A mixed bag

The last few days have been a mixed bag.
My friend's son died on Thursday evening. He was only 35 so it's  a deeply sad and tragic loss of a life. I had taken her to see him on Thursday; we left the unit just before 8 pm and he died about an hour later. May he rest in peace.

Moving from deaths to births; last week we celebrated 3 birthdays. My youngest grandson was 6 and my OH's twin sisters were 60, all on Saturday. We went to London for the twins birthday party and one of them had baked two birthday cakes:

The other sister's name is on the left hand side.

Those are two little teddies each wearing a diamond necklace, a frou frou skirt and a hat with a pearl in it; all entirely edible! With the exception of the necklace and pearls, of course.

Such marvellous cakes! They put the cake I made for my grandson - chocolate sponge with chocolate icing and covered in Smarties - to shame. But I know which cake he'd prefer!

This is what I wore to the party.

Everything, except the sandals were charity shopped. I bought the black and white top last week in the British Red Cross shop. The trousers are from Spain (just lately quite a few things I've bought have been made in Spain) from the Children's Society. The turquoise coat was bought about 2 years ago, but I can't remember where. The last time I wore it was see OH's niece perform at the Donmar Warehouse in London. An all female production of Henry IV - it was brilliant!

 I've finally painted my toenails!

Sandals from the Tesco Outlet store - £4.00.

All jewellery except what's on my left hand was charity shopped.

This was Friday's outfit - a bit more practical as I had a very busy day. I did the school run, did the food shop, dropped donated items to the food bank and to Save the Children, did a wash and hung it out, had a quick rummage in the 3:16 charity shop, changed over handbags (what a pain that is), picked up the grandchildren from school and then drove youngest grandson and Dad home, came home and cooked dinner...

The cardigan is a recent buy from the British Red Cross - all the clothes there are £1.99.

I also bought a rather lovely Charles Rennie Mackintosh type mirror in there as well. That was a bit of a coincidence because the print on the cardigan is reminiscent of CRM!

The mirror still has its price sticker on it as I haven't yet decided where to put it...the mirror I mean, not the sticker!

I'm hoping to buy a new chest of drawers that will be just for me so I can keep most of my clothes in one place. Currently, I have underwear and short sleeved or sleeveless tops in one chest of drawers; nightwear and long sleeved tops in another chest of drawers. Both sets of drawers shared with OH. Belts, gloves, slips and swim wear in boxes under my bed. Tights and leggings in my bedside chest of drawers.  I keep my socks hanging in a bag on the side of one of the chest of drawers. If I could get rid of the stuff under the bed into a chest of drawers I'd be happy!

Necklace was my mum's and the earrings were a present from OH. I'm wearing brown lipstick for a change but I do prefer red lippy!

Here's Monday outfit - what a weird day it was. Heavy rain showers interspersed with brilliant sunshine but not cold when it rained, so that was something to be thankful for.

A better view of my CRM mirror.

Everything charity shopped including jewellery, Linen trousers = a crease fest!

Jacket bought from Beales Sale about 3 years ago.

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I didn't get a chance to play on the new till at the charity shop today. I was too busy culling and steaming!

Hope you all have a fab week.

The walk went well!

I went to Cambridge on Saturday to take my friend to see her son. Unfortunately, his condition is deteriorating. The only thing I can do is be there for my friend and give her as much support as possible.
She brought along quite a few things such as crystals, a miniature anchor and other bits and bobs which have significance to her or her son. I had some Holy Water from Lourdes that an uncle gave me years ago. Although I'm not a believer; I kept it (!) and on Saturday I took it to Cambridge with me and we sprinkled it on a little square of cloth which was pinned to his pillow.

I also met another friend in the week who is a believer and quite actively involved with a church. I told her about my other friend's son and she and her prayer group were going to pray for him. I thought that was rather lovely to pray for someone you had never met and didn't know.

Friday's outfit. Earrings from Guildhall charity shop. Necklace charity shopped a few months ago.

These are my 50p linen trousers bought in the Garden Carers charity shop last Tuesday. Top, blouse, watch all charity shopped.

Floral pumps - Primarni.

Linking up with Anne's of Spygirl's 52 Pick Me up here because it's silver and my silver necklace must surely qualify...

Saturday's outfit. Everything is charity shopped.

These are the beige skinny trousers I bought a couple of weeks back; the pattern is actually a small snakeskin (?) print. The brown top is from Italy and is linen. I love linen in the summer - although it's a bugger to iron - because I find it very cool. This is one of six linen tops I have in my collection!

