An auction house and a Golden Wedding.

Here we are again and another fortnight gone by. As Sandy Denny and Fairport Convention said; 'who knows where the time goes'?

As I'm not supposed to be walking I went for a swim last Wednesday instead. I did 46 laps and wore this outfit for quick removal. ..top by Masai; joggers/yoga pants (I don't know what to call them) by Next and shoes by Clarks - all charity shopped. All jewellery charity shopped. The pool was quite crowded to start with so I swam in the middle lane for most of the time. I had also swam on Tuesday afternoon after the food bank and swam 48 laps. After  I'd gone home and put my face on I went to Aldi for stuff for Wednesday's dinner when both grandsons come round. The eldest grandson was on holiday with his girlfriend in the Dominican Republic. He kept sending me photos of white sandy beaches, palm trees and brilliant blue skies...

After dinner we caught up with 'Sewing Bee'. It was children's week which I'm not terribly interested in but one of the contestants made a superb Halloween outfit in the transformation section of the show - a ghostly Miss Havisham outfit. With being away at the weekend I'd got a little behind with blog reading so I also tried to catch up with that as much as I could.

This was what I wore on Thursday. It was a pretty hectic day. I started out with the usual Thursday swim and swam 48 laps. Then I went to the hairdressers. After returning home and getting ready I went to do the weekly food shop going to Lidl and Sainsburys. I put my feet up after packing the shopping away as we were off that evening to an event organised by the Ramblers; it was also part of OH's birthday surprises as he didn't know where we going. He was under strict instructions to get home from work early...

Everything charity shopped. Denim jacket from an Irish charity shop when we were there last September; tunic by White Stuff and trousers by F&F both from my Barnardo's. Shoes by Clarks; Cat's Protection League and all jewellery charity shopped except the earrings which are old ones from Sainsburys. I no longer even bother to look at their jewellery as it has become, to my mind, very boring. So where did our evening take us?

We went to an out of hours 'Secrets of the Auctioneer' evening at Peacocks our local auctioneers and valuers; organised by the Social Secretary of the Ivel Valley Walking group. Peacocks used to be based in the town but had moved to bigger premises on a business park just outside of the town. It was such a fun evening; we both thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We were greeted with a glass of wine; then had a brief talk about the auction house. We then were given valuation sheets and set off to explore 5 salerooms of goods up for auction this coming weekend to try and guess as accurately as possible the auctioneer's estimates. There were 15 items to value ranging from a coffee machine; a dinghy; a Suffragette badge; a Victorian writing table and horses head made of driftwood and other sundry items. We headed to the cafe when we were finished where we had tea and cakes and two auctioneers talked us through their estimates. The highest score in the group was 8 out of 15 and I scored 6. The winner received a prize of a bottle of wine and a voucher to use at the cafe. What was also interesting about the evening was I met 2 of my fellow walkers who were also suffering from Plantar Fascitis and not walking currently and we shared PF exercises. On the advice of one I sent off for some special insoles he recommended.

Friday was a lovely warm day with sunshine for most of the day but with a brisk breeze at times. I waited in for the gas boiler to be serviced; the engineer didn't turn up and didn't phone so I re-booked another slot; then set off to meet some of my walking group friends for a coffee. After that I walked into town to do an errand and then came home and hung out the second wash of the day; the first having dried in a couple of hours. I made dinner for OH and I and spent most of the evening packing for our trip to Gainsborough in Lincolnshire at the weekend.

Everything I'm wearing was charity shopped. The jacket by M&Co; dress by Seasalt; leggings by Primarni and shoes by Hotter. The green bag was one of the first cross-body bags I found and I'd only worn it once before. The necklace was found in a Lincoln charity shop last weekend. In the photo with the jacket on you can just see my bangle. I can't remember now where I bought it from but it was earlier this year and it's rather fab, I think. It's made of wire and beads so it is quite flexible; I think I paid a 1.00 for it.

We set off for Gainsborough at 10.30 and were at the church 2 hours later. We went into Gainsborough for a quick look round; found a couple of charity shops and bought a handmade bird nesting box. A little late for this year but maybe next? The church service was lovely; my uncle and aunt were renewing their wedding vows after 50 years of marriage. This is how they looked as they greeted people at the church door...

Don't they look fab?

