Half term week and the Skirt Challenge continued

This was me setting out for Devon on Friday. I didn't take any more photos - too busy chatting and rummaging! That's my 'posh' coat; imitation astrakhan from M&S; charity shopped in the RSPCA in Newport Pagnell for 25.00.

After the food bank on Tuesday I went for walk. I avoided the muddy fields and walked 6 miles just using concrete paths. I felt good when I'd finished and as I got home it began to rain - heavily. Good timing, Veronica!

I took my middle grandson to London on Wednesday as it was half term week. He wanted to go to Wembley Stadium - he's a great football fan so I booked tickets for a tour. I wasn't bored stiff either. We saw the changing rooms, the bit where the players are interviewed after the match and the media room where the managers are questioned by the press. There was also an exhibition about the history of Wembley Stadium. I remember it best in its old form with the twin towers. My friend's Dad took us to greyhound racing there back in about 1969 and I think we went to see women's hockey finals there when I was at school.

I wore this cape style coat by First Avenue made of 100% wool. I bought it in the Red Cross shop for 5.00 when I volunteered there some years back. It's a vintage cape coat; you can tell by the label; but because it's wool the neck bit can be bit itchy...

Grandson could have had any number of photos taken in the Stadium as it was part of the tour but he declined. He did let me take this photo of him though...

In the 'posh'  padded seats!

In the afternoon we took a Thames Clipper to Greenwich where we saw the Prime Meridian and the Cutty Sark. We then took a bus to King's X, had something to eat and went home. Grandson was so knackered by all the walking he fell asleep on my shoulder! It was a great day out but very cold and damp. I feel quite honoured that my 15 year old grandson wants to spend the day with me still!

(Old) County Hall from the Thames.

Outside the Maritime Museum in Greenwich

View from the Royal Observatory in Greenwich Park.

Thursday was a manically busy day. I took the car for its MOT at 9am; then walked to the hairdressers and back home again. I put a wash on then went to collect the car and did the food shopping. I also picked up a sack of kindling which I buy from a local charity rather than a big commercial store; it does entail a car ride but I was shopping in the area anyway. Then it was home to unpack the shopping and put it away; hang up the washing and off out again to fetch the youngest grandson. I took him to the cinema to see Dr. Dolittle and then onto Nando's for something to eat - this was all his choice. He doesn't like travelling very much so he didn't want to come to London with us on Wednesday. Plus it's nice to spend time with the grandsons individually as well as together. When he had gone home I still had the stove to clean out and dinner to cook. Needless to say I was pretty knackered after all that!

I wore this on Thursday. You've seen this jumper before - it's by Wallis; charity shopped from the 1.00 rail in a Stevenage charity shop. For some reason it looks orange in these photos but it is as red the plaid skirt by Topshop; also charity shopped. I added this little hand knitted waistcoat  (1.00 rail) for extra warmth and I wore my tan OTK boots.

Skirt Challenge - Day 6

All jewellery charity shopped.

On Friday I set off to spend the weekend with Hilary in sunny old Devon. It was wet and windy on the way there. We had a great catch up; went out for a curry and on Saturday morning went back to Teignmouth for a rummage. It was quite bright and sunny by the time we arrived there but very windy. The Teignmouth residents were up in arms about British Rail wishing to extend their route; this would entail losing 1.7 k of their beach. There were posters everywhere and petitions in every shop and they were planning a demonstration by making a human chain along 1.7 miles of beach that British Rail had their eye on.  I could only wish them the best of luck.

We were both quite successful with the rummaging. I found a pair of Seasalt wooden soled clog/shoes 7.99; a fab pair of gloves for 2.00; 2 bangles and 2 brooches; a small tray for my kitchen and a brightly decorated pull for the shower cord. Teignmouth only has 6 or 7 charity shops so we had a look round Hilary's local charity shops in Tiverton in the afternoon and the shower pull was the only thing I found there.