Yes, this massive lump is actually my knee  - it looks like the arm of a sofa!

Necklace charity shopped. Earrings, Sainsburys - a recent purchase.

Sunday's outfit.

We headed out for a car boot sale on Sunday morning only to get there and find out it was cancelled - again! That's twice that's happened in the past few weeks so I must find out if they have website and and check it first! I must get to a car boot sale soon....

I used to hate orange and yellow as colours for clothes. Since I've got older I really like them!

These are the same skinny trousers as yesterday. Top and vest underneath charity shopped as are bangles and watch and shoes. Earrings, Sainsburys of course! Necklace charity shopped. Since writing this one of these earrings has disappeared. I remember taking it off in my bedroom but now it's vanished....

Well, my first walk as a walk leader on Wednesday went well; (cor, what a lot of alliteration!) I went a bit awry in the woods but found our way out - eventually! I was so lucky that it didn't rain and in fact the sun shone and got pretty hot at times. In fact the woods were a welcome relief from the sun but they were a bit muddy and slippery. Anyway, I didn't lose anybody; nobody had an accident and everyone seemed to enjoy it. I better start looking for a new walk now so I can lead another one!

Kimono; present from daughter, leggings; Lidl, top charity shopped. Loafers; Tesco outlet store.

All jewellery charity shopped.


I went to be trained on our new till when I got back from walking. It's an all dancing, all singing one and seems quite easy and straightforward. I can't wait to use it properly on Monday.

How's your week been?

Glorious weather!

The weather did improve on Saturday but we had no sun! It was cloudy but very warm. I recce'd my walk again (7 miles) and I was dripping with sweat by the end!

 On Sunday I had a lovely, lazy day. I did a wash, made dinner and sat in the sun - yes, finally we had sunshine in Bedford after a whole week's absence; and read my book, 'Meadowland' by John Lewis-Stempel. I'd heard his latest book 'The Running Hare' serialised on Radio 4, so I reserved it from the library and Meadowland. It's excellent, beautifully written and just so interesting. I'm very fond of nature writing and if you like it too, there's an excellent blog called 'Tales of the City' by Melissa Harrison (author of 'Clay' and 'At Hawthorn Time') here.

Sunday's outfit - top £1.00, Bedford market, years ago; trousers; charity shopped, lace up pumps; Primarni.

I found some abandoned plant pots and planters on the street, waste not want not I thought, when I was taking grandson home and OH just had to go buy more soil and plants to go in them...none of them are in this picture, but do you like my lavender in the galvanised bucket?

All jewellery charity shopped.

They say age shows in the hands and my hands do look their age. I'm sure it's because our hands are usually exposed to all weathers. I know in the summer my hands are the brownest part of me even though I try to keep out of the sun.

Here's a few more things blooming in the garden...

Night scented stocks

My lupin bloomed today!

 Geraniums, fuschias, pansies and petunias; I don't know what the other ones are -  they're the ones OH bought today...

On Monday I had Poll Clerk training  for the Referendum on the 23rd and on my way back I bumped into Naomi - our lovely local fashionista!

She makes all her own clothes adapting what she finds in the charity shops. When it's hot she usually has a parasol which matches her outfits....

 On Tuesday I walked my walk again (7 miles) and oh boy was it hot. I was melting by the end. I had to pop into town when I got back and I got home just before the thunderstorm broke. It rained and rained but the garden was looking very grateful after it stopped - several hours later. Lots of lightening flashes and very loud cracks of thunder. Luckily, I don't have a nervous disposition...

 On Wednesday I bumped into Naomi again. Sometimes I don't see her for months and then I see her twice in the same week! Sod's Law at work again. Naomi doesn't mind posing for a photo - which is a piece of luck! Can you see her lace parasol and an exquisite looking jacket on her shopping trolley? She is never without the shopping trolley.

We have a charity furniture shop (one of 3 in Bedford) which is a charity for people with learning disabilities. I walked past it on Wednesday and decided to pop in for a quick look. I spent the princely sum of  £1.90 and bought: a vase; (50p) a small jug (20p); a book (20p); a hat and pair of cotton trousers! Bargain! They don't normally do clothes but they had two rails upstairs; one for men and one for women and everything was 50p!

Here's the vase.

I don't normally have a tablecloth on the table but on Monday evening my 3 brothers all came for dinner and my eldest brother stayed the night. He had just come back from Denmark where he had a gig and it was lovely to see him. He's always so busy rehearsing, performing, producing. composing and writing music that he makes it to Bedford only a couple of times in the year. We do go to watch him perform when we can especially if it's within easy travelling distance such as Northampton or Milton Keynes.

