Festivals, exhibitions and family

 Hello!

Here we go again...a day late but I'm still here.

St. Mary's Church, Hitchin, Hertfordshire.

OH and I went to Hitchin for a rummage on Wednesday afternoon. He's been looking for short sleeved summer shirts. When he did his clear out a few weeks ago; he discovered most of his summer shirts were too tight across the chest. Strange really; since he was diagnosed with heart failure and chronic kidney disease in December 2023 he's lost weight. Of course, I have to accompany him but most of the time I don't even bother looking at the clothes. I head straight for the books, bric-a-brac and jewellery. Currently I'm looking for dog items to take to the caravan when we go in September...

It was a warm day but mostly overcast. I wore these pre-loved M&S trousers and this tunic top with no label. I love the print. Sandals by Brakeburn; retail. Pre-loved suedette jacket by F&F and bag also pre-loved. I have a collection of coloured cross body bags and am making more of an effort to match them to my outfits. This one is an ox blood colour which is found in the tunic, too.

I found a dog bowl; some books and a pair of earrings on the rummage.

Jewellery all pre-loved except the earrings which I found in Primarni when I ran some errands on Tuesday afternoon. I also found a reduced pair.

Swimming as usual on Thursday morning swimming 45 laps with 3 minutes to spare. When I started there was only one other person and me in our lane. I then did the weekly food shopping including a visit to Aldi where I hadn't been for a while and then home to unpack it all and put it away. I made dinner for the grandsons and I took the youngest to basket ball training. On the way home from the leisure centre; I stopped to pick up a couple of parcels from Vinted. I'd bought a job lot of costume jewellery; mostly pendants.

The skirt is hand made but not by me and I found it in a Wellingborough charity shop the last time we went there for a rummage, which was quite a few months ago. Pre-loved shirt by H&M; pre-loved Timberland sandals via Vinted last year; pre-loved Roman denim jacket via my Barnardo's and I can't remember where the orange bag came from; probably my Barnardo's.

All jewellery pre-loved. Earrings; a gift from OH.

Friday's outfit. All pre-loved except the sandals which are Doc Martens and bought last summer. Dress by Zara. All jewellery pre-loved except earrings bought in Primarni. The day was quite cool and I needed the leggings underneath. 

I walked the dog for two hours on Friday afternoon and we were both very tired when we got home. I completely forgot to change back into my trainers for the walk and had 2 large blisters underneath the ball of each of my big toes from walking so far in sandals - ouch! I also took the dog for another long (5 mile) walk on Saturday morning across the fields; this time wearing suitable footwear and socks.  I let her off the lead to run free for about 15 minutes. She had to come back to me when we reached the gate in the last field. In an enclosed space her recall is okay especially if treats are involved but  in a field or open space she is not interested in the treats and just wants to run free. Mostly she tires herself out and then is more inclined to come back to me and flop down for a rest. On recent walks in more urban areas she's started stopping and refusing to move any further; I think sometimes she just wants a rest but this happens on our shorter walks, too and I don't quite know what to make of it. Any ideas, anyone? The other thing Rain does which is so sweet; every night she removes the   fleece OH wears when he takes her out late at night for a 'toilet' walk; from the coat rack and puts it in her bed to sleep with! I've also found my scarves in her bed in the morning...

I had the laziest Saturday after the walk in a long while. I didn't bother with outfit photos; just stayed in my dog walking clothes and I read for the best part of the day. I also spent a couple of hours deleting some terrible old photos to try and increase my photo storage space on my laptop. I shall try and do an hour a day of deleting to whittle them down sufficiently. I can't believe how awful some of the photos were AND I posted some of them on the blog...

This was Sunday's outfit. I like to wear jeans at least once a week. These are from John Lewis; the top is by M&S and the blue linen kimono was a Barnardo's find last Monday. Sliders from Tu last year. All jewellery pre-loved.

