Miss, the dog ate my homework...

Hello!

Well, here we are again. Where does the time go? 

And before I forget, if any of you (UK) followers out there want to see Rain's twin; try and catch the 'Gardener's World' programme on BBC 1 from Friday 21st June. Frances Tophill has the exact same dog as Rain; same colour, but a male and called 'Rua' (I think). It was like watching Rain on the TV!

The day following my last post turned out to be the hottest day of the year so far and Tuesday was bloody hot, too. Rain and I set off at 7.30 am on Wednesday morning and walked for 7 miles, following one of my old walking routes; Ravensden to Ravensden Church End to Ravensden Wood End. I sweated buckets. Rain saw her first pheasant (as far as I know) and almost yanked my arm off in her effort to give chase to it.

Everything pre-loved. Dress by Et Vous (Matalan), sandals by Timberland via Vinted; jacket by Precis. Why was I wearing a jacket on the hottest day of the year? All will be revealed...

All jewellery pre-loved.

  I didn't know it was going to be the hottest day of the year, but I did a lot on Wednesday. Apart from the long walk with the dog in the morning; in the afternoon after my dental appointment (just a clean); I went to our local museum and art gallery (The Higgins, Bedford) to view a couple of exhibitions. I find if I don't go and see the exhibitions soon after they start; the time goes by so quickly I've often missed one. (Note, however, the 'Bawden and Me exhibition started in February 2024 but runs until October 2024). Just as well as it's take me four months to go and see it!

 I took quite a few photographs of the 'Bawden and Me' exhibits and here are a few examples:

Collage on the left and Edward Bawden's linocut on the right.

Autumn by Edward Bawden on the left. I'm afraid I didn't capture the artist's name on the right but what a lovely interpretation.

Kew Garden's poster for London Underground by Bawden on the right and I didn't capture the name of the artist's beautiful tapestry on the left.

'Hen and Chicks' by Edward Bawden linocut with embroidered version by Lulu Guinness. Yes, she of the handbags!

Unfortunately, Edward Bawden's original engraving of Mount Pleasant Road was a) very tiny and b) my photo didn't come out...

All original Bawden work. Above 'Cattle Market' below left buildings in Portugal and right poster for the National Trust of Sissinghurst Castle's clipped yew hedges. 

The second exhibition was Peter Braithwaite's 'Rediscovering Black Portraiture'. 

 Peter Braithwaite, whose performances were cancelled during the lock down of 2020; spent his time in lock down researching black portraiture in artworks and then reimagined some of them using props and himself. Here he is as the reimagined anonymously painted 'Virgin of Guadaloupe'.

You can find out more about both exhibitions HERE.

I also came across this collection in the museum; it's been here since 2012 but I'd forgotten all about it. Painted furniture by William Burges; (1827 - 1881) a renowned English architect and designer; particularly for his Gothic revival work.

And now, back to a jacket  on the hottest day of the year. In the evening OH and I went to one of our two local theatres called 'The Place' to see a play called 'The Valentine Letters'.

Based on a true story from a book written by their daughter; this play tells the tale of 900 letters written by her parents to each other during WW2; when her father was held as a POW in Germany. The play had only 3 performers; 2 actors playing the parents and 1 actor playing the daughter/narrator. The theatre was tiny and we sat on the front row practically on the stage. We had to keep our feet tucked in otherwise we might tripped the actors up! It was a marvellous performance and we both thoroughly enjoyed it. Very pared back with almost nothing in the way of a stage set and just a few props; it was both moving and funny.

I wore this dress on Thursday; it was a lot cooler and pretty windy. I love the colour of the dress and the faux tie die pattern but it does nothing for me so off to the donations bag it went. It was a Barnardo's pre-loved find a couple of years ago. Sandals by Brakeburn; retail and denim jacket pre-loved. All jewellery pre-loved.

My camera's on a 5 second timer so I have to sprint into position as the remote clicker is broken;  that's why there's movement in the dress. It wasn't windy in the house...