I only knew of and met this brother in 2013 and I will do a post one day about how he came into our lives.

Here's my 50p hat!

This was Wednesday's outfit. Everything charity shopped. I had white loafers on from River Island - also charity shopped. I remembered to take a photo just as I was getting ready for bed....

All jewellery except rings charity shopped and earrings from E Bay

Not very exciting outfits this week but I just want to be cool and not sweaty all the time...

Everything charity shopped. I'd just come back from a late afternoon walk with my daughter (7 miles). I just wore my walking boots and took the kimono off!

Most of the bangles are charity shopped although one was a present from OH soon after we met - it's 3 entwined bangles which can't be separated. Ring charity shop.

Necklace - Primarni. Angel wing earrings, charity shop.

Here's hoping we have a glorious weekend, too!

Rainy days and Mondays...

I'm sorry now, I packed my winter stuff away! It's been a horrible week of weather here; cold, wet and windy. I actually put my heating on for two evenings because I was tired of feeling cold. Despite the weather it's been a busy sort of week. Too busy to take outfit photos much of the time, but here's one I remembered to take as I was getting ready for bed on BH Monday night:

I still haven't got round to painting my toenails....

Everything charity shopped except the trousers which were bought from the sale rail in Sainsbury's!

I didn't go to a car boot sale on Monday because the weather was dodgy. I didn't want to drive there - it's about 9 miles away - to find it had been called off because of the weather. It didn't rain that much in the end but I did something very useful instead. I got out my sewing basket and did some mending! I sew so rarely it's worth a blog mention.

I took up two pairs of trousers (including the one in the photo above), sewed a tie back onto a dress and mended, quite successfully, I thought, a rip in my eldest grandson's jacket. He turned up unexpectedly on BH Monday and it was lovely to see him. I did lots of his washing and he set off back to London with a red suitcase full of clean clothes and a large shopping bag containing a dismantled computer desk.  I picked it up in the British Heart Foundation shop for a fiver! 

The weather has interfered with my walking, too. I wanted to walk on Tuesday but it was a day where it rained all day without stopping until about 5 pm. I'd gone to the the food bank in the morning and had hoped it would clear up enough in the afternoon to go walking  - but it didn't. It wasn't a particularly nice day on Wednesday either, but I went walking in London with my daughter.

One of the many beautiful canal side homes we passed on our walk. This one was between London Zoo and Regent's Park Mosque.

We walked part of the Jubilee Greenway. We didn't realise this when we started out but kept seeing discs in the towpath saying 'Jubilee Greenway'. In fact, we were following a walk I found online, but it dated back to 1999;  'Little Venice to Mile End', 8.3 miles.  By the time we added the walk from the train to the tube, it came to 10+ miles. 

We started off from Little Venice (nearest tube Warwick Avenue). My primary school was quite close to here and it was a frequent outing taken by the school .  Here you pick up the Grand Union Canal and the walk was mostly on the canal towpath. We passed London Zoo, where we saw a couple of boars and in the aviary some herons and cranes. At some point we picked up the Regents Canal and came to Camden Lock; then King's Cross, then Islington where we had to get off the canal towpath and walk to the Angel. We picked the towpath up again and we stayed on it until the end, at Mile End. We could have gone on for another mile to Limehouse Basin, but daughter was freezing so went for a coffee to warm up. It was a col, windy and wet day but the walk was great!

We saw this wonderful display on one of the many narrow boats we passed.

One canal side dweller had opted for a life size cow as an ornament on their balcony...

This gorgeous lady, on closer inspection, is being defecated and urinated on by two cherubs  - or is it just me?  She was dangling from the opposite bank of the canal.  She looks uncannily like Amy Winehouse.

Finally, an extremely enterprising person has set up a floating bookshop on the canal called: 'Word on the Water'. How clever! Unfortunately, it was closed so we couldn't have a nose round.

We saw police divers at work. I asked them if it was a training exercise and they said no. As there weren't any body bags  or stretchers around I assumed they might have been searching for a weapon but I suppose I'll never know. Damn it, I want to know what they were looking for!

Back to London on Thursday to see ex mum-in-law. We took middle and youngest grandsons to Nandos - they love it. Can't see why - I was not impressed.

Friday's outfit. Top and cardigan; charity shopped. Skinny jeans and boots - Primarni. Necklace, bangles and earrings; charity shopped.

It was so cold, this is what I wore when I went food shopping!

