Days out and an Asylum...

 Hello again! I've been a bit cautious whilst writing my blog this past fortnight; I didn't want to delete it again by accident. If I knew how I did it the last time I'd be okay but I don't...anyhow here's what I've been up to the past fortnight.

I always try and do something with the grandsons in school holiday time and take them out for a trip somewhere. It doesn't always work out as there's a 5 year age gap between them and they're interested in different things.  Happily, my recent suggestion of a trip to London to ride on the cable car across the Thames and walk along the Thames to see the Thames Barrier this holiday met with both their approval! I wore this outfit on our day out. Everything charity shopped including all jewellery. It was a mild day but we did have a couple of showers.

I don't like heights very much but I'm able to cope with heights if I'm inside rather than outside; I knew I would be fine swinging about in a cable car on the end of a steel cable 300 feet over the Thames! The London Cable Car opened in 2012 and is nicknamed 'The Dangleway'. I only knew of its existence when OH and I did the 'Right Royal Ramble' London walk with my group earlier this year and saw them overhead.

Above photo taken from daughter's IG account.

The two boys enjoyed the trip although there wasn't that much to see from the cable cars.

A lot of construction work was going on and we could see Canary Wharf in the distance. The Thames was a muddy brown colour.

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We cut our walk along the Thames path toward the Thames barrier after 1 mile; (the barrier was 2 miles from the cable car building) as it began to rain and more than one of us needed the loo. However, we could see the barrier quite clearly in the distance with its flashing lights. I'd love to see the barriers come down one day. We walked back to North Greenwich station and caught the tube to Canary Wharf; where we wandered around looking for somewhere to eat. We ate at a Portuguese chicken chain - the boy's favourite!

I thought this sculpture (in Canada Square) was very cute.

The incredibly mild weather continued all week. This was what I wore on Wednesday. I was very tired by the time I got home on Tuesday evening and felt too tired to walk with my group who were walking from Woburn on Wednesday morning. Instead I went to Rushden for a rummage and then ran a few errands to Tesco and Home Bargains. I didn't find much on my Rushden rummage at the Sally Army; a silver M&S jumper from the 1.00 rail; a mustard cross body bag and a pair of earrings. 

Everything charity shopped. Shirt by M&S; skirt had label cut out; jacket by Gerry Weber. Boots as before and all jewellery charity shopped except for earrings bought in Co. Donegal gift shop. In the evening I went to the cinema to see 'The Woman Queen' with my daughter. It was enjoyable if somewhat predictable.

Thursdays are always a busy day for me. I started out with a swim managing 46 laps. Then it was off to the hairdressers; home to get ready and have something to eat; then the weekly Lidl shop. I also stopped at Aldi and Sainsburys and filled the car with petrol ready for my journey to Devon on Friday.  I found a small pile of winter clothing that I'd obviously bought in the summer in the charity shops and put away on the top shelf of my wardrobe. This green top by Warehouse was in the pile; the skirt, boots and jacket were also charity shopped. All jewellery charity shopped, too.

Once I'd unpacked the shopping; I put a wash on and hung it out, sorted out the fire and made dinner. OH and I had started to watch Series 1 of 'Bloodlands' on Monday evening as we enjoyed series 2 so much; we watched another 2 episodes on Thursday evening and that was the whole of series 1 finished!

This was what I wore on Friday; nothing that hasn't been seen on the blog before. Everything charity shopped. Trousers by F&F; tunic by Masai; polo neck no label and boots no label. All jewellery also charity shopped. Sorry about the dodgy selfies!

I set off for Hilary's at 9.30 am and arrived by 1 pm. There were no traffic issues, thank goodness. After a catch up and cup of tea we went out for a 4 mile walk along the Great Western Canal.

We went out for a curry in the evening and set out on Saturday morning to visit A La Ronde; which is in Exmouth about 30 miles from where Hilary lives and where her younger daughter lives.

Look at the diamond shaped windows!

Owned by the National Trust; A La Ronde has 16 sides and was inspired by the Byzantine basilica at St. Vitale in Ravenna, Italy. Built by an unknown architect for Jane and Mary Parminter in 1799 and who were first cousins; the house was a rural retreat for them and to remind them of their grand tour of Europe and to house their many souvenirs. They certainly had a thing about shells...

The Cabinet of Curiosities.

More shells.

Made of shells...

These are the steps up to the Shell Gallery which runs round the entire top of the house. Unfortunately, there was conservation work going on whilst we were there so we couldn't go and up and see the actual shell gallery. The conservation should be completed by 2023. Apparently, the shell gallery is quite unique in the world.

This frieze was entirely constructed out of  bird feathers! Jane and Mary spent much of their time engaged in craft work using shells, feathers, mosaics; paper cutting as well as watercolours and embroidery and tapestry. Mary died first followed by Jane in 1849; whose lengthy will stipulated A La Ronde and its contents were to be preserved and only unmarried kinswomen were to inherit. 

