Abbeys, Churches and Weddings.

Hello and welcome! 

As I'd run my errands on Tuesday rather than Wednesday it meant Wednesday was a free day. Once OH had gone to the hospital to have his penultimate batch of blood samples taken; we decided to go and have a look around St. Ives. There are 8 charity shops in St.Ives in total; all in and around the high street so plenty to look at. I found a couple of 1.00 rail bargains, some books and 2 pairs of earrings. OH did really well. We stopped for a cup of tea and bacon bap and set off for home around 3.30. We should have arrived home comfortably by 4.30 but it took us 2 hours to get home and it was nearly 6 when we actually walked in the door!

Bear in mind we'd left home soon after midday and the dog was on her own; so we were worried. A wide load lorry transporting a pre-constructed brick house facade (complete with door; windows and 2 brick pillars) had somehow tipped over on its side. I think it came around the roundabout at the wrong angle. Anyway, the traffic on the A1 was at a standstill for miles and miles... I read online the following day there were some people stranded for 7 hours on the A1!

 

We were lucky. 

On arrival home the only casualty was my Rough Guide book to Malta and Gozo which Rain chewed up. We leave the radio on her for her when we go out and it seems to help. All the doors to our rooms are kept firmly shut and she has the run of the hall, stairs and landing as well as the garden; we leave the back door open for her. We also leave her either a bone to chew; or put treats in her 'Kong' which is a rubber ball with two narrow openings at either end. It's called enrichment feeding and it makes the dog work for their treats...

I wore this outfit for our rummage. Wide legged jeans bought in the Tu sale; top had no label and I wore boots in June!  White denim jacket; a Penney's (Primark) sale find in Ireland  last year. It wasn't the nicest of days but it was dry. All jewellery pre-loved.

Thursday was also cool but I wanted to wear my new sandals (note to self must paint my toenails)... I bought these sandals in an online sale; they're by Brakeburn and very comfortable. Top by M & Co; skirt by Nightingales and leather jacket by Gerry Weber. All pre-loved as was the stretchy belt.

All jewellery pre-loved. The rain came down during the latter part of the afternoon and the sandals had to come off, but at least they got an airing. I went swimming first thing and of course Thursday is food shopping day so I went to Lidl and Sainsbury's. Lidl actually had cabbages in after about an absence of 8 weeks, but hasn't had any red potatoes for about 4 weeks. Don't know why they haven't had these in; I kept meaning to ask the staff but forgot. Once home with the shopping unpacked and put away; I dropped 3 bags of donations off to the Daycare Hospice shop. I also made dinner for the grandsons and took the youngest to basket ball training.

Walked the dog as usual first thing on Saturday morning and then my daughter and I went to Rushden. I had to go to Asda (Rushden is our nearest one) to pick up some wide legged trousers I found online  in the sale. We also had a look in the Salvation Army charity shop where I found some books. Once we were back at home we took the dog out for a long walk. We were out for 2 hours and 20 minutes in total. Rain was knackered when we got home and slept for the rest of the evening. OH spent the day in London at a school reunion.

These trousers have been banished to the donations bag. They're too big in the waist and I've had them for years. They were a charity shop find as was the Masai top I wore. The grey trainers were by M&S and were found in the 3:16 charity shop; unworn. The pink trainers I used to wear for walking the dog were very dirty and although I'd washed them and then washed them in the machine; they were stained and horrible looking; this pair was their replacement.

All jewellery pre-loved.

Sunday was a beautiful day with the temperature reaching 21 degrees by the afternoon. I went for the usual Sunday morning swim and once I'd had my breakfast and got ready I took Rain out for her first walk of the day. It was good to have a bit of a lie-in on a Sunday morning and not to have to rush out early to get her walked before I started my day.  I shall continue to do this on Sundays and Rain will have to make do with just one long walk and one evening toilet walk on this day.

In the afternoon OH and I went to Anglesey Abbey (in between Cambridge and Newmarket). I would have preferred to go to one of the 'National Open Garden' events locally;  you can find out more about the scheme: HERE . For example, there were 4 houses in the village of Turvey 8 miles from us opening their gardens on Sunday; for £8.00 per person you could view them all. Never mind, there are still lots of weekends ahead to view some local gardens. This was what I wore.