Luckily, I don't pack everything away for summer. This coatigan is by Mint Velvet and I bought it three years ago from a charity shop in Northampton. Yes, it was cold enough for gloves!

I believe the weekend is bringing better weather - I do hope so!

I'm linking up with Anne's 52 Pick Me Up - Black/White at Spygirl here just because I can!

T'was the week before half -term...

It's been a strange week this week. I haven't done much walking; only two days and both times only 4.5 miles. I did one of the walks with my daughter, which is always enjoyable; and next week is half term week, so we're going to do a long walk in London. Transport for London (TfL) has loads on their website here. I just need to choose one!  I'm so used to walking about 3 times a week minimum and doing reasonable distances; that when I don't I feel a bit discombobulated! When we do go to London to walk we'll meet up with the oldest grandson - I have missed him.

I volunteered on Monday and on Tuesday did my final  invigilation. On Wednesday I had planned to go to London for the day, but a good friend needed some support and practical help; I took her to see her oldest son who is currently in a coma in hospital. She lives in Cambridge and the hospital is in Huntingdon.

 Her mobility is impaired at the moment as she recently had an operation and still has an open wound.  She needed a wheelchair, so I pushed her in the chair from the car park to the unit and back again. It was very sad to see her son in this state and no one knows what the future holds for him at this present time. It came out of the blue. None of us know what might happen tomorrow and it's why we have to make the most of the time we have and show our love and appreciation for the people in our lives.

On a happier note, our friend, who had a stroke back in February is making excellent progress. He's getting up and down the stairs and around using a tripod. He's having all the necessary interventions and will hopefully be back home soon.

This was Thursday's outfit. The weather is so weird that I'm never sure what to wear. It seems to be chilly in the mornings and usually warm and sunny in the afternoon, so a cardigan of some description is always needed. I've packed all my heavier cardigans away for the summer so have mostly lightweight ones at the moment.

I look at least 8 months pregnant from this angle - but I blame the top!

This is one of the tops I bought last weekend in Ely. The cardigan is an old one from a La Redoute sale. I love the colour - it's a sort of washed out blackcurrant and I knew it would be a good match for this top. Purple leggings bought on line; loafers charity shopped.

It was  so chilly on Thursday morning, I wore this velvet coat from Boden into town with a scarf - both charity shopped. I like this coat but this is only the second time I've worn it and I've had it for years! I'm trying to stop having 'going out' clothes (such as this coat) because I rarely go out anywhere dressy; it's pointless keeping clothes for 'best'. I love the colour of this coat; it's almost the same as the cardigan. I also love velvet - so tactile!

All jewellery charity shopped.

I visited a few charity shops in the week and bought a pair of beige (yes, I'm afraid so!) snakeskin type print trousers, (2.99) white cuffed trousers  (3.99) - perfect for holiday; spotty top (1.49) below and a pair of loose, black trousers for 99p.

Saturday's outfit. Everything charity shopped except earrings which were from Sainsbury's about 8 years ago. The spotty top was from the new charity shop in town; Wood Green Animal Shelter.

I took the youngest grandson to the audiology clinic on Thursday. He was born with Microtia so only has hearing in one ear, but he's doing fine. On Friday I went to the hairdressers and for short walk of about 4.5 miles. My daughter and I walked on Saturday, in glorious sunshine for a 4.5 mile walk.

On Sunday I went to visit my son and everyone came for dinner. Again it was chilly when we left about midday but by the time we returned at 5 pm it was warm and sunny.

Top: Monsoon, charity shopped, trousers bought with voucher from Tesco -  so almost free; coat: David Emmanuel, charity shopped. Yellow loafers; old, Tesco outlet store.

Earrings, necklace, watch and bangles all charity shopped. Middle grandson took the photos, so this one is a bit blurry.

I'm looking forward to next week - half term. No school run so a couple of lie-ins instead!  Probably going to a car boot sale on Bank Holiday. I'll be going to the food bank on Tuesday;  I've missed about 3 weeks because of the invigilation. Two trips to London - one to see ex mum-in-law and one for a long walk and visit youngest grandson at the restaurant where he works.

I'm  on the last of the Monica Dicken's books and need to decide what to read next.
I've got a new Anne Cleeves (she writes the books the 'Vera' and 'Shetland' TV series are based on). I've got Angela Thirkell's autobiography; Emma Tennant's reminiscences of her affair with Ted Hughes in 'Burnt Diaries;' or a new Kindle download about the Orkney Islands called 'The Outrun'. Spoilt for choice I am!