Finally escaped from my pesky work requirements... and there are THREE threads to enjoy!
DP has definitely been turned into a little old man. Last week, he agreed to come with me to a junk an antique shop in search of a couple of kitchen chairs. Bearing in mind that I had primed him with the particular price range for new wooden chairs (made with bits of trees, rather than the sawdust off the floor and some glue), we stepped into the gloomy depths.
By the end of this, not only was he trying to work out how to get an Edwardian Gentlemen's wardrobe and a tallboy upstairs (we didn't buy, but he definitely wanted it), we came out and headed for the bus stop with a pair of solid oak chairs made around 1780-95. The best bit? He noticed a knot had fallen out of the seat and the owner gave us that chair for free.
Guess the price for these? Including £3 for bus travel, £8. Yup. The chairs worked out at £2.50 each because they weren't elaborate Regency, ladderbacks, bent wood or covered with motheaten horsehair pads (all of which were at least £95 each). Got them home and they could have been made for us - the height isn't standard, it's perfect for shortarses to sit on with feet flat on the floor.
That evening, I thought of something that made him smile. 'You know these chairs are Oak? Well, the tree that was cut down to make them was a mature tree at the same time as the Salem Witch Trials were happening.'
He now calls them our Witchy chairs.
I've also bought a larger size thanks to lockdown flared, below knee, black skirt for work. It's not a circle skirt or anything that's costumey, but it looks comfortable. If anybody knows of places that do plain coloured tweed/herringbone skirts for fat old ladies plus sizes without costing an absolute fortune, I'd definitely be interested.