Pimp My Look Preloved Style

 

According to the Cambridge University dictionary one of the words associated with accessories is 'pimp' and who can resist an alliterative title?

In this video I share my favourite preloved accessories.

And if that's not enough then head over to the rather fabulous Sarah London to check out hers too as we blog jointly on the last Thursday of each month in our Second Hand Stories series.

Wintering

 September 2017 was one of the worst months of my life.

Two of my four children moved out and our beloved chocolate labrador, Harvey died.

I was bereft.

And I still had six months of autumn/winter to face before the following spring.

I hated winter, closely followed by autumn.

I only felt truly alive in the spring/summer months.

And then I realised I was wasting half my life, wishing I was somewhere else in the year.

A book saved my life or gave me back half my year.

It was The Christmas Chronicles by Nigel Slater.

Although it is a cookbook ( and I confess I haven't made any of the recipes), it is also a celebration of the winter months.

Every November I get the book out, snuggle in front of the fire with a hot drink or glass of red wine and in the glow of candlelight savour Slater's hynoptic prose.

And Im delighted to report that I have a new one to add to my collection.

Wintering by Katharine May is described as a 'comforting meditation on the fallow periods of life, times when we must retreat to care for and repair ourselves.'

And now a third child has moved out of our home - my youngest son, Ben.

It doesn't seem five minutes since I was posting about his 10th birthday here.

He is renting an apartment in Liverpool city cenre and living the dream.

We visited his place in The Lexington yesterday and my sadness was overshadowed by the sheer thrill of the fabulous views and buzz of life from this vantage point.

Being able to see life from a distance has given me perspective.

I have just one child left out of four still living at home but it no longer feels as raw.

The dynamic had already shifted with the dismantling of our nuclear family.

And it is thanks to my love of reading that I have found great solace in books, especially the 2,000 year-old Book of Tao by Lao Tzu which I read when I trained to teach Yin Yoga.

"If you try to change it, you will ruin it.

Try to hold it, and you will lose it.....

.......the world belongs to those who let go."

And by letting go of my role as a mother, I have started to embrace my role as a grandmother.

And by saying farewell to Harvey, we have found space in our hearts for Frankie.

But while it may still be winter, I am refusing to let go of my white jeans.

Have a great week.

Jane X

Apricity

 

I love discovering new words and devoting whole posts to them like this one.

And today on a bright, sunny Monday morning I was listening to the radio when the forecaster used the word, 'apricity.'

Apparently, it means to feel the warmth of the winter sun.

I was feeling that as I walked along the beach path with Frankie today.

I was reminded of another word I discovered in 2012 while reading The Bellwether Revivals by Benjamin Wood - Petrichor - and I devoted a whole post to that too here.

I hope you have had a good week.

I ham back at work, teaching yoga and have been making the effort to get dressed instead of wearing my yoga pants every day.

I also got  my hair cut.

But I am not sure Frankie likes it!

And yesterday we finally enjoyed some family time with our belated Christmas Dinner which was postponed due to Covid.

Around 80% of what I am wearing in these photos are second hand clothes mainly from Vinted and Ebay.

Wishing you a wonderful week ahead,

Jane X

Back to the Future: A Vision

 

I like to play.

And one of the games I enjoy at the end of the year is cutting and sticking.

Some people call them Vision Boards.

I simply collect magzines throughout the year and cut out pictures and words that I like.

Between December and January I pin them together and create a board.

I suppose it is my version of New Year's Resolutions.

But things I want to focus on.

When I start I have no idea how it will turn out but there is usually a theme.

Here is this year's Vision Board.

I will probably be referring back to it throughout the year.

When I look at it now I see images of warmth, light, simple dress and women who look comfortable in their own skin.

Today is Day 8 of Covid and while I am still testing positive, I am feeling much more energised.

I had blinding headaches between Thursday and Saturday morning  and slept beyond 8am which is unheard of for me.

But by mid-day today (Saturday) as the headache went, my energy returned.

I have already cleaned the whole downstairs.

Despite feeling rough I did make the effort to do some yoga, write, read and get dressed each day.

And here is what I wore this week.

This crochet jumper came from a small online business I found on Instagram - it's not all bad!

My go-to winter dress - pleather leggings and a top. This denim shirt was £25 in a Donna Ida sample sale instead of the usual £200.

And dearest Alida - I got to wear her for the first time.

I have also completed my first book of 2022 - The Science of Storytelling by Will Storr which is a fabulous read not just for writers but for readers anyone interested in why we act the way we do. I will defintey be reading more of his work this year.

I hope you have a lovely week.

I am off to catch up with some blogs now.

Bye for now,

Jane X

Alida

I bought this new to me Tartan dress from ebay.

I had visions of wearing a Tartan dress for New Years' Eve - but by the time it arrived, four out of the five who live in my house were Covid positive and we were all in bed before midnight.

 To cheer myself up I re-read my old posts and discovered that in December 2012 I wore a dress a day and named them all.

I decided today I would revive that practise.

As it's tartan I knew I had to give it a Scottish name.

Alida was the first name that sprang to mind,

Although the name is German in origin (and means 'Of noble kin'), Alida  was the name of a feisty Scottich girl I knew briefly at university.

Alida was not the most beautiful girl I have ever met, but she is definitely amongst the most charismatic.

There was something about Alida.

She was funny, clever and strong - at least that is how she came across to me.

Alida had dark curly hair, expressive eyes and always looked on the verge of a big hearty laugh.

At the time she was going out with the gorgeous fellow student who had actually attended the same sixth form colllege as me.

I remember my new friends being so jealous because he actually spoke to me (although it was only after a Merrydown-emboldened moment in the Students Union bar when I spoke to him and reminded him that we were both Eccles College alumi.)

But you couldn't be jealous of Alida - she was so warm and friendly and they just looked so right together.

By the time I arrived at university, Alida was in her final year, so apart from those heady first few weeks of term, our paths rarely crossed.

 I have no idea if they stayed together or forged their own paths.

By the third term I had started to discover what made me happy and have lots of fun - I didn't give a second thought to Alida and Adonis.

Until today - 36 years later.

At the moment I am feeling a sense of loss of myself (for various reasons) and I guess I am channelling a little of that brave and bold Scottish warrior spirit that Alida possessed.

I was hoping to wear the dress today but after feeling a little rough and testing positive for Covid I am still in yoga pants and a jumper.

But I do look forward to getting acquainted with Alida soon, even if for the first week the farthest  I will go is the end of the garden.

Happy New Year.

PS: If you want to know the difference between Tartan and Plaid here is a great article.