Happy New Year 2018!

Happy New Year, everyone!
I know the New Year is eleven days old already and I'm a bit late...

All jewellery charity shopped.

I didn't mention in my previous post the lovely Christmas presents I received this year.  Three Persephone books from my wish list and 3 CDs (I know, I'm so last century, but I like to be able to have my music in solid form not in cyberspace or in/on a computer chip!) Three types of perfume; two, some of my all time favourites and one that's new to me. I went from having no slippers to two new pairs; both of which are greatly appreciated. A new bra and pants set. Some earrings; a pearl necklace with matching large pearl earrings. A map holder and an ear warmer; both for when I'm out walking.  A paperweight and a fabulous bookmark. A bracelet. A gift voucher. Some thick woollen tights. Some Ferrerro Rocher and the biggest bar of chocolate I've ever seen...thank you so much!

On Friday before New Year's Day OH and I went to Cambridge for a rummage. It's been ages since we had been to Cambridge and we were going a bit stir crazy as we hadn't been out for a few days. I'd gone out on Thursday for a short 4.8 mile walk as I needed to start getting back into a walking routine after a only walking once a week for the past three weeks.

I thought I'd give the Welsh Tapestry cape an outing to Cambridge . I bought it at the Red Cross in their closing down sale with 50% off  - 2.49. It was nice and warm and two women complimented me on it when I was out and about in Cambridge. I bought the bag at Barnardo's for 4.99 a few months ago. I find it hard to resist a sparkly, sequinned bag; it reminds me of my hippy days! Everything is charity shopped except the boots; present from daughter, Christmas 2016.

I'd been to the hairdressers first thing on Friday morning; I was badly in need of a hair cut.
Purple velvet trousers 1.00 rail somewhere. Apricot tunic; can't remember. Brown lace top can't remember either...can you see more scarves peeking out at the end of the cupboard? They're hanging on an Ikea scarf hanger thingy...

Necklace -  present from OH; earrings from Sainsbury's; bangles and ring charity shopped.

I bought one garment; a checked shirt dress for 4.29 in the Children's Society. I bought 8 balls of wool in the same colour for 4.00 in Sense. I also bought two rings; one in the RSPCA for 1.25 - a pink one; and a silver one for 75p in the Heart Foundation and in Scope I bought a bangle for 50p. In the Oxfam shop I bought a tray for 20p - I love it!

My favourite shop amongst the Cambridge charity shops is the Salvation Army shop in Mill Road but it wasn't open. The Romsey Hospice shop wasn't open either and the YMCA had disappeared, but we managed to get to 11 charity shops in total!

On Saturday i went to see my son and this is what I wore. The trousers were bought in the Sainsbury's sale at 50% off; the boots were a Christmas present from my daughter the Christmas before last. Everything else is charity shopped. The shirt is by F&F and was from the 1.00 rail at the Red Cross; the tunic was bought a couple of years ago; I haven't worn it very much really. It was 2.99 from Age UK in Ampthill.

On New Year's Eve I was baby sitting and saw the New Year in with OH, a glass of Canadian Club and ginger ale and 'Hootenanny' on the TV. The one thing I like to do each New Year's Eve is count up how many books I've read. I started recording what books I read in about 2006; I used to record them on a spread sheet; yes, I am anally retentive, I know. Now, I just record the books read on a list and they are part of this blog, too, but on a separate page. This year I managed to read 92!

This was New Year's Day outfit, The dress is from Primarni - bought with a Christmas gift voucher, Boots present from daughter. Tights, scarf and jewellery  (except earrings) all charity shopped.

It's not obvious in this photo but the tights are plaid.

Earrings a present from OH bought in Oxford market on a birthday trip to Oxford a few years ago. Necklace bought in Derry charity shop in the summer.

