More gallivanting - interrupted...

I walked with my group on Wednesday. 7 miles from the village of Risley to the village of Keysoe. There is a green burial site at Keysoe and I have left information about it with my will as I'd like to buried somewhere like this; in the countryside under or beside a tree if possible. Halfway along on the walk we came to a  small field which had been cleared at one end and there was a marked grave with a cross on it. Someone had requested to be buried there and I must say the view was lovely! I forgot to take photos so you'll have to take my word for it. This might be a sombre note to start on but it's important to have this sort of conversation with your loved ones about your wishes when you die.

This was Wednesday's outfit. Boyfriend jeans by Next bought from 1.00 rail at Barnardos on Monday; top bought there last year and pumps from Primarni. It turned out to be a warm day on Wednesday 22 degrees and sunny all day.

 All jewellery charity shopped. The bangles were bought in Devon last weekend 99p each.

Friday's outfit.

Thursday was a cooler day. I went to the hairdressers in the morning and then off to do the shopping at Lidl. I spent the afternoon going to B&M for bird food supplies where I also bought some more plants. Then it was tidying up in the garden and moving stuff around.  I picked some of our first strawberries. We also have raspberries and what we thought were blueberries are actually redcurrants! We need to move all our pots and plant racks forward so we can cut back the grape vine; get rid of the scarily rampant Campanula and Periwinkle and some spiky plant bugger that's sprung up behind the Buddleia tree. It's a two person job so need OH to help. We started watching a new 'Walter Presents' in the evening 'Box 21'. Gripping stuff...

Trousers by Phool bought at the Daycare Hospice shop near my hairdressers on Thursday. I always pop in for a quick browse. I picked up some bars of Yardley's Lavender soap, too which I love. I used to hate the smell of lavender in toiletries but now I love it. Top by Next also charity shopped; kimono and clogs by Evie; both from Vinted.

I forgot to wear my rings but all jewellery was charity shopped.

I bought these cornflowers in Teignmouth at the weekend.

On Friday I went to Sainsbury's for a few things and then drove to the retail park to Argos to collect a new dish rack. Our current one; bought in a charity shop was too shallow and the plates kept falling over. Then I drove to the Salvation Army charity shop for a rummage. I bought a deep metal pot which we'll use as a planter once OH drills some drainage holes in the bottom, a yellow felt cushion and a couple of books. I started this one straight away...

Derek Jarman was an artist, writer and film-maker. When he was diagnosed as being HIV Positive in 1986; he decided to make a garden at his cottage on the barren coast of Dungeness. This was about the making of that garden but also a memoir of his life. I love nature writing, biographies and memoirs and this combines all three. In the afternoon I went for a six mile urban walk. We had a takeaway curry for dinner; I had fish biryani.

Saturday was a pretty laid back sort of day. I picked the youngest grandson up as I was looking after him until it was time to take him to his Dad's for the weekend. After that I went for a 5 mile walk along the river towards Cardington. It was a pleasant day and I hung the washing out when I got back. I also popped into town to buy some yorkshire puddings for Sunday's dinner and bought some Delphiniums from the food charity. OH had gone to visit his mum for the day so I didn't have to cook; just made myself an omelette and salad for dinner. Unfortunately by the time OH got back it had rained without me noticing and the washing got wet...

All jewellery charity shopped.

Everything charity shopped. Dress by Zara from 1.00 rail at Barnardos last week. The pumps came from the Cat's Protection League and the trousers are by Tu but can't remember where they came from.

Delphiniums in my Victorian jug (1878) bought for 1.25 in the Keech Hospice shop some years ago. It has a fine crack in the base but doesn't leak - thankfully!

