Counting down to the holidays...

On Friday I went walking with the Ramblers. We did 9 miles in total; starting out from the village of Wilden, walking to Ravensden and Renhold and back to Wilden. It rained lightly a couple of times but it wasn't cold at all, and near the end the sun came out. I have new walking boots and they're great; the downside is, of course, they have to be cleaned - one of the most horrible jobs I know, along with cleaning the cooker, unblocking the sink or toilet, and ironing.

Sunday was a lovely day. Unfortunately the housework needed to be done as it hadn't been done the week before when were away  in Leeds.  Where are the housework fairies when you need them? I hate housework but it has to be done and I couldn't leave it for another week. The relief when it's finished and I think - that's it for another week - thank the Lord and pass the gravy!

 Trousers; Lidl. Most trousers are usually too long for me, with some honourable exceptions (Next regular, M &S regular), so I either fold up the hem or I have to resort to scissors and sewing. As I hate sewing this doesn't happen that often. It's a curse, you know, having short legs!

The green sandals are from Clarks and this is their 4th or 5th summer. I have an identical brown pair and I bought both pairs in the Clarks summer sale. The brown ones went down to 17.50 but these ones only went down to 22.50. I expect they'll last for ever; Clarks shoes/sandals usually do. I have a t strap, light blue pair of Clark sandals, again bought in the sale, and they're 6 years old!

Top, camisole, bag, earrings, cuff, watch and beads - all charity shopped.

 I have bought some a lot of clothes over the past two weeks. A  Zara winter coatigan in black and white for £6.00; a brand new with tags, beige (yes - that is the dreaded 'B' word) raincoat by Lorraine (Kelly, I think) at J.D. Williams - £4.00! A pair of trousers from Lidl.  2 pairs of trousers at the Cats Protection League and 4 tops in Newport Pagnell, sandals in Leeds, another pair of trousers and a tunic top from the independent charity shop in town; a skirt from Save the Children - I'm back there on Monday; I have never yet managed to leave the shop without something! And, I haven't mentioned the jewellery I've bought...oh dear, I have a really bad addiction to charity shops and the buying of their contents. On the plus side I have got rid of some trousers, tops and my old navy raincoat so my wardrobe hasn't got any fuller. And I have a complete holiday wardrobe ready for Spain. 

We leave for Spain on 28th July; my daughter, middle and youngest grandson and me. We are back on 4th  August and I shall leave for Ireland a few days later. I will be booking the ferry later this week when I get my pension. I'd like to stay until the end of September but as I help out with childcare I will need to be back for the start of the new term.

I went to a very poor church jumble sale on Saturday morning and bought a top for £1.00 - I couldn't believe it. When I was last at a jumble sale everything was 20 or 30p. I guessed it might be 50p now, but I was flabbergasted at a quid per item. I was too shocked to say I'd leave it, so that's yet another top to add to my collection! I am not going to go round the charity shops at all now -  I need to keep any spare money I have to spend in Ireland.

 I checked out the exchange rate for sterling to euros on Monday and it is very poor...

Monday's outfit.
Trousers; Tescos - bought with voucher. Everything else charity shopped including bangles, earrings, beads and watch.

I took a leaf out of Goody's book at 'Eat the Blog' here  to mix and match the colour of the bangles. I've mixed orange with green here.

I wore this outfit to the funeral on Tuesday. The jumpsuit is from M&S and I've had it for about 4 years but  never worn it before. I bought it with OH's annual Christmas voucher. He always used to give it to me and I'd spend it in the sale. He now gets an Amazon voucher and keeps it!

The jacket is charity shopped as is the hat, (both are from Next) and all the jewellery. is charity shopped. The wedge sandals are also charity shopped but although they were bought recently, I can't remember where.

The funeral service was beautiful and very moving. It was a very sad day but my friend was very brave and dignified throughout.

Wednesday's outfit - everything charity shopped.

I walked with the Rambler's on Wednesday. We walked 7.5 miles and it was a glorious day. Much of the walk was by the River Great Ouse and is called the Kingfisher Way.  We walked from Blunham Village to Tempsford Village to Great Barford Village and back. We didn't see any kingfishers, unfortunately.

I went on a Rambler's Amble on Thursday and we walked 5 miles. I had quite a lazy day and didn't even go for a rummage.