I took the youngest grandson swimming on Tuesday and got back into my walking routine on Wednesday with a 6.7 mile walk to St.Owen's Church in Bromham and back. It was flippin windy! I had errands to run in town when I got back and I couldn't do my usual shortcut through the flats near the bus station as the wind lifted my poncho off me and blew it away - and I nearly got blown over along with it! I went the longer way round in the end...

Everything charity shopped. The grey checked dress was bought in Cambridge last week for 4.99. I'll be able to wear it as a dress as well, with boots and tights or even sandals in the warmer weather. The grey cardigan was from the Red Cross shop for 1.99 as were the jeans.  The top underneath the dress was from the 99p rail in Barnardo's. Grey boots also charity shopped.

Yellow necklace present from OH last year. Yellow earrings, and bangles charity shopped.

Had a little rummage in Ampthill on Thursday. I only went to Barnardo's and bought a few things from the 99p rail; a red summer skirt by M&S, a purple patterned long sleeved top by Wallis, a sleeveless coral floral top by Betty Barclay and a brand new white cardigan with black spots by Tu. I also bought some coral and blue beads also for 99p and a few bits for the grandsons. On the way back I stopped at the Cat's Protection League - fast becoming one of my favourite shops; just think I didn't know of its existence until last year! I bought a most unusual, foreign label coat for 7.00 which on a tall person would be floor length, but on me there's at least a foot of excess material. I'm going ask my highly skilled needle woman friend, Ann, to shorten it for me and when she does I'll show it to you. It's blue with a zip but has a fitted shape, and the bottom half can be removed leaving just a very short jacket which I won't be doing as it sits on top of my fat tummy...

Ooops! Charlie's dead...(For Non UK readers that means in London parlance 'your slip or petticoat is showing')

Everything charity shopped except the boots - present from daughter December 2016. I'm wearing the 'Riot of colour' cardigan bought recently from the Bedford Guild House for 2.25. The green dress was from the Red Cross 1.99. I can't remember where I got the tights from but they were charity shopped and a few months later I found a second identical pair. They are very warm and cosy.

Necklace bought in Tralee, Co. Kerry charity shop last summer. All other jewellery also charity shopped.

Shirt and tunic charity shopped. Jeans; Lidl, boots present from daughter 2015.

Scarf charity shopped.

All jewellery charity shopped.

It was middle grandson's birthday last Friday - he's 13 - a teenager! I made him a chocolate birthday cake and on Saturday I took him out to spend his birthday money and to have dinner at the new steak restaurant in the new quarter in Bedford. I also spent a couple of sessions helping him to ride his bike. He hasn't ridden a bike since he was 5 and that one had stabilisers so he needed a lot of practice. He managed 13 laps of the car park on Saturday. On Sunday we went out for walk cum bike ride from Priory Country Park to the Danish camp in Willington; 5.7 miles. He can now truly ride his bike after that!

Dress by East; it has a full slip underneath; charity shopped but can't remember where, possibly 99p rail  in Barnardo's in Ampthill last year. Kimono by New Look; also charity shopped somewhere. OTK boots online retail.

All jewellery charity shopped.

Tuesday was back to the normal
volunteering routine. Food bank in the morning and the library in the afternoon. We were totally inundated with donations at the food bank; it will take days to clear it all.

Everything is charity shopped except the OTK boots online retail. Skirt; 1.99 Red Cross; sleeveless top Great Plains; Save the Children 3.99. Can't remember where I got the white lace top from but it was a charity shop somewhere. I don't like the green top on so it's been allocated to the charity shop bag....

All jewellery charity shopped. This was taken in the evening so I'm flushed and shiny...I don't think I'm shiny like this in reality but it's the reflection of the light and the flash from the camera. You can tell I don't do anything to my photos! What you see is what you get.

I walked again on Wednesday by myself as it was raining in the morning when the group usually walks. It was surprisingly mild after the very cold weather we've been having and very welcome, too. Not even a breeze. I did 6 miles.