OH and I went to the 'Black Tom' Street Jumble on Sunday morning. (Black Tom is the area of Bedford I live in and is named for an 18th century highwayman who held up and robbed people on the main road out of Bedford). There were only about 9 or 10 stalls in total and a lot were full of baby and children's stuff which of course we have no interest in. Nevertheless, OH found a Ralph Lauren shirt for 1.00; I found some Next trousers for 3.00; 4 brooches for 50 p each; a bar of Rosemary and Lavender soap for 50 p and 2 pretty pottery bowls for 50 p each. The bowls were for my son. I was well pleased with my bargains; I nearly forgot I also bought a book for 50 p - a classic piece of Nature writing. The jumble trail was going on until 5 pm and it's likely that more stalls opened up after lunch but as I was making a Sunday roast for the whole family we didn't go back to find out. Some of the stalls donate their takings to charity and some don't;  however it's a win win situation all round as people get rid of the stuff they no longer need; some people find bargains and things they need and want with the result being more stuff stays out of landfill. 

I shan't even mention the football other than to say OH watched it on my laptop and the rest of the family, with the exception of youngest grandson, went to the pub to watch it...

Before I knew it it was Monday and time to volunteer at Barnardo's again. These trousers were found at the jumble on Sunday; washed and dried on the line on Sunday afternoon; which was warm and sunny all day. Jacket by Roman, a Barnardo's find; the top by H&M was a 1.00 rail find somewhere. I wore these orange suede Seasalt clogs, but the first thing I did when I got to Barnardo's was to donate them. They were very uncomfortable and of course I still had the 2 big blisters on the soles of my feet. I bought a pair of pink suede sliders from Topshop to wear in the shop from the shop stock. I have 3 other pairs of clogs which are all very comfortable to wear so why these orange ones were so uncomfortable I have no idea. I bought them in a Devon charity shop a few years ago whilst visiting my friend Hilary and hoped they become more comfortable with time. They didn't.

Earrings and beads pre-loved; I forgot to put on rings and a bangle.

I made a start on a new TBR pile on Monday evening. You may remember the reading of my last TBR pile was interrupted by my pursuit of the 'Slow Horses' series of books. Both the previous Virago and Persephone books in the TBR pile I'd read already, so I substituted another Persephone but didn't bother with another Virago. This time I did. I have a large collection of Virago books and want read my way through them; in contrast my Persephone collection is almost all read or most certainly will be by Christmas. I will add some new titles to my Christmas list; Persephone publish several new books every year and keep my fingers crossed I will receive some as presents...

The Ravilious book 'Ravilious & Co: The Pattern of Friendship' was spotted on my visit to the Cecil Higgins museum in Bedford in their shop.  Edward Bawden and Eric Ravilious were friends and part of a group of artists known as the Great Bardfield artists. The book was about 25.00 and when I got home I looked online and found a much cheaper second hand copy. I'm looking forward to reading about them.

This outfit doesn't work. I usually wear this pre-loved dress with a brown, short linen jacket but wanted to try it with this pre-loved cream kimono by F&F instead. I meant to wear my brown clogs but forgot to change into them. I was in a rush (which I hate) to get to the food bank in time as I had slept in! I woke up at 6.45 am when usually I'm up and about often walking the dog at this time.

We weren't busy at the food bank; no kettle packs or cold packs to make up and after we packed away the toiletries and household cleaning items; we unloaded, marked up i.e. put the use by date on and put away milk and jars of coffee.

For the past 3 years we have had as neighbours 4 dance students living to the left of us. They studied dance at the Stella Mann College of Performing Arts in Bedford and were the quietest students ever.  Surely that's an oxymoron if ever there was one! We've always taken their bins out for them on the right days and replaced them and taken in parcels for them. Well, they moved out on Tuesday and returned to their parental homes. They gave us a beautiful thank you card and a lovely pot of chrysanthemums which have pride of place on the doorstep. Good luck to you all in your future lives, Jaylah, Isla, Anna and Kayla! I hope we're as lucky with the next batch of dance students who will move in in September.

Wednesday was a lovely warm, sunny day and a return to typical summer weather. I went to London for the day to visit the exhibition at Tate Modern with cousin Marian. I bought the tickets for her birthday present in June but Marian wasn't very well and we had to re-book. The exhibition was called 'Now You See Us': Women Artists in Britain 1520  - 1920.

Everything I wore was pre-loved. Skirt by Kaliko; top by Talbots and jacket by Primarni (old). I wore my Timberland sandals as they're comfortable and I can walk far in them without blisters! 

