The Last Supper

 

Cheers - we  made it!

Our last supper out before Christmas.

December 23rd is the time we usually meet up with our closest friends for a meal or drink but this year it was just the two of us as Denise and Kev tested positive for Covid on Monday.

We had planned to go to the same restaurant and sit at different tables in our separate Covid bubbles but at least dine in the same building.

Sadly, it wasn't to be although I am happy to say both are doing well with minor symptoms.

The rest of the last few days have been a blur of getting ready for Christmas dinner although there will only be four of us at the table instead of the usual 14.

But we still need the  spiced cabbage and the bread sauce.

I also had time to meet up with another friend, Elaine, for a socially distanced walk on the beach.

We met at a yoga retreat three years ago and she has become a very close friend.

Elaine retired early from her IT job last year and trained to be a yoga teacher which is really helpful when I need someone to cover my classes.

One of my lovely yoga students had put £20 in a Christmas card so I went to my local charity shop and bought a few things leaving the change for the charity.

Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without some cheesy films I would normally never watch, and I secretly enjoyed these two especially as I watched the Bob film with my 20 year old son.

Our meal out last night was lovely and as I was rushing around I didn't have time to change so I just took off the tank top and realised how easy this dress can go from day to night.

I also wore my 26 year old black velvet coat which I get out every Christmas.

It still feel so luxe.

I will be back tomorrow with a very special post but for now I would like to wish you and yours a Merry Christmas.

And if you got this far, thank you for reading.

I wore:

Boots - Clarks

Dress - New Look

Coat - Four Seasons

Work, Rest & Play

 

'Twas the week before Christmas and as I finished teaching in the schools last week it was time to complete plans for the rest of the month and next year.

But it did mean more time for playing with Frankie and meeting friends.

I enjoyed a socially distanced beach walk with my friend and fellow yogi, Sue.

Last year we shared a room on a yoga retreat in Turkey and she comes to all my yoga retreats in Wales.

An intrepid traveller since she retired, Sue often goes to India on her own a couple of times a year.

Sue is such an inspiration and she gave me some home-made biscotti too.

Back home I recorded a yoga class video for staff at my local hospital.

Until March I taught a weekly staff class there which was lovely but they liked my idea to create a weekly yoga video which I have been doing since lockdown. 

I just use youtube and upload it to an unlisted link. 

So simple, even I can do it.

Next, it was time to plan my last zoom Yin Yoga class of the year.

It's not the same as a cozy church hall but at least I get to see lots of my lovely students faces even if it is on a screen.

How would I get through without black coffee and iced gingerbread biscuits?

And lots of 5am starts with this one!

Thank heavens for Turmeric Tea.

It was a week of firsts for Frankie.

First off, his first walk in the concrete jungle.

And then his daddy took him for his first grooming session.

He smells soo good!

Somehow I managed to tidy my wardrobe.

As I had to make room for some ebay purchases including these brand new Clarks boots for £19.99 in my 4.5 size which is hard to find.

I also found time to read my favourite winter book, The Christmas Chronicles: Notes, Stories & 100 Essential Reciipes for Midwinter by Nigel Slater.

Tonight I will start this one I found at the charity shop - the title seems so appropriate this year.

Generally, evenings looked like this.

And I will sign off with Friday's outfit.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Today I wore:

Boots - Clarks from ebay

Jeans - Tesco

Shirt- Mint Velvet

Tank top - Oasis

The Butterfly Collector

 

Ah The Jam.

I love a good band t-shirt and I couldn't resist this one from ebay, although as the weather gets cooler its hidden under a few layers.

Just like my memories.

My rule is I will only wear a band t-shirt if I have seen the act.

And I did see The Jam. Twice.

One concert in 1980, but the best meeting took place when I attended the soundcheck beforehand.

I have to confess I thought they were OK, but my school pal Lisa was a mega fan of The Jam, especially Bruce Foxton.

One day during the October half term holidays in 1979 we caught the number 38 bus into Manchester city centre and dashed to the Virgin Megastore where we invested our hard-earned cash in Jam albums. 

I bought Setting Sons. Lisa bought In The City.

When I got home to my tiny room (dad had made it by dividing the front bedroom into two for my brother and I), I flipped the lid on my record player and placed the creaky needle on the first song.

And then I was hooked too.

I played it again and again and again.

My favourite track was The Butterfly Collector.

I loved the way the song went from fast to slow and quiet to loud.

