Half term break

I love half term - no school run on Mondays and Fridays. I haven't done that much this week despite my relative freedom. I've been walking 3 days in a row. On Tuesday I did 5 miles on my own. On Wednesday we (Ramblers) walked 7 miles in a place called Little Staughton - this is the church where we started from. 

This is us trekking up the hill back to the church on the return journey.

Then on Thursday we walked 4.5 miles in Marston Thrift." Marston Thrift is a magnificent 140 acre wood on the West Bedfordshire Ridge below the village of Cranfield. There has been a wood here for at least 900 years and over time a unique, wildlife community has developed, including rare and unusual species". 

We didn't see any rare or unusual species but we did see and walked through a lot of mud - it had rained all night!

On Friday I went to Rushden, which is about 12 miles away from Bedford, for a rummage around the charity shops. This is what I wore to go rummaging. I'm almost shopping my wardrobe here except for the cardigan which is new and bought from my charity shop. It's a Hobbs cardigan and cost £4.00. I saw a Hobbs fur gilet in a magazine when I took my grandson to the dentist on Wednesday and it was £550.00!

The spotty palazzo pants are actually emblazoned with little stars and are from a charity shop in Donegal. The shirt was bought on line.  Belt charity shopped.

In Rushden I bought; 2 pairs of earrings, a brooch and a metallic disc necklace; a red and black, knee length, flared M&S skirt (£5.00) and a long black slip from the Salvation Army. I then bought a grey pair of Chelsea boots at Extra Care for £4.50. Finally, I visited Store 21 (not a charity shop!) and in their sale bought a bat wing top and floral leggings for £9.00. So, I have had a very good week of charity shopping as well as buying a couple of new things.

Earrings bought on line and pearls charity shopped.

On Saturday my OH and the middle grandson went to watch Arsenal play at home, that is at the Emirates Stadium in London. I had the house to myself, but went into town to run some errands and visited the Age UK charity shop where they have a very good sale rail. I think they're clearing out their winter stock to make room for the summer stock as it's a very small shop. Anyway, for the sum £6.76 I bought: 2 pencil skirts, a pair of trousers and a spotty tunic top! I also  bought a pair of blue suede boots for £1.99 at the British Red Cross shop on Monday. 

These are the floral leggings I bought on Friday. The top is charity shopped, as are the boots, necklace, bangles, earrings and watch.

If you're wondering what that odd thing is behind my head, it's my neck pillow! Very important if I'm on the laptop or even just reading - my neck needs the support.

I bought a hydrangea bush years ago and planted it in a pot in my tiny garden. It has done well every year since.  Last year, once it had begun to die back, I cut off some heads and dried them. These are a few of the same and aren't they gorgeous - such lovely delicate colours; pink, lavender, even some orangey bits.

Well back to usual routine tomorrow - I hope you've all had a lovely weekend.