Thursday 10 May 2018

Mostly Monochrome

A photo from earlier this year.

First of all I would like to thank you for  your words of encouragement and support. Thank you all!

The title of this post reflected my mood when I got back from Ireland. Mostly it was down to coming home to an unfinished kitchen, no heating or hot water. I had naively thought the kitchen would be finished, but with hindsight that seems positively stupid now. After all it was done by a family member on his own!  

Then after I had been back a few days, we had five gloriously sunny and hot days during which I swapped my winter wardrobe over to my summer wardrobe. Big mistake! I was quite depressed horrified shocked at the huge amount of clothes I had.  I had to store several black bin liners full of clothes in the loft. Now, I know winter wear is bulkier and takes up more room but nevertheless it was too much. I sorted out three bags of clothing to take to the charity shop. Of course, having done all this the weather then reverted to winter mode again but it's been lovely for the past few days...

So, to backtrack a bit. Before I went to Ireland at Easter I went on a Monopoly walk with my walking group. This was Part 2 of the walk. I missed Part 1 which was held last summer when I was in Ireland. The idea was to visit as many places as possible on the original Monopoly board. This walk focused more on the East side of London whereas the first walk focused on the West side of London. The walk was great fun and about 9 miles in total. We started from St. Pancras and walked to  the Old Kent Road. 

This was in Clerkenwell.


The Old Red Lion Pub; now a theatre in Clerkenwell, London.


I loved the symmetry of the windows and the dramatic planting in the window boxes on this building.


Christchurch; Spitalfields. An area in London famous for its silk weaving. The weavers were predominantly French Huguenots who fled religious persecution in France in the 18th century.


A typical silk weaver's house in Spitalfields


 Bunhill Fields Cemetery. (Where non-conformists were buried).  The final resting place of John Bunyan. You can see the carving of Christian, the Pilgrim of Pilgrim's Progress, on the side of the tomb.



Another inhabitant of Bunhill Field's Cemetery - William Blake.
Daniel Defoe is also buried here but his tomb was very dilapidated and the writing was difficult to discern.


Tower of London and Tower Bridge. We stopped for lunch here.


I finally got a picture of the Shard. These interesting glass pods were part of a restaurant near the Tower of London.


There was once a menagerie at the Tower of London. These sculptures were so very lifelike.

The Cross Bones Graveyard in Southwark.

This is Cross Bones Graveyard, an unconsecrated memorial to the thousands of prostitutes who lived, worked and died in this once lawless corner of London. This is, at least, how it started out in the late medieval period. During this time, the local prostitutes were known as “Winchester Geese”.  Over time, Cross Brones Graveyard started to accommodate other members of society who were also denied a Christian burial, including paupers and criminals. With Southwark’s long and sordid past as “the pleasure-garden of London”, with legalised bear-baiting, bull fighting and theatres, the graveyard filled up extremely quickly. Source: https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryMagazine/DestinationsUK/Cross-Bones-Graveyard.

 A fascinating place. I'd like to go back and explore it more. Hundreds of ribbons tied to the railings and dedicated to the outcasts of London. Here is one dedicated to Mary 'daughter of a water man' (a boatman or oarsman).


Blackfriars bridge with St. Paul's in the background.


The Globe Theatre on the South Bank of the Thames.


A Banksy piece of art which had been graffitied! This was by the Barbican.

It was a very enjoyable day's walking.

Ireland was wonderful, as always. My brother Julian got to meet his maternal aunts and uncle for the first time and a cousin he hadn't met before. He stayed with us in Donegal for a couple of days. The weather was grey, cloudy, wet and cold for most of the time we were there. When we first arrived the mountains were covered with snow. I'd seen the mountains tops covered with snow last Easter but not the whole mountain. Hey ho - we don't go there for the weather!


Julian and I in the caravan. I bought the necklace for 99 cents in a Donegal charity shop. Everything charity shopped except boots which were a Christmas present.


That's Donegal Bay behind us...


This is W. B. Yeats - a native of Sligo and famous poet. His statue stands outside a bank in Sligo town and is known locally and fondly as the 'Wank at the Bank' - don't ask me why! The sculpture is covered with verses from his poems.

We went to Sligo for the day and did some rummaging. I bought very little as I didn't need anything at all. I did buy a fabulous pair of earrings for 99 cents!





Someone else with roots in Sligo town...


