Weekend visitor and some rummaging...

Everything charity shopped except the boots which were a present from my daughter.

Can't remember where any of the garments came from but the trousers from Next actually have a plaid pattern; Prince of Wales . The top is by Wallis and the jacket is quite Chanel like which is why I like it. It's also one of those really useful items that goes with a lot of my clothes.

All jewellery charity shopped.

That's the bag of shame behind me waiting to be put in the car.

Well, my walk last Wednesday was a great success! I had 56 participants and the weather was lovely; bright, sunny but cold.  56 walkers is an awful lot and it's quite difficult to manage such a large group; they get strung out  and when it comes to stiles it can take a good 10 minutes or longer for everyone to get over! By which time the first over the stile people are 10 minutes walk away! How I manage it is to stop along the walk every so often and let the rear catch up. It's wonderful so many people want to join the Rambler walks but we need to find a solution; parking for walks is a major issue.

In the afternoon I visited my local Daycare Hospice shop which is in the grounds of the Hospice. They had a special offer on books so I bought the entire collection (bar the latest one which I have on reserve from the library) of Elizabeth Strout books for 50p each. I also bought a near as dammit, denim look dress for 4.00 and a black and white maxi dress for 5.00. I tried on a 1980s pleated, belted dress in a lovely geometric print but I looked like a sack of potatoes tied in the middle so it went back on the rail!

I've started the Hydrangea Stripe blanket #2. Seaside colours. If I get this one finished in time I might give this one to Hilary instead. Her living room is decorated in seaside colours...

This was Thursday's outfit. The dress is by Mudd and Water and was 50p at the final car boot sale in Milton Ernest. I have a tunic by Mudd and Water that I use as walking gear in the summer. The boiled wool jacket was 2.00 in the Willen Hospice shop in Newport Pagnell last year. Boots bought online last year. I think I bought this brooch when I used to volunteer at the Red Cross charity shop. The shape is very reminiscent of the 1950s/1960s, I think.

All jewellery charity shopped.

I went swimming on Friday and swam 26 lengths. The pool was quite crowded but the chlorine in the water made my eyes so red and sore. That's not happened since I was a kid and would stay in the pool for hours and hours! I hope it will be okay the next time I swim. Otherwise I will have to invest in a pair of goggles and I don't fancy wearing goggles...

On Saturday I got up early and went for a walk but it lashed down and I only managed 4 miles. OH and I decided to go for a rummage to Northampton in the afternoon, as it's been about a year since we last were there. On the way we stopped at my Barnardos and the Keech Hospice shop in Great Denham as OH hadn't been to either for ages.

I wore this Oliver Bonas dress that I bought  in the Daycare Hospice in Kempston some weeks back for 6.50. The leggings are by M&S and were charity shopped; boots online retail.

The jacket was bought  in a Donegal charity shop for 3 euros. I bought it last year but haven't worn it before.

Head scarf and all jewellery charity shopped, The necklace was bought in Huntingdon on our last trip there. The earrings are the ones I customised and wrote about in my last post HERE.

I bought a lot of stuff on our rummage. On the 50p rail in my Barnardo's I bought a jacket, a tunic and a pair of 'cropped'  striped trousers. In Northampton, I bought an animal print woollen dress (hurray, I've been looking for one as I left the one I have in the caravan; along with two of my berets and two of my watches...) for 4.50; a pair of Hotter t bar shoes for summer in green, for 3.50; a necklace and a pair of earrings for 1.00 each;  what I thought was a long, striped cardigan from Gap for 2.95, but which I now think is a dressing gown!  It is! And finally, a geometric print dress from H&M for 2.00. Since writing this I've tried the animal print dress on and it's actually a tunic - too short (for me) to be a dress - damn!

These photos were taken in the Guildhall, Northampton where they feature well known Northampton/Northamptonshire people. To the left is John Clare known as the peasant poet. He was a member of the rural working class and spent a lot of time in an asylum. The woman on the right was the first ever female Cabinet minister; Margaret Bondfield, a Labour politician, Trade Union and Women's Rights activist.

It was a pretty chilly day so I wore long navy leather gloves - charity shopped of course! I took the boots I'm wearing to the Timpson's in our Sainsbury's store to be re-heeled whilst I did my food shopping, last Thursday. When I paid for them they cost 15.95! I shan't be going there again; the Timpson's in town charges about 12.00. I wouldn't mind, but the boots were only about 20.00 online!

