Rummaging, Richmond and Devon

After the best part of almost a week of rain we had a pretty good weekend in the middle of June. OH and I went to St. Ives and St. Neots for a rummage on the Saturday taking advantage of the good weather and we did quite well!

This was my jewellery haul. Pearl necklace; Salvation Army 2.50 and large ring. Small thistle brooch 50p Barnardo's. 3 bangles for 99p Wood Green Animal Shelter in St. Ives. Yellow ring; 1.50 Cancer Research St. Ives. I also bought a pair of M&S harem trousers in Barnardo's for 4.50 and a brand new pair of Cotton Traders shoes (see below) in the Salvation Army for 2.00. In the first charity shop we came to in St. Neots; which was Cancer Resarch (I think) I bought this beautiful embroidered scarf for 4.00. It's made of wool and will be too bulky for a headscarf, but I just adore the embroidery and it will be great for the cooler months.

Scarf 4.00

Cotton Traders 2.00 - new!

 Gosh, I'm looking very serious here! This was what I wore to volunteer at Barnardo's on Monday. I was decoding all morning as this was the final week of everything being 2.00.  I took advantage of the offer and bought a roll neck animal print top for the winter and a pair of  colourful, silky harem pants - home made.

Everything charity shopped. Trousers by H&M; bought last year can't remember; 1.00 rail somewhere. Top by New Look; 1.00 rail in a Baldock charity shop. The yellow kimono jacket was also from last year; I bought it in my Barnardo's for 2.99 in their sale in November. Shoes from a Donegal charity shop.

Scarf bought in a Stevenage charity shop and all jewellery charity shopped except earrings from ebay.

It was an eventful week for my two youngest grandsons; Isaiah got his hair cut off; he hasn't had it this short for about two years and Amari turned 9!

On Tuesday it was food bank time again...

It was a warm day. I got so hot and bothered I had to remove my jacket! Everything charity shopped. Top by Gudrun Sjoden 3.50; my Barnardo's. Italian label skirt 2.00; Extra Care in Rushden. I was diddled buying this skirt; even if it was only 2.00! It's 100% silk and I was very pleased when I bought it. When I got it home I noticed both sides in the top panel were ripped and frayed - consequently not repairable.  I hadn't spotted it in the shop. The shop should never have put it out in this condition or should have noted it on the price tag. Anyway; it forced me  into trying a tunic over a maxi skirt which is something I've been meaning to do for a while now. I think it works quite well and looks ok; but in general it needs to be a shorter (like the one above) rather than a longer tunic methinks. Although I do have a photo of me from about 20 years ago where I am wearing a long tunic top over a white maxi skirt and it looks fine so I don't know why I didn't try this look sooner!

Jacket 3:16 charity shop; 2.00 and Cotton Traders shoes 2.00; Salvation Army in St. Ives.

All jewellery charity shopped and scarf.

On Tuesday afternoon I went to recce my amble. 5 miles in lovely warm weather. There were one or two extremely short showers not even  enough to get wet. There was, however, a very frisky horse  in one of the fields. I've never ridden a horse or had anything to do with horses at all. I admire them and think they're beautiful creatures; but up close and personal I find them a bit intimidating - they're so big!

This one was convinced I had something for it to eat. It galloped up to me forcing me to stop in my tracks or get knocked down. It then turned around and moved off but came back and stood directly in front of me so I couldn't pass! Luckily, I had stopped by the fence so I climbed over it; licketty split! The horse then continued to gallop around the field some more with its mate (who had ignored me) and then followed me along the fence. I decided to bring some carrots with me when I lead my walk on Thursday and if the horses were still in the field; advise the group to hop over the fence quick while I distracted the horse with carrots!

The Cinnabar moth was sourced from here: butterfly-conservation.org.

Amongst the many things I spotted on my recce on Tuesday were:  a Common Spotted Orchid; Creeping or Field Thistle with Cuckoo Spit (that white frothy stuff) and bottom right; a Cinnabar Moth. The moth I saw was a deep glorious pink which is what caught my eye; I know it looks red in the photo.  I chased after it round the field hoping it would land for long enough for me to take a photo, but no. The Cuckoo Spit is a protective bubble for the nymph of an insect called a Frog hopper. So, now you know! I also startled a grey female partridge (and my self!) saw a buzzard and a hare. Sometimes in this area I've seen Muntjac deer but not this time.