This was Sunday's outfit. Everything charity shopped except the boots. Tunic by Boden; striped top by Primarni; patterned jacket by Traifur found on the 1.00 rail in the DayCare Hospice shop. Jeans are by Next and were also charity shopped. I forgot to mention that on my manically busy day on Thursday I found the time to check the Daycare Hospice shop which is close to my hairdressers. They still had their 1.00 sale on and I bought this jacket; a  wine coloured jumper by Oasis; a shirt dress and a yellow big sleeved jumper.

All jewellery charity shopped.

Skirt Challenge - Day 7

I wore this to volunteer on Monday. There was only me and the manager and such a lot of donations...

All jewellery charity shopped. The necklace and earrings are both from my Barnardo's.

Everything charity shopped except the leggings; Bedford Market; and boots online retail. Skirt by East; jumper by Oasis; 1.00 rail from Bedford Daycare Hospice and jacket by River Island 50p from my Barnardo's.

It was so busy I was glad to get home and have a sit down!

I had come down with a cold the previous week and spent Sunday night and Monday night awake; coughing for hours. I decided not to go into the food bank on Tuesday because of this, and because of the cold in the warehouse and the desire not to spread my germs. I did go out for a dull but cold 6 mile walk. On Wednesday, I walked with my group for the first time in ages from the village of Turvey in a big loop. It was good to see the group again and catch up with a particular walking friend, Jan. The walk was extremely muddy and slippery -  and cold. I changed into this when I got back:

This shirt dress is by Papaya (Matalan) and was from the 1.00 rail in the Daycare Hospice shop. Jumper by Oasis from the same place. Fleece leggings from Bedford market. I think I would prefer to wear this as a shirt in future; especially as the very small buttons at the bottom kept popping open!

All jewellery charity shopped.

On Thursday, I did a 6 mile walk with my daughter to Bromham village and back. The river wasn't particularly high but my goodness it was an icy cold day; the wind chill factor made it so even though it was very sunny at times. I did the food shopping after that; and as my Barnardo's was having a 1.00 sale on all its men's and women's wear to make way for the summer wear roll out; I paid a visit - can't miss a bargain! I picked up a sparkly roll neck jumper by Tu; a black jacket by Zara with lovely sleeves and a pair of pair Zara patterned summer trousers; all at 1.00 each. This was Thursday's outfit:

Skirt Challenge - Day 8

Everything charity shopped. Skirt by Next; jumper by F&F 1.00 rail; Bedford Daycare Hospice last week; boots bought in Oxfam. The tights are a yellow colour with black embroidery also from a charity shop years ago. They don't look yellow in the photo. Look at how long the jumper's sleeves would be if I didn't turn back the cuffs  -  that's the problem with  having short arms...

The plastic bags contain the chair bed from the loft as youngest grandson and his mum stayed over.

All jewellery charity shopped.

When I started this skirt challenge I said I had 16 skirts (not including maxis). In fact, I found I have 20 in all. Now I find  'short' skirts the hardest things to wear and the least enjoyable, so I took a very critical look at my collection and jettisoned 8. I have 4 left to complete the challenge; a bit more space in the wardrobe and another couple of bags to go to the charity shop!

Friday was wet and cold.  I did the school run as per usual and I sorted out my skirts as above and dropped them off to the charity shop. I went for a swim in the afternoon and did my 30 laps. I couldn't go last week as it was half term and there is no daytime lane swimming only early morning lane swimming. I may start to do this as the days get longer and brighter and then I'd have the whole day free!

Friday's outfit

Everything charity shopped except the boots - present from my daughter.

All jewellery charity shopped.

The roll neck was from my Barnardo's in the 1.00 sale; I've had the leggings for years and the tunic by Swamp is also a few years old; but can't can't remember which charity shop it came from. You can't see it in any of the photos as my arm is obstructing them; but there are two big buttons on the r hand side  of the tunic at the front!

Saturday was the day of the previously postponed birthday meal in London for my brother. It was also the extra day in February - 'Leap Year'; where women can traditionally propose to men. Did you? Did they say yes?

Julian didn't make his birthday meal. He got back from a gig on  Saturday early evening and found he'd been burgled. Nothing was taken but his door completely smashed in and he had to wait for someone to come and make it secure. What a shame.