Table top covered in geological finds from Devon and its environs.

Hilary admiring something...

The music room. Most of the rooms had a wedge shaped section before you entered the room proper - an ante-room if you like but very tiny. The wedge shaped ante-rooms were used in different ways; some had shelves with books; one had a decorative table; another had a chair and yet another displayed some ceramics.

This was the view from the bedroom window down to the estuary and across to Dawlish. If you'd like to find out more about A La Ronde see HERE.

 We then drove in to Exmouth and had tea with Hilary's daughter. We took their dog for a walk along the promenade stopping for lunch in a cafe. Of course we went for a rummage; Exmouth has about 12 charity shops! I found a brown corduroy A-line skirt; a pair of black earrings for 50 p; 2 books and a glass vase for 10 p each in the last of the charity shops we visited. I spent less than 5.00 in total. The clocks went back on Saturday night and Hilary and I went out for a 3 mile walk at about eight on Sunday morning. I was home by mid-afternoon having had a lovely time. It's always so good to see Hilary and spend time with her.

This was a view on our early Sunday morning walk.

Devon is very hilly!

 This was Sunday's outfit - all seen on the blog before. I don't like this skirt; I have another denim skirt I prefer. This one will go into the donations bag to make room for the new one I bought in Devon...

Back to Barnardo's on Monday where it was stocktaking yet again. I did the banking; I did it last week. The post office in the little square where the charity shop is has not opened for the past 4 months so it means a trip to Kempston. We weren't very busy in the shop; opening at 11 am instead of 9 am because of the stock take. We were able to clear the floor of donations. Despite my best intentions I bought 2 home made skirts - the same pattern but one in oranges/reds and one in blues and pinks. The pattern contained the outlines of buildings and I thought it was lovely. To whoever made the skirts; thank you so much!

This was what I wore. The dress, top and all jewellery charity shopped. Boots from Primarni bought  in a sale. The dress was by Tu and found in Barnardo's about 2 years ago. I wear it regularly as it's such a bright cheerful colour. From Barnardo's I went straight out to run some errands; bird food supplies were low. I'd noticed fewer birds and they were not eating from the feeders so frequently; it must be the mild weather we'd been having or possibly avian flu - I hope not the latter. I hung out a wash when I got home but had to rescue it and re-spin it as it started raining and got very wet again before I noticed. I hate it when that happens!

We finished watching the last of 'Wisting' (a 'Walter Presents series on BBC 4) in the evening and I managed to finish my book too; ready to start a new one for the first day of the new month tomorrow.

 I'm wearing the orange skirt; one of the two homemade skirts I found on Monday and featured it as part of the '7 Day Skirt Style Challenge' on Instagram set by Gail of 'Is this Mutton?' HERE. Shirt by Next; sleeveless top underneath by M&S; boots all charity shopped as was all jewellery. Back to the food bank on Tuesday where I made up the usual hygiene bags; once again we'd run out of shampoo and washing up liquid by the time I'd finished.

This is a close-up of the pattern. Can you spot the outline of a building? I think it looks very like 1950s patterns I remember from my childhood.

OH had a bad knee. It started on Saturday and he slept very little on Monday night as he was in pain. He was able to see a nurse at the doctor's surgery on Tuesday morning and when I got back from the food bank I took him for an X-ray and to pick up a prescription for anti-inflammatory medication. No broken bones or fractures which was good news. He was told some years ago his knee was damaged after years of playing football and that at some point he would need a new knee. This was the worst he had ever known it; that time might be looming ever closer...the running around between pharmacies and hospital meant I was too late to go for my pre-booked swim on Tuesday afternoon; but OH could hardly walk and certainly couldn't drive!

I did finally go walking with my group on Wednesday morning. A lovely walk of almost 7 miles from the village of Wilden to Colesden and back to Wilden. It was windy but not cold although the weather has definitely got cooler. On my way back I stopped at Lidl for items for dinner which I cooked and both grandsons came for dinner as usual.

Thursday's outfit featured the second of the two skirts I bought on Monday from Barnardo's. Charity shopped jumper by M&S; as were the green tights; the boots were a retail buy in Sainsbury's sale 2 years ago. Denim jacket also charity shopped and all jewellery. 

I went for a swim on Thursday morning and did 46 laps. Once I was home and ready, OH accompanied me to do the Lidl shopping and to pick up some kindling from the farm shop. We then had a rummage in the Castle Road shops. He bought a top and I found a pair of white boots and a blue and  white jug. OH wanted to go to B&M to buy more logs and I picked up a couple of red cyclamen in pots; I have a variety of pinks and a white cyclamen but no reds. I have quite a lot of cyclamen bulbs still to plant up and will do that next week as we picked up some much needed compost whilst in B&M. I felt so cold in the (outside) garden section at B&M I had to go back into the shop to warm up! The first time I've felt cold for many a long month but suppose it will be a more frequent experience in the weeks to come...the car temperature read 10 degrees.

