I’ve had my legs out this week. Those peely-wally looking things which have previously just been peeping out from under trousers have got a proper airing.
Skirts and shorts have been pulled from the back of the wardrobe and the sun cream has been lathered on every morning.
Of course, we are all so conscious now of the dangers of the sun, especially with our pale Scottish skin, that maybe I should be sticking to fake tan, but I love when my legs and arms start to go beige rather than a bluish white.
I’m sitting in the garden writing this and I love the feeling of the warmth on my skin. It’s most definitely my happy place.
But what do we wear on our feet, ladies, now that the skirts are coming back out? The fashion is most definitely changing. Trainers seem to be in fashion to wear whether with jeans, skirts or even a posh frock.
Being locked down and spending time at home has made us so used to being comfortable that I’m sure we would be tempted to go out in our slippers. Sales of trainers, though, have gone through the roof over the past year.
I remember back in January sharing the shocking news with you that Kurt Geiger had no heels in their summer collection!
My cupboard of high heels is really gathering dust. So much so that I wonder if we will ever totter about in them again.
I had a call from the Sunday Post who wanted to talk to me about whether I had ditched my heels. They said I was well known for being a shoe addict, which did make me smile because I suppose it’s true, and they were interested in my opinion of the new flat shoe trend.
It got me thinking whether even I have become resigned to the flatties.
I must admit that I would actually feel a bit daft if I put on a really high heel to go to work today.
I used to feel underdressed if I didn’t have them on but I have to agree that trainers look cool and it’s so lovely to be running for a train and not to have to change your shoes.
So is the collection of high heels with red soles in my cupboard totally retired now or will they return?
Fashion always has a habit of coming back around really, doesn’t it, but it might take a while. I’m not throwing them out though. I intend to be the most glamorous 70-year-old in the queue for my pension when they come back into fashion.
Aberdeen typhoid outbreak
I saw an interesting local story from way back in 1964 this week. The BBC was reporting about a typhoid outbreak in Aberdeen which meant that people had to quarantine.
Apparently the outbreak originated from a tin of corned beef. The tin was probably contaminated at some point but apparently the meat then sat out for a while where bacteria multiplied.
Four hundred people were quarantined and there were three deaths.
Archive BBC footage shows a reporter interviewing locals and it’s wonderful to hear those local accents all those years ago.
As they talk about how business has been affected by this epidemic, especially food traders and the hotel trade, it is so reminiscent of recent events but of course on a much smaller scale. Nevertheless, it did seem to be a frightening event for the city and daily briefings were given to the public by the medical health officer for Aberdeen.
When I think back to my childhood we often saw meat products sitting out unrefrigerated and in shop windows. My granny didn’t pay much attention to sell-by dates and in fact there probably weren’t sell-by dates on many products.
It’s quite surprising really that we weren’t ill more often.
Tinned meats may have got a bad name back then but now I think we just take for granted that anything in a tin goes through an extremely rigid process before getting to our table.
Not every business was affected badly by the typhoid outbreak, of course. There, on the television footage, is a Press and Journal billboard and a local newsagent saying how wonderful his business has been as the papers have sold out every day.
Nice to see the P&J is still going strong all these years later through epidemics, pandemics and the like.
Have a good week,
Yvie x