Everything pre-loved and seen on the blog before. Sandals by Brakeburn as before. They were a mistake; as walking around some of the paths at Anglesey Abbey little stones worked their way into the sandals and were quite painful.

All jewellery pre-loved.

Anglesey Abbey from the front and below from the rear.

A Jacobean style house with 98 acres of gardens and a working water mill; it was the third time we'd visited. We wanted to see the gardens and the herbaceous garden didn't disappoint but the formal garden hadn't been planted up yet and the dahlia garden wasn't open until the 'summer'. I thought it was summer! Not all the roses were out in the rose garden either. The last time we visited was in the winter when there wasn't much to see in the gardens.

Some of the garden statuary that caught my eye...

This is my favourite rose: 'Gertrude Jekyll' from David Austin roses. I love the colour and the smell is just glorious. I've put in a special request for one for my Christmas present. Here's hoping...

This rose was the most beautiful shade of mauve/purple and had a lovely scent, too. It was called 'Rhapsody in Blue' by Frank Cowlishaw nurseries.

We had a very pleasant time wandering around the grounds of the Abbey and admiring the views, the statuary and the planting. We had tea and scones in the cafe. 

The second-hand bookshop wasn't open as it was being re-sited and upgraded but there were several bookshelves in the cafe and visitor's centre full of secondhand books that could be bought for a donation. And talking about books; I had a wonderful surprise delivery of 3 books on Saturday. They were from Ann, a blogger friend from Belgium; AKA 'Polyester Princess' who was here in England on holiday. Check her blog out HERE . Thank you so much, Ann. My Barbara Pym collection is now complete! 

Continuing with the book discussion; I started this book on Sunday evening. It's one of 2 I found at Anglesey Abbey and is one of the books that make up  the TV series 'Slow Horses'. The series had been recommended to me by more than one person but unfortunately we don't have Apple TV and we haven't been able to watch it. We do like a good spy film/TV series...the book is excellent, too.

This isn't the first book in the series so I'll be tracking the first in the series down, probably by reserving it from the library.

Monday's volunteering outfit. I processed donations all morning.

Sandals retail; trousers retail sale; top by Next pre-loved and cardigan no label also pre-loved.

All jewellery pre-loved. 

It was another lovely day on Monday; OH and I took Rain out for a long walk to Renhold in the afternoon.

Tuesday was a full on day. I walked Rain for an hour and then volunteered at the food bank; doing the usual kettle packs and putting away the toiletries. We also reorganised the toiletries room so there was some logic to the layout. Then it was home to make grandson's birthday cake which was preceded by a trip to town for ingredients and cards. OH and I did the housework on my return AND a day later than usual, because of the long dog walk on Monday. Then I walked the dog again whilst OH made dinner and we then made our way to grandson's house to give him his birthday cards and presents and eat birthday cake. He's now 14 years old. I saw him being born and now I have to crane my neck to give him a kiss! The cake looks a bit of a mess but it tasted good. The strawberries came from our garden.

It was so busy on Tuesday I didn't have time to take outfit photos; just time for a quick selfie. I wore blue velvet trousers by Cos; a Gudrun Sjoden top and a Jigsaw cotton blazer with a tiny houndstooth check pattern; all pre-loved of course. All jewellery pre-loved.

After a windy and cool start, Wednesday turned out to be yet another lovely warm, sunny day. That was 4 good days in a row so far...OH and I spent the morning tidying up the garden along the side wall we share with our next door neighbour, Anna. There were too many plants; some needed cutting back or removing. I moved one to the front garden; we got rid of one and several were pruned back. Once that was done we had room to put most of our roses in front of the remaining plants and we decided to put gravel down to make a small pathway to the bird feeders. It looked much better when we'd finished; we just need some roses to bloom.  I forgot to tell you that my Calendula seeds arrived about a week and a half ago and were planted straight away in a seed tray. They're growing well and are about 2 inches high now.  As we needed to buy gravel for the path we went to the nearby town of Sandy first for an afternoon rummage; then stopped at the garden centre in B&M on the way back. I found another book in the 'Slow Horses' series and 2 maxi skirts for 3.00 each in the Sue Ryder shop; one of which was by Paul Costelloe.

