Thursday 13 October 2016

Holding myself to account


My weekend passed peacefully enough  - even with the two grandsons staying! Let's put it this way - there was no bloodshed. Just low level constant sniping and bickering. They both got into bed with me on Sunday morning having woken me up at 7.30 am (aaagh the horror!); we had a very strenuous play fight and tickling session. I think I was the winner.

We went to visit my son on Saturday. I was glad I wore a jumper because it's definitely jumper weather now. This is the top I bought in the 3:16 sale and the trousers were bought last week in a new charity shop for a local day hospice in Kempston (just outside Bedford) for £4.00. Brogues from Tesco sale. All jewellery charity shopped.





I remembered to wear one of my brooches!
 I've had these earrings for about 20 years.

I finally had a really good sort out of my wardrobes at the weekend. OH had put a floating shelf in the top half of my wardrobe to hold my handbags (my idea) unfortunately the combined weight was a bit much and they kept toppling off. I removed them from the shelf, put them in plastic storage boxes and pushed them under the bed - which is where they were originally kept. This allowed me to remove all  trousers off their hangers, fold them up and stack them on the shelf instead. 

I now have less packed wardrobes with a rail for skirts, cardigans and waistcoats. Another rail for tops and tunics. I keep dresses and jackets on the bottom rail of what was my son's wardrobe along with evening/going out wear; whilst coats, long dresses and walking gear are hanging in a cupboard next to the bathroom. I cleared all my stuff out of the shared (with OH) chest of drawers so it's all his and moved mine to the drawers in the cupboard in the bedroom. So, almost all my clothes are in one place now. I still don't have drawer space to store my slips, gloves and swim suits so I keep them in boxes under the bed. I'm not complaining (really) as for much of my adult life I shared a double wardrobe with the whole family!


On Monday I wore these green Next shoes (BNWT) bought in the Spring from the 3:16 charity shop for £2.50. Although the heel is small I just find walking in any heeled shoe an uncomfortable experience.  I was glad once I got home from volunteering in Save the Children to get them off! I tried the 'half tuck' thing with the green top into the skirt and I like it.


The cardigan is from M & S and bought in the Red Cross shop for £1.99 last week. The green top was also bought from there earlier this year and was a staple of my summer wardrobe - it has short sleeves and it's green! The green and black skirt I've had for ages and this was the first time I've worn it. The pendant is from Age UK in Newport Pagnell and the earrings are from Bedford Market.

I've decided to keep a log of what I spend in the charity shops and this week I've spent quite a lot. I spent £11.00 in Save the Children on Monday alone. I bought a striped maxi dress for next summer at £3.00; an Irish made cardigan for £4.50; a necklace for £1.00; 2 pairs of school shorts for middle grandson at £1.50 and a ball of green wool for £ 1.00. I'm hoping to start a new crochet throw in greens and blues any day now...


On Tuesdays I'm at the food bank and its pretty chilly in the warehouse, so I wrap up well. Everything charity shopped except the trousers which are from Lidl. All jewellery charity shopped.




Excuse the tree trunk arms!


We did a 6 mile local walk on Wednesday. This is us approaching Great Wood in Ravensden - just before the rain came down!

Thursday's outfit


Continuing with the charity shop spending theme I bought this 100% wool jacket/cardigan in Barnardo's on Wednesday afternoon for £3.99.  It's by C. Gilbert designs and it has a phone number on the label! I think it's a Liverpool code...I bought one of the grandsons a winter jacket for £1.99; a necklace for £1.99 and a bracelet for £1.00.  I then went on to visit the Cat's Protection League shop in Kempston on Wednesday and bought a pair of cuffed blue, black and white trousers for £1.99.£21.99 spent so far...


The  purple and blue top was charity shopped last winter and I think this is my first wear. It's made by Nomads, (never heard of them) and is a Fairtrade label. The leggings are from an on line retailer and the boots were donated by my daughter.


Necklace from local retailer 'Simi and Lola' and earrings were customised from a Sainsburys pair. I was playing around with the edit function on my phone camera here hence the fuzziness...

Talking of technology; I managed to get my USB sticks and Chrome Book to talk to each other yesterday. This means, in theory at least, that I can connect my camera to the Chrome Book via the USB connection so I can use my camera to take photos. I shall experiment at the weekend.

After doing the weekly food shop on Thursday I went into town to run some errands and stopped at the Red Cross shop. Of course I couldn't leave without buying anything and spent £1.99 on a M&S showerproof jacket in a silvery grey colour and £1.99 on a long, 100% wool, brown and black trimmed cape coat. It should be nice and warm so I've donated my black Puffa coat bought 3 winters ago in the same charity shop. I also donated a brown velvet blazer I've had for years but which was bit tight on the sleeves. Two items in and two items out.