In the summer we always look forward to car boot sales on a Sunday but our nearest ones weren't starting again until July. I set out for an early walk of 6 miles on Sunday walking along the river towards Great Denham and Biddenham. I saw a rat on a bird table eating the seeds but by the time I got my phone out to take a photo of it it had scarpered! OH and I did the housework and I cooked dinner. OH went to B&M and bought some reduced plants; marigolds; another geranium and another Salvia; bringing our total up to 5 now - all different colours. I had bought some Mimulus in the week and OH planted some of them in the charity shopped pot.  And talking of plants this was what was blooming afresh in our garden:

Top left; the first of our three rose bushes to bloom. Top right; the Salvia has fully bloomed. Bottom left; a subtly coloured lily (OH loves lilies especially the Asiatic Lilies - me, I'm not that bothered) and bottom right the third of our Foxgloves has started to bud.

Top left: Helenium. Top right; my Fig tree is almost taller than me. Bottom left; another Salvia; bottom right the second foxglove has grown a second spike of blooms. The garden is a constant source of delight seeing what's blooming or about to bloom. We still needed to clear the back wall but that would be a job for another day as the rain started and continued for the rest of Sunday.

All clothes charity shopped. Red jeans by Laura Ashley; turquoise top by M&S and cardigan had no label. Can't remember where I got any of them from. The cardigan is about 8 or 9 years old. I wear flip-flops as slippers in the summer; these ones were originally my daughter's. The bookcase houses my green Virago book collection and my Persephone books collection. I always look for these when charity shopping. All the green Viragos were found in charity shops; a few of the Persephone books were found in charity shops but most of them were Christmas and birthday presents.

I like jugs - as you can see!

Looking serious here! All jewellery charity shopped.

In the evening we finished watching the last of 'Box 21' - a gritty Swedish/Romanian drama. Highly recommended.

It was still raining on Monday morning.

Off to Barnardos as usual. Dress by Monsoon bought in Devon two weeks ago; trousers by M&S from Barnardos and pumps bought in The Cat's Protection League.

All jewellery charity shopped.

After Barnardos where I bought a pair of black and white checked M&S trousers and a green cross body bag to add to my collection I stopped at Home Bargains for bird supplies. When I went last week B&M had no suet blocks and by now I needed both suet blocks and fat balls. I also bought a new type of bird feeder which hangs below the fat ball feeder and the pigeons (greedy, fat pigs that they are) can't balance on! I dead headed some plants in the garden then caught up with blogland. I made Lemon Chicken Pesto and potato salad for dinner. In the evening we started to watch 'The Pleasure Principle' a Polish/Czech/Ukraine drama. After one episode we were hooked! I also finished the Derek Jarman book which was wonderful and definitely a keeper.

Two new discoveries in the garden on Tuesday. Top; Clematis Orientalis. Bottom; Cistus x purpureus 'Alan Fradd' otherwise known as a 'Rock Rose'. We have 3 clematis in the back garden; one grows along the wooden fence shared with our left hand neighbours and it had already bloomed; the second is growing through the Wisteria and has yet to bloom. The one pictured above was planted about 2 years ago and thought to have died! What a nice surprise! The Cistus was from last year and didn't have a label so we had little idea of what it was. The flower had gone by late afternoon but there were several buds waiting to flower so I didn't mind too much. I blamed the birds as they love to flit in and out of the containers; or it might have been Mr. Squirrel digging up or burying his stash.

Tuesday's outfit. Everything charity shopped. Trousers by H&M; striped tee by F&F; yellow top by White Stuff and green shoes by Hotter - another Cat's Protection League find last year. Off to the food bank where I made up at least 50 hygiene packs and put cereals away. One of our volunteers made a return on Tuesday. He is 80+ years of age and had some heart problems earlier this year. He looked well and did well for his first day back; taking care to pace himself and not bending too much or lifting heavy loads. There's a lot of bending, stretching, lifting and carrying heavy loads at the food bank - a good weight resistant workout; plus I tend to walk quite a lot between the warehouse and the picking areas.

All jewellery charity shopped.

I went for a swim in the afternoon and did my 42 laps (1.4 km). The last 15 minutes was just me and one other woman - heavenly! I can just imagine how blissful it would be to have your own 33.3 metre swimming pool and swim in it everyday...