On Thursday I went to St. Neots for a little rummage. It was damp, misty, chilly and very grey. I bought two brooches and 7 pairs of earrings in the charity shops but no clothes! I had to have an earring cull to accommodate the new pairs but that is something I do regularly. I've also managed to fill another black plastic bag with items for the charity shop.

I went for a monochrome look despite the grey weather.  I'll wear colour tomorrow if the grey weather continues. I bought the trousers from The Children's Society; they're by F & F and were 2.99. I've had the cardigan for quite a while also charity shopped as is the Next lace top, but I don't remember where I got it from.

The boots were donated by my daughter about 3 years ago and this is the last wear I'll get out of them as the sole has split on one. It wouldn't be worth re heeling and resoling them as it would cost more than they originally did. Things come to an end don't they? 

All jewellery charity shopped. The earrings were ones bought in St. Neots from Scope where I spent 3.50 on four pair of earrings.

My crochet blanket is going well; so far I've made 30 squares - only 70 to go! I'd better get cracking as eldest grandson is moving out in a couple of weeks and he'll want his blanket....

A tah dah moment!

 Hello!

No, I'm not the tah dah moment

This is:

 Yes, here it is finally completed - the famous trapezoid hexagon blanket!

Thanks to the Make&Do Crew for the pattern

Eldest grandson has requested a blanket too, but one 'without any holes', so now I've started his. It's called 'Circles in a Square' in black, red, yellow, grey and orange. The pattern is from 'Just Be Crafty.' I've started with the black and red and I'm 'blocking' them as I go. I use a cheap kneeling/gardening pad and barbecue skewers to block the squares. Blocking keeps the shape of the squares even.

Some OOTDs I've been wearing over the past fortnight

The necklace and earrings are not a set - bought in different places at different times.

Everything charity shopped except the boots from Sainsbury's

Something's tickled my fancy here!

Dress; Forever 21, charity shopped about 5 years ago can't remember where. Crochet cardigan (not made by me!) 99p in the Barnardo's in Ampthill. All jewellery charity shopped.

I wore this outfit when I went to see my son on last Saturday. Everything charity shopped except the boots: online retail.

This is especially for Polly!

I wore maxi dresses two days in a row last Friday and Saturday. This one was also bought a few years back but I can't remember where. The 'riot of colour' cardigan is the one I bought at the Guild House for 2.25 when I popped in to say goodbye. The label is French and literally translated it says "is this silk"? I think it may have silk in it because it creases easily...All jewellery charity shopped bar the earrings which I bought from e bay for 99p.

Here's a close up of my boots.  I do love them but haven't worn them very much; the heel is a bit high so I save them for days when I'm not running around everywhere. The massive calf (!) is wearing German label tights from the Cat's Protection League. 2.25 - same price as my cardigan!

On Saturday night it was the last of BBC4's 'Witnesses': A Frozen Death. I have been truly gripped by this French series but I'm still slightly baffled by the ending..I see we have a new series of 'Spiral' starting soon so I'm happy to know my Saturday night viewing is well and truly sorted for the next couple of months! Talking of TV I've also enjoyed 'Howard's End' (oh, the costumes!) I got a free Kindle download of the book, having not read it.

I didn't walk on Sunday as I had planned because it rained all day. Not heavy but constant and the sky was leaden; everywhere was grey and gloomy.

Everything charity shopped. Tunic by Nomads; trousers by Soon (Matalan); the cardigan has an Italian label and was from the 99p rail in Barnardo's, Great Denham; the boots were bought on a rummage some years ago; in Stevenage I seem to recall.

Scarf charity shopped and all jewellery charity shopped except earrings from e bay 99p.

Those are just some of  my scarves you can see; I have an IKEA scarf hanger which is full of scarves; a hatbox stuffed full of scarves and under the bed another wicker hamper full of pashmina scarves.

