Black, white and red

This is a view from Maulden Woods where we walked 7 miles on Wednesday, It was a glorious day, cold, crisp and lovely sunshine. It's perfect walking weather. I f you have layers on (and you should) you can discard them. I had 4 layers on and only discarded my gloves but kept the layers on. I was hot and sweaty at the end.

It was back to the usual weekly routine this week. I got 5 tops for my grandsons at Save the Children on Monday where I volunteer but nothing for me! I've been there since the middle of October and it's the first time I've left with nothing for me. In fact my Save the Children shop is in need of donations, badly. 

Our shop is situated in the town  centre in a pedestrianised area. It is therefore difficult to drop off donations by car and we suffer for it compared to other charity shops. For example, we have a new Sue Ryder shop that opened last summer. You can drive into their car park and unload your bags of donations. The last time I was there - about 2 weeks ago they had a sign on their door saying 'No more donations, please'.

This is what I wore on Tuesday when I volunteer at the food bank in the morning.

Everything is charity shopped bar the leggings which are from Primarni and about 3 years old.

The tunic dress is of unknown origin, the fur and suede gilet is M&S but bought in a Donegal charity shop. Boots are Zara from British Red Cross and I've had them for 4 years now,

Earrings, bangles and watch charity shopped.

On Tuesday, I went for a walk and did 5 miles. I had a browse in a couple of charity shops and bought a pair of long black socks with tartans bows for 99p; 2 cream and black spotted bangles £1.50 and DKNY watch for £4.00. I just need to get a battery for it.

This is Thursday's outfit. You can tell I like kimonos! I have 5 and have featured 4 of them so far on this blog. Here where you can see 2 and here.

I had a disaster with my leggings this morning. I splashed bleach on them. I was pretty annoyed as they were leggings I bought with the voucher from M&S my colleagues gave me when I retired almost exactly 2 years ago. I went straight to M&S and bought a replacement pair. (I rarely buy any clothing at M&S unless I get a voucher for Christmas or birthday, although I seem to buy quite a lot of M&S stuff in the charity shops). Such an essential part of my wardrobe and I ruined them with bleach. I'm afraid I've ruined many articles of clothing because I'm careless with the bleach. You'd think I'd learn wouldn't you?

I bought this tunic on Saturday last for £1.49. One of Age UK sale rail bargains. The boots are from Next and a Christmas present about 3 years ago from my daughter. 

This is my DKNY watch. I went into town and got a battery put in it.

Earrings bought at a local craft fair. The necklace, which was 99p in a charity shop, is weird! It's twisty and bendy and can made into any sort of shape. I've also worn it as a sort of choker with no clasps, it just hugs your neck.

I'm on the last part of Book 4 of the Neapolitan novels by Elena Ferrante and I have enjoyed them so much. I'm now thinking about what to read next.....

 On Friday I went on a bus walk. We catch a bus to a destination, walk and then get a bus back to where we started from. We were going to Sandy but walking back to Bedford which is 10 miles! If I did it, it  would be a personal best for me in terms of distance walked. I've done 9 miles in Donegal, so should be able to manage that extra 1 mile! Well, we missed the bus to Sandy so caught the next one which took us to Moggerhanger and walked from there - 9 miles in total by the time I got home. Personal best remains the same!

I went to see my son this Saturday.

This boiled wool/felted skirt is from M&S and bought last week from a charity shop. Top is charity shopped and I've had it for at least 5 years.

Zara boots charity shopped, red tights retail on line. I want a thicker pair and have put it on my birthday list.

 Earrings Sainsburys, necklace charity shop in Donegal, ring, bangles and DKNY watch charity shopped. My daughter has taken a fancy to the watch so it may not be mine for much longer....

Tomorrow (Sunday) I'm dragging OH off to recce a walk with me. I've offered to lead a walk on June 15th so need to get my route organised and committed to memory.  I've got maps and a walking partner so it should be straightforward. The last time I walked it back in October, I took several wrong turns and was out for four hours! It should be at least a 7 mile walk so that's my Sunday sorted!