Party people

For the past month or more I have been waiting for someone to turn some stone which is too large for my little lathe, and after the last couple of posts I really want to use some light-hearted words - too many for Instagram users to tolerate.

In effect, I have not worked since before Christmas because the client's agent took a couple of months to confirm the order and thereby broke the flow. At last it seems I have fulfilled a life-long ambition to take an entire winter off. I kid myself I deserve it.

H.I. has turned me on to a couple of things on TV which I never imagined I would enjoy (if 'enjoy' is the right word) - football and Milan Street Fashion. We all know what football looks like, but let me tell you about the Milan street fashion videos.

Basically, someone sets themself up with a camera in the area of Milan where all the shops are big-name, chic fashion outlets and simply films people passing by in the streets. There is usually some ambient music playing and occasionally the video will go into slo-mo, concentrating on one particularly flamboyant man or woman, or their particularly flamboyant shoes, coat, dresses or trousers. That's it.

There are dozens of these little videos and they each last about a quarter of an hour. The first time I wandered in and found her glued to the screen, I sat down to take a look. She has been watching them for ages, but I am not normally home when she does (see above), so I didn't know what I was missing.

I found that I love them - in a mindless sort of way - and quickly realised that this is the sort of thing I have been doing every day since the first lockdown. I will park the car then sit in it for half an hour, just watching the passers-by. Almost every day recently I will sit outside a coffee shop doing the same thing. The big difference is style. I know Bath is considered reasonably trendy, but compared to Milan it is East Germany circa 1970.

There is one other little difference. Whereas H.I. concentrates on the clothes, I find myself distracted by the stonework of the buildings, manhole covers, cars, motorcycles and the shocking disregard for pedestrian crossing places.

You have to bear in mind that H.I.'s wardrobe is very extensive. That is an understatement.