Old Warden, Uxbridge, Kettering and a cat!

Hello again! 

Since OH has been off work he can't get over at how quickly the day and the days pass... we know all about that don't we?

I meant to show you these on the last post. I treated myself to some tulips from Lidl when I did the weekly shop; jug charity shopped. I'd also noticed Sainsbury's had tiny bunches of daffodils for 1.00 per bunch.  The painting (from a charity shop in Co. Sligo) is by Diego Rivera and is entitled 'The Flower Sellers'. The pewter items are part of a pewter tea set (1930s-1940s) bought from Etsy with birthday money from my son last year; I'd found the matching pewter jug in a charity shop first; and on the right is a pewter bowl with lid found in a 2nd hand shop in Bedford and a birthday gift to me from OH. On our recent walks OH and I noticed yellow forsythia in bloom and some pink blossom; all welcome signs that Spring is on its way!

As usual my blog restarts from the Wednesday after I last posted and once again I didn't walk with the group but had a hairdresser's appointment to keep instead. It was another bitterly cold day but with less wind and it was sunny at times. Hurrah!  Everything I wore was pre-loved; M&S sweater dress; Nike leggings and boots. Underneath I had a thermal vest and a polo neck. All jewellery pre-loved. 

On my way back from the hairdressers I popped into the Castle Road charity shops where I hadn't been for a couple of weeks. I found a very warm black maxi dress with a fleece lining and a brown leather jacket by John Rocha. The jacket will replace a current brown leather jacket I have; bought in a Dublin charity shop for 9 euros in 2016. It's a bit too small and doesn't do up and the new one does. I'm trying very hard to stick to the 1 in 1 out mantra and every so often look at the clothes in my wardrobes and try and cull what doesn't get worn or those I no longer like. Who knows one day I may achieve a capsule wardrobe - fat chance!!

OH saw the consultant on Wednesday and had his medication changed yet again. He also went into work to discuss options for the future but until he is deemed fit to return to work by the medics they won't countenance anything until then. He was still awaiting an appointment for an MRI scan from Papworth Hospital. 

On Wednesday afternoon I went for a lunch date at the Old Water Mill in Barton-Le-Clay with an old colleague; Yvonne and we had a good catch up. She would like to get into walking as she leads a mainly sedentary lifestyle. Where she lives she is surrounded by the Barton and Pegsdon hills; some of the few non-flat places in Bedfordshire and beautiful walking spots. I've said if she comes to Bedford next time; I'll start her off on a shortish walk to the Marina along the river and we can stop for a cup of coffee and a break there before walking back. If she finds that doable we can work out a few walks around where she lives. It's not good to be sitting down all day as we all need to move;  it's especially important as you age. If she likes the walking she could join our walking group or any other one of her choice which also extends social networks. I'd started to listen to 'Just One Long Thing' podcast on BBC Sounds and maintaining social networks is a positive factor in ageing well. It's common sense really but those who are socially isolated or describe themselves as lonely suffer more ill health.

As I now go swimming on Tuesday afternoon rather than Thursday morning my Thursday mornings are free. I decided to walk with the Ramblers. Thursday morning walks are called 'ambles' as we walk at a slower pace and walk shorter distances. I'm quite a fast walker (so I've been told by OH and various Rambler members) so I did short bursts of speed walking  on this walk. I do this naturally anyway; especially when I need the loo! We walked from the Shuttleworth Estate which is in the village of Old Warden.

The Shuttleworth Estate contains not only a large house built in 1872; the Swiss Gardens; parkland and lakes but also The Shuttleworth Collection described as 'How is it, in this quiet corner of Bedfordshire, that you’ll find the oldest flying aircraft in the world? That’s thanks to Richard Shuttleworth who, during the 1930s, rescued old aircraft and vehicles and brought them to Old Warden Park to restore'. SOURCE

The aircraft and other vehicles are kept in six hangars; on the day of our amble the yellow plane was brought out for a flight and the old omnibus for a quick run round; sorry for the blurry photo but it wouldn't keep still for me...

There are regular airshows held at Shuttleworth. When OH and I first met (almost 26 years ago) I took him along to Shuttleworth to watch an air show; along with his youngest daughter and my eldest grandson. 

The house will open to the public for a few days this month so I shall make sure we get along to see it and we've never yet made it to the Swiss Gardens either. It's only about 10/11 miles from Bedford so there's no excuse.

Seen on our 4.5 mile walk around the estate; a dedicated bench which has had a further plaque added to it and field of alpacas.

Lodge house to the estate.

The village of Old Warden and the Swiss Garden were inspired by P.F Robinson's 'Village Architecture' published in 1830. The village is full of lovely cottages such as the one below and the structure above housed the village pump. The resident family of the time, The Ongley's, were responsible for the building and development of both the village and the gardens.