There were no further developments with the broken garden wall over the weekend as I'd hoped. The gap is still there. However, the garden is looking well with lots of things in flower so that's a bonus...the neighbour whose wall it is had her Dad visiting from Scotland and he'd brought his dog, Jazz, with him. She and Rain became well acquainted just through sniffing each others noses through the gap in the wall! The neighbour's garden is on a higher level than ours so they look down on us from their garden.

This is the newly tidied up area against my other neighbour Anna's wall and we made a narrow gravel path so I can get to the bird feeders...

Bought this orange planter from a charity for people with learning disabilities a few years ago; they upcycled furniture. The shop is no longer there but they run a cafe and that's still thriving I'm glad to say.

These are the Calendula seeds I planted.

OH's favourite flowers, on the left tiger lily and one of our scented roses.

And we both love the sweet peas we're picking daily from the garden.

On Saturday afternoon with the weather back to hot and sunny again; OH said he fancied a rummage in Kettering. We went there in the afternoon and also met up with my brother Tony for a pint in the pub before returning home. I bought some Mark Billingham books to add to my collection and found a pair of earrings. I'd also picked up the last 2 books in the 'Slow Horses' series from the library on Saturday morning.

I wore this Per Una (M&S) pre-loved dress found in an Oundle charity shop on a previous trip out with OH and my brothers; pre-loved bag and mules from Tu retail. They were slingbacks but the backs never stay up so I cut them off and turned them into mules or sliders as they're called these days; keep up at the back there...

All jewellery pre-loved.

I decided to make some changes to my Sundays. I went for a swim as per usual on Sunday morning only swimming 30 laps instead of 40 -45. I just wasn't feeling it. I think it's partly because I walk the dog first and I would actually prefer to walk the dog on Sunday for a good couple of hours instead.  I'm not going to swim on Sundays for the next few months and I'll revert back to Sunday swimming when the weather is more autumnal. I shall carry on with my Thursday swim however; only swimming once a week will incentivise me to swim 45 laps each time.

I also decided that I won't make Sunday dinner for everyone every Sunday but do it on alternate weeks instead -  at least while we have better weather. That way OH and I can have more trips out including Sundays. To this end I'd book us a visit on Sunday afternoon to 'Shaw's Corner' in Ayot St. Lawrence in Hertfordshire less than an hour's drive away from us. 

The weather was cooler but still bright. I wore these M&S pre-loved wide legged trousers with this very pale blue Olsen linen shirt found in Ireland last summer. The sandals are the final pair of 'new' sandals I'd bought this year and were a retail buy from Tu. They were most comfortable for an afternoon touring the house and the gardens of George Bernard Shaw's home. We also walked into the village of Ayot St. Lawrence and had a coffee in the lovely pub. It was a very pleasant afternoon all told and to top it off I found the latest Ann Patchett book; 'Tom Lake' in the tiny second hand book shop.

All jewellery pre-loved.

George Bernard Shaw and his wife Charlotte rented this house for 14 years before buying it. It was built in 1902 for the Rector of Ayot St.Lawrence and originally known as the 'New Rectory'. The Shaw's moved in  in 1906 and bought it in 1920.

GBS writing hut in the garden.

Sorry about my reflection! The hut contained a desk, chair and bunk bed as well as an oil heater; a telephone was installed and connected to the house.

A Laura Knight print 'First Night in the Stalls'. One of my favourite artists; you may remember I went to an exhibition of her work in Milton Keynes in 2021. I also liked the vase...

The bird prints are copies of Thomas Bewick's famous 'A History of British Birds' originally published in 1797.

I spotted this Aubrey Beardsley print in GBS' study.

It was a comfortable and lived in house with lots of interesting art and artefacts. In 1944, a year after Charlotte Shaw died the house was accepted into National Trust ownership with the provision that GBS was able to continue to live there until his death.

Portrait of Charlotte Shaw above the mantelpiece. If you look on the mantelpiece you can also see the Oscar GBS was awarded for  his screenplay of 'Pygmalion' and below his Nobel Prize certificate. Bob Dylan is the only other person to be awarded both an Oscar and the Nobel Prize - so the National Trust guide told us.

The dining room where GBS died in 1950.