The remote gadget for my tripod died so I missed taking photos for a few days until I found a replacement.

On Monday, I volunteered at the charity shop. Our 50p rail was reduced to 20p! I picked up a couple of items for OH and eldest grandson and a jacket (yes, really a jacket for 20p by M&Co) for me. On Tuesday, I took  my youngest Grandson back to Addenbrooke's hospital in Cambridge for an emergency appointment. His implant had become infected after he got hit in the head at basketball. It was bad news; the implant will have to be removed and the opening/scar will need several months to heal. My poor wee boy - another operation. He is a very brave child though and takes it all in his stride. Children can be so resilient sometimes; they put us adults to shame whinging about minor things....

On Wednesday, I walked with the group. We walked from Harrold Country Park via Santa Pod (racetrack for cars) to Odell Great Wood, through Odell village back to Harrold. It was a cold and sunny; the walk was lovely but very muddy in places. Above is Harrold Church and below one of the beautiful autumnal trees we passed on the walk of 6.5 miles. I keep seeing trees in the most glorious colours and want to stop and take photos as the colours are unbelievable. Unfortunately, I'm usually driving and can't always stop! Look blue sky!

I brought my cheque book with me to pay for my Christmas lunch next month only to discover that I was too late;  all the places were taken! 90 places were available but had all been taken. I was very disappointed as I've been for the past 5 years and we always have a good meal and sing a range of carols before we eat. I love carol singing and this was the only opportunity I got to do it. I need to get in there early next year. It's a new venue this year too; our old venue was a pub in village of Northill  which could only accommodate 70 places, but the new one can accommodate 90. We have lots of new members so I suppose they booked their places early. We are discussing having a Christmas meal with the Barnardo's staff and volunteers but haven't decided a venue as yet - we'd better get our skates on or there'll be no where left to book!

I went to town to run some errands and go to the library when I got back from the walk. I'd left my library card at home as I didn't bring my purse with me; just loose change in my bag so I couldn't take any books out. I'm wearing a maxi dress (no label) I bought in the Daycare Hospice shop last week for 5.00; with a 50p Next top underneath from the 50p rail at my Barnardo's. Boots charity shopped in Oxfam; also 5.00. The jacket was bought in a Donegal charity shop; it's by 100 Idees (?) and was 5 euros.

I've got charity shopped leggings on underneath!

All jewellery charity shopped. I took these photos in my study to see if the light is better. I think it is.

On Thursday I was back in Barnardo's doing an extra volunteering session as it was the Christmas launch. Lots of stuff that had been previously packed away especially for Christmas (gifts) was brought out and displayed; the Manager put the Christmas decorations up and dressed the window with - of course you've guessed it -  a Christmas theme!  I picked up a wrought iron fire screen for our fuel burner whilst I was there. Someone had donated two. It was a busy day and when I finished at 1.30. I then did the weekly food shop. I wore this:

Dress by H&M bought for 2.00 in the Keech Hospice shop last week with a Next charity shopped blouse and brown ankle boots; charity shopped in Newport Pagnell for 5.00.

Tights; online retail and all jewellery and scarf charity shopped. The earrings are ones I picked up on our Northampton rummage.

There was a laundry basket and a plastic tub filled with jewellery at the shop and I took it home with me to sort out and bag up. In total I spent 8.5 hours sorting it all out between Thursday evening and Sunday evening; I took it all back to the shop on Monday where I sold a couple of bags of necklaces almost immediately!

On Friday, I was very much looking forward to my weekend visitor; Hilary, my best friend of 53 years. It's always so good to catch up face to face rather than by phone and email and text. She loved the original Hydrangea Stripe blanket I made for her and preferred it to the Seaside colours one. I was glad as it took the pressure off me to finish the other one quickly so she could take it back with her! I managed to get a swim in before Hilary arrived and did 24 lengths and luckily; no red, sore eyes. I can only assume there was too much chlorine in the water last week...

We went for a rummage on Saturday to St. Neots and to Huntingdon. Hilary pops in and out of her local charity shops but hadn't spent a whole day rummaging since I last visited her in June! We stopped for tea and cake in St. Neots before we headed off to Huntingdon.