You can find out more about the Shuttleworth Estate HERE.

From the walk I went straight to Lidl, Sainsbury's and the farm shop in Sharnbrook to do the weekly food shop. I don't recall the fields still being flooded so it seems as if the flooding is receding. Thank goodness for that. Our walk wasn't particularly muddy as the overnight frosts had hardened the ground but we did have to circumnavigate several areas of frozen standing water/huge puddles. Once home I unpacked the shopping and made dinner for both grandsons. The basket ball courts were having some electrical work being done so I just had to take youngest grandson home as there was no practice. He rides his electric scooter to our house and it folds up nicely in the boot of my car. Daughter's washing machine was playing up so I took back a basket full of washing and did it for her.

As I'd stayed in my walking gear on Thursday just changing my boots to go food shopping; it was good to get dressed up on Friday. Boots; retail. Skirt, jumper by M&S and all jewellery pre-loved. I wore my red corduroy jacket over this when I went out and over that a sleeveless puffer jacket OH donated to me. I was warm!

I had a lazy sort of day on Friday. There was a walk from Rowney Warren but once again the dark, gloomy morning deterred me from getting up and by the time I was up it would have been a rush to get to the walk on time and I hate rushing. So after pottering about for most of the morning; sorting out more items for the charity shop bag; tidying up and sorting out the washing; I walked into town to run some errands. On the way I stopped at the 3:16 charity shop where all the women's clothes were reduced to 1.00. Very hard to resist. I bought a Jigsaw skirt; a black and white tunic and a pair of black corduroy Lambretta trousers. These were actually a short length men's trousers, but I thought if they don't fit I'll just re-donate them. UPDATED to say they didn't fit - such a shame. I also found a nest of china measuring cups that measure actual cups. I'm forever googling the UK equivalents of US cups. I then went to Superdrug for some face wash; to Iceland for the Yorkshire puddings I'd forgotten to buy on Thursday and went to QD for toilet rolls. I lead such an exciting life...

On Saturday it was bright and seemed less cold;  there was very little wind which made such a difference. OH and I decided to St. Neots in Cambridgeshire for a rummage. It had been quite a while since we were in St. Neots maybe 2022 was the last time. It has about 5 charity shops; the Hospice shop had closed down since we were last there but we found a Barnardo's; a short drive away from the town centre and near the station.

Everything I wore was pre-loved except the OTK boots which were a retail buy about 4 years ago. Skirt by Jigsaw; bought in 3:16 charity shop on Friday. Top by Tu and polo neck by M&S. All jewellery pre-loved.

I found my niece Chloe a teapot/cup/saucer set all in one. I had been looking for one for her for several weeks; do you know I didn't find a single one - until today in St. Neots where I found a total of 6! I found a dress and 3 pendants on my rummage; OH found the belt he'd been seeking for a while and a couple of other things so we were both very happy with our finds. Once we were home we put a wash on and then our walking boots and went for a 3 mile walk; part of which took in our nearby cemetery. OH had never been in it despite living in Bedford for 24 years this year. I take him to all the best places...

The town of St. Neots originally developed next to a medieval priory in the form of market stalls. The monk who later became Saint Neot and who was interred in a monastery he founded in Cornwall; had his remains abstracted and removed to the priory in Eynsbury close to St. Neots. This was all for monetary advantage as pilgrims flocked to holy places where saint's relics were known to be. He is remembered today in the street architecture and the lovely mosaic in the market square car park.

This is the parish church of St. Neots built in the 15th century.

Viburnam bodnanton - a sign of Spring.

We started watching this series on Friday evening on ITV and it kept us entertained all weekend.

We had the usual Sunday. No gallivanting for us this week! I went for a swim then did the house cleaning with OH and made dinner. Everyone came for dinner and afterwards I sampled more flapjacks for my daughter; cherry Bakewell ones this time. Very nice they were, too. She now makes and sells her vegan flapjacks at the vegan cafe.

It was cold day but bright and sunny. A really good day for a walk but there was no time and the daylight is gone before you know it. Yesterday we walked most of our walk in the dark. Everything I wore was pre-loved. Thermal leggings, dress by Apricot and black jacket by Reserved (1.00 rail find) all from my Barnardo's. Boots bought locally. The dress I found yesterday in St, Neot's is exactly the same as this but has brown tones stripes. I'd cut a lot of my scarves shorter to make them into head wraps and now they make good infinity scarves - if they stay in place...

All jewellery pre-loved.