This was my outfit. M&S dress from my Barnardo's for 5.00; jacket by Zara 1.00 sale my Barnardo's; OTK boots; online retail. All jewellery charity shopped.

Just so you can see the lovely sleeves on the jacket. The dress has the same sleeves; but it is slightly too big for me although it's my usual size; it's too loose round the middle. M&S are usually consistent in their sizing so I am surprised.

I started a new blanket on Sunday to use up my blue wool stash. It's the 'Cupcake pattern' from Attic 24 HERE. She called it that as she used pastel cupcake colours for her blanket; but it's just 2 rows of trebles alternated with 2 rows of treble clusters. My youngest grandson bought a cake of wool for me at Christmas in shades of blue, so I'm incorporating that into this blanket.

This was Monday's outfit for volunteering at Barnardo's. Everything charity shopped except black top from Lidl. It's a top I wear under my walking gear as it's supposed to keep one warm but not sweaty. The wind has been icy the last few days.

Jacket; my Barnardo's 4.00. Red trousers; Laura Ashley, can't remember and red tunic by Adini; also can't remember. The boots are by Zara and were donated to me by my lovely daughter. They're a deep wine colour.

All jewellery charity shopped except earrings bought in Donegal town.

Skirt Challenge - Day 9

I wore this to the food bank on Tuesday. Everything charity shopped except OTK boots as above.

Skirt by French Connection; label less top and white shirt by Gap;1:00 rail somewhere.

All jewellery charity shopped.

I've been enjoying 'Hidden', 'Murder 24/7', 'The Great Pottery Throwdown' and 'Just One Look' on TV. I've read both my new Persephone books; particularly enjoying 'National Provincial' by Lettice Cooper. Who knew politics in the 1930s could be so fascinating? I'm currently reading 'The Taxi Driver's Daughter' by Julia Darling. It's my birthday next week and we've planned a birthday meal at home on Sunday. and invited the crew. The new Hilary Mantel book - (part 3 of a trilogy about Thomas Cromwell - advisor to Henry V111) is published on Thursday and I'm hoping to get a copy for my birthday. 

The skirt challenge will continue!

Stormy weather and a skirt challenge.

I was at the foodbank on Tuesday as usual. This is what I wore - plus gloves!

This is the H&M dress I bought as the original one was too large; it was, of course, charity shopped.  Navy short sleeved cardigan also charity shopped somewhere; I've had it for ages. Leggings; Joe Brown retail and boots online retail.

I spotted my first 'wild' crocus on my walk on Wednesday morning. I walked 6 miles; saw the curly haired pigs again and heard my first skylark of 2020! In fact the hedgerows were alive with the sound of birds; twittering, cheeping, chattering, chirping and of course, singing. I love it.

A wild crocus. People's gardens are full of them and snow drops but I like spotting them in the wild. There's a snowdrop walk next week with my group and I planned to go.

I volunteered on Wednesday afternoon as it was stocktaking; and wore this. This is a closer look at my jewellery - all charity shopped. I bought the turquoise and silver pendant on a torc from my Barnardo's a few months ago. Just before we closed on Wednesday, a lady brought in some donations and told me she had donated my pendant. She'd bought it on holiday in Cuba and believed it was made out of a silver spoon! She said it had a matching bracelet; but she kept that. It's not often you get to know the history of a donated item you've bought!

 This was the Acne Studio skirt I bought on last week's rummage to Sandy - it has pockets! The turquoise paisley top was bought from another charity shop in Stevenage on Saturday's rummage and the jacket was 1.00 rail buy from the 3:16 charity shop. The OTK boots were bought in my Barnardo's for 5.00. They were the ones where the heels fell off and I had them re-heeled...you might just spot my turquoise opaque tights in the photo below. They came from The Cat's Protection League.

I bought a lovely maxi dress from M&S from Barnardo's on Wednesday. It was just too pretty to not buy and I have a birthday meal i n London coming up so this was perfect. And it only cost 5.00!

I walked again on Thursday. I did the same walk as on Wednesday but reversed it; 6 miles and it was the most beautiful day. It had been very cold in the morning minus 1 degree; but the sun was shining. there was no wind at all and the sky was wonderfully blue. After the walk I went to do the food shopping.