No walks with my group on Wednesday - too far to travel so I set out in the morning to run some errands in town and then went to the Castle Rd charity shops for a rummage. The Castle Road area of Bedford is filled with small terraced house that are a lot bigger inside than they look from the outside. A lot of professional people live in the area and it has its own vibe with lots of independent shops and cafes; three charity shops; a junk shop and it used to have a bookshop until it moved premises at the start of the lock down last year. As I walked from where I'd parked my car I came across this scene:

A street exercise/Wednesday workout session!

I didn't get a chance to find out more although I did ask permission to take a photo. Complete with music playing, an instructor and keen participants armed with weights... I wondered if it was an impromptu session or if it was a regular occurence. There's a park very close by maybe they got fed up with going there for their exercise session and decided to stay at home (I walked past several open doors so these people lived in this street). I wonder what the other neighbours thought about it? I thought it was a brilliant idea and you can see that they are people of a certain age so it was clearly for health reasons. Then as I walked past a coppiced tree I saw this:

Isn't it exquisitely beautiful? It's Trametes versicolour or a Turkey Tail fungus. It made my day. The beauty in nature never ceases to astonish and surprise me.

It was an overcast and cool day so I layered up.

Trousers by Laura Ashley, top by Zara and tee shirt underneath by F&F all charity shopped including the shoes.

All jewellery charity shopped. 

I got very lucky in the Castle Rd shops. I bought a new runner for my hall and a new picture for the dining room; 5 books; a winter jacket/coat (homemade) in the Daycare Hospice shop; a New Look skirt (2.99) and a pair of brown leather sandals with a clog like base (1.99) in the Children's Society. In the junk shop I picked up 2 pots for plants;  I did very well! In the afternoon I went for an urban walk of 5.5 miles. It threatened to rain all day but didn't and at around 4 pm the sun came out for a brief visit but disappeared again. I was hoping the weather would improve for the weekend because on Friday and Saturday I was off gallivanting again...

My Aunty Joan (my dad's sister) lives in Burton on Trent and was diagnosed earlier this year with cancer of the jaw. She underwent a huge operation and once she was ready for visitors I said I'd visit. As my ex-sister in law lives in Birmingham I thought I'd spend Friday with her staying overnight and set off on Saturday morning to see Aunty Joan; returning home the same day. That was the plan anyway.

Thursday started out so well. The sun was shining and it wasn't raining. I got up early and had a wash done and pegged out to dry by the time I set off to do the weekly shop. On my way back from Lidl, disaster struck. The temperature gauge on my car was flashing on and off and the symbol for 'car has a problem' came on. I drove straight to the garage where after being driven home in one of the garages cars plus my shopping; I was told it was probably the head gasket. The head gasket went in 2017 and shouldn't have gone again so soon. The garage wasn't able to repair the car until the following week as was a big job to do so I had to cancel my weekend plans. No gallivanting for me!

All jewellery charity shopped.

Trousers by F&F; top by and shoes by Hotter; all charity shopped.

I went for a swim in the afternoon and was very pleased with myself as I managed to do 45 laps (1.5 km) in the hour; in fact as I was climbing out of the pool the life guard blew his whistle to signal the session was ended. The pool was not very crowded.

Can you see my new hall runner?

Friday was a hot day!  I had to go into to town for bread and on the way back stopped at the food charity and bought some Peonies and Lisianthus for my weekly fresh flower display. The delphiniums were moved to the kitchen.  I walked 5.7 miles in the afternoon stopping at Aldi on the way back. I hadn't managed to get there on Thursday because of the car problems. I don't buy very much from Aldi so was able to carry what I did buy home in one bag.

Shoes bought from Sainsbury's; jeans by M&Co and top by Damart; both charity shopped.

All jewellery charity shopped.