Friday was also a chilly and somewhat windy day. I walked with a small group of Rambler members in Letchworth Garden City. I wore a waterproof coat and needed a scarf and gloves; at least to start with. The gloves were discarded but not the coat or scarf. We had no rain - luckily. Known as home to the first 'Garden City'  - and the first roundabout in the world; Letchworth was built in 1903 by Barry Parker and Raymond Unwin; based on the principles of Ebeneezer Howard. His aim was to build garden cities which provided jobs, services and good housing whilst retaining the environmental quality of the countryside. Howard's ideas about this kind of human settlement gave rise to the 'garden city movement' of 20th century urban planning and Welwyn Garden City followed in 1919.

Typical housing in Letchworth. The house below is unusual in that it is made of wood, or at least cladded in wood. This isn't very common in England as most houses are built of brick, stone and concrete.

The houses below were set around a green mimicking a village green set up. Note the beautiful blue sky despite the chilly weather.

Ebeneezer Howard. He looks quite jolly doesn't he?

An example of light industry in the town providing employment for local people; the Spirella Corset Company. Started in 1910 in Letchworth; the company moved into this building eventually between 1912 and 1919 when the building was completed. It is now a business hub; the company closing in 1989.

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Advertisement drawing of a Spirella corsetier delivering and adjusting in a customer's home.

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 As well as the city itself the walk took in a nature reserve; a community orchard, where I picked some apples to make a pudding to go with Sunday dinner; and an archaeological dig where we stopped and chatted to the archaeologists. They had uncovered the sites of two Roman farmsteads in the field we walked through; the following week they were starting in the field behind, where they knew from their geophysical survey were some Bronze Age round barrows. And in case you're wondering about the title of this post our walk also included a visit to an asylum! Known originally as the 'Three Counties Asylum'(Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Huntingdonshire) Fairfield Hospital opened as a psychiatric institution in 1860 and closed in 1999. Now home to luxury apartments and a very tasteful housing estate; I did a management training course here in 1982/1983 when I was a ward sister. The building above was at the rear of the old hospital and contained a gym with a cafe; you can see we were making a beeline for it...I had walked a total of 10 miles by the time I got back to my car, this did however, include the quick trawl around the 5 charity shops I found. All I bought was a book for 50 pence!

A bit of a murky day on Saturday and chilly again.  It was mostly a pottering about sort of day. I replaced my jackets with heavier coats and coatigans on the downstairs coat hanger rail; I don't expect to get much more wear out of them this year. OH and I went out for 5 mile walk along the river in the afternoon. His knee was improving and walking helped. Eldest grandson stayed over.

This was Saturday's outfit. Everything charity shopped and old except the boots and skirt which were recent finds. In the garden there was still blooming going on:

3 of our chrysanthemums had flowered and 2 more were about to. I sorted through my hyacinth bulbs selecting the best 3 specimens and put them in hyacinth vases that a woman gave me at a car boot sale earlier this year. I put them in the dining room near to the window and I'm hoping they'll flower...

I had the usual Sunday;  washing; housecleaning and OH made a Sunday dinner of  chicken curry. My daughter and I had a nut roast and I also made a vegan rice pudding; using some of the apples from the community orchard - very nice it was, too. Once everyone had gone home we watched this based on a recommendation from my brother, Tony.

Two episodes in and we were hooked. That's the rest of this week's viewing sorted then...

Monday was cold, wet and gloomy; typical November weather. I dressed for warmth which was just as well as the shop was cold. There had been a big clear up since I was last there so there was space at the back to move around in and we had put out our Christmas gifts stand. Yes, although we got our Christmas merchandise in August and put it on display (!) we keep certain donations back all year round for our Christmas gift stand. It's very popular and I sold quite a few Christmas gift items whilst I was in. The items can range from toiletry packs, to slippers, games, gloves, toys. They're all new and still in their packaging so good for gifts.

This was what I wore to Barnardo's. Everything charity shopped. Dress by Tu; boots as before; tights were a gift from my daughter and the jacket was a summer buy from RSPCA in Newport Pagnell. All jewellery charity shopped.

The colder weather meant I had been putting my heating on at times. I rarely have it on all day with the exception of Christmas Day.  In the last few days I noticed the cost of the gas and electricity had more than doubled from the highest it had ever been for us (for 1 day on Christmas Day 2020). I have a smart meter so I've been able to monitor the changing cost. I am very lucky in that I can afford the increased fuel costs and the government has given senior citizens (those of an age to receive a state pension) a quite generous winter fuel allowance this year.  I despair for those who can't afford the increases. Our local council along with many others across the UK has also set up 'warm spaces' so members of the public can go somewhere to get warm. How shameful is it that we need to do this for people and us the 6th richest nation in the world? On that rather sad note I'll say goodbye and see you in a fortnight.