Busy days

Hello again! How quickly that fortnight comes around again...

I was going to walk in Ampthill with my group on Wednesday but on Tuesday evening we had torrential rain that went on all night. That meant it would be very muddy in places and as I don't like mud I decided not to go. I'd planned to go for a walk on my own but that didn't happen either. I did go to Aldi and into to town to run some errands. I went to the High Street and looked in the charity shops. I bought a book and a dress to wear on Christmas Day! How organised am I? I even picked up tins of Quality Street and Celebrations last week as well; they've been put in the loft for safe keeping...

This was Wednesday's outfit. The coatigan was bought a few weeks ago at The Day Care Hospice charity shop and I didn't need it on Wednesday as it was warm, but I didn't realise until I went outside. Trousers by Yessica (C&A brand) from the same place and jumper by Tu; picked up in a charity shop somewhere. The boots were donated by daughter and all jewellery was charity shopped. I bought 3 pairs of ball earrings in red, turquoise and grey  for 5 euros in Oxfam  in Sligo when we were there in September. The earrings are put on back to front; the reverse of the way you usually put earrings in. The post which also has a tiny ball; goes in first through the back of the ear then the ball is pushed onto the post from the front. It took me a few goes to get it right!

I went for a swim on Thursday morning and did the usual 1.5km. It was a much cooler day and I needed a jacket. It started out at 9 degrees and by the afternoon reached only 12 degrees. This was the denim skirt I bought in Cambridge on Saturday. I shall turn the waistband over in future when I wear it as it is a bit longer than I like. The top by Primarni is years old and the boots by River Island were charity shopped.

All jewellery charity shopped except the ring which was a present. The cuff was a nuisance. When I went to pay for my shopping in Lidl it flew off my wrist and almost hit the checkout guy in the face! When I'd put the shopping away I then went to three different places to drop my grandson's CV off. I'm keeping my fingers crossed he gets something soon. B&M are desperate for staff but they only pay 16-18 year olds the minimum wage for that age group which is £4.62 per hour.

Another chilly day on Friday. I had planned to spend the day with cousin Marian and we had booked to go to Kenwood House in Hampstead. It was free entry and not too far from where she lives in London. Unfortunately, she had an abscess in her gum and was feeling pretty crap and cancelled: I went to see my friend Bernie in London instead. We had a great catch up at her house and then went to the charity shops in West Hampstead; where I couldn't resist a felted yellow coatigan which cost 15.00. That's London pricing for you but I loved it. I had a similar dark blue coatigan that I'd had for a few years so that was put in the charity shop bag in exchange. 1 in, 1 out. We had a meal out after our rummage and I got home quite late in the evening. OH and middle grandson had gone to the cinema to see 'Venom' so I got back to an empty house. This was what I wore to London:

Everything bought from charity shops except the boots which were bought online. Loose trousers by Jane Norman; top by Pepperberry and the jacket by Fenn, Wright and Mason. 

All jewellery charity shopped.

On Satuday I walked to the library to return my library book and then spent the afternoon at my friend Ann's catching up. I hadn't seen her since Jamaica Independence Day when we met in the Market Square. It's crazy; she only lives about 2 miles away! We've planned to get together and go out for a day in November.

Everything charity shopped except the boots which were yet another pair donated by my daughter. The trousers were by H&M as was the striped tunic. The top underneath by John Lewis.

This was the coatigan I bought in the West Hampstead charity shop on Friday. I put in the washing machine on Friday evening and it was dry and ready to wear on Saturday! It doesn't have any fastenings but when I was in Cornwall back in April I picked up about 5 felt brooches for 20 p each in a community charity shop in Pentreath so I shall use those as ad hoc buttons. I fastened it with a brooch with red stones here.

All jewellery charity shopped.

On Sunday morning my daughter and I went for a 5 mile walk;  in fact it was the walk I'll be leading on November 18th - a Thursday Amble. I'm leading an 8 mile walk on the 17th as well. I did the housework when I got back from the walk and cooked Sunday dinner for grandsons and OH.

 This was what I wore on Monday to Barnardo's. Everything was charity shopped. The wide legged cropped jeans were by Toast; the striped top from 1.00 rail; the cardigan had no label. The pumps were from Barnardo's and picked up a few weeks back.

All jewellery charity shopped.