All jewellery charity shopped; except the earrings from ebay and the scarf is also charity shopped.

I don't think I've worn this tunic/dress on the blog. I bought it in a charity shop, naturally, but I cannot remember where; possibly the Mercy in Action Outlet store where all clothing is 2.00. It doesn't have a label but it's warm and it's green! I wore it with this homemade vintage jacket which I bought in The Red Cross shop some years ago. It was very cheap about 3.99 I seem to recall.

The leggings are retail from Joe Brown. Talking of leggings I went to wear my brown (retail) M&S leggings the other day and found the moths had been at them. They've been relegated to walking leggings. I can't even just pop along to M&S and buy a replacement pair as our M&S closed last year. The nearest one is 12 miles away in Biggleswade and if I order online I'll have to pay a fee to have it delivered...

When I was at the charity shop on Wednesday afternoon I found a lovely Betty Barclay green maxi dress for 3.00. Reader, I bought it! I wore it  on Friday with the same jacket I wore yesterday and a charity shopped tee. All jewellery charity shopped.

I wore my green River Island boots; bought from my Barnardo's.

As well as being green the skirt has a sort of chequered pattern which you can just about make out in this photo. I didn't swim on Friday but went to the cinema with my daughter to see 'Little Women'. It was so good and I'm so pleased I went to see it; I usually don't bother to see the film if I read the book as it's usually inferior to the book.

I went for a long, 10 mile walk on Saturday. I combined three of the walks I've led in the past into one to see if I could create a new walk but at 10 miles it's too long. It was a lovely day; not cold, bright but a bit windy. I stopped and had a chat with a bloke driving a tractor. He said he was about to start drilling seed that should have been planted in October but the wet weather in the autumn had made the ground too soggy. He wasn't sure if the seeds would be ok and wouldn't know until three months time. I hope Storm Ciara; which hit us on Saturday evening, hasn't ruined his plans but I suspect it has.

This was my outfit for Barnardo's volunteering on Monday. Denim dress from my Barnardo's as was the striped tee. Leggings and boots as before.

All jewellery and head scarf charity shopped.

 

This was what I wore to the food bank on Tuesday. Jeans by Gerry Weber charity shopped in Donegal; floral top charity shopped in my Barnardo's. All jewellery and scarf charity shopped.

Boots charity shopped from Oxfam.

For Christmas I had asked OH to buy me an Ancestry DNA kit. I have a half brother on my dad's side and have no  information about him except a rough idea of his birth year. I was hoping that by doing my DNA and making it public on Ancestry DNA; there was a chance I might find him. Anyway, I got my results on Tuesday and the ethnicity breakdown is fascinating. My ethnic origins are as follows:

52% Ireland and Scotland
23% England, Wales, Belgium, Channel Islands, Luxembourg
14% Malta
5% Italy (Sicily to be specific!)
5% France
1% Spain

And there I was thinking I came from a long line of Irish peasants!
The thing is that we probably all have really mixed ethnic origins because of migration patterns and trading routes in the past. I have no idea where the Maltese, French, Sicilian and Spanish bits have come from; but they do have something in common and that is Catholicism. Maybe a shared religion explains it? I don't know and probably never will. From certificates and family information I can go back as far as Great Great Grandparents on my mother's side; and to Great Grandparents on my father's; and there are no non Irish sounding names. No one married outside Ireland except my maternal Great Grandparents who married in Stockport, Cheshire and my maternal Grandparents who married in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The grandparents had met in Ireland but I don't know about the GG Parents. Both sets migrated temporarily to the UK and the USA in search of work.
I've been to France, Spain and Italy but now I really want to go to Malta and Sicily!

Went for a walk on Wednesday and did 6 miles.  It was just an urban walk as the fields would have been terribly muddy after Storm Ciara and all the rain but I spotted these little purple flowers; violets, I think growing alongside the road in a patch of grass.

Thursday's outfit. Shopping done, coal fetched from the Farm Shop in Sharnbrook and I cracked on with the Seashell blanket in the afternoon. I only had 4 rows left to do...

All jewellery charity shopped.

