Out and about in East Sussex

Hello again!

Since I last posted I've been to East Sussex; to Milton Keynes to watch my brother's solo gig and I had planned to go to Devon to see Hilary - but see update below. We've had one lot of weekend visitors (brothers) and expect two more sets pf visitors over the next two weekends. And of course our clocks have gone back by one hour so the mornings are a bit brighter but get it gets dark earlier which is horrible .

To backtrack a little to two weekends ago; OH and I visited the final car boot sale of the year in our local area. I did very well. I picked up a nice weekend holdall - eldest grandson borrowed mine to take back to London with him so I'll probably never see it again! I also picked up some earrings and small brooch for 60p (!) a rice cooker for 2.00; a denim waistcoat (below) and best of all brand new walking boots for 4.00. My current Berghaus 99p bargain boots from the Red Cross are becoming a bit detached from one side of the upper. It can probably be glued back but it's good to have two pairs of walking boots so one pair can dry out. A very successful haul.

I walked only twice in this week (must do better, Veronica) once on my own and once with the group. I've sorted out one of walks that I'm leading and I'm still working on the other. The group walk was from Pirton to Great Offley (7 miles) and was wonderful but I didn't take any photos; lots of hills were climbed so photos weren't on my mind...Pirton still has a maypole on its village green.

This is All Saint's Church in Milton Ernest which we will pass on my walk. It dates from the 11th century. 

I've been reading a book about villages in the UK and
 the importance of the church to the village and its inhabitants. As a walker who walks predominantly in the countryside it's always such a comfort to see a church or church spire in the distance because you know then you're never too far away from people  - especially good if you're lost!

This photo was taken en route to East Sussex by one of the grandsons at a service station on the M 20. Everything charity shopped except the navy blue boots and the waistcoat which came from the car boot sale and cost 1.00. The top came from 1.00 rail - it's by M&S and I have the same one in green and yellow. Skirt by Next.

I should have worn a more colourful scarf in my hair. All jewellery charity shopped.

My daughter, two youngest grandsons and I set off on Thursday morning to East Sussex for an over night stay. I wanted to visit Rye first then we stayed in a hotel in Eastbourne, 29 miles away.  There are lots of parts of the UK that I haven't seen and I want to put that right. Rye was lovely; full of quirky buildings. It's where the TV series 'Mapp and Lucia' (from the E.H.Benson books) was filmed. I probably only saw about half of what is there but although the grandsons were very good they get bored very quickly. I even managed to have a brief look in the two charity shops I saw but the prices were silly.

Rye is an English town near the coast in East Sussex. In the centre, cobbled lanes like Mermaid Street are lined with medieval, half-timbered houses. Those cobbles are hard to walk on in thin soled shoes! It is also one of the original Cinque port towns which were a historic series of coastal towns in Kent and Sussex. They were originally formed for military and trade purposes. The sea has now retreated two miles inland from Rye. (Information from Wikipedia).

The Mermaid Inn. No, we didn't go in for a pint!

This boy is very mischievous. He loves to photo bomb!

Such lovely buildings.

From my limited experience of English seaside towns, I think Eastbourne is typical of the larger ones. There's a pier...

Eastbourne Pier

The weather was a bit dodgy in the morning it kept on raining, so we spent time in the arcades losing money - at least the grandsons did! I love to see groynes at the beach especially the wooden ones.

 It brightened up by the afternoon. We spent a little while in the town itself. Lots of charity shops. I looked in a few. I bought a log basket in the Cancer Research shop; it was nice and narrow just what I've been looking for and at 4.99 not too pricey!

Soaking up some afternoon sun. It was bright but pretty chilly. We spent most of the afternoon on the beach and walking along the prom.

I love the roof on this building. It's very Islamic looking and made of beautiful turquoise tiles.

The sea front hotels and part of the promenade or boardwalk.

We returned Friday evening and on Saturday we went to watch my brother Julian's solo gig at 'The Stables' in Milton Keynes here. My other brothers came over for dinner first and after the gig Julian came back to stay; we had lots to catch up on!

Everything charity shopped except the boots which were a Christmas present from OH a few years ago. The leggings are my 79 p bargain from Barnardo's, the top is by TU from a 1.00 rail but I can't remember where I got the tunic or how much it was.

 Julian was on the small stage which seats about 40. There are tables and chairs and it's a quite intimate setting. He played a great range of songs including the story of how he came to be; his tribute to my mum: 'The Ballad of Kathy Flynn'. You can hear it here.There were tears in my eyes by the end of it. I've written previously about how my brother discovered us here and here.

All jewellery charity shopped.

The Stables is a really nice venue. I've been to quite a few gigs here: The Be Good Tanyas, Keb Mo, Acoustic Alchemy (OH is a jazz fan), Peter White, Steeleye Span (Julian is part of this band) Dennis Baptiste to name just some.

This is a not very good photo of Julian but you can see how small and intimate setting it was.

The Three Musketeers! Yes, that is Johnny Dankworth and yes he is poking my brother in the ear!

Black 1960s style homemade swing or duster coat. Bought at a car boot sale for 2.50. The lady who was selling had also made it and said she was so pleased I was buying it as she could tell I would love it. I do. You can't see it here because this is not a very good photo, but it's made of black patterned brocade; has nice big wide sleeves with a diamond button on each one and the coat is swooshy when you walk...

On Monday I was child minding as one grandson had a teacher training day. He came with me to the hairdressers and then he took these photos.

