On Monday morning after my Wii Fit session and I'd wrapped the weekend eBay sales, I gave the houseplants a misting before joining Jon for breakfast. One of the Severn Trent chaps called round to let us know that we needed to boil the tap water before drinking it for the next couple of days. It really is like being at a festival (or in India)!
Jon did the post office run, a supermarket shop and popped round to Tony's, leaving me to potter around the garden before stripping off to my bikini and prostrating myself on the lawn. When Jon got back we had some noodles, I put some clothes on and then drove up to the local garden centre as they'd posted on Facebook that they'd had some bedding plants delivered and I wanted to get my patio pots filled.
After a joyous hour investigating everything they had, I spent the rest of the afternoon potting up and watering the garden. Jon brought me out an ice-cold bottle of Corona with a wedge of lime as, funnily enough, it's been on special offer since last year. It's what always drink at the airport bar when we're off on our travels and yes, I am one of those disgraceful people who drink beer no matter what time of the day we're taking off, airports are like festivals, time is meaningless!
Tea was roasted veggies with Halloumi. Later we watched a bit more of The Pleasure Principle and the Antiques Road Trip from earlier and I was in bed by 10am as I'd been awake since 4.30am.
On Tuesday morning the Wii Fit congratulated me on our 4,200th session. As it looked like being another glorious day I did a load of washing and pegged it out on the line. After breakfast, we drove over to our favourite Black Country town for a mooch around the charity shops.
We didn't do too badly and found some decent stuff to top up the Kinky rails.
I nearly had heart failure when I spotted this.....only vintage wool and velvet-trimmed Annabelinda pinafore dress for three-flipping-quid!
Based in Oxford, the Annabelinda boutique traded until 2012 but its heyday was in the 1970s where it became famous for its quality hand-finished garments often made from Liberty fabrics and with designs inspired by a pre-industrial, rural England. Annabelinda has featured in several exhibitions showcasing British Boutique fashion including Liberty in Fashion (2015 - 2016) at London's Fashion Textile Museum.
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| Liberty in Fashion (2015 - 2016) |
Their dresses were popular with Oxford undergraduates. One notable customer was Benazir Bhutto, the future Prime Minister of Pakistan, who was a student here from 1973. Other famous fans included Dame Judi Dench. The label expanded beyond Oxford with outlets at Liberty & Harrods. Annabelinda was one of three English labels selected to create a design to commemorate Liberty's 100th Anniversary in 1975.
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| Annabelinda's Boutique |
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| Annabelinda postcard |
The boutique hit the national headlines in 1981 when the late, great Howard Marks, former Oxford undergraduate and international cannabis smuggler, claimed in his autobiography that he had planned to use Annabelinda as a front for his work with MI6. He also claimed to have funded the move from small premises on Park End Street to 6 Gloucester Street to provide a respectable front for the wealth gained from his drug dealing. I was lucky enough to attend several audiences with Howard Marks over the years, he was a fascinating character and Mr Nice is well worth a read if you haven't already (HERE).