I didn't realise it was about a groupie.

I was 13.

The following week I managed to scrape enough money together to return to buy a ticket for The Jam's upcoming concert at The Apollo in Manchester. 

I grew up without a car so it would mean two buses.

The big day dawned in late November and it was a foggy morning which got worse and worse and worse.

It was a real pea-souper.

When I got back home from school I could hardly see my house in the road.

Mum was waiting for me.

I couldn't go.

I cried. 

I stamped my feet.

She was worried the buses would be called off and I would be stranded on the other side of Manchester.

I had to phone my friend and her big brother agreed to buy my ticket and take her.

I think that was the day I realised how deprived I was not having a big brother.

Fast forward a year later to 1980 and the new Sound Affects album was added to my collection.

We bought concert tickets from Virgin records again and I crossed my fingers.

The day was a Friday. 

A school day.

For the first time in my life I skipped school.

We stayed on the number 38 bus and continued to Manchester, making our way to The Apollo.

It was freezing. 

We queued outside for ages.

And ages.

And then the tour bus arrived and the band walked out and made their way into the venue.

It was like something out of a film.

That glimpse was enough for me.

But Lisa was not satisfied. 

She told me about something called a soundcheck  - you know these things if you have an older brother - so we stayed behind and managed to get in to watch the band check the sound.

We stood by the front of the stage while the band played a few songs.

And swore.

Quite a lot.

And then they came to talk to us.

Close up they seemed so much smaller and thinner than on the photos.

 I had no paper or a pen but a man gave me a Swan match box which I tore open and he lent me his pen so I could get their autographs on the scrappy piece of cardboard.

By this time I had to agree with Lisa, Bruce Foxton was definitely the most attractive.

Two buses home, a quick change and Lisa's big brother picked us up in his new car.

The concert was magic.

Loud and sweaty and full of energy.

My first  proper concert  - if you don't count Mike Sweeney and The Salford Jets at the Civic Centre - which I didn't!

That night I had the best time of my 14 years of life.

Ever.

Until Lisa climbed on the stage and was escorted off by a man to the side.

Now I was all alone in a Strange Town.

There were no mobile phones then.

Panicking and making my way though the crowds who were all heads and shoulders above me I eventually got outside to find  Lisa's big brother waiting.

It felt like I really did have a big brother looking out for me.

Lisa was in the back of his car.

We chatted all of the 10 miles home vowing to do it all again the following year.

But we never did.

When I was pregnant with my eldest child I prayed he would be a boy as I think every girl should have a big brother.

And for one magical moment I almost had.

My prayers were answered and he has been the best big brother to his sister.

Today I wore:

Boots - M & S

Skirt - Top Shop from charity shop

T-shirt - ebay

Fleece - Sweaty Betty

Jacket - Zara

Christmas 1973

 

It is Christmas morning 1973 in a terraced house just outside Manchester.

It's a classic Christmas.

One of my favourites.

Merry Christmas Everybody is top of the charts and number one on my Christmas List is a Doll's House.

I wake up on Christmas morning and here it is in my living room.

Christmas wishes really do come true.

I didn't know at the time but my mum had bought it second hand from a toy sale held by the local church.

Each night in December, after work and when I was in bed, she stayed up late to clean and re-paint it.

In 1973 I am seven years old and in Mrs Williamson's class.

She smells strongly of BO.

A dour squat woman, she paces up and down the rows of desks and makes the class recite our times tables.

Suddenly she stops, smashes a ruler violently on a desk before firing  scattergun sums at unsuspecting souls.

She never actually hits anyone, but the threat of menace hangs in the air along with her BO.

I am glad there is no school for two weeks.

I can relax.

My brother got a fort, also repainted by mum and purchased from that same toy sale.

I always thought grandma was very old but she is just two years older than I am now in that photo.

It is cold in the terraced house I share with my mum and dad and brother.

There is no central heating, just those heaters attached to the walls so the red ladybird dressing gown is very welcome.

The gown was in my Christmas sack, but I am guessing Father Christmas picked it up from our local Ladybird stockist, Woolworth's in the precinct.

Later that month I would spend my Christmas money buying my first record from that same branch of Woolworth's - Little Jimmy Osmond's Long Haired Lover from Liverpool.

I would play it on the gramaphone you can see by the window.

And who knew that 12 years later I would actually meet my very own long haired lover from Liverpool but that's another story.

