Love is stronger than death

After we returned from Scotland a few weeks back we resumed our daily jaunts up to the park. Sadly the condition of Lilo the goose (the angel-winged bird that we had been feeding throughout the winter months) had deteriorated drastically during our week away. Needless to say I logged another query with the RSPCA and also contacted a local wildlife rescue center for advice. They told me that if I could bring Lilo in they would get their vet to treat her and then re-home her with a wildfowl sanctuary. I spent a sleepless night going over in my head how I would borrow my neighbours pet carrier, catch Lilo, jump in a taxi and whisk her off to the wildlife rescue center. However it wasn't to be, we made several trips up to the park loaded with seeds, water, blanket and a pet carrier but we never saw little Lilo again.

I don't like to think that she's gone from this world, she was a tough cookie and despite her handicap she survived a particularly grueling winter. I hope that someone else contacted RSPCA and got them to act on the query, or that somebody did what I was planning to do and took her to a vet or a rescue center.  Mark & I were by no means the only people that looked out for her, she had stolen many hearts in the park, so maybe one of those other people came to her rescue. It's a hopeful thought that makes me happy and one that I think is worth clinging onto.

I just have to sing the praises of a dude on youtube called Scott Coddington, he catches geese by hand and removes fishing line that has been tangled around their legs or captures injured geese to take to the vet. He's amazing. Here are two of his youtube clips...

What an absolute gem of a man, he deserves a medal for his kindness.

Despite Lilo not being there anymore we still make our jaunts to the park.

It may sound all hippy-dippy but our little daily park stroll and wildfowl interaction restores my inner peace.

Speaking of hippy, how do you like my hand knitted poncho?!

No, I didn't knit it myself, I'm absolutely useless with knitting or crochet needles. It was bought from a charity shop a few years ago and it has a rather sweet label that reads "From fleece to finish by Norma McCall". The yarn that Norma used/made is absolutely amazing, the colours are like a rainbow of mottled pastels.

I've actually nicked a dress off the Frocktasia rail today, isn't she a beauty?!

It's an Afghan frock that has been shortened. Most of these dresses reach well below the knees but I think this is a far better length for let say a muddy summer festival, would look swell with the quintessential wellies too. This frock will be back on the rail for my next market priced at £30.

Hand-knitted poncho, Afghan dress, layered tights, 70s boots, Balinese earrings that were a gift from gorgeous Vix

This is my friend Mr Grey...

We hit it off straight away when I told him that I'm not a fan of North Face. He is so incredibly gentle when he eats the seed out of my hand and he even lets me stroke his chest from time to time.

Mr & Mrs Grey only have one little gosling...

A week ago there was a pair of Canada geese with ten goslings but apparently this breed of geese are well known for forming gosling creches. From what I've seen the average gosling number to a pair is around three. These three get a daily dose of healthy seed from us, with any luck it will prevent them from getting angel wing in the future.

The ferocious winds that have been battering London over the past few days have finally abated but it looks as if the blanket cloud cover is here to stay for a wee while longer.
The sun will find a way to break through eventually and when it does I shall be ready with my picnic basket and barefeet...there's a patch of grass underneath a blossoming lilac tree in the park with my name written all over it ;)
Here is 'The The' to sing us out with their beautiful song 'Love Is Stronger Than Death', enjoy :)

Happy Friday beautiful people...
May the sun shine on your path and happiness fill your heart.
Loads of love,
Jennie
xXx

Psychedelic salad days

This is my favourite time of year, everywhere something is bursting into bloom.

Little fluffy bundles of joy are melting the hearts of children and butch builders alike up at the boating lake. The park lawns that were a waterlogged mess a few weeks back have regained their zest and are now like a lush green carpet perfect for walking barefoot on. Flowers fill the air with delightful scents and the suns warming rays are lifting city confined souls everywhere. I feel wave upon wave of positivity washing over me as life regenerates once more.

Vintage 70s psychedelic jumpsuit, retro woven suede belt, Moschino denim jacket, Handmade African necklace and bangles, Hush Puppies sandals, retro sunnies, soap-stone heart & macrame earrings.

I bought the jumpsuit that I am wearing today from the Battersea Boot Sale. 