Also on Tuesday I went to pick up a parcel from the sorting office from the very lovely Vix of Vintage Vixen here. In it, to my delight, was this fabulous Desigual dress:

And a lovely pair of red earrings to match! The dress is made of a very warm fabric, so I probably won't be able to wear it until the cooler months. I can't wait! I'll wear it with red tights and boots, I think. Vix also sent me a book about the Durrell family who lived for many years in Corfu. Thank you so much!

On Wednesday, I had planned to walk with the group but dithered about so much getting there I knew I be too late, so I turned around and came back home. As I was going to pass a charity shop on the way home, I decided to stop and have a browse. I'm so glad I did as they had a sale on! The charity shop is one of the three soon to be four Day Hospice shops; one of which is the Day Hospice Boutique near to where I live. I bought quite a lot as most items were 2.00 each. What did I buy? I bought a beige linen Fenn, Wright and Manson jacket for 2.50; a Red Herring (Debenhams) rust coloured pinafore dress in a suede look material; but made of a very soft thick cotton; that's been washed and put away for the cooler months. I also bought a Phase Eight spotted top (I can't resist spots), a ring, 4 scarves for 1.00; some books (4 for 1.00) and some red tights to go with my Desigual dress. Trying to adhere to the 'one in, one one out' rule, I was able to take several items out of my wardrobes to make room for the new garments. I have an almost full black plastic sack ready to donate back to the charity shops.

I led my 5 mile walk (amble) on Thursday and there were 7 of us. It was a warm, muggy day and the walk went very well. The frisky horse was still in the same field, but I think with our increased numbers it wasn't so frisky! To be on the safe side we didn't go into that field but climbed the fence and walked alongside the field with the horses. Both horses did  come to fence, where we all made a great fuss of them. I should have taken a photo now I think of it. They were two magnificent horses. Our group of seven walkers included a man who was 86 years old! I hope I'm still walking at that age if I'm lucky to live so long...

I met my walking group again on Friday evening - at the pub! We then walked to a good viewpoint about a mile and half away from the pub to watch the Summer Solstice. It was very beautiful.

On Saturday I went out to recce a bus walk I'll be doing in December! It was from Milton Ernest to Bedford - 8 miles in total. The top left photo is of some gorgeous delphiniums seen in a garden near youngest Grandson's school on Friday. The flower beside it is a wild flower; a dog rose and below it mallow; both seen on my Saturday walk.

There was a festival in Bedford Park called the Fake Festival - all tribute bands. I could hear the music from Milton Ernest and my walk ended in Bedford Park. Lots of tents and people. OH and I wandered down in the evening; but although we could hear the music we couldn't get in as the whole area had barriers up. It was a pay to get in type of festival. Lots of people had paid and a lot of people had brought chairs, blankets and a picnic but just sat on the grass in the park; enjoying the sun and the music for free. Oh, I don't think I said; it was a lovely day; warm 20 degrees+ and sunny all day.

Friday's outfit. Everything charity shopped. Trousers by M&S; bought in Barnardo's St. Neot's last week for 4.50. Top 1.00  in my Barnardo's and the cardigan was 2.00 from the same place.

Shoes: Donegal charity shop 3 euros.

All jewellery charity shopped and scarf as before.

I wore this on Saturday. Can't remember where I bought this animal print cardi from; probably my Barnardo's. It was 2.99 and it's by Kim and Co. No, me neither! Grey spotted top; Day Hospice in the week for 2.00. White skirt M&S from a 1.00 rail somewhere. I have an almost identical one in the caravan wardrobe!

 After my 8 mile walk, I spent the afternoon helping OH in the garden - yes really I did. We have a three tier plant stand bought ages ago and we finally got it assembled. Unfortunately, it can't really support large plant pots and we have mainly large plant pots in our garden; but it did clear a bit of space on the ground. The garden is looking much tidier now. I was finally able to get rid of the some of the many plastic plant pots that have accumulated over the years. OH throws nothing away - a hoarder in the making if it wasn't for me...

Everything is charity shopped except for my new shoes. I bought these online and no I bought them before I signed up to the #slowfashion challenge see here for more information. They took almost three weeks to arrive and finally turned  up last Thursday. They're green! They're also very comfortable.

