Vronni's Style Meanderings

This is the knitted tunic top I bought yesterday in Huntingdon. It's too short to wear as a dress with thick tights so I've worn it over leggings. I can't wait to wear my 'hands' tunic bought last week, but I'm waiting on a belated Christmas present to arrive before I wear it with the tunic. We're babysitting this New Year Eve so no dressed up photos to show. I don't actually go out much in the evenings and rarely have an occasion to dress up. The last time I did (my brother's birthday meal and eldest brother's gig) I forgot to take photos! I do try to make an effort though even if I'm not leaving the house. No PJ days for me! I think I've had one or two in about ten years..... So, the tunic was from yesterday's charity shop trip to Huntingdon. The patterned jumper bought in a charity shop a few years ago. The leggings are from Sainsbury's as are the boots. The earrings and necklace are charity shopped and cost 2.

These are the towns we visited today on a charity shop hunt. We found 6 charity shops in both places, pretty good for small market towns. I hadn't visited either for about 10 years or more so it was interesting to see the changes and see what was familiar. This is the mediaeval bridge in St.Ives   This is the main street in St.Ives where we found 6 charity shops. This is a statue of Oliver Cromwell at the other end of Market Street. Oliver Cromwell was born and attended school in Huntingdon and later became the MP for Huntingdon. There is a museum dedicated to him on the site of his old school (below). Here he is, the old bugger! Well, that's enough of the scenery - what did we get?  I got an Ironstone Pitcher Jug. I think it's called a pitcher when it has straight sides but I know the Americans call jugs pitchers. I have a couple of pitcher jugs so this one will compliment them nicely and they make lovely vases, too. I

This is what I wore on Christmas Day. Sorry for the blurry quality of the one above - my OH was not very sober when he took it! I'm also slightly worse for wear but we had a great day with family, plenty to eat and lovely presents. I was thoroughly spoilt. My partner bought me: perfume, 3 books by Elena Ferrante, 3 bras (badly needed), a M&S voucher which I spent on underwear, 2 CDs and a long wanted yellow cardigan which is still to arrive. My daughter bought me a faux leather moto jacket, perfume, a Persephone book (see  here ), and a tunic top.  I wore both both today. Youngest grandson bought me some chocolates and a pretty bird house which I'll hang inside because if I put it outside the birds will just crap all over it!  My eldest grandson gave me an Amazon gift card so I've bought 3 more books - the 4th Elena Ferarnte and two more Persephone books My middle grandson bought me a lovely blue waterfall cardigan, some sweets and a picture frame. I got cash

I only began to wear animal print in the last few years. Why? I have no idea - it just never previously appealed.  Now, I love it. This animal print cardigan is from Studio Catalogue - yes,really!  And only £4.00. I also have several tops in animal print, a couple of scarves and a pair of earrings. What I really hanker for is an animal print faux fur coat, knee length and an animal print maxi skirt. I'll keep my eyes peeled when I'm out charity shopping! Black skinnies from Primarni, denim tunic from charity shop and brogues from Tesco's current sale at 50% off. I also bought a black leather/black patent pair - a BOGOF if you like - 2 for the price of 1. This necklace was bought from a charity shop for 2.99 and the earrings are from  Ebay, 99p. My bangle and watch both from charity shop as is the camisole I'm wearing under the denim tunic. Ooops - I've popped a button here! Luckily, they are popper buttons.... I have bought quite a lot

Today was a very relaxed day - school holidays have begun! Normally, I take the two youngest grandsons to and from school on Mondays and Fridays and the youngest stays with me until one of his parents pick him up. If they've all been round for dinner on a Sunday or if one of the grand kids are staying (usually the youngest on a Sunday night) I'm very conscious about getting them to bed on time etc because of school in the morning. Not today!  We didn't even bother with the housework today - we're saving it until Wednesday. We went for a 5 mile walk around Bedford and I wore my favourite colours green and purple. The skinny jeans are from a charity shop and are originally from Primarni; the purple draped top is a £1.00 rail bargain from last week's charity shop hauls. The cardigan is about 5 years old and bought from 'La Redoute' sale. Its got my two favourite colours in it ; green and purple, plus mulberry and camel. Here's a back view:

I suppose most of us live through our routines, after all it gives structure and meaning to our lives. Sunday is my most routine oriented day because it's the day I do the housework. I hate and loathe housework but it has to be done - at least once a week. Luckily, my OH does his share otherwise it might be a different story!  He hoovers and cleans the bathroom and I dust, wipe and polish and mop. He also does the usual household DIY, the bin emptying, windows, garden , washes the clothes and mops the kitchen floor. I keep everywhere tidy (I'm a neat freak), clean the kitchen, do the household admin, wash all household linens, do the grocery shopping and shop for any other household items. We share the cooking; I hate cooking and he enjoys it but I do all the baking.  Whoever doesn't cook does the washing up. So, I think we have a pretty fair division of labour. We also have all the family round for dinner on alternate Sundays so it can be pretty hectic! This is wh

It was such a cold, wet, miserable day I had to dress to combat it. Dress/tunic is an old faithful; mainly grey but with yellow, blue, purple and a bit of orange in it, charity shopped about two years ago and I think it was a fiver. The cardigan, which looks a bit grey in this picture is a lovely sea foam colour and I picked it up at the Save the Children charity shop. Teal tights from my Wellingborough excursion a few weeks ago and were 99p. Cranberry coloured boots, Tesco Outlet shop £4.00. The dress/tunic has pockets!! Bring on the pockets! Why are there so few pockets in women's clothes? Pockets that are usable?  A conspiracy by the handbag manufacturers according to my OH! You can just about see my lovely little teal brooch with a swan  on it - 99p in my local Christian charity shop. You can just see my yellow drop earrings - charity shopped too some time ago now but no more than £1.00. I have gone totally mad this week and bought loads of clot

I seem to have lost my feet in this photo! One of the best things about being retired from paid employment is being able to volunteer and give something back to my local community where I've lived now for almost 35 years. When I first retired I spent 4 months at CAB (Citizens Advice Bureau) on their pilot scheme for telephone advice. The pilot was not successful so it was dropped, and as I didn't want to do the face to face thing I looked for something else to do. I did do some paid work for  about 12 months on and off; Home Carer, postal votes opening, poll clerk on election day and invigilation at the university I used to work for. About 6 weeks ago I started at our local food bank run by the  Trussell Trust . I volunteer in the warehouse where I've marked up the donations by use by date and made up food parcels for individuals, couples and families. It's wonderful to see how generous people are and of course the supermarkets donate regularly as do churches, sch

I cannot resist clothes that have spots. I have this  black spotted top plus several others, 3 spotted shirts, a pair of  spotted palazzo pants and I've recently got rid of a spotted jacket that too was too tight. This top was one of the £1.00 items I bought last Saturday in Wellingborough, along with this black maxi skirt for a £1.00 and my red brothel creepers for £4.00. I bought the waistcoat last Monday in Save the Children for £3.00. I started volunteering there on Monday mornings and last week was my third week. Everything I'm wearing including my watch and bracelet are from charity shops.  The little rose pin I bought in the Christian charity shop for 5p earlier today and liked it so much I put it on straight away. The earrings are from Sainsbury's and bought when 50% off. Cheap, moi? Never! It is clear to see that I have abandoned my no buying clothes until 2016 vow.....