It's a bit grey and dull in Leamington today, and I'm curled up on my sofa under a blanket. Despite this, I think there is still a taste of spring in the air and I'm sure it won't be long before this blanket can be folded up and put away for a few months.
I'm feeling decidedly more like me, and more optimistic and happy generally. Last week was busy, but nothing like the weeks before had been and I was even able to work in the Coventry office on Friday for the first time for about a month. The sun was shining as I walked to the station in the morning and, although it started to rain later that afternoon, the sunshine really recharged my batteries. It helped also that I was able to hang up my (admittedly very pretty) winter coat and wear my lovely red trench coat instead. The office in Coventry is a very pleasant place to work, even more so when it is sunny, and I got through my to-do list (and the extra bits of work that came in through the day) with satisfying speed. It was also amazing to be able to finish work at four and be home by half past! Not that I did anything tremendously exciting with my extra few hours, in fact I had been rained on during my walk to Coventry station and so just wanted to get home and into some warm clothes! On Friday night Nic and I watched The Thing From Another World, the original one from 1951. I had never seen it (although I had seen the 80s John Carpenter remake The Thing, which I didn't like) and I loved it. We switched off all the lights and the whole experience was very spooky indeed. Since my friend John bought me Day of the Triffids and The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham a few years ago I have become increasingly interested in science fiction, and so the film ticked a few boxes for me for that reason. It came out in the same year as Day of the Triffids and has some of the same concerns, although in a much more condensed way.
The weather was miserable on Saturday and so, after my lovely long lie-in and cooked breakfast (boiled eggs, toast and coffee) Nic and I got a few chores done around the house and headed into town to do some grocery shopping and to have a look in the charity shops. I thought I'd defy the grim weather and wore my lovely Corbusier Atlantis dress. I wore it for Nic's birthday party the weekend previously, but there are no photos from that night, so here it is
Needless to say, I put on a cardigan and my lovely grey BHS (via a flea market) tweed jacket. I got a few strange looks in town, I think because what I wore was so weather inappropriate, but I didn't really care. I've had a few such looks and comments recently. None of the comments have been negative, I hasten to add, more along the lines of 'aren't you dressed for Spring?' with a tone of surprise. I'm not complaining, it's just something I find a little bit odd as I'm not wearing anything too over the top, I guess it's just that I'm not wearing black?
Anyway, I had made plans to spend Saturday evening with Sugar Plum, Martha, Claire and Lauren. The girls came round to my house, and as we got head and ears into the wine and snacks we had a lot of fun. It wasn't as raucous as some girly evenings have been in the past, but it was so nice just to chill out at home and have fun with my friends. Lauren, Claire and Martha left fairly early and Nic came home in good time to have a few drinks with Sugar Plum and I and catch up. I introduced Sugar Plum to this amazing R Kelly video for Real Talk (this is not at all SFW, by the way)and I was reminded again how much I love Ignition Remix which has been bouncing around in my head ever since! If you do click the link and watch the video to Ignition Remix I strongly suggest that you keep your eyes on the fat guy in the fur coat standing around behind R Kelly, I love that guy. I think his job is just to stand around and shake his head at all of the shenanigans.
Sunday dawned bright and sunny, and Nic and I had a reasonably early start. Lauren and Ben called round, because Lauren had some presents for me! She and Ben had bought me some beautiful Hornsea Heirloom spice jars in an antiques market in Warwick, and she also gave me some fantastic rubber ducky earrings and brought me a book to read. I felt very spoiled! They didn't stay as they were off to have lunch, and Nic and I headed out into the sunshine shortly afterwards. I celebrated by wearing some open toed sandals and bought Nic an ice-cream (mint choc chip) in Jephson Gardens.
Nic with his first ice-cream cone of the yearWe went to the Vintage and Craft fair that was being held in Spencer Yard, and I bought Nic some gorgeous cufflinks made from Scrabble tiles. We had some debate over which letters to buy, possibilities included his initials. We settled instead on L and R so he could always know which was which. He bought me some beautiful earrings from the same stand, shaped like little bicycles!
After that we walked up to Newbold Comyn and had a drink in the stables, and then down along Leam Terrace to The New Inn. We bumped into Sugar Plum and N, who joined us for a drink and then we walked back up through town together before Nic and I went to The White Horse to read the paper and to enjoy a late lunch. It was a thoroughly blissful Sunday and I felt like all of the things I have been stressing about over the past few weeks were washed away. In the evening Nic and I watched the 70s remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, the one with Donald Sutherland in it. I'd seen part of it before, but had never watched it the whole way through. It isn't as cool as the original (which is all kinds of awesome) but there are a lot of really good things about it and it is seriously creepy. I really enjoyed it, but was glad that I had been in good form when I sat down to watch it, I think if I had been feeling in any way blue it would have totally depressed me, the ending is pretty bleak. That said, a lot of the joy of the film comes from Donald Sutherland's cheeky smile - you get to see a lot of that. And I may have mentioned this before, but I have a big old crush on 70s Sutherland, so it was good for that reason! Next on my list to watch are Klute and Don't Look Now.
When I got home from work yesterday afternoon I met Nic in Leamington library and, as it happened, they were having their discarded book sale. It was excellent - I picked up Noah's Ark by Barbara Trapido (which I already have a copy of, but which has mysteriously disappeared and I am blaming Martha for that! I'm fairly sure she has my copy of Juggling as well.) and I also bought The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai, each for 10p, as well as a book about bad girls of the silver screen and one about Fred Astaire for Nic. He went a bit mad himself, and bought 17 books. 14 of them were some Indian comics he had owned as a child, and which are really hard to get hold of now. Our 21 books came to £2.50 and the price included a jute carrier bag, what a bargain!
I've been working from home today and getting some little jobs done, as the next two days are going to be pretty busy. I was very excited because the shoes I bought from Chaos Clothing at the weekend arrived this morning. They were beautifully packaged, arrived very quickly and I had nice emails from the girls in the shop - and the shoes are lovely! I wore them today with my Topshop tulip dress and my purple cardigan:
I have Friday off, and then at the weekend Nic and I are off to see Stan Tracey playing at The Bull's Head in Barnes, which should be fun - I'm looking forward to some adventuring!
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