However, on Monday I rescued a black linen Next dress from the ragbag at Save the Children, and I bought a Kanga Collection, London (i.e.vintage 1980s, I think) loose kimono type top in 100% polyester, but brilliant colours, for £2.99 in the YMCA in Cambridge, on Tuesday.

 I also popped in to the British Red Cross on Wednesday and bought a floral pouffe which I'll use as a footstool in my study; I can then read in there with my feet up; as I do downstairs. And the other thing I bought was this bag which I'm going to use for a holiday handbag:

Because it's made of material it will fold up flat into my suitcase. We're flying to Spain with Easy Jet and they don't allow handbags and hand luggage in flight. It still has it's price tag of £1.99 on. I love the colours and the different floral patterns.

Thursday's outfit.

Everything charity shopped except shoes which were bought from the Very sale online a few years ago.
Dress - car boot sale in Ireland in 2014; cardigan Salvation Army charity shop about 4 years ago.

All jewellery charity shopped.

I'm on a reading mission at the moment. I keep a small notepad and write down all the titles of books I'd like to read. I usually get the recommendations from a range of book reviews. Every so often I'll go through the list and see what the library has. I did this recently and with a couple of reservations coming in as well, I've 8 books to read before I go away on holiday. I don't want to take any with me as they'll take up room in my luggage; I have a Kindle for holiday reading. I can't see me achieving all 8 before I go away, but I'm doing my best - it  originally started out as 12 but I've managed to read 4 already. Update, I finished another one on Thursday evening so only 7 to go before the 28th!

I have no plans for the weekend other than a bit of walking and on Sunday there is a big street jumble sale which I'm looking forward to. This will be the second one of these I've attended and I really enjoyed the last one.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend.
xxxx

Busy, busy, busy...

I'm almost scared to type this in case I tempt fate; the comments problem seems to have gone- except that I have lost all my previous comments. This is very sad as I have had many lovely and very amusing comments, but when you switch from Google to Blogger comments you lose them. I just have to accept it and move on!

What is good is that several people have said they had previously been unable to comment - but now they can!

Here's some of my dried hydrangeas in a lovely Maltese glass vase my friend gave me. Her son's funeral is on 5th July and it's going to be a very sad occasion, but we will celebrate his life in the best way we can.


I had a pretty hectic week last week hence no posts.  On Monday, I did the school run, then went to volunteer at Save the Children. On Tuesday I was at the food bank and went walking in the afternoon. I got slightly lost and ended up walking over 9 miles. I was very tired, went to bed early and slept like a log! I went walking with the Ramblers on Wednesday and got very wet as it rained all morning. We did over 7 miles, nevertheless.  I did a little bit of rummaging  in town in the afternoon and picked up a few nice items.

On Thursday, I was a poll clerk at a local polling station. My day started at 5 am and I was back home at 10. 20 pm. A long day but very enjoyable. (I am devastated at the outcome). On Friday,  it was the school run and food shopping in the afternoon.

On Saturday, we went to Leeds to spend the weekend with my OH's army buddy and his wife.

My OH was in the army for 6 years in the 1970s and stationed in Germany. He made some very good friends there and in 2013 we attended a reunion of his battalion in Southport.  It was the first reunion he had attended (oh the power of Facebook!) and he caught up with people, some he hadn't seen for over 40 years! Later in the year we went to stay with one such friend and his wife and we spent this weekend with them again - and a very good time was had by all. I even managed to visit a couple of local charity shops whilst we were in Leeds.

This  week was less busy, thank goodness. I was at Save the Children on Monday; haven't yet had the chance to operate the new till but I was able to help my colleague log in!

This was Tuesday's outfit. No food bank this week.
Capri pants and shirt from British Red Cross last week. Green sandals from Leeds charity shop - Gemma's Hospice, £5.99. White vest, charity shop £1.00 rail.

Bangles and watch charity shopped. Earrings from one of those shops that sell everything and the necklace was a present from my lovely next door neighbour.

 I managed to go rummaging in Newport Pagnell on Tuesday afternoon and picked up a few bargains.What did I buy? I bought some bangles and a pair of earrings  which cost me £2.00 and 3 tops for 50 p each, plus a pale green kimono jacket for 50p, too! The tops came from Keech Hospice - some of the reduced garments were 30p. What I really am after is some red skinny jeans as mine are too big for me and fall down around my hips which I hate. I didn't find any but that's what I keep looking for...