I finished my Christmas present shopping on Monday and popped into the 3:16 charity shop. I bought three more necklaces; one at 35p; one at 1.00; and one at 1.50. They seem to have lots of nice jewellery in lately. I also bought a denim dress, a pink long sleeved top and a walking fleece top; all from the 1.00 box!

It was lovely to wake up on Tuesday morning and realise I didn't have to be anywhere. I don't need to be at the Food Bank until 9th January. I was rushing around, having spent two hours wrapping presents in the morning, to get to the library on Tuesday afternoon then I realised it was the school holidays and I don't volunteer in the school holidays! This was last Tuesday's OOTD.

Apologies for slightly blurry photo - youngest grandson was slacking again..

This the 1.00 denim dress I bought at the 3:16 charity shop. It's an M&S one. I think it would look good open as a long waistcoat over trousers and top. The striped top is by Matalan and was also charity shopped as were the boots and scarf.

All jewellery charity shopped.

I had errands to run in town and on the way I spied this in our local barber. I just had to go in and take a photo:

Yes, it's Santa waiting for - a shave? A beard trim? A haircut?

Since Wednesday 20th December the weather has become much milder. I was more than warm enough in my leather jacket and scarf going into town to get my eyebrows done and pick something up. Everything is charity shopped. Brown leather jacket bought in Lucan, Co. Dublin charity shop for 9 euros at Easter 2016. Scarf from the Red Cross shop.

Two of my favourite fabrics - lace and velvet. Can't remember where I got any of these items but I remember the top was 4.99. I'm wearing pink brothel creepers/beetle crushers that were 2.50 in the 3:16 charity shop a few years ago. The trousers are too long for me so later I put a big stretchy belt round the middle to stop the bottoms getting wet when I went out...

The necklace was bought in a Donegal charity shop for 2 euros; all other jewellery charity shopped except earrings.

There's been a wonderful series of BBC4 called 'The Art of Mexico' and coincidentally I came across this on Pinterest a while ago and kept meaning to include it in a post. The chair is covered in Frida Kahlo material. How fabulous is that?

Everything charity shopped except the black kimono - a present from my daughter. I think I bought these trousers on our trip to Kettering 2.99; some weeks back...the brothel creepers/beetle crushers were bought on our first ever rummage to Wellingborough about two years ago.

All jewellery charity shopped.

Pink top 1.00 box 3:16 charity shop. Skirt by East 1.99; Red Cross, cardigan no label but 1.99 Red Cross. Boots; Sainsburys retail.

All jewellery charity shopped except earrings which were donated by my daughter.

I should have gone to the hairdressers on Thursday the day of the Winter Solistice, but I got the sore throat/coughing bug that's going around and didn't feel up to it. I'll go after Christmas. Middle grandson has had the cough for a few weeks; eldest grandson has it. I had it and OH had it quite severely...in fact Christmas Day did not turn out as expected partly due to both OH and I being ill. I  don't know why I thought having a Bailey's and two very large Canadian Club and dry ginger ales before I had finished cooking the Christmas dinner, was a good idea. It was all a bit shambolic! I couldn't finish my dinner; threw up and had to lie down for half an hour! Then OH couldn't stay up any longer and went to bed in the middle of Doctor Who...I coughed all night and didn't sleep much. Despite all that we had fun but next year we're going out for dinner and I'll do an evening buffet. It will take organisation - you have book very early for Christmas Day but I will make it happen!

I had bought a new pair of trousers in Sainsbury's 50% off sale to wear on Christmas Day but with one thing and another didn't remember to take any photos.

Everything charity shopped. The cardigan came from the 1.00 rail in the Red Cross; I can't remember where the tunic came from I think the jeans were from the Red Cross 1.99. The boots definitely came from there, too.

Earrings were a Christmas present from OH.
Necklace charity shopped.

I took the youngest grandson to see Paddington 2 on Wednesday. We both really enjoyed it. Hugh Grant was great and very camp and a lot of other famous actors had cameo parts. Then I took middle grandson out to spend his Christmas and birthday money on a laptop. He's a teenager in the New Year. It only seems like five minutes since he came into our lives...how time does fly.


