It's my anniversary!

Yes, folks I have been blogging for one year today - I posted my first blog on 2nd November 2015. 

 Have I enjoyed this blogging lark? Yes I have and most of all, I enjoy the comments I receive.  I appreciate every comment and it's what makes blogging worthwhile. I have also made some lovely and supportive blogging friends and enjoy reading their blogs as much as I enjoy writing mine.

 I look upon blogging as keeping a diary minus the really personal bits. I  had always wanted to keep a diary but was never self disciplined enough. For some reason I find blogging easier to do  - plus there's pictures!

 I don't care about how many page views I get; I'm not interested in selling other people's products for them and I'm not here to give anyone fashion or style advice. My whole point was/is to show women of my age group (60+) that you can dress in a fun and stylish way on a budget.

Here's a good example of dressing on  on the cheap  a budget 

Cardigan from Zara bought at the Red Cross shop a couple of weeks back for £1.99.

Brown flared trousers; Mexx, £1.00 Red Cross shop last week. The trousers are on special offer at the moment for for £1.00. I also bought a pair of green flared cords for a pound and they're featured in last week's post . The top was from the £1.00 rail in Barnardo's in Ampthill when I went rummaging with Hilary two weekend ago. The brown suede boots were bought with a Christmas voucher gift from OH so the total cost of this outfit minus the boots was £3.99!

All my jewellery was charity shopped, too.

On Saturday OH and I went to Huntingdon and St. Ives for a bit of charity shop rummaging. We were last there in December 2015.  I bought this skirt at Save the Children for £3.00 a couple of months back - it's from Top Shop. The jacket and the boots were Christmas presents from my daughter. This is the third year I've been wearing these boots. The scarf was charity shopped.

The top was bought in the La Redoute sale as a pack of two; black and red, a couple of years ago.

All the jewellery is charity shopped. The necklace came from the RSPCA shop in Newport Pagnell and cost £4.00. The patterned bangle I'm wearing was also bought in Newport Pagnell for 99p just recently when rummaging with Hilary.

I was very good and only bought a navy blue pair of ankle boots in the Heart Foundation charity shop  in St. Ives for £4.00. I bought a small thermos flask for 99p in Age UK as it's nice to have a hot drink when out walking. In Huntingdon I bought the middle grandson some jeans and three tops for £5.50.

My total spend in the charity shops this week is £25.48.  It's far too much but I did spend £8.50 of it at the 3:16 charity shop on household linens -  two towels and a white bedspread. I could probably buy one decent towel in the shops for £8.50; what I bought was a bargain.

This month (including Monday's spend below) I have spent £65.25 in total in the charity shops. Mostly on clothes and jewellery for me but some for grandsons, some on books and some household items. I am actually a bit shocked at what I've spent and it will help me rein in my spending for next month - I hope.

I got up early on Sunday morning and went walking. I did over 9 miles but two miles of that was me checking to see where a path went - nowhere -  and having to retrace my steps but I didn't mind. It was a good walking day.

 At Save the Children on Monday I spent £2.25 on clothes for one of the grandsons - three items at 75p each; such good bargains cannot be missed! I didn't find any evening type dresses at our shop and I did look very hard on Saturday but nothing except dreary old black things. I will keep looking and trying to resist the temptation to buy things I don't need whilst looking!

I bought these boots for £6.50 at the new St.John's Hospice shop in town on Tuesday. They are absolutely plain dark brown and just what I like in boots  - simplicity. It was the start of a new month so I didn't feel guilty...

On Tuesday I had a free day. I'm volunteering at the food bank on alternate weeks now and will be starting as a volunteer at the Bedford Guildhall on the other Tuesday.  It's an organisation for the over 50s in Bedford. They provide daily hot meals, classes, a charity shop (!) only open on Saturdays, social events, outings etc. Not sure exactly what I'll be doing there; covering reception was mentioned but I'm easy, I'll do anything required. I should be starting my first day on the 22nd.

Everything I'm wearing is charity shopped. The blouse was bought from the British Red Cross shop a few week s back for £1.99. The cardigan is from Hobbs and was bought some months ago. Jeans are M&S but can't remember where from.

All jewellery charity shopped.

I also bought a coatigan (cross between a cardigan and a coat) for £1.99 in the Red Cross shop  - I can't resist this shop - everything is £1.99! I really like coatigans; sometimes it's not quite cold enough to wear a coat. I now have 5 coatigans in my collection. I also have a very long, (ankle length) camel coloured, hairy wool cardigan which is from the 1990s, I think.  It did have shoulder pads so it could even be the 1980s. I bought it at a car boot sale years ago for £1.00. I recently took it out of the loft whilst I was up there one day looking for something I thought I had for Vix (I didn't). The hairy wool tends to get up my nose (literally) so I didn't wear it often, but I've held on to it - I don't know why.

Coatigan Red Cross Shop £1.99

So today, Wednesday 2nd November, on the one year anniversary of my blog I got up and went walking - just for a change! I'm leading another Rambler's walk in the Winter programme in January so today I did a recce of the walk I plan to lead. Just over 7.5 miles. I managed to fall over; I got tangled up in a briar but I wasn't hurt, only my pride. I wish the land owners would keep their public footpaths clear of debris.

Tomorrow I plan to retrace the walk that has eluded me on the two occasions I tried it. I spoke to the person who lead the walk last week and she said she avoided going across the field that I did because the farmer whose land it is doesn't keep the footpath clear. That may may make all the difference and I'll report back whether or not I have managed to crack this elusive walk.

Enjoy your week and keep commenting - I do love to hear from you!