How does one lounge in June when it feels like November?

What do we wear for lounging; to look cool just in case we have to ‘pop out’ for a Pimms, the Queen drops in; just in case we have to dead-head the roses or we do feel proper poorly?

So let me explain why I find myself in a position to ask such a question.

During and since the extra Bank Holiday I have been unwell; not just under the weather but proper poorly, with fluctuating temperature and headache. I should not have gone to work.  One, for my own well-being and two, the health of others; spreading germs to the rest of the working team is not good practice.

As library assistant my weekly attendance in the Reading Room is paramount.  The Reading Room rota is guarded by the archivist and it is a tight ship. Should I be absent or indeed anyone else during holiday time her job to fill the empty slots would be difficult and I was not going to rock any boats.  I was not going to be responsible for the downfall of the Reading Room rota, this was again is ‘not healthy’

Also, I have an unhealthy regard for my job (along with most of my colleagues whom I respect utterly) I think I am the only person who can do it! For instance my new found task ‘twitter monitor.’  Each Tuesday and Wednesday, it is my duty to select an item and make a contribution or start a conversation in cyberspace; which I enjoy but take very seriously.  Although I had been cut short because of the Diamond Jubilee; I was able to show a book, that had been recently acquired for a forth coming exhibition of Lady Bird Books, with a beautiful dust jacket.  At Special Collections we love dust jackets. I thought about doing something regal but that was only fleeting as I am not a royalist.  I was pleased to have the extra day’s holiday; so to Queenie I give halfhearted thanks.   So nice to have a day’s leave but the work still needs to be done either before or after.  So as a result I become so exhausted my resistance to infection was lowered and I fell foul to a dirty cold.

So on Friday I succumbed to the fever and stayed in bed.  However I did get better. Which brings me rather late to the point of the exercise; being a lady of fashion …

What does one wear while lounging in June when it feels as if it is November?

Are well, I feel the temperature rising and the need for yet another cup of tea and to be tucked up in bed.

To be discussed.