I started later than usual at Barnardo's as I had a doctor's appointment on Monday morning. I'd had a telephone consultation with the doctor the week before and she asked me to go and be examined. All is well. I just needed some oestrogen cream in a delicate area...old age is not for sissies, you know! I finished at Barnardo's by 3pm; then went home and did a towels wash, cleaned out the fire and cooked dinner. I caught up with blogs and comments in the evening. I noticed reading the 'Persephone Books Blog' HERE that there was an exhibition of Laura Knight's art; 'A Panoramic View' at the Milton Keynes Gallery. I decided  to book myself a ticket and go sometime soon. It runs until February 2022 so there's plenty of time...you can find out more HERE. I watched a new series called 'The Outlaws' on Monday evening and it looks quite promising. I like having something to look forward to watching on TV most evenings. On Tuesday it will be 'Who Do You Think You Are' and on Wednesday evening 'Shetland'.

Ruby Loftus Screwing a Breech Ring, 1943 by Laura Knight.

On Tuesday it was back to the foodbank. They'd missed me last week and the manager said if I didn't do the hygiene bags they didn't know how'd they manage as they give out on average 60 bags on a Friday! I made up 67 hygiene bags in total and towards the end we ran out of washing up liquid to put in them and were very close to running out of soap, too. If you want to donate to your local food bank check online first to see what they need urgently. We often have gluts of certain types of foodstuff and not enough of others; and often have hygiene item shortages. The hygiene items we give out as standard are; soap, shower gel, shampoo, deodorant, toothpaste; washing tablets or liquid (for clothes), washing up liquid, cleaning cloths or sponges, cleaning spray or wipes, toilet paper and when we have them we also give out tissues and handwash.

Skirt by M&S; jumper; no label  ; jacket by Elizabeth Scott: Boots bought online and tights by Snag. I needed the jacket as the warehouse was a bit chilly to start with.

All jewellery charity shopped.

I went to Waitrose to pick up some soda bread on the way back from the food bank and also stopped at Home Bargains for some more bird food supplies. I spied this mirror there and as I'd had the old one for about 15 years decided to update it. I love arch shaped mirrors and windows. It was very cheap, too. I'd like the black one for my bedroom but then I'd have no wall space left to hang my earrings on...

This was Wednesday's walk from Caldicotte Lake in Milton Keynes. We walked along the Grand Union Canal towpath for about 2 miles. There were some lovely narrowboats and house boats. It was a very overcast day but it didn't rain and it was quite warm. The walk was just under 8 miles in total and good dry paths. There are many lakes in Milton Keynes and miles of walks around them and apparently the different walks link up in places.

 This appeared to be a canal side art club. The smaller square states 'I'm  not bad; I'm just drawn that way'. You can click on the photo to enlarge it.

This unprepossessing building below is a rear view of part of the Open University campus which is based in Milton Keynes but the majority of its students study off campus and come from all over the world. About ten years ago I did an Open University short course in Creative Writing and enjoyed it very much.

After the walk I stopped in Newport Pagnell and had a rummage. I bought a small fish dish and a pair of sparkly earrings to go with my sparkly Christmas dress and a I found a 50p bargain which will feature layer in this post.  As I was driving towards the car park in Newport Pagnell I spotted a delivery robot trundling along the pavement! It was doing exactly the same as the one in this video HERE. 

It's the first one I'd ever seen but they are a common sight in and around Milton Keynes, I believe. I stopped at Aldi on the way home and picked up some items from my weekly  shopping list. No robot delivery service in Bedford!

I went swimming on Thursday morning and did 46 laps. I wasn't sure what to wear so opted for a dress as they're the easiest of things to wear. Dress by Stella and charity shopped in Ireland (I think), tights by Snag and boots bought in Sainsbury's sale. Jacket by Country Casuals and was a charity shop buy.

I wore the cardigan (also charity shopped) by indoors as the dress had short sleeves. I would wear this dress with trousers in the future as it's a bit shorter than I like on me.

All jewellery charity shopped.

After swimming I went to the farmshop in Sharnbrook for more coal then on to Lidl for the rest of the weekly shop. I then collected the youngest grandson and he came back to my house as he was staying the night. But I also dropped him to basketball practice at 5.30pm and collect him at 7pm. In between I made dinner for us all. I was glad to sit down and put my feet up in the evening by the fire and get on with latest read from the library.

After a leisurely start to my day on Friday I took the youngest grandson home and went into town. I had a list of things to do (in my head); return book to library, get eyebrows done, buy new mop head, go to Boots. I did most of these and even went to the pound shop to pick up some nuts but when I got home realised I'd completely forgotten to get my eyebrows done! I couldn't be bothered to go out again so I'll go on Monday instead. I got very lucky at Wilco. They had a rack with all plants reduced to 20 pence each. I bought two miniature cacti and a large Kalanchoe plant in a ceramic pot and all for the princely sum of 60p!