Jacket and tunic Daycare Hospice shops in Kempston and Bedford. Leggings (which have a fleece lining!) from Bedford market. Boots present from daughter.

Can you see the flower on the jacket? It's a brooch I picked up in a charity shop ages ago and it came  in useful when I singed this jacket on the gas cooker - it hides the damage.

Look what my Valentine bought me! A beautiful bouquet which I put in my Anthropologie jug charity shopped from my Barnardo's. There was also a box of chocolates but they were gone very quickly...

Skirt Challenge - Day 1

I did say I would do a skirt challenge next so I began it on Friday. I have 16 skirts to wear - mostly knee length as I'm not comfortable with mid calf skirts unless I wear long boots with them.

Jumper by Seasalt; charity shopped in my Barnardo's. Minimum make up as I was going swimming later on Friday.

Skirt by Dorothy Perkins; charity shopped somewhere. Boots; Sainsbury's retail. Cream cable knit tights charity shopped somewhere.

All jewellery charity shopped.

Skirt Challenge - Day 2

Skirt by Armani. Bought in the Mind Charity shop in Camden, London on my birthday last year by my daughter.

Yellow jumper; River Island and cardigan charity shopped. Boots; Sainsbury's. Pink tights charity shopped.

All jewellery charity shopped.

The weather at the weekend was very windy, cold and very wet. No walking at all took place but not only did I finish my blanket I managed to get the border done as well.

Without the border

With the border done; washed and drying over the banisters.

On Saturday evening we had booked to go to The Mango Room in Camden for brother Julian's birthday meal but Storm Dennis put paid to that. The trains were very disrupted and there were engineering works as well to contend with. We didn't want to make it to London and then get stranded. We sensibly decided to cancel and we'll do it in two weeks time. I was very disappointed as I was looking forward to wearing my new to me maxi dress...

On Sunday, we went to see my son in Suffolk. There was a lot of surface water and deep puddles on the roads; but our part of the country wasn't too badly affected. My heart goes out to the people in the UK who were affected by the weekend's storms and flooding.

 I wore this:

Dress by Oliver Bonas; Bedford Daycare Hospice 6.00. Red shirt by Primark; 1.00 rail somewhere. Boots; online retail.

All jewellery charity shopped.

Skirt Challenge - Day 3

This is one I wore more recently on the blog. It would have looked better with long boots, I think. I bought a pink cotton roll neck jumper for 50p from my Barnardo's last Monday to go with this skirt; but unfortunately I didn't check the size and it was far too big. I'll redonate it and keep looking for another pink top...

Back to Barnardo's on Monday for volunteering. Decoded the men's and added more clothes to the rails and tagged and put out out a range of clothing and bric a brac. Have you noticed I haven't been rummaging on any of my free days for the past two weeks? I'm just sticking to buying stuff from my Barnardo's on a Monday. I have next weekend away in Devon with Hilary, so I'll have a good old rummage then!!

This was Monday's outfit:

Everything charity shopped except boots - as before.

M&S cord trousers; old; yellow top 1.00 rail somewhere; kimono; my Barnardo's last year.

Scarf and all jewellery charity shopped.

Skirt Challenge - Day 5

I wore this to the food bank on Tuesday. Everything charity shopped except black boots as before.

Skirt by M&S; my Barnardo's 3.00; jumper by M&Co; 1.00 rail somewhere; jacket by M&S my Barnardo's 3.99.

Scarf and all jewellery charity shopped except earrings donated by my daughter. The beads are quite unusual as they're made of wicker.

Because it was half term there were only a few of us at the food bank and I made up the Sally Army crates. I've got a busy week ahead of me. I'm taking the middle grandson to London for a tour of Wembley Stadium  on Wednesday; and after that we plan to get a Thames Clipper to Greenwich and visit the Royal Observatory et al. On Thursday, I am at the hairdressers; having the car's MOT done; doing the food shopping and taking the youngest grandson to the cinema and out for something to eat. And to top it all on Friday I'm off to Devon to see my best friend of 54 years; Hilary! I'm so looking forward to catching up and having a good old rummage.

See you on the other side!