Everything pre-loved. Jeans by John Lewis, top by Boden; found at my Barnardo's on Monday; all jewellery pre-loved. Sandals as before. No jacket required, it was a very warm day.

When we were at my daughter's on Tuesday she had just washed her sofa covers. Now, my sofa covers were quite dirty and I had put throws over  them to hide the stains. It hadn't occurred to me I could take the covers off and wash them. In fact, a few years ago I paid to have the sofas professionally cleaned! Before we tackled the garden I took all the sofa covers off and washed them; it took 2 machine washes. I then hung them out on the line and because it was such a warm, sunny day they were dry by the time we returned from our afternoon outing. I was so worried they might shrink but they didn't so there'll be no stopping me now. I wash the throws weekly since the dog arrived. I'm also having to vacuum every other day because of dog hairs everywhere but that's fine. I assume Rain will shed less hair in the autumn and winter months.

We caught up with the Sewing Bee in the evening but I hadn't been watching much TV - it's the Euros at the moment and I'm not a football fan...it's also wall to wall electioneering as we have a general election on the 4th July. I've already posted my vote and done my bit for democracy. I didn't fancy another 16 hour day poll clerking on election day and didn't volunteer my services. Next time, maybe.

Yet another lovely day on Thursday.

 Rain and I had a 75 minute walk along the river then I went swimming. I struggled to do my 40 laps but did it. I would loved to have come home and slept for a couple of hours, but there was food shopping to do, unpack and put away; dinner to be cooked and basket ball training for my 14 year old grandson to be delivered to. And there was my Mick Heron book to finish; which I did just before I took grandson to basketball. I'd reserved the first book in the series from the library but because I'd enjoyed 'Slough House' so much I decided to start reading the book I'd found on Wednesday in a Sandy charity shop; 'Real Tigers' also by Mick Herron. I don't know what's happening to me reading a series out of sequence! 

This skirt was a find last summer; probably from my Barnardo's but I hadn't got round to wearing it. The label just says 'Made in India'. I was shedding sequins all over the place...top by M&S; also pre-loved as was the denim jacket. Sandals by Brakeburn; retail.

All jewellery pre-loved.

The good weather continued into Friday. OH and I took my daughter, son, and eldest grandson out for a lunch to a local Turkish restaurant. Youngest grandson was at school and missed out. We forgot to take photos and enjoyed our meal - no washing up!

I wore this pre-loved Next dress from my Barnardo's and the pre-loved ochre coloured Primarni jacket. Sandals by Doc Marten; retail last year. All jewellery pre-loved.

I took the dog out for her two daily walks and spent the evening finishing my second book in the 'Slow Horses' series. I'm still waiting for the first book in the series to arrive in my local library; I reserved it in the week.

These Sikh wedding photos were taken on my early dog walk along the river on Saturday morning which was later than usual (I try to have a bit of a lie-in at the weekend). I'm still waking up at 4 am in the morning but can usually go back to sleep for a couple of hours. I did ask permission to take the photos;  the bride is a bit blurry - sorry bride, but what a lovely spectacle to see on a Saturday morning. It turned out to be a day of weddings as we encountered 2 further weddings the same day. No further photos though and this was a shame as the third wedding of the day was a very posh one and the guests were transported to the church in wonderful 1940s buses. My excuse was we were in the car and it's hard to take photos from a moving vehicle...

The fab weather was crying out for cotton and linen dresses and this one by New Look was a find earlier this year; again probably from Barnardo's. Worn with the Brakeburn sandals and pre-loved jewellery.

I actually didn't need the jacket it was so warm out;  between 21 and 23 degrees. Summer is most definitely here!

I took Rain out for a morning walk and once we'd had breakfast and were both ready; we dropped her off at my daughter's house who was dog sitting for the day. We then drove to Kettering to pick up my brothers and the plan was to have lunch in a pretty village in Northamptonshire called Brigstock.