Saturday was very humid but overcast. I met my daughter and we went for a 5 mile walk. Then after changing into a skirt; OH and I went to Northampton for a rummage and by then the sun had come out and it stayed out. We were last in Northampton around Christmas time and since then 3 of the charity shops had closed down. It has two very large charity shops that do both furniture and clothes; a Scope and a Salvation Army. I bought a summer walking top and some earrings in the RSPCA; some Jo Malone cologne; a book and a (winter) skirt in Age Concern from the 1.00 rail. I found a Vegan cook book in Scope for my daughter. The first I've ever found and I've been looking for weeks! We stopped for a coffee and pancakes then set off for home where everyone came round to watch the England v Ukraine match...nuff said.

White top by Next; skirt by New Look; denim jacket old, brown sandals by New Look; all charity shopped.

All jewellery charity shopped.

We went to our first car boot sale this year on Sunday morning. Very disappointing. There were about ten cars in total and it rained throughout. I bought a purse for 50 p. The car boot sale is held on the premises of the garden centre in Milton Ernest so we went inside for a browse and OH bought some plants; a Zinnia; a Gazania and 2 Nicotiana in a deep red and a pink. There are pots that still need filling. Throughout the week OH cleared the back wall of  unwanted creeping things and we reorganised the plant pots and moved the plant pot stands. We did the usual Sunday housework and I cooked dinner for both grandsons.

On Monday as I was car less; I walked the youngest grandson two thirds of the way to school then caught the bus to Barnardo's in Great Denham.

Everything charity shopped except the clogs from Sainsbury's. Skirt by Jigsaw bought from Vinted; striped top by Massimo Dutti from Barnardo's;  jacket with Italian label; bought from Age UK when we had one in Bedford; it's about 8 or 9 years old now.

All jewellery charity shopped.

I wore a vintage full length white slip under the outfit as the skirt is quite see through.

When I got back from Barnardo's I hung out a wash and did a second whites wash which I hung inside. It was just as well as the rain came down in the evening and it rained very heavily. No need to water the pots! OH and I finished watching 'The Pleasure Principle' and caught up with Saturday's episode of 'Beck'. We missed it because of the football. It looks like it's going to be another good series so that's our Saturday night viewing sorted. For viewing in the week we decided to try another Polish thriller called 'Pakt'. I bought a copy of 'Nomadland' by Jessica Bruder on my Kindle for 99p and started that on Monday. It made for for very interesting if not disturbing reading. 

I was at the food bank as usual on Tuesday and swam 45 laps (1.5km) in the afternoon. There seemed to be fewer people in the pool again and I wondered if more people were returning to work as our UK Furlough Scheme was coming to an end. I do appreciate having a near empty pool to swim in! 

At the time of writing this post I still haven't got my car back. It's looking as if I might have it back by late on Thursday but I don't actually know for sure whether or not I'll get to Birmingham and Burton-on-Trent this weekend or not. Watch this space....

Flaming June and a visit to Kew Gardens

Hello everyone!

We've had some lovely hot weather - well the old saying is 'Flaming June' after all!

Cool cottons are my go to when it's very hot and to me that's anything from 25 degrees upwards. Skirt by Apricot bought at my Barnardo's last Monday and the t shirt was from the Cat's Protection League a few years back. Hilary was with me when I bought it so probably 2019?

Jacket by Per Una; charity shopped in the Red Cross shop.

All jewellery charity shopped. The necklace was one of the 4 for 1.00 in Emmaeus when we were there some weeks ago.

This was Wednesday's outfit. I went swimming in the morning as the gas boiler was being serviced on Thursday and I had to wait in for the engineer. I won't be bothering with morning swimming again; it was even more crowded than the afternoon sessions! I'll stick to Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. I managed to swim just over 1 km then got out of the pool; I was tired of colliding with people. After I'd showered and changed and had something to eat at home; I walked to B&M to get some more bird food supplies and then walked back to town and bought Marian a birthday present. It was very hot indeed and I was glad to get home and cool down. We watched TGBSB in the evening; the final is next week and it will be a close run thing between Raph and Serena; either could win it.