Total spend this week in the charity shops = £24.97. Rather a lot, so I won't be visiting any more charity shops this week! I'm going to try and refrain next week as well as my best friend Hilary is coming down next weekend and we'll have a day out charity shopping  next saturday accompanied by tea and cake.  I just need to decide where we are going to go...I can't wait!

I'm walking on Friday and Saturday weather permitting. I have a child free weekend this weekend so I'll make the most of it.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend.
x

10 comments:

  1. I really love the change of wardrobe that comes with the change of seasons. You really rock the colored leggings. A great look for you. And the owl pendant is so sweet. I'm a bit like you. I get all carried away with the low prices at the second hand shops that I go a bit crazy sometimes. It is so easy to do....but kind of worth it :)

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  2. Your Nomads tunic is lovely. I'm surprised you haven't heard of them, they've been going for donkey's years.
    I love how you've pinned your brooch on that jumper and that Simi and Lola necklace. What a statement!
    Fingers crossed for some good weekend walking weather for you. It's peeing it down here this morning! xxx

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  3. It must be lovely to have so much wardrobe space after all the years without.

    I never keep track of my spending in charity shops...

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  4. I'd be too scared to keep track of my spending! I love the leaf necklace, it's so pretty.

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  5. I suppose it evens out after a bit as you can go weeks without buying much and then hit a jackpot. I tried keeping a tally but gave up. I do keep a close eye on the groceries and heating bills though.

    Beautiful autumn shades in your wardrobe and what an incredible leaf necklace. I rather like the owl as well-hard to go wrong with an owl, isn't it?

    Your walk looks interesting. My walks have been laps around the college campus next door with the security guards cheering me on. That's nice, but I would much prefer a country walk now and then (before the snow and ice anyway). People here are loathe to walk or do many things as a group outside of competitions. That's a shame-your ramblers groups sound like great fun.

    I hope you don't need the wool coat too soon, and that your weather behaves.

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  6. I had to laugh how our closet spaces are magically filled - the more we get the more stuff we put in. Great outfits, and I love a good half-tuck as well. It's great to see your walking gang - Great Wood is such a magical name. And how fun that you could hang out with your grandsons. I should keep totals of my spending too. Good idea.

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  7. I think I must be a bit sad because I find it really interesting to hear how other people organise their stuff, time and finances! But actually I find I learn from it. This year for the first time I'm doing the summer/winter wardrobe thing. I'm interested in how you organise your wardrobe and how much space you have.
    OH sounds like an all-round good egg. The exploits of the grandkids make me laugh so much!
    Love the long pendant and the nomads tunic. Looking good Veronica! Xxx

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    Replies
    1. Hi Tanya - Of course you're not sad - I'm just the same - nosy is my middle name!

      I have built in wardrobes in my bedroom. They were built into the alcoves either side of the chimmney breast and because this is an old house nothing is 'true'; therefore the two wardrobes are different sizes. The larger of the two wardrobes is mine - with a top rail and a bottom rail. The smaller wardrobe is OHs. In my son's old bedroom there is a built in wardrobe in one alcove with a top and bottom rail. He still stores some of his clothes on the top rail but I have commandeered the bottom. Then, finally in the walk in cupboard next to my bathroom I added a hanging rail and this is used to store heavy coats and jackets (both mine and OH), walking stuff and long dresses. I have 4 hanging rails for clothes in total and it's not enough so I have to do the summer winter/swap over.

      I have 3 deepish drawers in the cupboard in my bedroom (I store bed linen in the cupboard top on shelves) where I store nightwear;leggings and bras in one drawer; long sleeved t shirts in another and short sleeved tops in the third drawer. I roll items into a sausage shape and I colour group them as much as I can as I think it helps you see at a glance what there is.Obsessive, moi? Never! I also have a bedside mini chest of drawers where I store my tights, knickers and vests.

      Just writing this has made me realise that if I could find somewhere else to store my bed linen I could use the cupboard top with its two very deep shelves for clothes storage...

      xxxxx

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  8. This clothes storage thing does seem to be of interest doesn't it Vronni? Whenever someone talks to me about my blog they always want to know where I store everything. I'm impressed with the two things in, two things out at the charity shop the other day - sounds like the perfect solution to create a status quo. I've got a huge amount waiting to be catalogued for eBay, but summer has been too busy to get to it. Loved all of Thursday's outfit and also the blue boots - they look so comfortable.
    Wishing you a great week ahead x
    Anna
    www.annasislandstyle.com

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  9. You are so stylish and I love the accessories you've chosen. Yes, I used to keep a close eye on how much I spent and wrote it all down, but I stopped doing that and just remember the prices I paid out. You've reminded me that it might be a good idea to start that up again - thanks! Hope you had a great weekend - have a good week x

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