Flag Day

Hello my lovelies.

It’s Boxing Boxing Liberation Day and this will be the last of my posts on this event, well for this year at least!

But I’ve just got to share these pics with you because I threw my flag drawer at Liberation Day 2020 - what an amazing day !

. .

And I’m in no rush to take down my Guernsey 🇬🇬 flags as they’ve served a dual purpose this year because of Covid 19, so I’m holding on to the #guernseytogether spirit for as long as it takes. .

Here are a few of the many other cottages who flagged up to make the occasion.

A la perchoine,

Mary x. 

Lib Day in a Corset!

Yesterday was the island’s 75th 🇬🇬 Liberation Day. .

.

Lockdown 2020 thwarted the island’s plans for big celebrations. .

.

Instead we had a homespun and pared back day, and this seemed somehow a more fitting way of respectfully marking the occasion. .

.

I hope all Guerns had a very happy Lib Day. 

My choice of dress for our 75th Liberation Day tea party was not my finest hour however, according to hubs. .

.

I wore my vintage 1986 French Rene Derhy  dress for our garden “party” ... and I discovered I’d added about 6 inches to my waistline in 34 years.

1986, when the dress wrapped around my waist!

 Dressing for the day required several  many heavy duty safety pins.  But I stuck with it as the dress has a 40s tea dress vibe and was in keeping with the sentiment of the day and the planned activity, being to sit out in the front garden, eating chancre crab sarnies, swigging Prosecco and distance chatting to neighbours and passers by. 

At the end of the day when I was released from my “corset” and could breath again, The Photographer opined that it was time to say goodbye to the dress 😢😱. 

But I don’t have to  listen to ALL his fashion advice eh 😉?

.

A la perchoine, 

Mary x. 

V E Day Dressing

Happy LiberationDay 2020 to all Guerns!

Today we’re celebrating 🥳 to mark 75 years since Guernsey was liberated from occupation. 

Yesterday we joined in the VE Day celebrations.  It’s just one long weekend of celebrations for us!

The 75th VE Day was the most poignant I’ve ever experienced.  Was it the same for you?

.

.

We joined the neighbours for a 9pm blast of White Cliffs of Dover.

I couldn’t get my Vera voice on without respectfully dressing in a pretty summer dress, not 40s vintage but as a 2005 East dress it’s getting there.

.

I found this and several other dresses in a bag on a high wardrobe shelf that for years I’d thought was filled with hubs’ old painting clothes.  Silly me to have missed out on years of fun with this dress. .

But it’s getting a bit embarrassing.  I started with a laundered 14 dresses stash at the beginning of summer.  More dresses keep popping up from out of the woodwork.  I’m running out of cardis to match them with!
 I need to do a tally of them, and I think the number really will be embarrassing.  It comes from a place of serious summer dress addiction; since my teens I’ve always wanted to mark the start of summer with a fresh new summer dress.

Do you know how many summer dresses you have?

.

#retirementdressing #agelessstyle #over70style #over70fashion #over60style #whatiwore #whatiworeforveday #veday #veday2020

Pics to come of our low key 75th Liberation Day celebrations, Lockdown 2020 style. 

A la perchoine,

Mary x. 

Ad Libbing The Day

Oh my, this Guernsey Literary Festival is taking a firm hold of me, but in a nice way. 

I haven't even had a chance to tweak and release almost-ready-to-go posts.  But here I am this morning, before the next busy day kicks in.

As I mentioned in my previous post, Liberation Day has morphed into the island's National Day and is a day of joyous celebration.  Yet as I grow older, it becomes less about the party and more about quiet reflection. 

I relate more to the hardships and traumas experienced by my forebears, especially the previous couple of generations of which I have direct knowledge.

I have a greater understanding of the suffering and the significance of events. 

I see our history with an older person's eyes, I expect.  And it fills me with sadness. 

Because as human beings we are capable of such good and great things,

yet the cruel, callous, greedy, authoritarian and senseless actions of the few touch the lives of the many and create everlasting damage.

We as a species can do so much better than that.

But my ad libbing from the heart is not what you've popped in for, eh peeps?!