I started out with this black lace blazer from my Barnardo's for 2.00; but it seemed more suited for evening wear , so I changed it. All jewellery charity shopped. The scarf is one of the 4 for 1.00 from the Day Hospice shop in the week.

Monday was the start of a busy week for me. On Monday I volunteered as usual; I was very good and bought nothing except a new to me rucksack. The strap tore on my old one and now I have a rainbow coloured one! On Tuesday, I'd be volunteering in the morning and possibly recce'ing a new walk in the afternoon. On Wednesday I was spending the day in London with my cousin, Marian. On Thursday I would be doing the food shopping and hopefully squeezing a walk in because on Friday I was going to spend the weekend with Hilary in Devon!

Top by Joules bought from my Barnardo's in the winter for 3.99. All jewellery charity shopped and the scarf, too.

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I always choose X large for my photos but they always differ in size! I thought it was because I've begun to crop the photos, but come to think of it the sizing differed even before I began to crop the photos. If anyone knows why the size varies so much despite all supposedly being X large; I'd be very pleased to know!

Yellow trousers La Redoute sale a few years ago. Shoes retail online.

I wore this to the food bank on Tuesday.

This is the linen top by Valentyne bought at my Barnardo's.  Yellow headscarf same place. I bought this necklace  in a West Hampstead charity shop about three or four years ago. I paid 4.00 for it - London prices!

Skirt by Rapp and bought at the Day Hospice boutique for 4.00 a few weeks back.

Yellow shoes from a Donegal charity shop. All jewellery charity shopped. Tuesday was much cooler; I should have reversed my outfits for Monday and Tuesday as Monday was incredibly humid and hot and I would have been much cooler had I worn this...it rained off on all day so no walking.

On Wednesday I went to London for a day out with my cousin. We went here:

Ham House in Richmond.

We walked along the towpath of the Thames from the tube station to get here. Built in 1610 Ham House was gifted to William Murray by Charles I whose faithful servant he was. His daughter Elizabeth continued her father and mother's legacy of making Ham House a 17th century example of luxury and grandeur. The house was fascinating but I loved the garden. We did the Kitchen garden tour. The kitchen garden is part of the walled garden which was a series of 12 rectangles; each devoted to different plants such as soft fruits; cut flowers; vegetables, salads and plants for medicinal use. Each rectangle had a 'step-over' hedge of either box or lavender. The smell was intoxicating and there were so many bees. In fact, there was a bee swarm and we could only use the front door of the house because of it.

Top right; Delphinium; top left; Calendula; bottom left; Sweet peas; bottom right; Cornflower (sometimes called Corn Cockles). They were selling bunches of sweet peas for 1.00 in the Ham House shop but I couldn't buy any as they would probably have died by the time I got them home; crushed to death in the rush hour on the tube!. Such a shame, especially as when I was in London in half term with the grandchildren; bunches of sweet peas were 8.00 outside Embankment tube station!

In the meantime, I'll make do with my Alstromerias from Lidl. This is the second week of blooms.

Marian and I had a lovely day together. We did manage to squeeze in a visit to a couple of charity shops after we'd had something to eat in Richmond. I didn't buy anything but Marian bought a really pretty East top which was quite reasonably priced - for London! I would like to go back and explore the charity shops in more depth; we only managed three. I'm also very pleased that Marian is going to accompany me to Ireland when I go in August. It will be great to have some company on the journey and in the caravan!

  I did want to go out walking on Thursday afternoon. I did the food shopping and ran a few errands in town and by then it was really very warm.  I felt quite tired as well so I passed on the walk.  I've learnt that I can't do as much as I used to so now I listen to what my body is telling me! I'd walked the equivalent of eight miles on Wednesday anyway and Hilary and I always manage to fit a couple of walks in on our weekends, so I will have done some exercise this week.

I remembered to smile...

I bought this spotted top in Mercy in Action for 2.00 a few weeks back. It has an Italian label. Everything is charity shopped. White top by Next; 1.00 rail in the RSPCA in Ampthill. White leggings also from a 1.00 rail somewhere.

I forgot to smile...

Pink shoes; Donegal charity shop for 3 euros. All jewellery charity shopped; the silver disc necklace came from my Barnardo's and was 1.00.

So, Friday came and after dropping one child off at school (the youngest grandchild had gone on a camping trip with his school and was coming back in the evening) I set off for Devon. I'll let you know what I got up to in my next post...