June and it's Purchases.

Not quite as late as the May Purchases post but only just!

June was a busy and fun month. I ate out with friends more times than is good for my waistline, I went to the theatre with Himself to see a really rather dreadful play about Sherlock Holmes and I took my friend Alex from work to see the magical Giffords Circus.

It's the first time I've felt able to go since my Dad had his stroke and I'm so glad I did because it was fabulous.
Dad LOVED Giffords and we always went together every year, so up until now, I somehow couldn't face it, but this year felt different.

We had a great view and as ever the acrobatics and tumbling were breathtaking. Having said that one of the best bits was the lady with the 7 dachshunds who were meant to be doing tricks but basically just ran around doing what the heck they wanted the minute she stopped looking at them.

I had to do a dinner for work in the stunning setting of St Peter's College in Oxford which would have been amazing only it was possibly the hottest night of the month and obviously old colleges don't really have windows that open let alone air con, oh and I was in a plain light frock of man-made fibres...
 I can't remember the last time I sweated so much, it was literally running down the sides of my (bright red) face and you could wring my hair out! My dress was so wet in places I was too embarrassed to go to the toilet because I would have had to walk through the room like that. Grim. The food was lovely though.

 I had another dinner last Friday and this time lesson firmly learnt, I wore 100% cotton in a colourful print on a dark background and pinned my hair up!

Anyway on to the purchases. First up my early birthday present to myself from the Ocean Liners exhibition. I had thought I might get one of their reproduction bags but they turned out to be very expensive yet very cheaply made, so disappointed, I thought I would come back empty handed. I then spotted this beauty in the jewellery cabinet and it had to be mine.

As Soo said I was literally pawing at the glass as soon as I saw it. *happy sigh*

I've bought a few frocks

This whist I was doing the food shop at Sainsbury's.
This halter neck dress on Ebay.

It's a Hell Bunny I've been eyeing for a while and not wanting to pay full price for. I got it for less than half on Ebay  and with a free red elasticated belt too!

I got these two sale dresses from Lady Vintage. As you can see the blue one is currently drying on the line as I wore it to my Bosses leaving do yesterday. It's a tad shorter that I expected but I still like it.

Finally this tropical print which I may well wear to Bristol tomorrow as it's meant to be another scorching hot day. It was in the sale on Tiger Milly so another bargain.

Like Mim I have been suffering in the heat, don't get me wrong I like the sun but once it gets over 25 and there's no breeze I am not happy. I've spent the last couple of weekends wilting indoors and again like Mim took the opportunity to do a bit of clothes sorting, though in my case not to hunt down and exterminate moths.
When we moved 2 years ago I just took the drawers out of my chest of drawers and moved then as was contents intact, so I decided it was about time I emptied them out. I took a huge bag to the charity shop and also listed some things on Ebay but not before I gave my friends Sophie and Alex first dibs, with the only proviso being they didn't judge me on a) my taste in clothes or b) the amount of things that were new and unworn and also were under no obligation whatsoever to take anything.

I had tops from the late 80's onwards and in sizes ranging from 10 - 16 for them to choose from. Indeed I sort of wept a little inside when I found one of my all time favourite skirts from the early 90's that now only fits neatly round my thigh.
Anyway I was thrilled that both girls (I call them that because they are much younger than me and both gorgeous to boot) took various vintage 80's-90's tops. I love to think of them being worn and enjoyed as they should be worn and enjoyed.
There were of course items like said teeny tiny skirt, that were lovingly folded and put back in the drawer. Too many happy memories attached for me to bear to part with them.

Anyway this freed up much space for the new tops I have been buying at quite a rate. As I just mentioned I can't do heat, I'm nearly 'officially old' so I get hot and I sweat at the drop of a hat and my office has no air con. Also I can't do bare legs in summer because of the dreaded (and bloody painful) chub rub, not to mention the blinding glare my lily white legs give off when bared so on the whole I resort to capri or cigarette pants with a nice top.

These are just some of the ones I have purchased in June. Ranging from the expensive Seasalt breton top (middle right) via the red Debenhams gypsy top (bottom left) to the cheap and very cheerful orange & white Primark number (bottom right).

Also these from M&S and Peacocks.

Finally Accessories!