The quality of these photos is awful; apologies. the light in my bedroom is just not good enough but I couldn't access my study when I was taking these where the light is so much better.

I wore this Tu denim look dress; charity shopped in the Daycare Hospice shop for 4.00 with a M&S charity shopped kimono.

The tights which have birds on them (!) were a Christmas present from my lovely daughter and the boots were bought online. All jewellery charity shopped. You might just be able to make out above my head a rack with hooks on it. I bought this in St. Neot's in The Dog's Trust for 3.00 and it's for my ever growing collection of necklaces.  Here I had just balanced it on top of the existing one to see if it fitted the door width. It did and it will hold more than the existing one; because as as well as the hooks it has a bar on which I can hang even more necklaces!

My legs are short and stumpy but this is a (slightly) better view of the tights complete with flowers and birds. This was their first outing and I loved them, but it was actually very cold on Saturday and I wished I'd worn leggings or trousers instead! On the rummage I also bought a new duvet set for the spare bedroom; some salad servers for my daughter (special request from her) and I bought a red top from the 99p rail in the Salvation Army for myself and a couple of books. I bought NO jewellery! Wasn't I good? Hilary bought a kimono, a book and quite a few games and jigsaws for her grandchildren. We were both very satisfied with our haul and got home with a couple of hours to chill before we headed out  again...

....for an early birthday celebration for brother Tony (top left and right). I hadn't seen my brothers since before I went to Ireland and I missed them. They hadn't seen Hilary since my mum's funeral ten years ago and they were all delighted to see each other again. We had a lovely Thai meal and  a lovely evening. It was unfortunately a filthy night - weather wise. Heavy rain there and back; Kettering is 25 miles from Bedford. I drove there and OH drove back. Julian couldn't make it as he has started rehearsals for the bands 50th anniversary tour and was down in Hastings... if you want see a bit more about the band and to see if you can spot my brother visit here!

Day 1

Hilary went back to Devon on Sunday and among the many things I did on Sunday was to sort out my dresses and organise them a little better. The problem is I have too many and I haven't enough room left in the wardrobe where I store them. I have 22 dresses; not including maxi dresses; which I store in another place. Having so many dresses got me thinking; I could a wear a different dress every day for 3 weeks, so I thought I'd set myself a challenge to see if I could do it and share it with you all! On Monday, I started with dress No.1 which I wore on Saturday as well;  but as it was my most recent acquisition and because I like it I wore it  again to volunteer at Barnardo's, this time with a different jacket and accessories.

 Dress by Tu; charity shopped in the Daycare Hospice shop for 4.00. Floral tights charity shopped last year somewhere; boots as above. Jacket from Donegal charity shop; 3.00.

All jewellery charity shopped.

Just looking back at this post and the outfits; I've worn 5 different dresses already including 1 maxi dress. I will wear these again in my challenge as I'll make sure I wear different accessories with them.

Day 2

Everything charity shopped except the boots; online retail.
 Woollen dress M&S; charity shopped in Barnardo's, Ampthill from the 99p rail.

Cardigan by Joseph A; can't remember. All jewellery, scarf and tights charity shopped.

I wore this charity shopped Susan Bristol knitted coat/jacket and kept it on in the Food Bank warehouse as it was freezing!


So, do you like a clothes challenge?

Halt term break, Whitby and project completed

I wore this outfit on Wednesday. I had to take the youngest grandson for a hospital appointment to Cambridge in the afternoon so managed to get a quick swim in before; 22 laps. I wore this green corduroy skirt by H&M; 1.00 rail somewhere, a white Gap shirt also 1.00 rail and this cheerful yellow jumper by Mc&Co which I picked up from Barnardo's in Ampthill. 1.00 rail. Green boots by River Island from my Barnardo's.

Had a much needed haircut on Thursday and got my eyebrows done. I also did the food shopping and worked on the Hydrangea blanket. It's almost done...

It was 7 degrees on Thursday morning; quite chilly! The camera is still not taking its usual photos; I just don't know why..