The cold snap we'd been promised arrived overnight. It took me about 10 minutes to scrape the ice off the car and get it fit for driving. The temperature registered at 0 degrees and then climbed to 3 degrees where it stayed all day. Barnardo's was quite busy and I worked the till and processed donations all morning. After my shift was finished I took middle grandson to see a possible cat. He had wanted a cat for his birthday and we hadn't been able to find one for him in time. My hairdresser wanted to re-home her cat as it doesn't like her dog... It's not definite yet but hopefully Isaiah will soon have a cat. OH had a hospital appointment so I went out for 3.5 mile walk with my daughter over the frozen fields near her house. Once home I chilled out and caught up with blog land. We weren't able to light the fire Monday evening as the chimney sweep had been in the morning for the annual chimney clean; he re-seals the flue where it joins with the fuel burner with a type of cement that needs 24 hours to dry...

This pre-loved dress is fleece lined and was perfect for a cold day like today. It's difficult to see on the photos but the hem, sleeves and pockets (yay!) are all trimmed with broiderie anglais.  I wore pre-loved leggings underneath. Boots pre-loved, polo by H&M; pre-loved.

Jewellery all pre-loved except the earrings bought from Etsy.

We caught up with this series which started on 7th January. Of all the programmes where the participants create things this is one of my favourites.

I'm having trouble with Blogger trying to add a new page for 'Books Read 2024'. I've created new book pages successfully in the past and published them to the blog but when I try it now it doesn't appear to show up when I look at the blog. Any thoughts?

This is the dress by Apricot I found in St. Neot's on Saturday. Worn with a pre-loved polo neck by Peacocks. Boots and leggings retail buys. These leggings are 10 years old in March. I bought them with a M&S voucher I received when I retired from teaching at the university in 2014. They have some small holes at the top of one leg so have to be worn with something that covers them up. I have mustard tights which will also go well with this dress, I think. 

All jewellery is pre-loved and the pendant was also a find from St. Neots on Saturday.

It was very cold again on Tuesday but I didn't have to scrape ice off the windscreen. At the food bank we had the industrial heater on; when it starts up it sounds like a jumbo jet. I made up kettle packs and had to keep restocking items which meant I had very little time left to put away the toiletries; only 10 minutes spent on that today. I go swimming an hour after I finish at the food bank otherwise I'd stay on and try and reduce the toiletry stacks. Very few people at the pool today I had it to myself for the last ten minutes which was wonderful. I swam the usual 45 laps and I'm working on my freestyle stroke...

After the swim I went to Aldi to pick up a few things we needed and there was no cooking; fish and chips for dinner. In Aldi I found 2 bath mats which were on sale for 49p - yes, 49p each; less than 1.00 for both. I needed new bath mats too; all the ones I had already were found in charity shops and becoming quite worn out.

On Wednesday, OH and I went to Uxbridge which is in the London Borough of Hillingdon for some business we needed to do there. We had lunch out and looked around three charity shops where I found another black and white dress; some earrings and a book. I used to live near Uxbridge in the late 1970s so it was interesting to see how much it had changed. I love this church (St. Margaret's) in the town centre and close to the underground station:

The oldest portion of the church was built and in use from 1245.

 

This is what the church and the surrounding area looked like in 1903.

Everything I wore was pre-loved. Skirt by M&S; blouse bought in the kilo vintage sale in Bedford Corn Exchange a couple of years ago; the red tank top was a 1.00 rail find and the black boots were a Cat's Protection League find about two years ago. Underneath I wore fleece lined thermal leggings and a long sleeved thermal top. It was another very chilly day with a cold wind.

All jewellery pre-loved with the pendant found on the rummage to St. Neot's last Saturday.

Thursday was cold with an icy wind making it feel colder than it was. I went for a 5 mile walk along the river to the marina and back. My cheeks were frozen.

Everything pre-loved. Homemade felt skirt (not by me); vintage jumper by M&S worn for a second time in less than a week; suedette jacket by F&F for extra warmth. Boots retail from Sainsbury's about 5/6 years old now. I had thick woollen tights on underneath also pre-loved and very old.

All jewellery pre-loved. The earrings were found in Uxbridge yesterday at the Harlington Hospice shop; where we dropped off several bags of donations while we were there. 

Looking like a ghost again!

My walk to the marina showed me that the marina was frozen as was the lake beside the marina.

I saw a thrush and heard a wood pecker on my walk. In Uxbridge yesterday I saw several parakeets flying around...

After my walk I took Isaiah to pick up the cat. She is very sweet and he's thinking of a name for her. I suggested several names; Daisy, Poppet, Polly but he'll come up with something suitable. By the time this post is published I'm hoping she will have settled in nicely and I can show you some photos. Isaiah is delighted with her. Once I'd dropped Isaiah and the cat home I was off to Lidl for the weekly food shop and then onto the farm shop for coal, kindling and bird sunflower seeds. I made dinner for both grandsons and took the youngest to basketball practice.