These from the Accessorize sale

and these brooches from an online vintage sellers group I'm part of.

these two bags also came from that site, they are both cleaned though the bamboo one is waiting for new lining.

This was from Ebay and is in need of more restoration. I cleaned it thoroughly and bought some leather renovating cream from Ebay which turned out to be utter shite so I have now purchased some proper dark green leather shoe cream instead, lets hope that works better, obviously I also need to stitch the handle back on too. A job for another baking hot day no doubt.

Finally randoms.

As long time readers of my blog will know I am a HUGE Snoopy fan. I don't collect memorabilia avidly but I do have a fair bit, including some 1970's Snoopy mirrors. I buy them as and when I come across them and I won't pay loads for them but these two are recent purchases for £6 each as I recall.

I have 7 or 8 of these mirrors now, all different, and have had them all re-framed in this same smart black wood by the lovely man at Oxford's Wednesday market. One day when we finally find somewhere to settle I plan to hang them up as a group.

My last and most magnificent purchase of June was a squirrel baffle. As more recent readers of my blog will know I wage a war against squirrels on my bird feeders.
The original squirrel and I had come to an uneasy truce with me hanging a separate feeder of just peanuts in a squirrel easy spot meaning he left my other bird feeders alone.
All was well, then came That Fucking Squirrel!(TM) 
A skinny little monster with no moral code who proceeded to decimate all in his path. He destroyed 3 bird feeders in quick succession, he actually bit one feeder right in half, I kid you not. I don't think he even wanted the sunflower seeds inside, he just wanted to destroy!

Enough was enough

I ordered a squirrel baffle online. It arrived at my work and was absolutely massive! Much bigger than I expected, I got some looks taking it home on the train I can tell you.

Anyway it has worked like a dream. It took the birds a few days to get used to it but now they are perfectly happy and the squirrel is livid. We shall see if he plots revenge or moves on to pastures new.
Finally a picture of the one thing in our house that is enjoying the heat.

So very randomly last autumn I had gone to hang some washing out and I spotted this little green blob on the lawn near the washing line, it was about an inch long and turned out to be a cactus. I have absolutely no idea where the hell it came from there is no way anyone could have thrown it in, I can only think a bird must have dropped it? Anyway I mixed a little sand and compost together and stuck it on the top where it say quite happily all winter, doing nothing. In the last few weeks of baking heat it has started to grow at a visibly rapid rate of knots. I fully expect to come home one of these days to find it has taken over the conservatory and is bellowing "Feed me Seymour".

Well that's all for June. As of today I am on the count down for my 'you are now officially old' birthday next week. Himself and I are off to Bristol for the weekend, then we are taking my Dad out for lunch on Monday with the rest of my family.
Tuesday we are off to Eltham Palace again which I am SO excited about as they have opened more rooms since we were last there.
Finally on Wednesday the NHS have decided to help me celebrate in style by having my boobs squashed. What with that and having to come off the pill so I can start the menopause who said turning 50 wasn't fun?? 

Ocean Liners : Speed and Style.

If you bear in mind that on my list of 'my idea of a holiday from hell', cruising would be number two behind a beach holiday it seems ironic that earlier this month Soo and I went skipping off to the V&A to visit their Ocean Liners exhibition.
However when you consider cruising reached it's height of luxury in the 20's and 30's it's no real surprise at all and yes I was in absolute and utter Art Deco heaven.

The exhibition was fantastic, indeed it took us the best part of 3 hours to browse at a leisurely pace, also going towards the end of it's run meant it wasn't as busy which is always a plus. It began with travel posters and the history behind how cruising came about, basically as a way to take a holiday and also reach your destination in the days before air travel. Of course the levels of luxury between the classes (as shown in the film Titanic) were stark.

You saw how the design of the ships evolved and the mind blowing size of those first original boats through scale models. Which saw Soo and I both living dangerously to kneel/squat down to get a good look inside as this took considerable time because the detail was astonishing. All I can say is it's a good job I do pilates otherwise I'd still be there now, knees locked, weeping. Anyway I digress.

 It was astonishing to see how everything in 1st class was designed bespoke, from the furniture and specially woven carpets, to the cutlery and lightfittings. Master craftsmen made every item and even the artwork was commissioned from the leading artists of the day.