I wish you all a peaceful and joyous New Year and hope for better things for the world in 2018.

A blanket saga, more animals and some snow

Hello again!

As you know I've been making a hexagon crocheted blanket. I crocheted 100 hexagons and then sewed them together in rows of 10. And therein lies my mistake. I should know better - this is the third hexagon blanket I've made. When I  finished sewing the hexagons together I laid the blanket out on my bed and it was the most peculiar shape. Not squarish but trapezoid; I couldn't work it out at all. Then after a while I realised that I should have staggered each row as I sewed the rows together.  Not sew them in a straight line...never mind, I said to my self, I can unpick 5 from the top on alternate rows and add them to different alternate rows on the bottom. It took me hours and I do mean hours to unpick 5  hexagons and put them at the bottom and it still wasn't right. 

I had had enough of the hexagon blanket by then so I sewed a simple border in yellow and started sewing all the hundreds of ends in. OH has claimed the blanket for his car and I am furious with myself for making such a fundamental error in the first place! Still it will serve its purpose which is to keep someone warm and that's the most important thing.

We had a great time in Leeds. We didn't get there until it was starting to get dark so we didn't see as much of Leeds city centre as we would have liked. There were some fabulous buildings and next time we go we'll make sure we get there in daylight! We found only three charity shops and they were not very interesting. I didn't buy anything.

Here are some OOTD I've been wearing...

Necklace 1.50 in 3:16 charity shop. Earrings, new 3.50 in 'All Ears' Bedford. Scarf charity shopped.

 

Everything charity shopped except purple leggings - online retail. Knitted tunic; Dorothy Perkins, can't remember where; M&S blouse 99p rail, Barnardo's in Ampthill. Boots bought in the Reuse Centre for 2.99 a few years ago.

I wore this outfit last Sunday to travel back from Leeds. The matching skirt and top are Peruvian and made of a lovely soft, warm material. The outfit was a bargain at 2.99 from the Cat's Protection League because there was a grease spot on the skirt, but I got it out with stain remover! I bought the jacket by Roman from a £1.00 rail in Wellingborough, Age UK about 2 years ago and I wear it a lot. I'm wearing OTK boots underneath. I found the weekend weather quite mild after our freezing previous week.

All jewellery charity shopped. The earrings were 1.00 from 3:16 shop and the necklace too, 1.50. Bangles and ring also charity shopped.

Last Tuesday's outfit for volunteering...

Everything charity shopped except the boots - present from daughter.

Shirt, 1.00 rail Red Cross. Tunic; White Stuff, can't remember where or how much nor the jeans.

All jewellery (except earrings; brought back for me from Spain by the eldest grandson some years ago) and scarf charity shopped.

Tunic; Sainsbury's retail. Jeans, boots, scarf and shirt all charity shopped.

Necklace; 2.99 from Oxfam in Newport Pagnell a few years ago; earrings Sainsbury's retail. Bangles charity shopped.

As our weekend rummage was not very good I went to Newport Pagnell last Wednesday afternoon after going out for a short walk and doing some errands in town. I bought one top for 1.00 and one (below) from M&S for 1.50; a ring and two pairs of earrings all 1.00 each.

This is the coat I bought in a Devon charity shop last year for 3.50, I think it was. It had that funny musty smell. I had it dry cleaned in the end. I wore this outfit to do the food shopping on Thursday and got several compliments - both from other women! The patterned top was 1.00 in Newport Pagnell Keech Hospice shop.

I tried this jacket with it first; it's a Jaegar jacket and I got it from the 99p rail in Barnardo's. Great Denham.

