Sunday 28 April 2013

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


Saturday 27 April 2013

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



Tuesday 16 April 2013

The Cat Got My Tongue

I'm a woman of very few words today, there's a lot going on inside my head but I can't make sense of it!
Hope you are all OK?!
 
Loads of love,
Jennie
xXx


Monday 15 April 2013

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



Sunday 14 April 2013

Shiny Happy People

The sun finally decided to make an appearance in the afternoon and a mass exodus ensued here in our neck of the woods. Houses were emptying at a rate of knots and people were pouring into the park. Sun starved North Londoners are grabbing even the minutest opportunity to bask in the sun. Every single bench was occupied with impromptu picnickers and the boating lake, playground, skate park, tennis- & basket ball courts were all a hive of activity. There were so many people feeding the birds that even the pigeons had had enough. I think it is safe to say "DING DONG! THE WINTER IS DEAD!"...good riddance!
I bought the frock that I am wearing today from the same charity shop that the green maxi from Thurdays post came from and I've had it for just as long.
Once when I wore it, two Swedish ladies started slagging it off to each other after spotting me wearing it on a bus, thinking that it was safe to do so cause they were in London and I wouldn't understand what they were saying. As they were getting off the bus I beamed a smile at them and said 'ha en trevlig dag' which means 'have a nice day'. I wish I'd had a camera cause their faces were priceless.
Today there were no people slagging my frock off though, instead it got a few lovely compliments :)
The guy at the local Afro-Caribbean cosmetics center where I buy my liquid eyeliner & henna even asked me where I had bought the dress saying that his wife would love it.
For me a life without wearing frocks like this one would be a very dull one indeed.
Give me psychedelic prints, a rainbow of colours and one-off vintage pieces and I am a very happy woman.
Speaking of  a rainbow of colours, check out the visual delight I am treated to on a daily basis...
The wig emporium two doors down has expanded yet again, they keep on going from strength to strength, wigs are very much in demand seemingly. This is the one that I've got my eye on...
 WARNING: Posh pinkie in the reflection, who needs a Royal Doulton teacup when one has a camera ;)
Hope you've all had a cracker of a weekend with some sunshine to make you smile..
Thanks a million for all your lovely comments, I'm so sorry if I haven't been around to visit your blog or left a comment in ages, I hang my head in shame. I promise I'll try my best to get around to visit you all before next week is over, you lovely peeps ROCK!
Loads of love,
Jennie
xXx


Saturday 13 April 2013

Electric Avenue

I'm wild about "tarty textures" and I have a few frocks made from crinkle effect stretch fabric.
I bought this electric blue beauty on eBay a few years ago...
This is pretty much a dream frock for me as it incorporates several of my obsessions.
I love ostentatious 80s frocks that make no excuses for being bold as brass.
Delightfully sluttish textured stretch, ravishing ruffles, perfectly puffy shoulders and an in-yer-face primary colour to boot, it ticks all my boxes!
Vintage 80s dress, Steve Madden boots, layered tights, FROCKTASIA earrings & necklace, a selection of bangles.
Mark & I went to a wee birthday get together at Mike's pad last night. I met Mike when I went out with Leslie a few weeks back. His awesome band Super Full Moon were playing at The Old  Queens Head where Erik was doing a gig too. Mike is a super talented singer songwriter and all-round lovely chappy and it was really nice to meet some of his fabulous friends and have a wee jam too :)
You can check out Mike's band on ReverbNation HERE, they are brilliant!
Here's Mike and Jozef doing their stuff...
  
Today I had my Emergency First Response course at Dive Wimbledon.
I was a wee bitty woolly headed after last nights festivities it has to be said but my hero and instructor extraordinaire Jon pulled me though it, he's such a star!
So in a few weeks my certification will come though and we can start planning for the next stage of our diving education which will be the Rescue Diver Course. I'm really excited and I can't wait to get cracking with it. Hopefully we'll be able to do some dives at Wraysbury in out wetsuits before long but the current water temperature is still a bit too much like an arctic enema for my liking.
Here I am looking ultra glamorous & feeling like a bag of old and moldy ass... 
How am I holding that poor plastic baby? It's probably a good thing that I've never spawned!
Hope you are having a grand weekend?!

Here's Skindred to play us out, enjoy ;)
Loads of love,
Jennie
xXx