Quiet reflection doth not a day of celebration make.

So let's reflect on Lib Day and the bit when the tears were wiped away and the weather was glorious.

Albeit a trifle windy.  Looking dangerously close to having a Camilla-do!

We enjoyed a lovely walk in the sun to the restaurant, wishing "Happy Liberation Day" to fellow walkers as we went our merry way to La Reunion.  Our posher local restaurant.



Hair at La Reunion

And hair before La Reunion.

The view from said posh local - La Reunion's windows in summer. 

This pretty panorama has been hiding behind winter's blackout.

The Photographer wore his best Woolovers cashmere merino pullover. 

Men wear pullovers, we ladies wear jumpers.  Dunno why.

There was much to peruse on the superb menu.

A close up of my old East bracelet.  I made such a bad job of photographing it recently that I had to give it a another go.  I wanted to show you its aqua, turquoise and green Greenery gloriousness.  There's so much going on in this small space of arm decoration.

I wore a Next charcoal jersey top and white jeans so I thought the turquoise jewellery would perk up the OOTD.  Did it?
Of course, flatties were a must for the walk and my Clarks metallic tied nudes fit the bill just perfectly.
And the back-up Zara leoprint scarf to drape over shoulders if restaurant or walk became chilly.



And now we must start the food shots.  Because the food at our destination restaurant is always so pretty.

A delicious pea and Sark asparagus soup, freshly baked bread and Guernsey butter.

I have to say, I could have walked away after this course, so good and so satisfying was it.

So we asked for a lonnnnng pause after the soup to allow us to do the next course some justice.  

Like manage to eat it!

We sipped a glass of sauvignon blanc with the more than slightly twee name "Parlez Vous". 

We soaked in the views.  And we parlezed together.  Lots.



 Then after that very long pause we felt we were finally ready to head on to the main course.

I had a starter-size of crab prepped in a super-fresh way, with magical things done with Orange, Fennel, Oregano and Ginger.

The Photographer's main was a freshly caught half local lobster, served "Hot in Garlic with A House Salad and Jersey Royals.

(OK you caught me out, as you can see them in the pic I ordered a side of chunky chips too!)

The added bonus was that I couldn't finish the crab so half of it went home with me in an hermetically sealed bag as I had a cunning plan.  We could enjoy "doggy bag" crab sarnies the next day.  And we did. 😅


We declined any form of pud, of course.  We ordered double espressos as we couldn't manage one more morsel.

Yet more morsels came.  And manage them we did.

The coffees came with handmade goodies.  Something in white choc and coconut, already devoured :-), prosecco jellies and chocolate fondants. 

We parlezed to fellow diners. A lot.  Then had a pleasant walk home, along the coast, along the lanes.

We could have headed into town to soak in some atmosphere.   Enjoy the celebrations, the activities and entertainment laid on each year.

Maybe enjoy a rousing performance in the island's concert hall.

Perhaps stick around for the fireworks.

But we'll leave all of that till next year.  Instead we went home and flopped, because we could.  

These Liberation Day shots tell a story about life.  As a pensioner, I feel like I'm at the sit-down in concert hall stage! 

And that is exactly what I am did after il wrote this piece.

I dashed off to see Claire Balding at St James' Concert Hall and hear all about her new book as part of our Guernsey Literary Festival extravaganza.

A la perchoine.

My Staycation Postcard - Victor Hugo's Guernsey House, Encore!

Hello, sweet readers.
I'm back home again, unpacked, laundered (both the contents of suitcase and self!); photos still to be unloaded but I'm raring to go.

And where will I be going?
Well, tomorrow is our Liberation Day.  It's a bank holiday. I'm crossing fingers that I'm going to be taken out this bank holiday.
Somewhere.  Anywhere.  Just not the attic again!

Then after that,  I will be involved for the rest of the week with the Guernsey Literary Festival, a fantastic event held every year or so.  Pop over sometime, but always check event availability first.

I'm longing to report back on the event which The Photographer and I organised, but in the meantime I thought I'd give you a little taste of our island's literary heritage by repeating a post I wrote last September.  In the spirit of Mons. Hugo, I'm giving it to you encore une fois!