There were some wonderful clips of old film footage from the very earliest days of film through to the 1970's where if I'm honest everything just looked tacky. Even though it was still meant to be the very height of luxury the fact that everything was bright plastic just made it look like a bus station waiting room!

The frocks in the clips from the 30's had me swooning, I'd like to think I'd have been slinking about like those glamorous ladies but I have no illusions, lets face it, if I would have been there at all it would have been down in the hold sweating like a navvy whilst washing the dishes.

Indeed that was my only tiny criticism of the exhibition it was all about the upstairs so to speak. It would have been interesting to know just how many staff it took to maintain such luxury and how they lived.
I mean they even had live cows on board to provide fresh dairy produce!?! (You only learned that because of a graphic description of a near fatal voyage through desperate weather where one of the poor unfortunate creatures ended up hanging half through the dinning room ceiling.)

From the inside we moved on to life on deck and then on to the outfits, spanning from the 1920's to the 1960's they were a snapshot of leisurewear, swimming costumes and of course full on evening glamour.

There were also accessories

I had to resist doing a smash and grab for this clutch bag!

Oh and one of Marlene Dietrich's suits and a clip of film of her wearing it!

What I also liked was all through the exhibition there were sobering reminders, it wasn't all OTT glamour.
Like when the ships were requisitioned for both world wars to carry troops or do other war work which was fascinating. Or of tragedy, like the priceless tiara that was saved for one Lady by her maid as their ship went down. A bitter reminder that she and it survived but her daughter didn't.

Or this

A deckchair from the Titanic.

Finally we got to see the mechanics so to speak, inside the engine room as well as some of the designs showing how they made these huge beasts actually float. Finishing with some more recent interiors and art work and rather strangely clips from various Hollywood disaster at sea movies on loop.

All in all a fascinating exhibition.

There May be Tough Times.

May has been a challenging month. The last week of it I was the only person in our team to be in the office so hardly drew breath. Things have been very busy and very unsettled at work. I don't have a problem with change per se it's uncertainty I hate. I like to know where I am at and what is going on, to have a plan. 
In the space of a few weeks the director of our department and the head of our department announced they were leaving, neither is being replaced so we don't know who will be managing us or exactly how they anticipate the work being covered. On top of that we have a new computer system coming in plus a new email system and finally a new application system for the next student cohort. It's like starting a whole new job . *sigh*

On top of that there have been various trials and tribulations going on in my private life meaning I just didn't feel motivated to blog even though I have also done lots of fun things in May.
We had a flying visit to Margate for birthday catch ups with Himself's Dad and my friend Kay. We traveled down separately because I went to see the musical Beautiful with my friends Dan & Melissa.

I was particularly low that week so it was exactly what I needed. I defy anyone to not find their spirits lifted by this amazing show.
I'm ashamed to say I knew very little about Carole King other than her from the 1970's with flared jeans, paisley maxi dresses and masses of curls seated at a piano belting out songs from her ground breaking solo album Tapestry.
I had no idea she started her career at the age of 16 writing songs for most of the big groups of the 50's and 60's, or that she actually wrote most of the big hits from that era that I love. 
The performers were just fabulous, and Bronte Barbe thoroughly deserves all the awards she has won, she was just incredible, at one point her voice was almost too huge for the New Theatre!
The singing was just so good at times the hair on my arms stood on end and I could have literally sat right through the whole thing again as soon as it finished.

I also did a few cinema trips

The latest Avengers film which was great but just a tad too long.

The second Deadpool which was bloody brilliant. Very sweary, very very funny and just a little inappropriate. I actually cried with laughter at one point, again another much needed relief from the stresses of my real life.

Finally Solo as soon as it came out (I do live with a mad Star Wars fan after all.) I went with a heavy heart because having seen the trailer I didn't have high hopes. Frankly Alden Ehrenreich doesn't look even slightly like Harrison Ford or sound like him when he talks so I just wasn't convinced it would work.

As it goes I loved the film!

As a stand alone film in the Star Wars universe it works and it's a great action film. I guess the only thing that jarred was Ehrenreich just looked way too old to be an 18 year old Han Solo.