Everything charity shopped. Jacket as before. I bought this Anokhi skirt last summer in a Newmarket charity shop. The top is from the 1.00 rail at the Daycare Hospice shop and is by Minuet. The shoes were bought last winter online and this was their first outing.

All jewellery charity shopped. The necklace was another one of the 4 for 1.00 in Emmaeus.

The engineer came soon after 9 am on Thursday and I set out at 11.30 to do the food shopping in Lidl and Aldi. After unpacking it and putting it away I went to Kempston to the Cat's Protection League for a rummage. I bought another pair of plimsolls; black this time.  I came home and chilled in the garden; doing a bit of pot swapping, weeding and deadheading. I don't sunbathe so I put the umbrella up; loaded the chair with several cushions and read my book. I made dinner for OH and middle grandson who comes for dinner every Thursday and Sunday. Then I went to meet my friend Ann at our usual meeting place; 'The Fox and Hounds' where we had a meal and great catch up!

On Friday, I drove to London in horrendous traffic on the motorway. It took me an hour to drive 7 miles from junction 13 to 12 then, thankfully, it was clear. I met up with Marian and her daughter Katherine and we set off for Kew Gardens. It was a perfect day; not too hot with a bit of a breeze. We walked for miles but had a wonderful day. So much to see and such a feast for the eyes.

Known also as The Royal Botanic Gardens; Kew has the largest and most diverse collection of living plants in the world. " In 1772, King George III inherited the Kew estate and joined it with the royal estate in Richmond – two gardens became one. It was George III's mother Princess Augusta who founded the original botanic garden at Kew in 1759" (Source; Kew Gardens website)

Top right is Kew Palace; home of George III. The stone dragon/lion overlooked the smaller of two lakes; this one looking across to the Palm House. The statue of the naked man killing a serpent  (Apollo killing Python?) was in the middle of the lake.

Top; the Temperate House and below The Palm House.

The giant water lilies were in the water lily pond house.

Some of the wonderful plants and flowers. Bird of Paradise (bottom right).

Top left flowers are Calendula.

The red leaved plant was a fuschia.

This strange structure was The Hive. Designed by the artist Wolfgang Buttress; the steel structure houses a multi-sensory experience meant to simulate the inside of a hive and the communications between the occupants.  It was a strangely eerie experience but very enjoyable.

Just some of the many photos Katherine took. Everything I wore was charity shopped. Jacket by Fenn, Wright and Manson (originally part of a skirt suit). White top by Next and trousers by Tu. Clarks shoes also charity shopped; cross body bag from Vinted.

Just outside the Lily Pond House (bottom right). Top right is part of the beautiful wrought iron staircase in The Palm House.

Look at that Cedar tree!

Saturday began with a trip to Aldi to buy some extra bits for Sunday's barbecue.

Everything charity shopped. Jeans by Next; coral top by M&S and pumps bought from Barnardos.

All jewellery charity shopped. The headband is one of four different coloured ones I have; bought from Barnardos - all 50p each. I don't  know if you've noticed but I don't wear headscarves very often these days. It's difficult to wear a mask with a headscarf!

Having had a busy couple of days I decided to chill out on Saturday. It was cooler but still lovely and I could have gone for a walk; instead I spent most of the afternoon in the garden sitting under the umbrella making a list of which of our plants should come back next year. This year I've tried to label every plant we have so we shouldn't get accidentally rid of anything which might grow back again. As well as that I also caught up with blogland and booked  just one swim for next week. I wouldn't have time the following Thursday to swim as I was leading a walk and the shopping doesn't do itself. Next Friday, I'd be off to Devon for the weekend!

This was the last field on my walk. Look at the cloudless blue sky...