Being a print nerd I succumbed to its psychedelic charms.

My lovely mum bought me this fabulous handmade African necklace from Tradera (eBay in Sweden)...

Psychedelic prints have a good energy about them, they are the print equivalent of a sunny day in my opinion.

I'm really excited of how everything has just Tigger bounced into life again over the past few weeks. 

Right now I feel like I need to sweep my body clean with lots of green goodness to rid myself of the toxins that have built up over the long winter months. I'm dusting off our juicer and getting psyched up to take on the park in my running shoes, all good stuff!

 I promise I won't bore you with endless pictures of our salads, maybe just for a few more days ;)

I hope you are all feeling energized and happy peeps :)

Loads of love,

Jennie

xXx 

Feels like summer

When Mark left at quarter past five this morning I grabbed the duvet and went to sit on the balcony to watch the sunrise. Next doors lilacs are just coming into bloom so the early morning air was delightfully fragrant. I lay down on the duvet closed my eyes and listened to the birds twittering away. Three hours later I was awoken by the blazing sun that had by now risen well above the rooftops. I made a cafetiere of coffee and enjoyed it sitting in the glorious morning sunshine. 

Ganesh Tee, Tie-dyed cut-offs made from a pair of hubbies old jeans &  70s slip-on sandals.

Today felt like the first day of summer :)

I'm not sure what's happening with my hand in this picture, it looks as if it is momentarily venturing into a parallel reality, either that or it's been afflicted with tourettes?!

The ever smiling postie delivered my EFR card this morning. I am now officially qualified to save your life, bandage you up if you fall off a ladder and do a whole heap of other useful stuff ;)

Mark and I decided to go over to our "summer diet" today, so there will be salads aplenty over the coming months. I have also stocked up on Tahini so that Mark can start making his amazing bean dips again, yum!

 Today's salad: spinach, kale, rocket, watercress, chicory, parsley, chopped baby tomato & pinto bean mix relish served with fresh Turkish bread from the shop around the corner.

I'm getting very excited about summer...how about you?

Loads of love,

Jennie

xXx

From Ballachulish to The Boogaloo

When we left London a week ago the sun was blazing and there was not a cloud in the sky as far as the eye could see.

I had hoped that the glorious weather would travel with us up to Scotland but alas that was not to be, pants!

The further north the bus took us the darker the skies turned and we quite literally drove into a whole heap of bad weather.

It would have been nice to have a week of sunshine and blue skies but I'm not one to let a bit of dreich weather spoil my fun.

We stopped off in Greenock with my brother-in-law for a night before continuing the journey up to Ballachulish in The Highlands.

When we visited last September, I brought all my shapeshifter ponchos and we staged a little photo session in the glen and I had hoped to do the same thing this time. My suitcase was full of frocks and photo session paraphernalia and every day I was up with the lark monitoring the weather forecast hoping that there would be a wee break in the thick blanket of cloud. We did get a few pictures done but the conditions were not ideal to say the least but I'll blog about that tomorrow.

As per usual I took loads of pics all week and I thought I'd share some of them with you...

It's grim up north! Not really but it was rather dreich it has to be said.

The River Laroch and the Loch Leven shore. 

Swan in Loch Leven & the St Munda burial island.

The River Laroch in Ballachulish, Scottish heather in mums garden and a cool as a cucumber sheep in Glen Nevis.

Glen Nevis and Scots pine tree.

There was still some snow on the hills. Despite it looking like it never stops raining in the Highlands it has in fact been "unseasonably dry" and at the beginning of this month there was even a wildfire outbreak. 

Little chirpy bird in Glen Nevis and big chirpy bird at the Lochan Trail in Glencoe.

I was delighted to catch a bunch of Kyloe cows having their breakfast in Glen Nevis. Later on that day we went to Glen Coe to attempt a photo session, we ended up having bemused tourists taking pictures of us taking pictures, och! In the evening we met up with my father-in-law at The Laroch Bar for a few bevvies :)

On Thursday it was my mother-in-laws 70th birthday :)

It did clear up for a few hours in the early evening so we zipped down to the lochside to take a few more pics. Then mums friends came around for a little 70th birthday get-together at the house. Loads of  cake, wine and laughter :)

The morning after mums birthday we left Ballachulish at eight, stopped in Glasgow for a quick pub brunch before hopping on the bus back down to London.