Soo and I finally managed to catch up properly after snow stopped play not once but twice. We decided to visit Moreton in Marsh a Cotswold town neither of us has been to for many a year. We had a great time and were charmed by the beautiful town and it's unexpected abundance of charity shops. We browsed them all and both scored a bargain or two before stopping for a delicious lunch in a very busy cafe come bakery.
From there we went to Batsford Arboretum and spent a blissful couple of hours ambling under the trees and feeling a world of worries falling away.

I'll close up with my May purchases because it's already June and who knows when I might get round to sharing them otherwise?

First up bags.

The first was a charity shop buy locally. I dropped a bag of bits in and couldn't resist this when it caught my eye. It's not at all old but felt a bit Deco-ish to me.

The second was a purchase from Moreton. Again it's not hugely old, 90's at most but I loved the lipstick red patent.

Thirdly I was in one of my happy places (Paperchase) with a £5 voucher on top of a 20% off everything offer so what is a girl to do??

Finally I fell in love with these bags very cleverly made from re-purposed tapestries bought in a charity shop and an old school blazer!

Talking of re-purposing look what my Mum and I did with two of my jumpers that had become shapeless with wear and washing.

She did the dog, I did the anchor I then bought a pair of value pillows from Sainsburys to stuff them with!
Talking of Sainsburys I came out with shoes and a jumper after nipping in for a few groceries...

Sorry the jumper is all crumpled I wore it straight away so it's just come out of the wash and is waiting to be ironed! As are these capri pants and this shirt I bought in Primark.

I bought this brooch in Moreton for £4 in a little Antique fair we browsed around.

Finally frocks!

I fell in love with this nautical frock on the Voodoo Vixen website but could not justify the price tag. I stalked it for ages and then managed to find one on Ebay new with tags for less than half price = Result!

I ended up browsing the sellers other items and couldn't resist this Hell Bunny pumpkin dress.

There was an incident with Nephew Number One and an H&M beanie which I won't go into surffice to say it meant me visiting the men's department of numerous branches fruitlessly looking for a replacement in the hottest weeks of the year. So I bought myself some sunglasses.

I buy a lot of my sunglasses from men's departments because I have a big face so they suit me better.

I had to go into TK Maxx with Himself which was a trial because I hate TK Maxx and can never find anything to buy in there.

Surprisingly I found a book that has been on my wishlist for ages for just £7. Another great result.

June is 3 days old and I have already nearly melted away at a college dinner, seen the Oxford Pride march and unexpectedly walked 9 miles around some of the green spaces in Oxford.
I have some much needed days off next week with a trip to the V&A, the theatre and the circus planned. Huzzah for June.

So Good They Named it Twice.

Well I managed to get back from the Big Apple just in time to enjoy this mini heatwave in the U.K so now I'm sitting here stiff as a board because I spent the whole day manically gardening yesterday!

The first time this year I have been able to do so and boy did it need it meaning I was out there far too long. Of course I focused on the back and all the neighbours focused on the front, so now our front garden is the only one in the street that looks a right mess, I would go out there today but I have family commitments and also I think if I kneel down one more time I most definitely will not get up again! God I hate getting old.

New York was great. The work went well. I was on my very best behaviour as I was out there with the director of student programme services. Thankfully I survived without incident and interviewed some great candidates. I was kind of nervous about doing the whole travelling alone thing, which is weird as I did it a fair bit when I was younger, I was fine though. Heading to our flight I saw George Osborne (and managed not to spit on/punch him) he's taller than I expected and also The Duke of Kent, who was utterly charming as he stood patiently with the rest of us waiting for our bags, which were delayed because the belt broke, which does seem to be a theme when I travel...
I then got stuck for what felt like a lifetime in immigration with a chap who on finding out I was on a business trip for The University of Oxford explained he was retiring soon, wants to travel to the UK, maybe take a course of some kind and would that be possible at Oxford?. Unsure if this was some kind of trap I asked him a few pertinent questions (to show I really was from Oxford University and hadn't just stolen a branded rucksack) and then directed him to the University's website to see which course might suit his needs. Meanwhile a massive queue had built up behind me and the angry resentment at the delay was palpable, I think they were hoping I would be frogmarched off by the men in latex gloves as the only justifiable end to their wait.

Anyway he finally stamped my form and I scuttled off to customs. Next my taxi driver couldn't find the hotel so when we were somewhere near I just got out and walked, I managed to find it in 30 seconds flat and gratefully checked in. It was lovely, compact and bijou by American standards but lovely.

