Paint It Black

Hi my sweetie pies!  Ready for your weekend? Have you got a relaxing rewind of a few days planned or is it going to be jam-packed with house tasks and socialising?

I did have exciting plans with a lovely friend which have had to change a tad, so maybe a quiet dinner is on the cards, coffee with family and just a little housework.  Does that sound like a pensioner's weekend?

I don't know about The Pouting Pensioner, I'm feeling more like The Peripatetic Pensioner at the moment (or some of you may think of me as The Peripathetic Pensioner!)

I'm all over the place right now.  Mini cruise to Bruges, a week in the Scilly Isles and now three weeks in the UK, which will involve a series of mini trips between Sussex and London and maybe other places too.  My holidays are certainly like buses!

Because of all this peripatetic-ing (oh I love making up words that don't pass spellcheck!), I've had the usual challenge of devices that don't talk too each other.  And the challenge of packing, multiple times. For the past six weeks it seems like life had been pack, unpack, launder; repack, reunpack, relaunder ... maybe exposure to so much packing had got me rather good at it 😊, see here and here.

However, so much was I fine tuning my UK trip's packing to attempt record-breaking carry on weights that I made an executive decision with regard to photographic devices.  "Oh, the iphones will serve us well" was my decision, for I was that executive.  It was a rash decision.  Not my best. Because they haven't served us well.  My photographs are coming out decidedly bad, lacking in focus, blurring lights, that sort of thing.  I fear I may just weaken and let my finger stroll over to Amazon to get myself something better.  So my apologies for the quality right now.  Not good.  And shortly I will give you practical demos on how not-good they are.

So, enough of the waffle, Pout, tell your friends what you've been up to!

Well, just a day after arriving in  Sussex, I went on my first mini trip up to London.  No not to meet the Queen!

I started the journey with jeans and a top.

For dinner I wore the black modal jersey top and switched jeans for a black pencil skirt, both M&S, with Clarks chunky heeled courts (pumps).  Legs patterned by M&S; I felt all that black needed a bit of texture to lift the outfit.

Next day I wore a Dotty P jersey dress (packs a dream).  My "waist" is "cinched" by a deep black leather belt.  Tie Rack silk square.  These last two items are about 20 years old and still much loved (I say this in case I decide to put this post on Terri's 2nd Loved link-up - my old clothes are loved, but still by me!).

The legs were clad with matt opaques.

Over this I wore a v. old ex-suit textured jacket by Kaliko; this also packs a dream and hence I took it with me on many business trips, BITD.  My little black handbag finished off the outfit.

For dinner that evening back at the hotel, I switched the jacket for a spotted cardi, Primani.  And became obsessed by a light fitting.

So my little case carried 1 jacket, 1 dress, 1 skirt, 1 cardi, 1 vest (tank), just in case. 1 pr courts, tights (racy and sombre), silk square, handbag.  Mostly black.  I wanted black.

Either side of these outfits and for travel I wore the top with jeans, leoprint scarf and flatties; crossover bag.

Pretty light packing, huh?

I could have done without the skirt and vest but our trip may have been extended by another overnight, so I packed for that eventuality.

Now here I will demonstrate how bad my pictures are.  We stayed at Orsett Hall.

Website photo.

My photo.

My photos only (none found on website).  I loved this lounge, I loved the colour mix and the patterns.

And here I ate a surprisingly tasty tuna bagle.  I'm impressed that the simple tuna can be turned into something quite tangy and exciting.  Coffee was accessorised by cute milk churns.  I know one milk churn fan who will be wanting to get her hands on these cutiies.  You know who you are!

Back to the comparisons.

Website photos

My photos (a wedding reception was taking place the day we arrived).

My photos only.  Again, I found no dining room website shots to compare.

I liked the floral touches in this room.  The voiles were edged in fabric that matched the wallpaper.  "Snapshots" of the fabric pattern were used on the backs of the chairs.  I liked those touches.

 Now, some of these photos aren't the worst, but they can definitely be done better. 

The fact is, this is about finding more ways of doing less of what I currently do better.

And if you don't watch W1A, that last sentence will leave you scratching your head. 

Yes, exactly.  Yes.

Oh and did I say I was concerningly besotted by a light fitting?!

This huge chandelier-style fitting spanned the hotel's three floors!

I challenged myself to have photos taken with it on each floor.  I won't bore you with all of those.

I'm guessing you don't get obsessed by light fittings?  It's probably just me ... oh, and a family member of mine who always heads for the light fittings section in DIY and department stores.  You know who you are too!

A la perchoine.