Lace effect leggings M&S retail and boots; both presents from my daughter, tunic; 1.00 rail and Gap shirt underneath; as above. All jewellery charity shopped. I'd planned to go out for a walk after I'd done everything I wanted to do; but it rained and I don't enjoy walking in the rain. I thought there was a bus walk on Friday but I'd got my dates muddled up so I did my own bus walk instead. I caught the bus to Milton Ernest and walked back to Bedford - 7 miles.  The bus stop is at the bottom of my street and I just have to swipe my bus pass! I am really enjoying being an official pensioner and plan to spend a day in Oxford soon catching the (free) bus there and back! This was Friday's outfit:

Everything charity shopped. Phase Eight top, M&S skirt; boots have no label. I remember buying these tights in the Cat's Protection charity shop ages ago; they are a German brand and were 3.99.

All jewellery charity shopped. I bought the earrings - and several other pairs - in one of the Hospice shops when I was at the hairdresser's on Thursday. It's the only time I get to this charity shop and I nearly always find something.


Another pensioner perk is free flu jabs. I took advantage of this when I was in Ampthill on Tuesday and had my first ever flu jab. I had flu on two consecutive years in the early 1990s and it wiped me out both times. If I can avoid ever having to suffer that again, I will.

Saturday was quite a good day with sun and wind. I walked to Biddenham and back; 5 miles and snapped the autumn foliage on this beautiful tree.

Everything charity shopped. The suede skirt came from Oxfam in West Hampstead; can't remember where I got the top from; the brown jacket by Viyella; 1 euro in the Donegal Animal Charity shop. Boots online retail.

All jewellery charity shopped. Did anyone spot I had odd earrings on? I only realised when I saw the photos; I'd tried two different pairs on and forgot they weren't matching...

After my walk I went to see my friend Ann and we spent the rest of the afternoon catching up.

Sunday's outfit. I bought this green tunic by Savannah Miller for 3.95 when I went to the hairdressers on Thursday. Cardigan by Next also charity shopped as are the boots (River Island) and the leggings; H&M - both from my Barnardo's. The leggings are black with dark green splodges.

All jewellery charity shopped. The earrings were another of the 1.00 pairs from the Hospice shop.

 OH and I went to the last of our local car boot sales on Sunday. It was very disappointing. There were very few stalls and most of those had childrens' and babies' items. It was also a really chilly day; my hands were so cold I wished I'd worn gloves! I did manage to buy a dress for 50p and two necklaces each for 50p. Then it was home to do the housework and cook the dinner. I also finished the Hydrangea blanket on Sunday:

Source: Attic 24 blog.

I hope Hilary likes it!

 I've certainly enjoyed making it; the pattern is very easy. You can see above where the inspiration for the pattern and colours came from - real hydrangea flowers. Attic 24 uses inspiration from nature a lot and then tries to find suitable colours. Very successfully, I'd say! I could have bought the yarn pack in these colours, but it works out extremely expensive.  Instead I make use of my stash; almost all of which has been picked up in charity shops.

I may make a second Hydrangea blanket in different shades of blue and give it to my middle grandson's little brother. His mum asked me to make one for him ages ago. There's quite a lot of good TV at the moment, so I can crochet and watch at the same time. I'm currently reading the Coco Chanel biography that I picked up from my Barnardo's last week. What a fascinating woman she was...

Even though it was half term I still went to volunteer at Barnardo's on Monday. There was so much stuff to sort, tag and put onto the shop floor. We have the Christmas launch coming up where all the Barnardo's Christmas branded stuff is put out; I've volunteered to do an extra day that week. I bought two jumpers from the 50p rail; a couple of necklaces and two pictures; one of which is for Hilary.

I didn't go to the foodbank as it was half term. I set off for a swim at midday only to realise as I approached the pool that as it was half term there wouldn't be lane swimming during the day; only in the early morning or evening!

It was quite a chilly day so I wrapped up well.

This is one of the 50p jumpers (by Tu) bought at Barnardo's on Monday.
Skirt by Topshop and also charity shopped. Boots charity shopped in Oxfam in Bedford.
I wore my 'And Other Stories' denim jacket which I bought at the 3:16 charity shop for 5.00. Thick cable pattern tights also charity shopped, but I can't remember where from.

All jewellery charity shopped;

I went to Newport Pagnell for a rummage. I bought another scarf (!)  a top by Boden for 2.00; and I found a lovely pair of earrings for 1.00 in the Willen Hospice shop. The only drawback was they were post earrings which I don't like very much. But I have jewellery pliers in a range of sizes and lots of hooks that turn earrings into drop or dangle earrings. When I got home I got the pliers out and set to work and now I have a pair of large pearl earrings plus a small pair of square diamond earrings. I often do this with earrings that I see; or sometimes I remove parts of earring to make them simpler. I bought both the pliers and hooks from ebay some years ago.