The weather scuppered my plans for walking on Wednesday. I was hoping to recce a new walk to lead another one in December; they're looking for volunteers at the moment. The Ramblers need the details by the end of the week and I'd need to recce the walk several times first. I'm hoping I get the chance to do it before this week is out. I know the route I want to take but it has to be walked first.

This is what I wore on Wednesday, although I was mainly bundled up in a huge thick cardigan, left behind by my grandson, as it was wet and chilly on Wednesday.

I think you might spot me in a crowd in this cardigan! I needed cheering up and bright colours always help.

I bought this cardigan online before Christmas, when I was waiting for a yellow cardigan to arrive as a Christmas present. It was too light for winter wear, when it arrived, but I hung on to it for summer wear. The vest top was from the British Red Cross in last week's rummage. Black skinny jeans; Lidl and yellow loafers; Tesco outlet store.

Beads, bangles, earrings and watch all charity shopped.

On Thursday the weather was much better and I got out  and recce'd the walk. It's just on 7 miles so if I can get to do it again over the weekend I feel confident enough to pass the details on and get ready to lead another walk.

Skirt bought from Save the Children last week for £3.00; it's by Country Casuals and I just love the print. The white top is one of my Tuesday 50p bargains and originally from Monsoon, and the linen jacket I've had for about 8 years now. Every year I contemplate getting rid of it and every year I end up keeping it - and wearing it! It's very useful when a cardigan might be too warm.

The white loafers are charity shopped but originally from River Island. I bought them from the RSPCA shop last year.

The necklace is about 6 years old and is from Sainsbury's, earrings bought from Save the Children last week.

I made a discovery today regarding charity shops in Bedford - I discovered another one! I've lived here for more than 35 years and I didn't know we had a Cat's Protection League charity shop in a place called Kempston, which is about a mile outside of Bedford. I made a point of going there today and it was worth the trip, because I picked up a pair of green palazzo pants and a lovely cobalt blue pair of skinny jeans. No red ones, unfortunately. When I count all the charity shops; including the one that sells used furniture specifically, we have a total of 18 charity shops between Bedford and Kempston.

I've got nothing planned for the rest of the week except some walking with the Ramblers on Friday and by myself at the weekend. Middle grandson is coming to stay over but he'll be glued to the football!

I hope your weekend is fabulous.

Comments problems...again!

All the previous comments on the blog seem to have disappeared! I have  

therefore removed the' comment via Google +' as I keep having problems with the comments on the blog. I think it is maybe because of this. This is just for a trial period to see if things improve - or get worse! Please don't stop commenting - I really enjoy reading your comments! If you usually use Google+ to comment you can still comment directly from the blog post (I think).

A mixed bag

The last few days have been a mixed bag.
My friend's son died on Thursday evening. He was only 35 so it's  a deeply sad and tragic loss of a life. I had taken her to see him on Thursday; we left the unit just before 8 pm and he died about an hour later. May he rest in peace.

Moving from deaths to births; last week we celebrated 3 birthdays. My youngest grandson was 6 and my OH's twin sisters were 60, all on Saturday. We went to London for the twins birthday party and one of them had baked two birthday cakes:

The other sister's name is on the left hand side.

Those are two little teddies each wearing a diamond necklace, a frou frou skirt and a hat with a pearl in it; all entirely edible! With the exception of the necklace and pearls, of course.

Such marvellous cakes! They put the cake I made for my grandson - chocolate sponge with chocolate icing and covered in Smarties - to shame. But I know which cake he'd prefer!

This is what I wore to the party.

Everything, except the sandals were charity shopped. I bought the black and white top last week in the British Red Cross shop. The trousers are from Spain (just lately quite a few things I've bought have been made in Spain) from the Children's Society. The turquoise coat was bought about 2 years ago, but I can't remember where. The last time I wore it was see OH's niece perform at the Donmar Warehouse in London. An all female production of Henry IV - it was brilliant!

 I've finally painted my toenails!

Sandals from the Tesco Outlet store - £4.00.

All jewellery except what's on my left hand was charity shopped.

This was Friday's outfit - a bit more practical as I had a very busy day. I did the school run, did the food shop, dropped donated items to the food bank and to Save the Children, did a wash and hung it out, had a quick rummage in the 3:16 charity shop, changed over handbags (what a pain that is), picked up the grandchildren from school and then drove youngest grandson and Dad home, came home and cooked dinner...