This was what I wore. I had wanted to wear a beautiful handmade dress in a vibrant African print I bought about 18 months ago from Etsy. The zip was problematic; I couldn't get it to go up the last few inches. I had planned originally to ask my friend Ann to replace the zip for me and take the dress up; but had forgotten all about it and of course she was on holiday in Jamaica and not around. This M&S charity shopped dress was last worn for  my birthday celebrations in 2019 in London;  this time I wore it with a red Dunne's Stores jacket picked up from my Barnardo's and red vintage M&S (old St. Michael label) shoes. I'd had them for ages but never worn them and can't remember where I got them from. I wore them with tights. I also used my red cross body bag which was a birthday present from my daughter.

All jewellery charity shopped except eBay earrings.

After the church service we went to a local golf club where we had nibbles and drinks; then a sit down meal; followed by a buffet and disco in the evening. We had booked a room in the golf club for an overnight stay -  a lovely, comfortable room but I forgot to take photos. I have a confession to make. After our sit down meal and a couple of drinks but before the evening festivities began; I went to our room to chill out and freshen up a bit. I fell asleep and didn't wake up until after 10 pm accompanied by OH! When he woke up he thought it was nearly six pm in the evening and was as shocked as I was to find out the time. I am just not used to eating a big meal at that time of day or drinking a couple of glasses of wine at that time. I think OH had had quite a bit to drink. Of course it was too late to go to the disco - just as well it would have been too loud and I can't see the point if you can't hear each other speak. Yes, there's the dancing but I only usually dance to reggae music and it was all pop music. Oh dear, what an old fart I sound/am. Luckily, we all had breakfast together in the morning and I found I wasn't the only one who skipped the disco; one of the cousins did too and went to their hotel a few miles away - and they were younger than me! The male cousins had mostly stayed on to watch the football that evening and didn't bother much with the disco part so we didn't feel so bad...

This was Sunday's outfit and as it was quite a chilly day I was cold! Everything charity shopped. White trousers by Next have been put into the donations bag as they didn't fit well around the bottom area; top from 1.00 rail at Barnardo's and the colourful jacket was bought in Co. Derry charity shop at Easter. Shoes by Hotter. The spotted bag you can see was my overnight bag also charity shopped. All jewellery charity shopped with the necklace being picked up at Lincoln the previous weekend. It had been 4 weeks by that point of my no clothes buying ban. We arrived home at 2 pm and proceeded to unpack, put on some washing and do the usual house cleaning. I didn't need to make dinner as ex son-in-law had a made a curry for us. We chilled out in the evening watching a Polish series new to us from Walter Presents called 'The Teacher'.

My grandson had stayed over on Sunday evening so I took him home before I went into Barnardo's a little later on Monday morning. There were a lot of donations to process and a bit of stock taking to do but the time flew. I wore this:

 Everything charity shopped. Clarks shoes; New Look skirt and the brown linen jacket was bought from Age UK years ago. All jewellery charity shopped, too.

In the garden the nasturtium seeds in the seed trays had begun to sprout. Out of 12 pots 8 had seedling shooting up. The pot that I'd planted half a dozen seeds in separately showed no signs of shoots so far. This is the delphinium:

Isn't it a beauty and there are more spikes developing. The agapanthus had finally showed signs of something blooming. I bought them 3 years ago for OH at Kells Bay House and Gardens in Co. Kerry and had thought they would never bloom. The leaves are quite big and dramatic so I didn't mind too much but I am excited to see what happens. At the front a hydrangea showed signs of blooming; whereas the pyracanthus seemed to have died completely and will need to be replaced by something else. We had strawberries and raspberries ready to eat; plus garlic, mint, thyme and rosemary. We also have blackcurrants and gooseberries growing but neither did very well last year.

I made dinner and spent the evening catching up with blog land and the RHS Chelsea Flower Show which we hadn't watched last week when it was showing. Only 2 episodes left to watch and we'd have caught up. There was torrential rain on Monday and it was chilly; increasingly so as the day went on. The central heating went on for an hour then we lit the fire...

At the food bank on Tuesday morning I was back to making up hygiene packs - which I much prefer. After the two and a half hours of standing and walking around my foot was quite sore;  when I went home I rested it for about an hour before going into town to run a couple of errands. I'm afraid I succumbed and bought an item of clothing after a 4 week abstinence. It was too good to pass by. A denim duster/kimono by Paul Costelloe for 4.00 in the Salvation Army. I intend to continue with the no buying but I won't stop looking in some charity shops as it's so much part of the fabric of my life. I am missing my walking very much but daren't risk going for walks as I don't want to damage the foot further.