We did a lot of wandering around the exhibition which was very enjoyable but we were 'arted' out  the end and didn't want to see any more after that. We'll return to the Tate one day again I'm sure....would you believe I'd never been to the Tate before? Only the National Portrait Gallery.

All jewellery pre-loved.

I was talking to my son whilst I was taking photos hence the funny face.

You can find out more about the exhibition HERE.

Here were some of the exhibits I liked:(I don't like 'classical' art very much so tend to whip past it - I know, I'm a philistine).

Self Portrait by Artemisia Gentileschi (1593 - 1656) - one of the earliest and most accomplished of women painters. Baroque Italian artist. She's got her sleeves rolled up and she's getting on with it!

What a cheeky little face!

Portrait of Miss Helena Beatson niece of Catherine Read (1723 - 1778). British artist.

Self portrait. Sarah Biffin (1784 - 1850). 

Born without arms and legs Sarah Biffin taught herself to write, sew and paint using her mouth and her shoulder.

No idea who this is by and going online didn't help. What I liked about it is, it's a sewn piece of art.

Rubus Odoratus

Mary Delany (1700-  1788).

 Mary Delany began her life's work aged 72 when she began paper-cutting/collaging or as she called it, her 'paper mosaicks;' beautiful, botanically accurate, paper cut collages. I read a book about her some years ago called; 'The Paper Garden: Mrs. Delany Begins Her Life's Work Aged 72' by Molly Hope. A fascinating woman.

Peony

Clara Maria Pope (1767 - 1838) who worked for the leading botanical publisher, Samuel Curtis (1779 - 1860).

A Young Teacher

Rebecca Solomon (1832 - 1886).  believed to be the first Jewish woman to become a professional artist in England. The model  used for the painting's central figure was Jamaican born Fanny Eaton (1835 - 1924).

A Portrait Sketch. Louise Jopling (1843 - 1933). This sketch reminded me of my cousin's daughter...

Chloe Boughton-Leigh

Gwen John (1876 - 1939)

Vanessa Bell (1879 - 1961)

Still Life of Dahlias

Ethel Walker (1861 - 1951)

Decoration: The Excursion of Nausicaa.

The Printer

Sylvia Gosse (1881 - 1968)

Shop for Machining 15 inch shells - Singer Manufacturing Company, Clydebank Glasgow 1918.

Anna Airy (1882 - 1962). War artist WW1.

The Terrace Outside the Priest's House

Clare Attwood (1866 - 1962). 

I couldn't remember the title of this one but it's by one of my favourite artists:

Laura Knight

(1877 - 1970).

Marian has moved into a new flat and I visited her there for the first time. It's a beautiful flat and I know she'll be very happy there and handily for me it's very close to the motorway. The journey home from Marian's took quite a while as the dreaded roadworks continue on the MI.

26 plus degrees on Thursday. I went for a 45 lap swim after walking the dog nice and early, before it got too hot. I did the usual weekly food shopping and made dinner for the grandsons. I took the youngest grandson to basketball training and he will be back on Friday to stay 2 nights with us. His mum will be off to Morocco for a week and Grandson will stay with his dad in London. He wants to go to the River Festival in Bedford at the weekend which is why he wants to stay with us. It's a huge event in Bedford; the River Festival, held biennially. I don't like the crowds so tend to avoid it and of course I've seen it all before...

Green and white dress; pre-loved and found in the 3:16 charity shop sale. White sandals retail buy from Tu and white jacket retail sale buy from Penney's (Primark) in Ireland last summer. All jewellery pre-loved.

Friday was very warm at 31 degrees.  In my mind, hot weather calls for cool, floaty dresses and I have quite a few. This one below is of those 'Made in Italy' labelled, imperfect dresses which are sold on the market stalls in Bedford Market; I bought this one in a charity shop. Sandals as before and all jewellery pre-loved. It was a busy day but I stayed relatively cool. I actually spent quite a lot of the day in the car. I collected my son from Northampton and by midday was heading to my daughter's house to pick her and her partner up and take them to Stansted Airport. They were off to Morocco on holiday. On the way back I collected the youngest grandson up; the school summer holidays had begun.