A Dress Called Briony

When I was at primary school in the 1970s there were four Janes in my class.

I hated sharing my name.

It made feel so unspecial.

My mum chose the name as she was reading the book Jane Eyre when she was pregnant with me.

Another reason I hated the name.

I always felt Jane Eyre was such a wet character.

Why didn't she read Wuthering Heights?

I would have preferred Cathy or Catherine.

There were none of those in my class.

Today on Facebook I saw a comment from someone who had the same first name and second name as me before I was married - Jane O'Connell - and there is a character called Jane Gallagher - my name for the past 31 years - in Catcher in the Rye.

I still hate sharing my name.

So when I was pregnant with my daughter in 1997  I was determined that she would have a name that was unique or at least not a name she would share with three others in her class.

And so I chose Briony.

There have been a few Briony's around but most have the spelling Bryony.

So when I saw the name of this dress on eBay, I had to have it.

The dress is called Briony and I wanted to snap up the only other Briony I have seen.

It arrived today and it is perfect, a soft brushed navy cotton with buttons all the way down.

I can dress it up or down and I think it will become a firm favourite.

If you would like to see what the original Briony looks like - here she is with me and she certainly is unique.

Today I wore:

Boots- M & S

Dress - Joules from eBay

 

Life's A Beach

I love our local beach in winter.

It hasn't got a pretty promenade with bars and cafes.

It's a wild beach full of natural wildlife, bracing winds from the Irish Sea and dunes so big you can sledge down them and people often do.

And did I mention the pinewoods which lead to the beach?

On Saturday our mission was to collect some pine cones for our daughter's decorations and the art room at the farm where my husband works.

The skies were blue and the tide was high.

On our way the walk was colourful with the last flourishes of summer from the pelargoniums and calendula and the beautiful berries.

After our walk it was getting dark and we watched Fargo with some red wine and cheese.

Sunday was a morning bike ride with my friends to Waterloo just outside Liverpool.

We rode along the prom at Crosby, home to Antony Gormley's Another Place installation and we passed Adelaide Terrace which was once home to Captain Smith of the Titanic.

The Georgian Terraces look right out to sea and many have six or more bedrooms.

After a shower and thaw out it was time to finish the decorations.

These little beauties were picked up from a charity shop about 10 years ago.

The tree was purchased in 1999.

Here are some of my favourite decorations that have been bought over the years. 

Ben made this when he was in primary school and it always comes out.

Saturday's outfit was boots - M & S; Jeans - M & S and blouse - Oasis.

Sunday's outfit was Boots - Clarks; Dress - Moxi and tank top - Oasis.

 

 

A shaggy dog story

Today I made the excuse to my husband that I was doing my bit for local business and booked a blow dry at my local hairdressers.

My hairdresser, Amy,  is the younger sister of my eldest son's friend and owns her own house now - how old do I feel?

I remember seeing her skipping down the school path with her aunty when she was at nursery.

I asked for a shaggy bob.

She looked at me a little strangely.

When I was probably a few years younger than Amy in the 1980s shaggy bobs were in.

It seems they are still in but now they are called beach waves and the curls are created with a straightener!

Anyways, I loved the style and Frankie approved with our matching hairdos.

The morning was spent working on class plans for tonight's zoom Yin Yoga class before travelling 6 miles to the school where I taught yoga to three Year 4 classes.

It is lovely to see that the children are adapting to their new normal and still as excited about Christmas as every year, even though there will be no big nativities for their parents or carol concerts in church.

After a snack at home I prepared my yoga studio/lounge and managed to find a space for the class.

I even remembered to press record this week so my class can try the class again.

Yesterday my daughter came round, (she has a second job with my daughter in law and they dress rooms for parties and events)  so officially she was working in my house decorating the tree in the kitchen. 

She arrived with bags full of decorations.

I would not know where to start dressing a tree as I usually chuck baubles on the tree, ones we have had for years.

And I still need to do to the tree in the lounge.

She did a lovely job and it was so hard to resist giving her a big hug so I gave her some brownies which is like a big chocolate hug instead.

Frankie is settling down and is almost house trained which is making life with a pup fairly easy although he had just discovered how to dig a hole in the garden.

Although is you have any tips to stop him nipping me with his sharp teeth they will be gratefully received.

Today I wore:

Boots - Next

Leggings - Dorothy Perkins

Dress - Anthropologie from eBay

Tank Top - Oasis

Blue Jumper - Cos