The cardigan is a recent buy from the British Red Cross - all the clothes there are £1.99.

I also bought a rather lovely Charles Rennie Mackintosh type mirror in there as well. That was a bit of a coincidence because the print on the cardigan is reminiscent of CRM!

The mirror still has its price sticker on it as I haven't yet decided where to put it...the mirror I mean, not the sticker!

I'm hoping to buy a new chest of drawers that will be just for me so I can keep most of my clothes in one place. Currently, I have underwear and short sleeved or sleeveless tops in one chest of drawers; nightwear and long sleeved tops in another chest of drawers. Both sets of drawers shared with OH. Belts, gloves, slips and swim wear in boxes under my bed. Tights and leggings in my bedside chest of drawers.  I keep my socks hanging in a bag on the side of one of the chest of drawers. If I could get rid of the stuff under the bed into a chest of drawers I'd be happy!

Necklace was my mum's and the earrings were a present from OH. I'm wearing brown lipstick for a change but I do prefer red lippy!

Here's Monday outfit - what a weird day it was. Heavy rain showers interspersed with brilliant sunshine but not cold when it rained, so that was something to be thankful for.

A better view of my CRM mirror.

Everything charity shopped including jewellery, Linen trousers = a crease fest!

Jacket bought from Beales Sale about 3 years ago.

`

I didn't get a chance to play on the new till at the charity shop today. I was too busy culling and steaming!

Hope you all have a fab week.

The walk went well!

I went to Cambridge on Saturday to take my friend to see her son. Unfortunately, his condition is deteriorating. The only thing I can do is be there for my friend and give her as much support as possible.
She brought along quite a few things such as crystals, a miniature anchor and other bits and bobs which have significance to her or her son. I had some Holy Water from Lourdes that an uncle gave me years ago. Although I'm not a believer; I kept it (!) and on Saturday I took it to Cambridge with me and we sprinkled it on a little square of cloth which was pinned to his pillow.

I also met another friend in the week who is a believer and quite actively involved with a church. I told her about my other friend's son and she and her prayer group were going to pray for him. I thought that was rather lovely to pray for someone you had never met and didn't know.

Friday's outfit. Earrings from Guildhall charity shop. Necklace charity shopped a few months ago.

These are my 50p linen trousers bought in the Garden Carers charity shop last Tuesday. Top, blouse, watch all charity shopped.

Floral pumps - Primarni.

Linking up with Anne's of Spygirl's 52 Pick Me up here because it's silver and my silver necklace must surely qualify...

Saturday's outfit. Everything is charity shopped.

These are the beige skinny trousers I bought a couple of weeks back; the pattern is actually a small snakeskin (?) print. The brown top is from Italy and is linen. I love linen in the summer - although it's a bugger to iron - because I find it very cool. This is one of six linen tops I have in my collection!

Yes, this massive lump is actually my knee  - it looks like the arm of a sofa!

Necklace charity shopped. Earrings, Sainsburys - a recent purchase.

Sunday's outfit.

We headed out for a car boot sale on Sunday morning only to get there and find out it was cancelled - again! That's twice that's happened in the past few weeks so I must find out if they have website and and check it first! I must get to a car boot sale soon....

I used to hate orange and yellow as colours for clothes. Since I've got older I really like them!

These are the same skinny trousers as yesterday. Top and vest underneath charity shopped as are bangles and watch and shoes. Earrings, Sainsburys of course! Necklace charity shopped. Since writing this one of these earrings has disappeared. I remember taking it off in my bedroom but now it's vanished....

Well, my first walk as a walk leader on Wednesday went well; (cor, what a lot of alliteration!) I went a bit awry in the woods but found our way out - eventually! I was so lucky that it didn't rain and in fact the sun shone and got pretty hot at times. In fact the woods were a welcome relief from the sun but they were a bit muddy and slippery. Anyway, I didn't lose anybody; nobody had an accident and everyone seemed to enjoy it. I better start looking for a new walk now so I can lead another one!

Kimono; present from daughter, leggings; Lidl, top charity shopped. Loafers; Tesco outlet store.

All jewellery charity shopped.


I went to be trained on our new till when I got back from walking. It's an all dancing, all singing one and seems quite easy and straightforward. I can't wait to use it properly on Monday.

How's your week been?