Everything charity shopped except spotty leggings; Lidl retail. Kimono bought in Donegal in 2017 and the tunic, too. It was a pretty chilly day on Monday. In fact we've been lighting our fire every evening since last Saturday and with the weather we've  been having I think that will continue...

All jewellery charity shopped.
On Tuesday I found out at the food bank we received 8 tonnes of Harvest food donations!  The warehouse was full to the ceiling. Fabulous people of Bedford - thank you.

That's a jigsaw on the hall table picked up for 75 p at the 3:16 charity shop for my friend Ann's husband who suffered a massive stroke a few years ago. He's become a whizz at jigsaws. This one is 1,000 pieces of Waterloo Station in 1848 and 1948. Should keep him out of mischief for a while!

Everything charity shopped except shoes Primarni sale 5.00. East dress; Oxfam 7.00, floral cardigan; Independent charity shop 3.00. Tights, Red Cross 50p.

All jewellery charity shopped. Necklace 1.00 Salvation Army in Rushden.

I walked with my group again on Wednesday. It started out as a cold day but within an hour or so we were taking our jackets off. There was a lot of climbing. We walked 7 miles in Ampthill, mostly through Ampthill Great Park and woods; once the hunting grounds of Henry VIII. Katherine of Aragon lived in Ampthill Castle for a number of years till she lost her head... 

More OOTDs

Something else I wore this past fortnight inspired by an outfit I saw on Pinterest. The scarf was a mistake - too bulky. I should have used a finer one. Everything charity shopped. Black jeans; Donegal, black boots; Barnardo's Great Denham, orange cardigan by Wallis; 2.00 same place. Jean shirt; Cambridge charity shop about three years ago. Scarf charity shopped and earrings from Sainsbury's. 

Ooh! Shiny leggings. I usually wear these under walking trousers in the winter and I think they'd better stay there! I need a pair of black leggings. Something I have on my charity shopping list. Everything charity shopped except the boots; online retail. Can't remember where I got the tunic from.

My trip to see Hilary in Devon was scuppered. Something went wrong with the car and by the time I had paid out for garage bills (big) I couldn't really afford to go to Devon. I was so disappointed and so was Hilary,but I'm planning to go in the New Year instead and it will give me something to look forward to. Bloody cars! they always go when you can least afford them to or when you are most relying on them.

Everything charity except boots online retail. Jeans; M&S, Top; Next. Cardigan charity shopped in a Golder's Green, London charity shop on my birthday two years ago. It's a man's cardigan and has a little logo on the right side.

Jewellery and scarf charity shopped. Earrings from Topshop bought in 2002 . I remember buying them so well; I had given a presentation with a colleague to the Women's Equality Unit in the House of Commons that day and we then went to look at Oxford Street shops.  I treated myself to these earrings. They had them in mustard as well and I've regretted not buying them ever since. Maybe one day I'll come across a pair in a charity shop!

I recce'd my short walk (4.5 miles)  on Friday. It was a bright sunny day but cold. OH asked me if I'd like to go rummaging with him on Saturday as I wasn't going to Devon - of course I said yes! So on Saturday OH and I went for a rummage to St. Neot's. As I'd paid out so much for the car and I don't need anything I set myself a strict budget of 5.00!

The poncho top was 49p in Barnardo's, Ampthill. Everything charity shopped except boots; on line retail. 

It wasn't too cold so the poncho was sufficient. 

Tunic by Anthology; can't remember where I bought it but I did pay 7.00 for it which is quite expensive for me. I thought the label said 'Anthropology' so snapped it up!  Having looked at the price of Anthology clothes on line 7.00 is a pretty fair price and I do love it. Red jeans; Laura Ashley; black shirt underneath; Primarni 1.00 rail.

Can you see the new log basket I bought in Eastbourne?

All jewellery charity shopped. Picked up beads in the week for 99p in the Sally Army. It's next to Lidl's; that's my excuse anyway!

It was a good rummage in St. Neot's.  How did I fare on my 5.00 maximum spend? I bought a ball of pink wool (50 p); two necklaces (99 p and 1.50 p) some earrings (50 p); a pair of palazzo pants from the 49 p rail and Gap shirt for one of the grandsons for 1.00. Total spend 4.99. Naturally as I had a strict budget I saw a beautifully draped maxi dress, but it was 5.49.  I rarely see these type of dresses in my size in charity shops, so I was a bit gutted; then OH kindly bought it for me. What a star he is! It's not a bright colour at all, a sort of browny shade, mushroom? Taupe? Fawn? But I can spice it up with a colourful jacket and accessories.

Sunburst on L - Starburst on R

My crocheting has been going well. I planned to make 12 x 12 rows  of squares for this blanket and so far have crocheted one row of 12 green squares. Then I realised that instead of crocheting the 'Starburst Flower' squares I was actually crocheting 'Sunburst Flower' squares.  I'd got my Sun and Star flowers mixed up! What's the difference? The Sunburst pattern uses 4 rows of treble clusters whereas the Starburst pattern uses 1 row of 'puff' stitch and 1 row of 'cluster' stitch as well as 2 rows of treble clusters. So, my dilemma is - do I keep my row of green squares in the Sunburst pattern and do the rest in Sunburst squares or do I abandon what I've done and do 12 rows of Starburst squares? Then there's the fact I've used up most of my green wool stash (which was the intention) and don't have enough left to make another 12 in Starburst...after some thought I've decided to keep the 12 green Sunburst squares and use one in each of the the 12 rows. After all they look pretty similar don't they?