We walked to the village in search of a pub and passed this beautiful ruined old church. It's been a ruin for the past 300 years the people who lived in the lovely cottage below informed us.

Back to Barnardo's on Monday. Sandals retail last year; pre-loved top by Pepperberry and trousers by OVS.

 

Rain is sniffing to see if I have treats in my bag...I got very cross with her later in the day. I was in the hall and she was in the living room sleeping on the sofa or so I thought. When I went into the room she had chewed up my library book; the last in the 'Slow Horses' series that I'd reserved from the library and the worst thing was I hadn't read it yet...

All jewellery pre-loved. 

Monday afternoons are usually set aside for for housecleaning and we tidied up the garden. 2 more beautiful blooms greeted us:

A splodgy calla lily.

A two tone tigerlily.

Food bank and errands on Tuesday.  On our early walk to the cemetery this morning I was surprised but delighted to see a Muntjac deer. Rain didn't spot it. Another dog walker told me he's seen deer in the cemetery frequently. Tuesday's outfit; trainers by Tu; pre-loved trousers by Papaya and top by Tu both found at Barnardo's. All jewellery pre-loved except the earrings which were bought somewhere but I can't remember where...

One of the errands was to the library in town to own up about the state of the book and take my punishment. Ten quid lighter (thank you, Rain) but in possession of another copy of the book I hadn't managed to read yet; I was pretty happy. I started the book that evening. The Euros continued to bore on so I was getting through the Slow Horses series pretty quickly.

After a good long walk with Rain in the morning on Wednesday; OH and I went to Newport Pagnell for a short rummage where it rained throughout the rest of the day. I was sad to see the Keech hospice shop had closed down permanently in Newport Pagnell, but they do have another quite large furniture/household goods shop at the other end of the high street. I only bought a couple of books.

Thursday was of course Election Day in the UK. I'd voted by post but OH went out to the polling station in the evening to cast his vote. We were so pleased Labour won the election but I'm not a fan of Keir Starmer; he never sounds sincere to me...they have a lot of work to do as the Tories have run our infrastructure down to the ground and then some.

Thursday was busy as it is every week. As well as swimming (45 laps), dog walks, shopping and cooking; I slotted in a hairdresser's appointment as well. Luckily, youngest grandson didn't have basket ball training; the leisure centre where he trains is used as a counting centre when there are elections. He arrived for dinner and departed on his electric scooter!

Everything pre-loved including jewellery. Dress by Roman; cropped leggings by Primarni; cardi by Marisota; metallic sandals by Dune and found in Saffron Walden. I'd like to go back there again and this time visit the art gallery. In the evening I finished the final book in the 'Slow Horses' series and could return to my original TBR pile...

Everything pre-loved and seen on the blog before. I bought the shoes  in a Co. Donegal charity shop for 2 euros.

Friday started out with drizzle, then heavier rain, but stopped and brightened up for the rest of the day. Unfortunately it lashed down in the early evening and lasted. I felt sorry for the people in Bedford Park who'd gone to see Pete Tong presenting Ibiza classics; I hope they all had umbrellas...

My Friday walking group were walking from Woburn to Leighton Buzzard which I would have liked to do, but I had made arrangements to pick my son up from Northampton. Never mind, I'm sure I'll get another chance to walk it, as the walk leader for this particular walk is a regular Friday walker.

We had a quiet, stay-at-home weekend. I was woken up by hailstones and thunder on Friday night/Saturday morning or did I dream it? Anyway, it poured down heavily all morning. There was a car boot sale locally but the rain meant it would have been called off; that was a disappointment. Rain refused to go out either the front or back door in the rain, so no early walk until just after 11 am; when there was a cessation of rain and it gradually brightened up. My daughter and I had planned to take Rain on a long walk but the rain put us off. I spent the rest of the day writing my blog and catching up with blog land. Later in the afternoon it began to rain heavily again. I'd met a man in the cemetery on the earlier walk with Rain; he was looking forward to watching 'James' perform in Bedford Park on Saturday afternoon; I hoped it wouldn't be a washout...