I wore a lot of black and white in Ireland - another reason for the title of this post. Everything is charity shopped. All jewellery charity shopped except the earrings which were a Christmas present from OH.

Oh look - a rare bit of sunshine...

We started our break in Ireland with a stay in a Dublin hotel in Temple Bar. We should have known better. Temple Bar is party central and full of hen parties and stag parties. It was very noisy and remained so until about 4 am! Not much sleep and then there was a four hour drive to Donegal... I drove OH's 4 x 4 for the first time. It was perfect for the rugged terrain and pot holed roads in Donegal. The pot holes in England are also pretty dreadful. I hope they do something about them before next winter...


Some street performers in Dublin.


View from our balcony in the Dublin hotel. That's the River Liffey. I can't recommend the hotel; it was expensive and not very good. Such a pity as OH planned it and paid for it as a treat. We did have a good old rummage in Dublin while we were there. I bought a lovely blue and green summer skirt from Kew for 6.99 and a coral jacket from the 1.00 euro rail. I also bought several pairs of earrings in Oxfam for 2 euros each.

I had planned to start a new crochet throw whilst I was in Ireland but I had brought the wrong pattern book with me! I managed to get a partial download of the pattern I needed from the internet and printed it out at the Tourist Office in Killybegs. I had to work out the rest of the pattern from the pictures but after doing just one square - which turned out pretty well now I think about it - I decided to finish my granny square blanket off first.  At the time of writing I have made 36 squares and have 13 left to make...



It may not look it here but the dress and cardigan are navy. The cardigan was from the 1.00 rail in the 3:16 charity shop and the sweater dress also from the 1.00 rail somewhere. Patterned tights charity shopped and all jewellery too. Velvet brogues and scarf; Primarni. Outfit worn on one of our more recent colder days...


I haven't managed much walking with the group since I came back from Ireland but I did make the 7 mile bluebell walk:


 I have been out walking on my own though and whilst walking in another village called Sharnbrook, I spied this thatched cat on a thatched roof. That's pheasants, roosters, chickens, foxes and dancing/boxing hares I've seen so far on thatched roofs.


My kitchen was finally finished the first week of May.  I'm very pleased with it and strangely it seems larger, which is probably down to the new back new door letting in more light. We just have to paint the walls and paintwork -  but I need a break from all the mess first!



I would love a new kettle and toaster but there is nothing wrong with the ones I have, so I will have to wait until they conk out. I know some people would replace all their kitchen stuff with brand new but that seems profligate to me. I bought a new matching kitchen canister set from Tesco and a grey basket to put the cooking stuff in from QD. I did look around a few charity shops for a basket (and canisters) but couldn't find any. That's when I realised I had no interest in looking at the clothes...oh dear what was happening to me?


This is my fridge and freezer next to the tumble dryer - which is only used about once a week in the winter. For the first time in 27 years I have both a fridge and a freezer in the kitchen. In the past they have always had to stand in the hall, either separately or together, but not anymore! I lost two base cupboards by doing this and therefore had less storage space which meant I had to get rid of some of my kitchen stuff. I filled three cardboard boxes with unwanted stuff; labelled them 'FREE - HELP YOURSELF' and put them outside on the pavement. Almost everything was taken!

Although I have been getting dressed everyday with my usual penchant for colour and colourful accessories, I just haven't bothered with photos; partly to do with relying on other people to take the photographs and an irritating issue for me. Often I can only get photos taken at the very end of the day when I'm frazzled and crumpled and rumpled. I have a solution though. I'm going to buy myself a tripod and take my own photos. That way I can take photos as and when I feel like it!

My blogging mojo is returning but I'm somewhat hampered until the acquisition and mastery of said tripod, but in my next post I'll tell you about my bank holiday weekend spent with best friend Hilary here in Bedford; how I got my charity shop mojo back and there even maybe some outfit posts.
Until next time...



Thursday 26 April 2018

Taking a break



Hello to you all and I hope everyone is well in Blog land. I had a lovely time in Ireland but the weather was pretty lousy - what's new? I came back to chaos so have decided to have a break from blogging for a while. The kitchen is almost completed (after 4 weeks) and I have lots on, so thought that if I stopped blogging for a bit it would give me time to get things back on track. I have to admit to having lost my blogging mojo somewhat and horror of horrors I've hardly been near a charity shop since I returned!

I'll do my best to keep reading and commenting on your blogs so I keep up with everyone.
A bientot!

