer. But you already knew that.)

 1970s Tricosa wool/lurex maxi skirt - antiques and collectables centre

1960s St Michael top, 1960s copper brooch, jacket, shoes, hat and bangles - charity shopped

1950s carpet bag - flea market

It was starting to rain. Autumn is definitely in the air, hats and wool are back on the clothing agenda.

Linking (fashionably late) to Judith's Hat Attack.

See you all soon!

xxx

                                 

Second Hand News

I hadn't intended to be absent for nearly a week, but that's just how things fell; rain or poor light when I wanted to take photos, busy days, kids hogging the computer. Life. Stuff. You know.

I had my job interview on Thursday. Thank you for all your good wishes, and your feedback about dos and don'ts for charity shops. I really appreciate the encouragement and support.

I won't know the outcome until next week, and of course I'll let you know as soon as I hear. I'd be foolish to make any predictions, but my instinct tells me it wasn't an unqualified success; however, impressions can be mistaken so we shall just have to wait and see.

My interview outfit was good though; head-to-toe vintage, and purchased in St Luke's charity shops, appropriately enough.

1970s St Michael cotton maxi skirt, top, cardigan, bangles, 1960s vinyl bag, and 1950-60s Austrian glass necklace - 

charity shopped

Sunglasses and sandals - retail

 

 I've been picking up bits and pieces in charity shops as always. 

 

What I love about charity shopping is having no agenda, no list of Things To Buy, just an open mind and eagle eyes, a willingness to take the time and look. 

I love this 1970s Miss Mary of Sweden dress. I didn't know Miss Mary made anything other than lingerie, and I can't find any information about their clothing line, but no matter, it's a fabulous frock. 

 

 

1960-70s folksy tea towel

bright sari fabric

1950-60s barkcloth

1960s Midwinter bowls (I'm gradually adding to my small collection of Spanish Garden pieces)

I rescued this children's book from the paper recycling box.

It was republished in this edition in 1976 (the definition of a pound clearly puts it post-decimalisation) but the illustrations are pure 1951, its original publication date.  The text hasn't been edited much; it's still a world where dads smoke pipes, mums pour tea, the car belongs to Dad, the sewing machine to Mum, and children ride their ponies, when they're not trotting along on a camel. And we all go to balls when we're grown up, of course. 

You can supply your own jokes about this one.

 

 

What do you reckon, Jess?

As always, I'll be joining Patti and co for Visible Monday.

And despite being in a rather uncomfortable state of employment limbo, I do have this to look forward to next month;

Yippee!

And now I'd better get started on a marathon catch-up session; what have you been up to?

xxxx