I walked with the group on Friday morning - the unofficial bus walk. There were only 5 of us and we walked from Shortstown to the woods and back around past Cardington Hangars. Only 4 miles, but at least I was out in the fresh air and in good company. We stopped in 'The Friendly Nettle' cafe at the end (isn't that a lovely name?) where I had tea and a slice of shortbread before setting off to the Hospice charity shop near my hairdressers; I didn't have a chance to go when I had my hair done. 

I wore what I bought in the Hospice shop on Saturday; the red Weird Fish top with my wide legged jeans retail and my pre-loved red boots. I've had several comments from people saying red is a colour that suits me so I intend to buy more red items as and when I find them.

On Saturday OH and I went to Kettering to have lunch with my brothers at a pub we've eaten at twice before; The Overstone Arms. Before we met up with my brothers we went for a rummage in Kettering town centre. They have quite a lot of charity shops; 10 or 11 in total but 3 were closed and the RSPCA had closed down for good. Nevertheless, I found a red Kettlewell dress in a sale in one of the charity shops and I found 4 pendants to swell my collection. We met two of my nieces' teenage children in one of the charity shops with my brother's ex partner; their grandma; they all love a rummage too!

All jewellery pre-loved.

Once we were home we chilled out for the evening having lit the fire first. It had been a very cold day and the another storm was on its way...

Inspector Forst

We'd watched this Polish crime series on Netflix during the week and finished watching it on Friday night. It was very tense in parts, weird too, but the ending was disappointing. On Saturday night we started watching  a Swedish series via Walter Presents on Channel 4 called 'The Lost'. The start is harrowing - you have been warned! Updated to say it is a truly gripping series.

Sunday started as always with a 45 lap swim; then on with the weekly housecleaning and cooking a roast dinner for everyone. I'm having next Sunday off so everyone's been warned...

My Sunday outfit (more red!). All pre-loved except the boots bought locally. Skirt by M&S; jumper by Simon Jefferies worn over a H&M polo neck jumper.

All jewellery pre-loved; the pendant is one of the 4 I found in Kettering on Saturday.

After dinner I helped middle grandson draw up a study time table - he's re-sitting his 'A' Levels this year. I then finally finished my book 'The Lacuna' and watched 'The Great Pottery Throwdown'. Sunday was much warmer than the previous week with the temperature into double figures at 10/11 degrees. However, Storm Isha hit us later in the evening and I thought our windows would blow in. They rattled all night and the wind moaned and howled all around the house. On Monday morning I woke up to a much calmer day.

This pre-loved tunic was found in Uxbridge last week; worn with pre-loved leggings and boots to Barnardo's. We started the day off with stocktaking of the Christmas cards and only opened at 11 am. By the time I finished soon after 1 pm; the huge pile of donations was virtually gone. What a feeling of achievement I had -  for a change!

All jewellery pre-loved. The pendant was another find from Saturday's rummage.

When I got home I decided to chill out. I needed to go into town and have my eyebrows tinted and waxed but decided to leave if for another day. I did that all last week, too...tomorrow, tomorrow. I made chicken soup with the left over chicken and caught up with blogs and blogging. We continued to watch the excellent series: 'The Lost'.

A wet and windy day was Tuesday; Storm Jocelyn was on the way. At least it wasn't cold; still in double figures. At the food bank I made up Kettle Packs and managed to pack away most of the non-food items including toiletries. Then it was off to the swimming pool to swim 45 laps; I managed to include the equivalent of one lap of front crawl - at last, but it does make my arms and shoulders ache afterwards. My plan is to get up to at least 5 laps of front crawl and I already swim at least 5 laps of back stroke; the remaining laps I swim breast stroke.

I thought I had donated these plaid trousers so I was very pleased to come across them whilst having a bit of a sort out. Underneath is a vintage Etam blouse from my Barnardo's and blue top is an old F&F find. All pre-loved; boots retail last year.

This jacket is pre-loved and found on a 1.00 rail somewhere about two years ago. It's the first time I've worn it on the blog. It reminds me of steampunk; it's a bit like a frock coat, has leather collar and cuffs with pleats at the front. I could put more exciting buttons on it or add some brooches but there was no time on Tuesday morning...

All jewellery pre-loved with the pendant another find from Kettering last Saturday. I lost one of these earrings at the food bank - I must remember to put the backs on. I bought a packet of plastic backs ages ago to prevent me from losing earrings and I forget to use them!

And here she is. Little Miss Muffet! 

No, that's not her name; grandson still hasn't come up with a name for her yet so suggestions welcome; please. She's about 2 years old and quite small and dainty.

Tomorrow OH and I plan to go for a walk but on hard paths as the ground will be very soggy and muddy from all the rain. On Friday, I'm off to London to see cousin Marian and we're going to the Fashion and Textile Museum in Bermondsey. I'll tell you all about it in my next post.