I rescued these trousers from the caravan when we were there at Easter. I couldn't find them at home and thought I'd re-donated them! They're a bit too light for Ireland. They were charity shopped somewhere and by Zara, the top was from F&F and the short kimono type jacket had no label. Shoes from a charity shop in Donegal. All jewellery charity shopped; except the brooch which was made by a local artisan in Co. Donegal. I had been looking at my wardrobe with a super critical eye since my no buy pledge and on Tuesday put three dresses in the donations bag. As things aren't being replaced I should begin to see more space in the wardrobes...I sorted garments into a pile that mostly needed taking up and planned to start sewing (which I hate) in the evening whilst watching TV. Part of the trouble is the difficulty I have with threading the blasted needle.

Everything charity shopped except the white pumps from Primarni. Leggings from the same place but via charity shop; corduroy dress by Boden and blue top underneath by Classic. All jewellery also charity shopped. I bought the bag for 1.50 in the 3:16 charity shop earlier this year; today was the first time I had used it.

Normally on a Wednesday I'd be walking somewhere with my group. We no longer had restrictions on numbers on the walks nor did we have to book. Instead I went to Aldi for the weekly bits I buy from there and then went for a 46 lap swim. After getting ready I went to meet my daughter at a new vegan restaurant that had opened in town opposite the market. We had a delicious lunch; both opting for the all day breakfast. I had no idea scrambled tofu tasted so good! By the time I walked home my foot was playing up again and I needed to rest it before I made dinner for the grandsons and OH. We watched the Sewing Bee and I predicted correctly that Angela would go home; I did love her made to measure dress even though it wasn't 'Bowiesque' enough!

A lovely day on Thursday warm sunshine for most of the day. I wore jeans by Next, top by Nomads and the duster/kimono by Paul Costelloe. Pumps by Vans. Everything charity shopped including the jewellery.

I started the day with a swim; swimming 48 laps/1 mile. When I came home I spent time making an inventory of all the plants in the back and front garden. There were now 10 nasturtium seedlings blooming and they should be ready to plant out by the weekend. From pottering about in the garden in the lovely sunshine I set out for Aldi and Sainsburys to do the weekly food shopping. When I'd unpacked it all and put it away - a job I hate by the way along with ironing and cleaning the cooker - I put my feet up for a bit before making dinner for OH and I. As Republicans we didn't celebrate the big event the rest of the country was celebrating but we had invited everyone over on Sunday for a barbecue if the weather permitted and a curry if not. OH had two days off for the bank holiday and had gone out and bought himself a new drill. The old one had broken beyond repair. The new one had a torch on the front and was very sophisticated; now he just needed an excuse to use it!

It was another lovely warm day on Friday reaching 22 degrees C by the afternoon. We decided to make the most of it and went to Hitchin where we hadn't been for ages. Almost all the charity shops were open and the market was, too. There was live music in the square right in the centre of town; there had been a carnival procession earlier in the day. It was pretty crowded but with a nice buzz...I bought a tin; some books 3 for 1.00 and a necklace; spending the princely sum of 2.00! In the market I found a small stone Green Man. I would have liked a larger one but the seller was packing up his van and had packed the larger ones away. He's there every Friday and Saturday so I will go back and buy a larger one on another occasion. His prices were very reasonable. We also bought some rhubarb plants and I bought an Ajuga plant which was in full flowering mode. I have another one I bought at the street jumble last year which is just throwing up small shoots.

Everything charity shopped. Jeans by Next, top by LOGG; jacket has a label but has faded so much the manufacturer can't be discerned; shoes by Clarks. All jewellery charity shopped, too.

The garden is blooming well...

There's my Buddha - safe from thieving wretches!

On Saturday morning this greeted me - a Cistus or Rock Rose. It survived the winter...

A cooler day on Saturday and on our expedition in the afternoon it rained. Luckily the sun came out later and it eventually turned into a warm and sunny evening. OH hung the new Ajuga plant in a hanging basket at the front of the house when we got back; the perfect excuse to use the new drill!  I wore white jeans from Next, top from Next and green shirt by George. All charity shopped. Green pumps from Sainsbury's retail in their sale. All jewellery charity shopped.

As it was half term week I always try to do something with the grandchildren in school holidays and on Saturday we went to Waddesdon Manor in Buckinghamshire near Aylesbury. Bequeathed to the National Trust in 1957 by James Edmond; a great-nephew of Alice de Rothschild; sister of Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild who built Waddesdon Manor in 1847. He built it to display his collection of French decorative arts alongside English portraits and Dutch Old Master paintings. The interiors were designed to resemble the great French houses and palaces of the 18th century. It's a style I don't like; it's far too ornate, embellished and overblown for my taste but it was a very interesting visit. I think the grandsons were a bit underwhelmed at times but OH and I will go again and explore the house and grounds at our leisure...