Wearing a pink jumper by Next and a homemade (not by me) vintage top picked up at the Vintage Kilo sale in Bedford earlier this year; Marilyn jeans by M&S and boots donated by daughter. All charity shopped. I like the top very much and have a couple of skirts it would go well with. I also bought a long sleeved top from the same vintage kilo sale and planned to wear it on Monday to Barnardo's or to the Food bank on Tuesday. I have to admit I'd forgotten all about the two tops...

All jewellery charity shopped.

I made a 'Very Veggie Lentil Bake' for dinner and very good it was too. As there was too much for OH and I to eat and my daughter wouldn't eat it because it contained cheese; I froze a portion for my brother, Mark who is a vegetarian. Next weekend we're off to Norwich for a sort of family union with some family members from my Dad's side of the family. I'll get to see cousins I haven't seen for more than 40 years and get to meet two first cousins I've never met before! Mark doesn't want to come (he hates travelling) but we'll be picking the other brother up from Kettering so I can give him the vegetarian dish then.

You might have wondered why is there a random, not very good, photo of some rhinoceroses (rhinoceri)? The reason is I took this photo at Woburn Safari Park which we walked through on the group walk on Saturday. The walk started at Ridgemont (very close to the ginormnous Amazon warehouse in Milton Keynes) then to Woburn. There were several footpaths through the Woburn estate and this one went past the enclosures of the elephants, giraffes, wallabies, various kinds of deer, bison, some strange looking creatures which we couldn't agree were sheeps or goats; and then the rhinos. I've posted photos of the other animals before as I've walked through Woburn several times on group walks but this was the first time from Ridgemont. We walked 6 miles in total in very pleasant weather. We crossed under the M1 motorway at the start and over it via a bridge on the return section.

I spent most of Sunday in the garden cutting back the perennial plants and covering the pots with bark chippings which will hopefully protect them from frost and keep the weeds at bay. I had also planned to plant out seeds and bulbs but there wasn't time as the clocks had gone back on Saturday and it got dark by 5 pm! I should get it done in the week; weather permitting...I made dinner for us all and spent the evening chilling out watching the final episodes of 'Paris Police, 1900 which had quite an abrupt ending, I thought. I also finished my book about Sissinghurst by Adam Nicolson which I bought at the library sale the last time I was there. I am hoping my crochet mojo might return soon as we are back to long dark evenings and I like to crochet when I watch TV.

Trousers by M&S; top by F&F; grey tunic from 1.00 rail picked up last week and grey boots by Manteray; all from Barnardo's charity shop where I volunteer

Scarf and all jewellery charity shopped.

I picked up this black Liz Claiborne jacket for 50p in the Keech Hospice shop in Newport Pagnell. Boots as before; polo by H&M also charity shopped. Skirt bought at QD for a charity shop price last Christmas.

All jewellery charity shopped.

It was a much cooler today on Monday and the morning was quite chilly so I turned the heating on for a while. The first time in the morning for a long time - well it was November! At Barnardo's, I met the new manager at last; and she seemed lovely and very easy to work with. It was a busy morning but I got a lot done; removing much of the lighter and summer type wear from the rails; thinning them out. In the afternoon at home I hung out a wash to take advantage of the robust breeze. I had my eyebrows done then came back and did some housework that I didn't have time for on Sunday and cooked dinner.

On Tuesdays and Wednesdays it would be much easier for me if I just wore 'leisure wear' and dropped the make up, because of swimming and walking but I just wouldn't feel right. I don't have leisure wear anyway; I have some 'yoga' pants, I think they're called (charity shopped) and of course my walking gear and I do quite often spend the day in my walking gear if I'm not going anywhere after a walk. However, almost everyday I get dressed and put my make up on; I did all throughout the lock downs. This was what I wore today but ditched the jacket, one of my favourites, because it wasn't warm enough and wore a  green long cardigan instead. When I got in the car to go to the food bank it was 6 degrees and on the journey home the temperature had climbed to 12 degrees.

Tuesday was a busy day.

The jacket is a home made vintage one bought in the Red Cross when I volunteered there. The top is the second from the Vintage kilo sale; the label says Tussi; trousers by M&S; boots by River Island and both charity shopped.

All jewellery charity shopped.

I made up hygiene bags at the food bank making 65 single packs and 10 family packs. I put a wash on and cleaned out the fire when I got home then went for a swim where I swam 46 or 48 laps; I lost count, but I did at least 1.5km.  When I got back I was no sooner in then I had to go out again for my booster jab. I have a very sore arm as I type this and hope it wears off by tomorrow's walk with my group. It's only in Sharnbrook so not very far away and I have a lot of stuff to do when I get home so it will be yet another busy day. I'd rather be busy than sat around twiddling my thumbs!