And talking of jewellery look at this:

My bag of shame. AKA as a bag full of bangles - mostly plastic in assorted hues.
I had 8 baskets full of bangles that sat on top of my cupboard. Every time I reached into a basket or went to lift one down; bangles would fall on the bedroom floor with a huge clatter. Why did I need 8 baskets of bangles - all colour coded? I didn't. I've just bought them because they're always plentiful in charity shops and they're cheap. I've been buying them for years. And of course I like them; but not enough that they keep falling to the floor. So on Wednesday after my walk of 7 miles; I sorted them out and got down to 4 baskets (from 8!) that sit neatly on top of the cupboard and aren't too full. The bag of shame will go to one of the nearby charity shops.

This is the top from Boden bought yesterday for 2.00 in the Willen Hospice shop.
All jewellery charity shopped.

Frayed bottom jeans (by me) from Next; charity shopped and brogues Tesco sale a few years ago.
Can you see my neat baskets on top of the cupboard? Prior to the clearout they each had another basket balancing precariously on top!

It was quite a cold day on Wednesday and although I had socks on my ankles were cold.

On Thursday afternoon, my daughter, me and two youngest grandsons set off for a trip for a couple of nights stay in Saltburn by the Sea. We had never visited this part of the country before and I was keen to see Whitby. We stayed in an airbnb which was very good; but the weather was awful. It rained so heavily on the drive there it was like driving in fog; I couldn't see the tail lights of the driver in front! My daughter drove us back and the conditions were the same on the return journey. In fact the weather made us return early on Saturday as we had exhausted all the indoor possibilities - crazy golf etc...

This is Saltburn by the Sea. It had stopped raining
 when we arrived and the sky was this strange pinky colour...

We set off for Whitby on Friday and as luck would have it it was Goth weekend; because of Halloween I assume.  You can read all about Whitby, Goths and the Dracula/Bram Stoker connection here.

This group of obliging people allowed me to take their photo. There were some wonderfully costumed people walking up the 199 steps to St. Mary's Church and to the Abbey, but I didn't like to take their photos without permission and we could have been there all day if I had! Some fabulous costumes were seen and then of course the rain descended. We then made out way to Skelton where we played an 18 hole indoor Crazy Golf game which was great fun and then went out to get something to eat. Both evenings we played cards for 5p stakes. The grandchildren really enjoy games. I had intended to bring a game called Articulate with us but had forgotten it. Tried 2 different places to buy another (which I would have given to my daughter for her house) but there were none to be found.

We found this poor dead lizard outside the walls of the abbey as we circumnavigated it. Youngest grandson said he knew it was dead -  because 'his tongue was sticking out and that's a sign that something is dead'. Such innocence!

Whitby Harbour from the steps going back down to the town.

Harbour wall, Whitby.

A replica of Captain Cook's 'Endeavour'. James Cook, explorer came from this part of the world and there is a museum devoted to him in Whitby.

I'd also hoped to have a quick whizz round the charity shops in Saltburn on Saturday before we left. but the weather was so awful I didn't bother! I did look at one (I saw 3) in Whitby; the prices seemed to be quite high...

This lovely tweed fabric caught my eye when I went to Ampthill a week ago and I couldn't resist this tunic for 5.00. The colours aren't properly defined in the outfit photos.

All jewellery charity shopped.

Worn with brown leggings; M&S retail and brown boots; charity shopped. I wore this on Sunday when I went to see my son. It was a lovely sunny day but very, very chilly. I was however very grateful the incessant rain had finally stopped. I hope the ground has a chance to dry out a bit otherwise when I lead my walk on Wednesday it will be very muddy...

Grandson had a teacher training day so I only went to the charity shop for two hours on Monday. It was busy as usual and for a change I sorted out and decoded the bric a brac.

This was what I wore. All jewellery charity shopped. Another 1.00 pair of earrings from the Hospice shop.

Joe Brown dress bought BNWT in a Donegal charity shop for 10 euros.
The green footless tights were bought online last year and the green boots were charity shopped from my Barnardo's. Orange boiled wool jacket bought in the Hospice shop in Kempston last year, I think.

Hope you're all keeping warm!