I could have stolen the cushion off my bed quite easily. I'd have happily stayed another couple of nights but I had to check out after just 2 and move to the more modest, but still lovely, hotel I was staying in with my friends.

My friend Shannon I met for dinner last year but my friend Ash I haven't seen face to face for 9 years. I arrived before her so when she got to the room we had a shrieky emotional reunion at the room door while the bellhop stood next to us with her bags, rolling his eyes and sighing because we were taking too long and being embarrassing but he didn't want to leave as he was hoping for a tip.
We ended up having dinner at a Johnny Rockets diner which Shannon & Ash were slightly horrified about but it was late on a Friday and not many places were either still open or had space and as I pointed out I'm a tourist so a burger & fries is American dining to me!     
We talked until the early hours and therefore had a late and lazy start to our Saturday which was full of plans.

 First up was the Chelsea Flea Market via a couple of vintage store en route. Shannon is a native New Yorker so had picked the flea market carefully, it being smaller and aimed at locals rather than tourists. We stopped at a cute little shop called Pippin first which is known for it's antique and vintage jewellery.

As you can see they have expanded since Shannon was last there and now have accessories  as well as a whole homeware shop next door. It was a lovely place to browse with a good mix of items and price ranges. I was particularly taken with the way they stored their brooches.

I was chatting with the owner about it who said they were old printing type drawers, he had just removed the trays and lined them with baize. I so need one of these in my life though I very much doubt my bank balance would agree.

I could have gone mad but I made just one careful purchase, I didn't want to peak too soon.

From Pippin we went straight to the Flea Market which is an open air one. The weather was being very kind, almost too kind in fact, and had shot up to 79 degrees (26 for those in the UK) from 54 the day before.

It's amazing the difference the sun makes and everyone was smiling. I looked at a couple of stalls before heading to one piled high with stuff as I could see a girl with an interesting wicker bag in her hands.
Sure enough it was a gorgeous original 50's piece and as she examined it she asked the lady for the price so I slid in next to her to a) hear what the price might be and b) snatch it up the moment she put it down, if she put it down.
As I did so I spotted a flash of green patent so I stuck out a stealthy hand and whisked it in my direction.
My heart nearly stopped, It was a fabulous, if very very dirty bright green patent kelly bag. In the meantime the lady behind the stall had turned to a guy sitting a little way off and bellowed "how much for the bag?" He replied $10 so the girl next to me said "I'll take it" (damn!) So I raised my voice and said "How much for this one?" "also $10" so I replied "I'll take it" The girl next to me spun round and seeing the bag gasped and said "Oh! I would have bought that if I had seen it first" but believe me there was no way I was letting it go!! I handed over my $10 and scuttled off clutching it like Golum with his precious, I could not stop grinning.

It was absolutely filthy dirty but in perfect condition and I knew it would clean up. As it goes, when we got back to the hotel room I was wiping it with a wet paper towel planning to get the worst off before cleaning it properly at home when Ash spotted me and yelled at me to stop.

Now she is the type of person who travels with the kitchen sink and all the products you store underneath it too. She proceeded to rummage in her case before producing Clorox wipes, which I have never heard of before, but they brought the bag up so fabulously I actually went and bought some before I left!

Behold the bag, isn't it gorgeous?? I thought a piece of the piping on the top was missing but the handbag gods were smiling because when I opened the bag it was actually inside so I just need to glue it back on. You cannot begin to imagine how happy this makes me.

The only other purchase I made was from a stall loaded with huge plastic catering tubs of broches & bracelets which you just have to root through. Not ideal as I'm sure items get damaged and there is almost too much to go through, it puts you off. I did two tubs before admitting defeat and chose 3 brooches for $5 each.

By the time we had finished looking round we were very hot and in need of a comfort break. After refreshment we headed to the Fashion Institute of Technology via a couple of ridiculously expensive vintage stores to see the little Museum of Fashion which was closed when I went last year.