Everything pre-loved except the sliders which were a Tu (Sainsbury's) buy a couple of years ago; however my feet were too cold wearing them and I resorted to wearing thick bed socks in the house. Jeans by Next; kimono no label. All jewellery pre-loved.

I took Rain for a lovely long country walk on Sunday morning to Milton Ernest and was able to let her off the lead in three consecutive fields. She had such a good run round she tired herself out and wanted to lie down for a rest on the way back to the car! We saw several hares and I think I saw a Hobby (a bird of prey) but like most birds it didn't stay long enough for me too get a really good look at it;  although it reminded me of a large swift in the air.

I went for a simple dress to wear on Sunday as the weather was mixed; rain and sunny periods but not cold. The dress was a Barnardo's find a few years ago and the lace jacket also. Sandals by Monsoon retail. One of the straps had come adrift from the sole so OH glued it back for me. I wore walking boots on the dog walk.

All jewellery pre-loved.

Both grandsons came for Sunday dinner and I picked youngest grandson and his friend up from basket ball training before I made dinner.

Monday turned out to be a lovely day and on our morning walk along the river to Queen's Park; Rain and I saw 2 Muntjac deer on the grass close to the (busy) wooden bridge between Queen's Park and Kempston. She was rather puzzled by the deer; were they dogs I could see her thinking. I was astonished at how close to human beings the deer were; humans on the bridge; on the pathway (us) and even on the grassy area itself. They disappeared into a thicket of tall grasses and shrubs.

    

I wore this to Barnardo's on Monday. I worked with the deputy manager who  by now was returned from sick leave. We now have a vacancy for a new full time manager...all pre-loved clothes. Skirt by Paul Costelloe; top by Dorothy Perkins; black denim jacket a recent Barnardo's find. Sandals retail as before. All jewellery pre-loved.

It's that bloody dog again.

After my daughter finished work I took Rain over to where she lives and walked her across the fields and around the woods. I like to give her a bit of variety in the places we walk; I'd get bored if I always walked in the same places, too.

We had started watching 'Jana' a Swedish crime thriller on BBC i player at the weekend. We'd missed it on BBC 4 where it was aired recently. Then remote for our Virgin TV box gave up the ghost on Monday and although OH ordered another on it will probably be the weekend before it arrives. Without the remote we can't find or change TV channels; our TV is not a Smart TV and is old; bought in 2008, I think. 

My children and grandchildren are constantly telling us we need to change to a Smart TV. Why? Ours works fine and the picture is good; there's no need to buy another TV. I tried to get Netflix on my laptop which is a Chromebook which I've had for about 4/5 years but wasn't able to. Why?Quite recently I was informed the Chromebook would no longer do updates and that I would need to buy another laptop! I don't want another bloody laptop; I'm happy with the one I have, but I expect I'll be able to do less and less on it and eventually be forced into buying another. It makes me so mad! I've also been told I'm running out of photo space by Google photos on the lap top although I am trying to delete as much as I can to make more room. And on top of that I've been having trouble editing photos on the lap top. The lap top frequently freezes when I try and edit photos so I am editing photos mostly on my phone. It makes me wonder if the lack of Chromebook updates and the Google photos thing are connected in some way? Technology is wonderful when it works isn't it and nightmare when it doesn't!

Tuesday was a cloudy; wet at times; warm and sticky day. I was grateful for the cool of the Food bank warehouse where I was on my own as Tracey wasn't in. I made up Kettle Packs, then made up 10 Cold Packs and unpacked a stack of toiletries. I was very warm by that point but wearing nylon high-vis vest over my clothes didn't help..

Trousers; retail buy from George in winter sale; everything else pre-loved. Top by Wallis and is years old; denim jacket as before. The Addidas trainers are new to me but donated by my daughter. They keep my feet dry when walking on wet grass with Rain. I use the M&S grey trainers for dry days. All jewellery pre-loved.

I spent the afternoon running errands in town and then catching up with blogs and writing my own. I'm hoping for a return of more sunny weather and will be back in fortnight - see you then.

UPDATED to say - I checked about Chromebook updates and according to them they cease updates after 10 years. That must mean I've had this lap top for 10 years. I told you time flies!