Friday 23 March 2018

Birthday weekend and other things


I had a lovely birthday weekend. Our walk in London was not from Waterloo to the Houses of Parliament as I thought. We caught the tube to Waterloo and then from Waterloo we got on the train to Chiswick. From Chiswick Station we walked along the Thames Pathway to Hammersmith Bridge passing Barnes Bridge and Putney Bridge. This walk traced the course of the Oxford - Cambridge boat race from Mortlake to Putney; only ever rowed three times in the history of the boat race so far. The walk was 7 miles in total with a stop for lunch.


 At Hammersmith Bridge we went into Bishops Park and onto to Fulham Palace - the Bishop's seat, where we had tea and cake. The best way to finish a walk I always think!

Fulham Palace. 



This is the River Thames and very unappealing it looked too; that's the old Watney's Brewery, a typical Victorian warehouse building; it's now owned by Budweiser.


This is for Sheila of 'Ephemera' here -  a great Star Wars fan! This house overlooked the Thames. I don't think I'd want a life sized Stormtrooper on my balcony. And I certainly wouldn't want what another house had; a full sized white cow on their balcony with SALT written on the cow's flank = salt beef!


These two churches are at either end of Putney Bridge. Above is St. Mary's Church and below is All Saint's Church. St. Mary's Church was the site of the Putney Debates. The Putney Debates were a series of discussions between members of the New Model Army – a number of the participants being Levellers – concerning the makeup of a new constitution for Britain in 1647. (Source Wikipedia).


The view from Blackfriars station. I thought I had got the Shard in but I hadn't; it's on the right hand side but out of view. That's Tower Bridge in the distance. It was a very dreary day as you can see above and there were several showers...


I went out with my brothers and OH on Saturday night for a birthday meal - this is what I wore.
Trousers by Abercrombie and Fitch from the 'Mercy in Action vintage rail' bought for 7.00. Top from La Redoute sale a few years back. Long jacket; David Emmanuel charity shopped in the Red Cross; boots, daughter donated. 



All jewellery charity shopped except necklace; present from OH and bought in Donegal.

 Lovely birthday cake!

I was very spoilt. My son gave me money and I bought two of my favourite perfumes. My brothers gave me money; OH bought me posh headphones, books and CDs and daughter bought me books and CDs. I was very pleased and grateful everything. 


We had finished our meal and were on our way home - a member of staff kindly took this photo...

On Sunday I went out for afternoon tea with my daughter. It was Mothering Sunday here in the UK.



I got a bunch of daffs for free and some daffodils in a pot from the place we went to as well!


I've got a new kitchen coming and it's going to be fitted whilst we're away in Ireland at Easter. I'm having extra plug sockets installed and some are being moved as you can see in the above picture.


Everything charity shopped except the OTK boots - on line retail. Dress bought  in Cancer Research, waistcoat from Zara charity shopped but can't remember where.

I don't know what happened to these photos - the light was peculiar!


All jewellery charity shopped except earrings 99p from e bay.

My daughter bought me a beautiful cactus plant in a lovely chintz plant pot for Mother's Day and gave me the most beautiful card. I got a lovely card from my son and some from the grandchildren, too! I am very lucky to be surrounded by such loving family.

On Monday I had some birthday money to spend so I thought I'd see what the Barnardo's in Great Denham had on offer. You may remember I don't go there too often as the new manager got rid of the 99p rail and put everything up to London prices. What a shock I got! EVERYTHING was 99p and had been since after Christmas. They may be permanently keeping everything at this price they're not sure; just waiting on an area manager's decision...

I bought some buckle boots from Miss Selfridge; a green corduroy skirt (both can be seen below), a navy sleeveless top; a beach wrap;  another headscarf in yellow and turquoise; a cross body bag; a leoprint long sleeved t shirt and a hoody and long sleeved t shirt for grandson. All 99p each. They had very little in the way of jewellery. Then I went to the Cat's Protection Society in Kempston where I bought a green summer coat from M&S and a pair of red jeans that fit me properly, so out went the old red pair! I did enjoy my spend up - 23.00 in total!


Everything charity shopped except striped top Primarni retail. Skirt and boots; Barnardo's Great Denham 99p each; I think I bought the kimono in Ireland but can't remember where.


Green tights charity shopped about 6 years ago. Scarf bought in a Stevenage charity shop for 1.00 last year.


All jewellery charity shopped. Those blasted hanger thingies have escaped again!