OH didn't like the menu at the first pub we went to in Brigstock and after having a drink and a leisurely stroll around the village and church; we drove to the village of Islip to 'The Woolpack'. Unfortunately, there was a private wedding party going on (2nd wedding of the day) and food wasn't being served to the public.  On the advice of a wedding guest at the pub we then drove to the village of Lowick (which had the most amazing church spire) to a pub called 'The Snooty Fox'; where we found to our dismay they weren't serving food again until 5 pm! Much too late for lunch. It was here, whilst I had a coffee and the men had beers, we encountered the third wedding party of the day. It was a very posh one; lots of Hooray Henry's in tail coats and what my (chauvinistic) brother calls 'Posh Totty' in some stunning dresses. I would loved to have taken photos but it seemed inappropriate, somehow. It must have been the interlude between the wedding service and the start of the wedding meal. Where better to while away some time than in the pub? As we exited the village, by now I was starving, we saw the parked vintage buses in a car park belonging to the wedding party venue.

Saint Andrew the Apostle Church in Brigstock.

SOURCE

Anglo-Saxon stair turret/tower. (My photo).

Anglo-Saxon arch and wooden beamed ceiling.

(My photo).

A very plain church apart from a couple of stained glass windows and this beautiful reredos above.

The village of Brigstock has its origins in Saxon times or even earlier. Most of the buildings in the village were constructed out of sandstone like this one below; a lovely mellow stone used in many villages and towns in this part of the UK.

Beautiful Georgian house spotted opposite the last pub.

My daughter took Rain out for a 2 hour cross country walk when we were out and tired her out. This was what she did all evening once we were home...

I'm sure I've told you before that Bedfordshire is a pretty flat county but sometimes, on my morning walk with the dog, I get this view from the top of Constable Hill. There are green fields in the distance (but not very clear in this photo). Tower blocks and green fields are an interesting juxtaposition. I love the countryside but don't want to live in it; I'm a city/townie girl...

Sunday was a funny old day. It was very warm and I woke up really early. I was out with the dog by 6.30 and walked for a couple of hours not bothering to get back in time for swimming; it was a just 'couldn't be bothered' sort of day. I also didn't bother wearing any make up or changing out of my jeans and t shirt. I did bother to walk into town to the library where my reserved book had arrived and found 3 further books in the 'Slow Horses' series. I'm afraid my original TBR pile has been put to one side until I get through these books. For Sunday dinner we had a barbecue for the family taking advantage of the good weather. I made tofu and vegetable skewers; potato salad, salad and coleslaw and I poached some pears; which my daughter said were delicious. Everyone else had the usual barbecued meat, burgers, hot dogs and sausages.  There was chocolate cheesecake or ice cream for dessert - bought not made!

All jewellery pre-loved.

I met our new paid member of staff on Monday at Barnardo's and spent the morning decoding the blue and black sections of women's wear. I found a black denim jacket by Roman which will replace the current black one I have. It's a man's one and a bit too long for me. As Sheila says 'always be upgrading'...HERE.

I found this home made skirt in a Wellingborough charity shop earlier in the year when it was too cold to wear it. Sandals by Timberland via Vinted and jacket as before.

In the past fortnight I've done more sewing than I have this past year. I've hemmed two pairs of trousers and taken in the waistband of a third pair. One of the pairs of trousers was hemmed once OH and I finished the housework; after I'd got back from the charity shop shift and then it was back to my book. It was a very hot day at around 27 degrees. When I took Rain out for her evening walk after it had cooled down a bit; she flopped down on the grass at one point; refusing to move so we cut the walk short - too hot!

I hardly wore this shirt; it was too hot again at 28 degrees. Everything pre-loved except the sandals bought in the Monsoon sale last year. At the food bank I wore white pumps and changed into the sandals when I got home which were much cooler.

All jewellery pre-loved.

I've caught the sun despite my best efforts to stay out of it and applying lots of Factor 50...

I'm hoping to visit an exhibition at our local art gallery on Wednesday and there's a good group walk on Friday which I'd like to go to. More on this in my next post. See you on the other side.