What is more, as the dear French people have just evidenced modern day suffrage, what more fitting a time to be thinking of the dear Frenchman and his political struggles.





Victor Hugo's Guernsey Home



It's a while since I posted a piece for those of you who like a bit of history, so I give you, tadaah - Victor Hugo.

Hugo lived in Guernsey for 15 years from 1855.
Not a lot of people know that.



 He wrote that he fell in love with the island from the moment he set eyes on it as he sailed into the harbour to live his years here in self-imposed political exile.  He returned to France when Napoleon III was toppled from power. 



He bought Hauteville House in Guernsey, which guaranteed him permanent residence.   He liked that he was able to speak French and French patois with the locals. 

Because he was in exile and could not freely commicate with those in France and news would have been slow to reach the island, he channelled his concerns for his beloved France into his writing.  The island provided the inspiration for some of his greatest works, like Les Miserables.   His strolls through to St Peter Port's harbour and the fisherfolk there would have no doubt inspired him to write Toilers of the Sea, another great work.




He enjoyed striding along the cliff walk to Fermain Bay and climbing Victoria Tower, where he allegedly used to meet his mistress.  In fact, because of complications in his marriage and how things were handled back then, his mistress was his great love of over 50 years but it would seem they lived apart.  And, probably appropriate for the time too for those who could afford it, he bought her a house just down the road.

His house is open to the public for guided tours, by appointment as numbers need to be controlled.
I have been coming to this house since my school days and it is still one of my all-time favourite places to visit.  It always amazes me.  If you visit Guernsey, please find time to arrange a visit. 

Now, fancy a look inside?

A man in exile needs a room for his pool table.

An annex to the dining room has a fine display of plates on the wall ...

... and on the ceiling.  Was Hugo running out of space for his collection?

The dining room has a beautifully tiled fireplace and walls.

It includes a little crevice for washing hands between courses.  How clever.

As well as being a renowned writer, Hugo was also a dab hand at the old DIY.
Not a lot of people know that either.
He took great pride in his house.  He scoured second hand shops and made new pieces of furniture from various pieces and recycled and upcycled like nobody's business.

He clearly enjoyed a bit of whittling.  Numerous carved writings are dotted around the house, some humorous, some rather morbid, some with a hidden message.

He enjoyed leaving his mark in the house.  Literally (pun intended).  His initials are laid out in various forms and materials.  Here an 'H' in tiles in the dining room.  No mistaking whose house it was eh?

A beautiful 1st floor salon.

Hugo used doors and windows to maximise on the stunning views out on to the bay, harbour and castle.

He decorated with rich fabrics and tapestries and strong colours.

He created subtly hidden doors and cupboards by covering with padded damasks.

On the next floor, his massive bedroom includes a writing desk, maybe for scribbling down night time ideas for his next novel.

He used old cotton reels to create this bedroom chandelier.

Hugo's bed.

One of two intricately carved pillars which hold an archway between bed and desk areas.

And up some sneaky stairs to my fave bit in the whole house.

His rooftop conservatory!

Providing beautiful views out to Castle Cornet, Havelet Bay and over to the neighbouring islands of Herm, Jethou and further away, Sark and Brecqou.

 And on an extremely fine day, he would have seen beyond the islands to France.

Creativity and artistry continue to abound in Hugo's conservatory.  And how very modern, a multi-fuel stove set into the glass framework!

The conservatory includes comfy seating areas and a glazed floor area,

providing light and a sky view to the stairwell below.

Alongside the conservatory area is a suite of rooms, again

the walls padded.

A fine captains lookout through to the area of La Vallette, the Victorian bathing pools and the cliff path to Fermain Bay.

The gardens are rambling and beautifully maintained.

Thank you, Victor, for coming to our island, for writing such great works, for decorating your home so creatively.  And thank you to all involved in maintaining the house with empathy and  authenticity.

I hope you enjoyed the visit.  You can find some better pics and accompanying music here.

And if you read the post previously here. then I hope you enjoyed it, encore!


A la perchoine.