Sunday was a scorching day - 28 degrees. I went for a walk in the morning before it got too hot and started out doing an urban walk but as I was near where my daughter lives I went across the fields for the last 3 miles making it a 6 mile walk in all. We had a barbecue and everyone came round. 2 loads of washing done, dried and put away as well; all in a couple of hours!

I spent Monday at Barnardos decoding the women's clothing. That meant reducing it if it was past its sell by date or if it had been reduced already; marking it down to 1.00 for the 1.00 rail. I found a few things for me, of course, which meant removing a few items from the wardrobe when I got home to make room for them.

Outfit all charity shopped. Top by Valentyne; trousers by Monsoon and white pumps; all from Barnardos. Monday was another hot day 26.5 degrees my car temperature gauge said. There was a bit of a breeze when I got home so I hung out the washing where it dried very quickly.

All jewellery charity shopped.

In the evening my daughter and I went for a walk of 5 miles. We did the walk I'll be leading on Thursday. A couple of footpaths were very overgrown thanks to the weeks of sunshine; and I'd need to warn people to be careful where they put their feet. It's easy to wrench an ankle in a rabbit hole or just a hollow in the ground...

A cooler and cloudier start on Tuesday but it soon warmed up when the sun came out. By the time I'd finished at the foodbank for the day it was in the low 20s. Busy at the foodbank; unpacking and putting away toiletries and making up hygiene bags for single people, couples and families. I must have made up 50 hygiene bags. They contain personal toiletries: soap, shampoo, deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrush and hand wash; household cleaning products: washing up liquid, cleaning cloths, cleaning spray, toilet paper, tissues and washing liquid tablets.

Everything charity shopped. The red lace top I got from Barnardos on Monday; yellow linen shirt by Wallis and harem pants hand made - not by me; both also from Barnardos. Shoes; online retail.

All jewellery charity shopped. Did you notice I wasn't wearing earrings? I forgot to put them on and only realised when I went swimming in the afternoon. Last Wednesday, when I went for a swim I forgot I had earrings on and jumped into the pool with them on! It wasn't too crowded at the swimming pool on Tuesday and I managed my 40 laps with relative ease. I pottered around in the garden after that tidying up, moving pots around, deadheading etc. We have campanula growing out of the wall at the back; I believe it originated from the garden whose wall we (illegally) share. The campanula had taken over so I cleared a corner near the strawberries and moved the rhododendron there. It was dwarfing the other pots where it was and it's unlikely to bloom again this year. One of the two foxgloves flowered so I moved it to the front. The second foxglove is almost in flower.

I walked with my group on Wednesday in Harlington. The walk was 8 miles  in 26 degree heat and it was mostly uphill! We walked over Sundon Hills and Sharpenhoe Clappers; two of the few hilly areas in Bedfordshire which, like Cambridgeshire, is very flat country in the main.

I was completely knackered when I got home but I still had to walk into town and run some errands. Then I came home and put my feet up until it was time to make dinner.

Everything I wore was charity shopped. Both linen top and trousers by M&S; shoes by Clarks. Hat and Lanvin sunglasses also charity shopped as was all the jewellery. I wore waterproof trousers and boots on the walk and just changed into trousers and Mary Janes when I got home. In the evening we watched TGBSB and Serena won, as I predicted. Precision won the day but I didn't like the winning outfit she made...did you?

By Thursday one of the sweet pea plants bloomed and  later in the day there were four! I led my walk of 5.5 miles with 8 attendees all of whom really enjoyed it. We were very lucky to escape any rain although it was pretty overcast all day. The rain arrived in the evening. I spent the afternoon doing the food shopping and doing two washes one of which I was able to hang outside to dry. I popped over to my daughter's to wish the youngest grandson a happy 11th birthday for Friday and to drop off his present. The plan had been to have a barbecue after school but Friday was looking very wet so Plan B had to be devised. I'd miss it all as I was going to Devon on Friday morning.