The current exhibits were on Norman Norell and The Body and I enjoyed both though they were tiny, it would be lovely to see more of their obviously vast collection.  From there we headed back to the hotel to relax and freshen up before dinner and the theatre.
Shannon had managed to get a deal on tickets for Drunk Shakespeare (or as it was called when on stage in the UK Shitfaced Shakespeare!).
The idea is one member of the cast gets to drink 5 shots of tequila at the beginning of a slightly ad lib-ed version of, in our case, Macbeth. This is tested by a member of the audience to check it is indeed alcohol and not water. Members of the audience also become king & queen and get to ring a bell twice during the play to make said cast member drink 2 more shots. Whilst I didn't get all the references to current American TV shows or top 40 songs, it was hilarious and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
We had a mooch around Times Square afterwards then called it a night.

The next day Shannon had to head home so we went for a huge late brunch in The Pershing Square Cafe which is built sort of under, and into, the Pershing Square Bridge and is awesome. The weather had plummeted to 49 degrees with a biting wind so everyone was back in hats, gloves and scarves.

From there Ash and I headed into the New York Public Library and had a look round Revolution their exhibition on the 60s before taking this picture for Himself.

Who had told me off for being at The Ghostbusters library without taking a picture running screaming down the steps, as you can imagine we got some looks!.

We spent most of the afternoon diving into coffee shops because it was so bloody cold and by the time we went back to the hotel it was pouring with rain.
We googled restaurants close by and found an Italian that sounded nice about 3 blocks away so we braved the elements. There were only two other tables occupied when we got there but judging by the constant traffic from 3 soaked to the skin deliveroo type couriers, they were doing a brisk trade in take out.
The food was fine but randomly they still had Christmas decorations up... anyway we didn't linger and once back at the hotel I realised I'd left my beanie hat there. As it had only been £1 in the sale at H&M I couldn't arsed to battle back out there to collect it.

However we did have 20 mins to spare on our last morning and as it had stopped raining by then we nipped back. The restaurant was completely empty this time even though it was lunch time. It took a while to get the girl to understand we didn't want a table but were looking for lost property. I said 'black knitted beanie hat' about 4 times before the guy there came back with a pink bobble hat and scarf. In the meantime the girl had gone across to the table we had been sitting at and was looking on the floor, from which she produced my hat with a flourish, like a conjurer pulling a rabbit out of a hat.
Ash and I clearly both looked and sounded aghast as we exclaimed "but we were here 2 days ago!" because she snapped quite defensively "It IS very dark in that corner" I took my hat and we left all the time muttering in horrified tones "I can't believe we ate there" " I wonder how often they actually mop their floors" "The Christmas decorations in April should have given it away"

Anyway to backtrack our final full day was one of biblical monsoon rain, not just for 20 minutes or half an hour like you get in the UK but for the whole day. I've never known anything like it. We decided to go to The Met as it would be warm dry and cultural, the whole of New York seemed to have had the same thought, it was packed to the rafters.

We had a great time though elbowing through the crowds and browsing to our hearts content, you know until that point where you can't face another gallery because you are so cultured out you aren't even seeing the objects any more. 
The whole time we were there we kept hearing this alarm going off, I thought maybe it was people getting too close to exhibits and triggering an invisible alarm. It was kind of irritating so Ash asked one of the guards and he said "Oh it's peoples cell phones, that's the flood alert going off."

We finally emerged in the late afternoon to bright sunshine and the most insane images of flooding

Many of the subway stations where overwhelmed and parts of Central Park were completely flooded too. My boss was flying home that day and was delayed, another colleague had to stay an extra day due to the weather.

My only other purchases whilst there were a huge book at The Met which I then had to lug home in my rucksack and a cute little bag with a 50's feel to it.

I got to fly Business Class home which was quite exciting until I discovered that there are shit seats in Business Class too, and of course that was the one I got. *sigh*

Right next to the toilet so brightly lit and with a steady footfall I would have been livid if I had actually paid for the seat. I was also too tall to lie comfortably on the recline into a bed seat. The food was lovely though as was getting to use the club lounge at the airport, though this was rather dimmed by the woman looking in great disbelief at my boarding card and exclaiming "YOU are flying business??"
It did also mean my bag came off priority so I was like a rat out of a trap to the coach stop back to Reading, there was one right away and a train home from Reading when I got there too. I got back in the house at 8.45am and collapsed into bed for a few hours before tipping out the case and starting the first of many loads of laundry.