I liked the outside of the house especially the two round towers either side of the entrance which echo the grand spiral staircases of the interior.

This was the aviary which was in the shape of a semi-circle but I had to crop the photo to edit out some of the many visitors. There were some wonderful birds in the aviary; all non-native species and quite exotic. I just managed to get a photo of a 'peacock pheasant':

One of the birds made a sound like a Howler Monkey! I'd go back just to see if I could identify all the species contained in the aviary.

Here's some examples of the over ornate style which proliferated throughout the house:

The cabinet was made from marble of some kind and inlaid with ivory. I think the chicken candlestick speaks for itself...there were several rooms filled with collections of porcelain dinner services and plates:

What a stunning shade of blue that is. This urn was a beautiful shade of green and gifted to the Baron by the Czar of Russia:

I liked the bedrooms which were designed in a much simpler style to the rest of the rooms:

And I really liked these paintings:

There were some wonderful 15th century paintings from Milan which I also loved but they were in a darkened room and the photos didn't come out. We weren't allowed to use the flash on our phone cameras...

And I absolutely adored the jewellery; all contained in a room called 'The Treasury':

These were rather wonderful:

I loved this ceiling which was either in the Billiard Room or the Smoking Room.

And finally:

Life sized Asian elephants carved in wood. Who doesn't love an elephant?

I wore this on Sunday. I wore red leggings underneath for warmth. Dress bought in Bedford market a few years ago; denim jacket bought in an Irish charity shop. Shoes by Clarks also charity shopped. I wear my Plantar Fascitis insoles in all my shoes now and it does seem to help. All jewellery charity shopped.

I went for a swim on Sunday morning swimming 48 laps. Then it was all systems go as we'd invited everyone over for dinner. Brother Julian couldn't make it - too busy with work but my other two brothers came over. We did the house cleaning and as we'd prepared the two curries (I vegetarian and 1 chicken) the evening before we just had cook and or prepare the side dishes. It was cold and wet so we lit the fire which made things nice and cosy. I don't think I've ever lit the fire in June before...In the evening after I'd taken my brothers back home we watched the start of the second series of 'Outlaws'.

A slightly warmer but very gloomy Monday. The light was so poor I ended up turning the photo below into a black and white one. Everything charity shopped. The skirt by M&S was charity shopped in Belfast; the jacket in Co. Derry. The top is ancient and the Vans pumps were also charity shopped as was all the jewellery.

 

It wasn't busy at Barnardo's; we processed donations all morning. When I got home I cleaned out the fire and hung up the whites wash I'd put on before I left. Then it was time to catch up with blogging and blog land. No need to cook dinner; there was curry left over and I'd eat my mine with grains later on. My foot was not at all painful despite my 3.5 hours standing in the charity shop yet last week it was painful. Hopefully it's improving. I've also been told by another PF sufferer to try B12. I may try and buy some tomorrow after the food bank. We had heavy rain throughout Sunday evening and our last trellis (recycled from mum's garden in Kettering about 15 years) was brought down. It flattened several of the flowering plants in the pots but luckily they sprang back up.  A passion flower had been wrapped around the old trellis. OH bought a new one after work and put it up with his super duper new drill; the passion flower seemingly none the worse for the collapse.

When I got out of bed on Tuesday morning for the first time in more than 3 weeks my foot wasn't painful. Yippee! I went to the food bank and packed up hygiene bags; next week a colleague is off and it'll be back to making up food parcels. It was a pleasantly warm, sunny day. Everything I wore was thrifted. Trousers by F&F;  navy checked top by George at Asda,; jacket bought at vintage event at the Children's Society earlier this year. Shoes by Dr. Lightfoot.  All jewellery charity shopped. I am crediting the insoles I bought and have been wearing everyday for the reduction in foot pain and of course the exercises. Let's hope it lasts!

I hung out the whites wash I'd put on before I left for the food bank and went into town as I had several errands to run. I walked all over looking for 'Stardrops' liquid cleaner which I've used for about 18 years; the only place that stocked it - 'Savers'; no longer does as it didn't sell; the manager informed me. I came home and rested my foot for about an hour before making dinner. I was still pain free! The rest of the week will follow the usual routine; swimming on Wednesday and a trip to Aldi before picking grandson up from school; swimming and rest of the food shopping on Thursday. On Friday, I'm off to London for a blogger meet up so will tell you all about it in my next post!