I was worried that the huge world wide computer glitch which affected Microsoft systems on Friday would have repercussions for my daughter's flight to Morocco. It was just as well she had checked their flights in the evening before; due to the glitch it wasn't possible to do it on Friday and caused mayhem at the airport. They managed to get away on time after a very stressful time...technology again!

Saturday was cooler and mostly cloudy but still warm. My sister Mandy and her husband, Paul, came to Bedford to visit the River Festival with Paul's brother and his wife; who live in the village of Sharnbrook (where I use the farm shop). They called in to us first and we had tea and cake and a good old catch up. It was lovely to see them. OH and I then walked down to festival via Lidl as we needed a couple of things. There was good display of classic cars all along the High Street which we both enjoyed. On the town bridge a brass band was playing;  I went along to see if I could see my co-worker from the food bank, Tracey. She was there and playing the French horn, but still managed to give me a very enthusiastic wave which I reciprocated. We looked at some of the stalls along the river banks but fed up with the crowds were home by early afternoon. I used to love crowds but was put off some years ago when we were at Notting Hill Carnival and I was carried along a street for a few yards unable to stop my momentum; as the crowd situation had my arms pinned to my sides. It was quite scary even though it only lasted a few seconds before I managed to pull myself free. I've never been back to Notting Hill Carnival since then and it used to be an annual feature in my personal calendar.

It was so crowded it was impossible to take photos without strangers  in them...

I forgot to take outfit photos but I wore this happy, colourful, floral print dress which I'd bought in the half price sale in Sainsbury's at the end of last summer. This was its first outing and it was cool and floaty; just what was needed. All jewellery pre-loved as was bag. Sandals by Monsoon.

OH took these on the High Street...

Youngest grandson went to the River festival around 2 pm and returned just after 10 pm. He had a great day but had managed to get tomato ketchup on his new white track suit. I was able to put stain remover on it and get it washed overnight so he could take it with him to this dad's house in London. He went on Sunday and will be back next weekend. 

I took Rain for a long walk across fields on Sunday morning but had a bit of a disaster. I had her on the extending lead and wasn't paying proper attention. I was actually listening to a podcast on RTE radio about a con woman - a fascinating story; 'The Real Carrie Jade;' when Rain spotted a rabbit and jerked me so hard I fell over onto my front with both hands out. I had a sore shoulder and both arms were sore; but the worst thing was I lost one of my ear pods; it bounced into the long grass, I think, and despite searching I just couldn't find it. The ear pods were donated, still in their packaging, to Barnardo's and I bought them for my son weeks ago. He didn't want them so I'd started using them. Anyhow, I still have one left so I have to listen in mono now rather than stereo! I made dinner just for OH and I on Sunday and we had a leisurely sort of day. I managed to get 3 lots of washing washed and dried as the weather was so warm.

Mondays come around so quickly and it was time to volunteer again. We have a vacancy for a full time manager at our shop and the interviews will be held next week. Another new person to work with. I know one of the candidates already who is a paid member of the team and it would be rather nice if she got the job, but we'll have to wait and see.

Monday's outfit.

I'm almost sure I found this pre-loved J.D Williams cardigan on the Barnardo's 1.00 rail; the pre-loved top is by Next and very old. The wide legged trousers are by Berschka and were via Vinted. Sandals, retail as before and all jewellery pre-loved except the earrings which I bought from Etsy.

It was busy in the charity shop. I processed several bags of donations and was down to the last, deep, plastic box of donated toys; when the donations began to come in thick and fast. In fact, when I left at 1 pm the new pile was twice the size of the one that greeted me at 10 am...

I don't know why I bothered with this denim over-shirt; the weather was too warm and muggy to wear anything other than the pre-loved cotton trousers (no label) from my Barnardo's and found on Monday. Pre-loved top by Papaya and all jewellery pre-loved. Sandals by Monsoon.

Very busy day on Tuesday so no food bank. My son had found a place nearer to us and we helped him move his stuff. A very hot and sweaty day ensued... hence the late posting. I'm so pleased he's closer.

I'm walking with the unofficial bus walk group on Friday; somewhere I've not walked before and on Sunday we have a birthday meal to celebrate my brother Mark's 68th birthday. Watch this space and I'll be back in just under a fortnight...