I wore this to drive to Devon on Friday morning. The traffic was fine until I got to Swindon where I queued for an hour to get to the M4. I've not had much luck with Friday travelling, lately! Grey linen trousers by Whistles; top by Toast and denim jacket by Dorothy Perkins. Pumps by New Look. Everything charity shopped.

All jewellery charity shopped.

After a good old catch up at Hilary's we went out for a pleasant walk of 5 miles. We stopped at a hotel and had a couple of drinks. Here's Hilary posing in the gazebo...

On Saturday we drove to Teignmouth and had a good rummage around the charity shops. I bought a teapot and two small bowls. In a junk shop I wanted to buy a terracotta cylinder to use as a plant pot for the garden; the shop owner insisted on giving it to me as it had a fine crack in it. I didn't care! Guess what? I left it in Hilary's car and forgot to take it back home with me! Never mind - next time. After tea and cake we drove to Exmouth and continued to rummage. I found a dress by Zara for 2.00; a wrap around skirt by Kaliko for 5.00; two necklaces for 50p each and three bangles to add to my collection of 'plastic/lucite/bakelite' bangles. These three were in very subtle muted colours.

I wore this outfit with loose chambray trousers.

Exmouth; beach facing houses.

Looking across the beach at Exmouth to Dawlish.

We had arranged to meet Hilary's daughter and twin granddaughters for a meal at a restaurant facing the beach. We were seated upstairs on the terrace and it began to rain. We had parasols covering the table but the cover didn't extend to our backs so we got wet. There was no room inside so we ate our meal quickly and left. The rain continued all evening. It looked liked Flaming June had finished.  It was so good to see Hilary and her family again. The last time I saw her was in 2019! My journey home was uneventful on Sunday morning and I got home just in time to do the housework...OH made dinner.

Monday's outfit worn to the charity shop. Wearing the Kaliko wrap around skirt bought in Exmouth; striped tee and denim jacket by Dorothy Perkins all charity shopped. Shoes bought online.

All jewellery charity shopped.

I was busy decoding all morning  at Barnardos and picked up some reduced items; a dress and a tunic both from the 1.00 rail. On Monday evening OH and I went to see 'The Father' at the cinema. I cried but had no tissues in my bag and had to use my skirt to wipe my eyes! I have a drawerful of individual small packets of individual tissues but forgot to put one in my bag. A superbly acted film and all one can say is " Please God don't let that happen to me".

New things have bloomed in the garden after all that rain:

Top left; Tiger Lily; bottom left Verbena; top right Hebe; bottom right; Calendula.

Left: Geum, top right the 2nd Foxglove; bottom right one of the 3 Hydrangeas has bloomed.

More flowers from the garden. In this photo although not all seen are; Pansies, Sweet Peas, Dianthus and a Snapdragon.

At the foodbank on Tuesday I made up loads of hygiene packs, put away toiletries and restocked the picking area where we pick the products we use for the hygiene packs.

Everything charity shopped. Linen trousers by Next. top by FabIndia bought at Barnardos on Monday on the 1.00 rail. Shoes bought in a Devon charity shop some years ago.

All jewellery charity shopped. The necklace was one of the 50p ones bought in Devon at the weekend. I went swimming in the afternoon and did 42 laps. I spent the rest of Tuesday catching up with blogland and writing my own. It's funny to think that on Monday we should have been coming out of lockdown completely; according to the original lockdown easing plan but the Delta variant of Covid-19 put paid to that. The 18 plus age group can now be vaccinated and by the time we get to the next milestone in the easing of lockdown plan on  19th July we may be able to return to normal - whatever that new 'normal' may look like. I think it's going to be quite a while before we ever go back completely to the way we were before the pandemic struck and maybe we never will. The pandemic has changed the way we work with more people working from home and it looks likely to stay that way. It's changed the way we shop; more people shop online. I know several people who now prefer to do their supermarket shop online rather than visit the supermarket themselves. It may also be that for many people it's changed the way they lives their lives for the better; appreciating family members more and what they already have. I look forward to reading the research in the years to come...