Morning folks, up early with the bulldog this morning and after some heavy rain last night, and bright sunshine this morning, the fields are full of mist and our garden is seemingly full of snails. They’re in long lines, making a mass exodus to the safety of the longer grass before the sun reaches it’s strongest, and my friends, this makes them ripe for the picking. Armed with my trusted slug/snail bucket (and usually with some retired kitchen tongs which alas I cannot find), I have picked up about 1 and a half small washing up bowls full of the slimy little bastards. They creak and groan in the bucket like the noises in the bowels of an old wooden ship, and it’s gross. I take them all for a 5 minute walk down the lane where I yeet them into a drainage ditch. I know this isn’t foolproof, and I don’t want to remove food for hungry badgers, but I reason it’s far enough down the road to mean a very long slime back over a gravel road if they want to nibble my lupins again.

Bluebells are in our little woodland area, I have my first ever irises which I’m in love with. I planted more than one variety but didn’t pay much attention to if they were dwarf or not, so it’s possible the long grass has swallowed up the rest, but we shall learn from this.

The drawback to the joy that early spring bulbs bring, is that you have to wait an age for the leaves to die back before you can cut the grass. I can probably think about cutting the area where my snowdrops grew, but the crocus leaves are proving stubborn as ever, so are the narcisssusssseeesssssesss. So the garden, even when the bulk of it is mowed, is a bit untidy, and even when the bulb areas are cut, the grass below will have yellowed slightly. It’ll recover before high summer, but it’s just an annoyance. First world problems and all that.

Speaking of first world problems, I’m going to Paris for a long weekend next week. I’m 50 this year, my buddy is 40, so we figured let’s go watch ladies high-kick for a reasonably large sum of money, because big birthdays and all that. Yes folks, the Moulin Rouge beckons, and this has now replaced Cirque du Soleil in Vegas as the most expensive tickets for a thing ever purchased by yours truly.

This is where the first world problems kick in. What the chuff do you wear to the Moulin Rouge? What do people wear in Paris, what does fashion these days even look like? I feel, living here like I do, in this sort of semi-isolated existence, that I don’t know what suits me anymore. Getting properly dressed up is so rare and needless here, I have no clue. It made me think about how liberating it’s been living here these past 7 years. No longer needing to maintain a corporate wardrobe for work, or semi glam outfits for drinks with friends in town. No pressure to look a certain way to maintain a sort of anonymity, the need we have when we’re younger to do anything other than stand out. To be fair, particularly the older I got, the less conformist I felt. I was always a big fan of vintage style, a bold print, and heaven knows full blown quirky shoes and handbags were totally my thing. My Irregular choice shoes have remained in my wardrobe untouched for all these years. I’ll have to dust them, but they’re coming out to play next weekend. Red glitter ruby slippers for the win I think.

My style has definitely changed though, so has the way I shop. Firstly I think you do absorb your environment somewhat. You wear what you see others wearing, for me, not out of conformity, but because I see someone wearing something and I think, ooh, I like that. I know everyone covets “French Girl Style”, but for me the girls aren’t where the style is. It’s the middle aged ladies that have it going on. The number of times I see a lady with an outfit that’s interesting, not without personality, well put together, so effortlessly stylish and I think, wow, you look fabulous. I also think they know what suits them, in terms of colour and cut, and they’re not swayed by the fads of fast fashion. French girls to me, seem to be far too much of a fan of white denim jeans, with a hemline that sits awkwardly between knee and ankle. I don’t love it.

The way I shop too has definitely changed. I’ve always been a fan of buying second hand, and selling clothes I have no use for, or donating them. In recent years my French osmosis has involved really thinking about what I’m buying, its practicality, longevity, and ethics. I try to avoid synthetic fabrics now, favouring cotton and linen. I’ve seen so much evidence of fast fashion just being dumped and washing up on the Ivory Coast. Micro plastics from all that polyester leeching into the sea, and into the fish and, it’s just profoundly upsetting. I don’t remotely claim to be perfect at this, but I do actively try. These days, vintage fashion on me feels a bit too try hard, but we’re also seeing Post Modern Jukebox on Sunday night, and vintage style is encouraged in the audience. PMJ are a rotating band of musicians and singers, (many harvested from things like the Voice or American Idol), and they do vintage style cover versions of current songs. Varying styles, from New Orleans Jazz to Motown, Taylor Swift, Chappel Roan, Beyonce, Bieber. The big band style and just a collective large amount of talent on stage at once is a lot of fun live, and it seems rude not to go given it’s pretty close to our hotel. So, I found yesterday a glorious huge lemon print 50s style dress and it’s giving a bit of Dolce & Gabanna. I wasn’t looking, but it found me, and I feel like we were meant to be. I’m wearing it with a little cropped cardigan, and it’s like full Sandra Dee.

You can check out one of my favourites featuring Puddles Pity Party below.

https://youtu.be/VBmCJEehYtU?si=1LMRBhCVqK_PMqJy

Moulin Rouge plan is currently a navy and white polka dot Nobody’s Child jumpsuit, with huge puff sleeves. This purchase was justified because it’s an early birthday present from my sister, and we have a family wedding in July so the plan was to wear it for that, and this is a bonus wear. Accessories are said ruby slippers, a red velvet heart shaped bag, and possibly belt, tbc….

We have a little mini heatwave forecast, so I guess I’ll be sightseeing and flea market perusing in a mixture of brodarie anglais and linen because that’s how I roll these days. question is, how many more straw bags do I need……

TTFN xx