On Thursday evening we went to see 'Young Marx' which was showing at the Bridge Theatre, London. The Bridge Theatre is: Nicholas Hytner and Nick Starr’s intimate new South Bank theatre, where the focus will be on new writing, opens in riotous, melancholy style at home with Karl Marx 

Picture courtesy of the Guardian newspaper

Only we didn't go to London to see it. 
We used our complimentary tickets from the new Vue cinema in Bedford and watched a live screening of it. What a fabulous idea. Both OH and I enjoyed it so much. It was witty and funny and informative. There are a couple of Shakespeare plays coming in 2018 and a production of Lady Windermere's Fan; all of which I want to see. I checked the ticket prices for the Bridge theatre production of 'Young Marx' and the cheapest tickets were 15.00 and the most expensive 65.00!

On Friday I went walking with the Ramblers. We walked 7 miles from Carlton and across the fields to Turvey. We walked around Pict's Hill House where they have a collection of animals; reindeer, llamas, red deer and water buffalo.

A reindeer running

A llama and some young reindeer.

The person leading the walk had recce'd it a few days before and said that  one of the llamas was a bit frisky. It certainly was! We had to keep it at bay using walking poles and it still managed to jump up at the back of one of the walkers and almost knock him over...he was fine but a bit shook up.
The path we were walking on was a right of way so the owner of the llamas should have kept them under control.

The past few weeks have been very, very cold. I've had to keep the heating on all day and know my bill for this quarter will be big. We had our first snow on Sunday 10th. OH had to dig my car out of the car park as under the compacted snow was several inches of ice. Neither of the grandchildren's schools were opened on Monday by which time all the snow had turned to ice.

Someone in the flats at the bottom of my road is very artistic: can't work out what it is meant to be - a snow dog?  A snow bear? But it's very clever! It only melted on Wednesday.

Tuesday's volunteering OOTD

All jewellery charity shopped. I was wearing 3 green bangles but had taken them off by the time this photo was taken.

Everything charity shopped. Boots, 1.99; cord trousers and cardigan from the 1.00 rail, all from the Red Cross. Black and green jumper; 1.00 rail in Barnardo's, Ampthill.

On Wednesday, it was the Ramblers Christmas Walk followed by Christmas lunch. We walked from the village of Old Warden where this building, Shuttleworth House, with its 425 acres of parkland is located. Built in 1875 by the prominent Victorian architect Henry Clutton; it's also where the Shuttleworth Collection is housed and the Swiss Garden.

There is also a collection of animals! Alpacas, wallabies, goats and an emu were spotted on the walk. This is the third consecutive walk I've done where unusual animals have featured.

The Christmas lunch was lovely; we sang carols with the women singing certain verses, and men the other. A fellow walker played the keyboard to accompany us. It was all very enjoyable.

This is what I managed to change into for the lunch - in my car! I wore the headscarf with my walking gear to keep my ears warm and wore tights  under my walking trousers. I changed into my velvet trousers (M&S retail); removed my walking fleece and slipped on the charity shopped Next lace top, and topped it with this colourful kimono also charity shopped.


Boots; present from daughter

Scarf, bangle, beads charity shopped. Earrings; Sainsbury's.

On Thursday I paid my last visit to the Guild House to say goodbye to my colleague. I drew up a garment pricing guide for them to use to help with the pricing of donations to the charity shop. I also picked up a lovely silk mixture cardigan in a riot of lovely colour; 2.25, my one and only charity purchase this week. I've been too busy to look in any charity shops! I finished off my Christmas shopping in the afternoon.

Photo courtesy of youngest grandson - the quality is slipping - no dinner for you, young man!

Everything charity shopped except OTK boots; online retail. Skirt Mc & Co; Red Cross, 1.99. East top; 1.00 rail same place. Hobbs cardigan; charity shopped but can't remember where. Scarf 1.00 Whitechapel Road (London) stall.

All jewellery charity shopped.

I'm still sewing the ends in on that bloody blanket I should have it finished by this weekend   year.

I wish you all a happy Christmas or happy holiday and I'll be back again once all the festivities are over and done with...