The JAYG method was coming along. I made some errors but as it was my first attempt that wasn't surprising. I found the written instructions and photos less helpful that watching this You Tube tutorial by Bella Cocoa here


WiP


Finished - I added a couple of buttons. I still wanted to use up the remaining scraps so started making 8 inch granny squares. I'm aiming to make 49 squares which will be a 5 foot + blanket. I can work on these squares until I go to Ireland and start the Willow block blanket. That's the great thing about crocheting granny squares; you can pick them up or leave them for another time.


More black and white.


Trousers; Sainsbury's retail sale and boots on line retail. Cardigan and top charity shopped.



All jewellery charity shopped. I meant to wear my silver boots with this outfit but as I was walking around a lot I needed thick socks so I stuck with the trusty old red boots.

We went out for eldest grandson's birthday meal last Wednesday. He was 23 on Thursday.
I saw him come into the world...


It's been a pretty uneventful week this week. I passed by the 3:16 shop on Monday and bought four more items from the 1.00 rail getting one free as it's buy two and get the the third free. A Jasper Conran patterned cardigan; a white short sleeved top from M&S, a blue striped shirt with little birds on (see below) and a lace sleeveless tunic for the summer. Total spend 3.00.

I volunteered at the library on Tuesday afternoon.


Everything is charity shopped except the earrings which were from Sainsbury's many moons ago. The blue kimono jacket was bought on our last rummage in London for 2.99. Blue striped shirt 1.00 rail 3:16 charity shopped. Jeans; M&S 1.00 Red Cross shop. Blue boots 1.99, also Red Cross.


I didn't wear bangles as it can be quite difficult to get my coat sleeves over them and they make quite a racket when I'm shelving the books. I keep expecting one of the librarians to go 'sssshhh'!


On Wednesday I walked with the group and what a beautiful day it was. Sunny and relatively warm. I had to take my jacket off at one point! We walked from Turvey to Newton Blossomville via Cold Brayfield 6.7 miles. This is Brayfield House below. We have often driven past the lodge house and seen the path winding up behind huge iron gates: but this is the first time I have ever seen the house and it's a rear view you can see what a beautiful house it is. Look at that blue sky!


I spied this in the village of Newton Blossomville.


On Wednesday evening I started watching 'Craft Britain'on BBC4. They featured typesetting and rug making - both of which I'd love to try. The rug making reminded me of my student nurse days in the early 1970s. I trained for what was called at the time the 'Mentally Subnormal' part of the register; later renamed as the Mental Handicap part of the register;  and now called 'Learning Disabilities/Difficulties. Part of our training was a 12 week placement in the Occupational Therapy unit where you spent half the time in the 'Huts' (Arts and Crafts) and the other half the 'Sheds' (Carpentry, Marquetry; light industrial work and rug making). I loved helping the residents with the rug making...

This was Thursday's outfit. Everything is charity shopped except the necklace which came from Primark years ago.

The squares I'm making for a new blanket are to replace the blanket behind me. I don't like this one very much; it's called the 'Beachcomber Blanket' and whilst I like the pattern I don't like the white in it or the border. I wished I'd used cream instead. I will take this one to a charity shop when I've made the new one.
Silver boots; 3:16 charity shop 2.50; striped top 1.00 rail 3:16 shop.  The long cardigan came from Keech Cottage 2.25 but I can't remember where the trousers came from.




Friday's outfit


Everything charity shopped except black top: Primarni. I bought this dress from a 99p or 1,00 rail somewhere; Barnardo's in Ampthill, I think. The boots were from the Willen Hospice shop in Newport Pagnell 5.99 from New Look.


All jewellery charity shopped; I had removed my rings as I started to cook dinner...


We're off to Ireland in just over a week's time. I can't wait to see Ruby Super again and my family and friends in Ireland. The kitchen will be fitted while we're away so I'll be busy next week emptying out the cupboards and packing stuff away. I'm getting a new fridge and freezer but reusing my oven, washing machine and dryer; so they will have to be disconnected and put somewhere before we leave. It's going to be a busy week.

I'll do my best to keep up with all your blog posts while I'm away but the wifi at the site is very poor so I probably won't be able to comment very much. For those of you who celebrate it have a wonderful Easter.
xxxxx

A weekend visitor and an exhibition

 Hello!  I'll soon be off to Ireland  so let me tell you what I've been up to over the last two weeks.  I'll start with a whinge...