We arrived in London at half ten in the evening and I had my market the following day.

Thankfully I had prepared everything before we left so it was just a case of packing everything up in the morning. I was a wee bit zombified on Saturday but Mark helped me to The Boogaloo and stayed around until I was all set up. Who would have guessed that sitting on your arse for twelve hours could be so physically & mentally exhausting?! 

Despite being a bit of a hazy-daisy I did have a very good day, chatted to some lovely folk & made some people happy with my vintage threads and that's what it's all about after all ;)

Here are some pics from yesterday's Can't Buy Me Love market....

What I wore:

Indian frock, tulle tutu, shaggy cardi with flower brooch, tights, 80s boots, Frocktasia earrings, Tibetan prayer bangle and my trusty market peddlers bumbag ;)

So there you go that was my "dropping off the blog radar" week.

I'm totally behind in my blog reading but as I have already picked out most my stock for next Saturday's Dandy Lion Market I should have a few hours to spare tomorrow to indulge in a little bit of catching up, looking forward to it, I've missed you's!

I'll leave you with one of my favourite Scottish bands, enjoy :)

Loads of love,

Jennie

xXx

Back from Caledonia

Hey peeps,

hope you are all doing well?!

I dropped off the radar for a while to visit Scotland again.

It was my mother-in-laws 70th birthday on Thursday, so we decided to go up and spend a week with her.

We just got back last night and today I did the Can't Buy Me Love market at The Boogaloo but I'll blog about Scotland and the market tomorrow.

***

I meant to post this blog before I went to Scotland but never quite managed to get around to it, better late than never ;)

A week and a half ago I had a photo session with an amazing London based singer-songwriter called Faith Taylor. I approached Faith a while back after falling in love with her voice at a gig and asked her if she'd be interested in taking part in a little vintage clothing inspired photo session at my house. We were messaging each other on Facebook prior to the session to establish what sort of theme would best suit her personality and music style. Faith is a self-declared tomboy so we went with an androgynous style.

Look 1

 Vintage 70s blazer, 70s shirt and 70s bow-tie combo

Look 2 

Vintage 50s felt hat and 70s ethnic embroidered waistcoat

Look 3

German military shirt teamed a cowboy style scarf

I really enjoyed doing this little session and I'm planning to do more of them next month.

Faith was a real joy to work with and I'll be sure to keep an eye on her future gig listings.

Before we went to Scotland I met up with Leslie and we went to take in the Lichtenstein -A Retrospective exhibition at the Tate Modern, which was absolutely fab!

Vintage 50s trousers, 70s Liberty print suspenders, 70s lurex blouse, sleeveless knitted jumper, Handmade African necklace, Frocktasia earrings, handmade tote bag made by Leslie, Lowepro camera bag & DMs 

I'll post about Scotland & my market adventures tomorrow but right now I'm going to crash and burn, I'm bushed...cheerio my dear pals ;)

Loads of love,

Jennie

xXx

MADE IN SWEDEN

I feel very lucky to live within striking distance of a park. As someone who grew up near nature, living in a city can sometimes feel very stifling. The park is like a sparkling emerald in a sackful of builders rubble and when I go there I can at least pretend that I am far away from the urban jungle.

I bought the frock that I'm wearing today a few years ago from a charity shop in Holloway.

Needless to say I was immediately drawn to its zesty colour and quirky print but after also seeing that it was 'MADE IN SWEDEN' (just like me) I knew that we belonged together.

I wonder how it ended up in England?

The pose in the next pic made me think of Desiree, she always pulls off the best poses. 

If there was a prize for wicked posing, she'd win it every time!

My beloved on his trusty two-wheeled steed...

I love our daily jaunts to the park :)

Soon the ground will have dried off and we'll be able to lay on the grass and watch the clouds drift by, I can't wait!

 Here's a wee happy tune for you to tap your foot to, enjoy ;)

Hope your week has got off to a great start?!

Loads of love,

Jennie

xXx