I forgot to include some holiday photos in my previous post.
In the mobile home.
Everything charity shopped except the shoes bought online. Skirt bought in a West Drayton charity shop a few years back; the denim jacket was bought in a Sligo charity shop for 5 euros. Tee shirt part of my caravan wardrobe.
Earrings bought 2 years ago in Donegal and made by a local artisan. Necklace charity shopped on a recent UK rummage.
Here we are at cousin Linda's in Co. Kerry. OH and I had just got back from Tralee where we went rummaging. I only bought a couple of books...
Everything I'm wearing was charity shopped.
Back to the UK now; holiday just a distant memory! I was very lucky on my walk with the walking group on Wednesday. The weather was lovely. I drove 34 miles to Harpenden where we walked 6.5 miles; much of it through the Rothampstead Estate which is an agricultural research institution and one of the oldest in the world; established in 1843.
This is Rothamstead Manor house first recorded in 1212 and extensively re- built in the 16th century.
Some of the lovely houses and cottages on the estate.
I had never seen one of these before - a huge bird feeder containing seeds in a large field .
There were only 5 of us on the walk including the walk leader. We both thought the very large group walks of 50+ people at times pre-Covid; would not return. There were a number of reasons for this. During the lockdown people formed small walking groups or pairs and continue to walk with them rather than the Ramblers group walks; some people don't want to book by email or text and some people are still avoiding groups and group activities. The last Wednesday walk I attended before going to Ireland had 30+ people on it. As a walk leader myself I find it much easier with 30+ people than 50+ people! I suppose only time will tell if we ever get back to the exact way we used to be.
We brought back some bags of turf from Ireland. Ireland is stopping commercial peat/turf production as it's a fossil fuel and we found it very hard to buy turf. Eventually a friend of a relative gave us some bags. He had just collected his supplies for the winter from the bog. In Ireland many houses came with 'turbary rights'. This allowed people to have their own plot in the bog where they cut and dried turf for their fuel supplies. As a child I helped my maternal grandad in the bog; driving the ass and cart full of turf home; where it was stored in the turf shed. Both sets of grandparents had turbary rights. I assume that those who still have turbary rights and want to use them will remain able to do so.
My new tripod arrived and I experimented taking photos around the house. The kitchen has the best light and I shall continue experimenting. I went for a swim in the morning and set a new personal record; swimming 46 laps (1.5km) in 60 minutes. It was pretty busy at the pool so it must have been down to me swimming lots of laps of breaststroke. After getting ready I set off to Aldi and Lidl and did the weekly food shopping. Once it was unpacked and put away and I'd hung a wash out to dry in the breeze that had developed; I took middle grandson for his Covid-19 vaccination. Luckily, he only needs one jab.
Since we've been back we've been catching up with programmes we missed whilst on holiday. We watched all the episodes of 'A House in Time' and were up to date. The same with the Danish BBC4 Saturday night thriller 'Hunt for A Killer' and starting on Thursday evening we caught up with 'Vigil'.
Headscarf and all jewellery charity shopped.
I'd been disappointed by the lack of car boot sales this summer (thank you Covid-19) but very pleased to see that on Sunday there were to be not one but two 'jumble trails' in Bedford. These are like car boot sales but the stalls would be outside people's houses; there'd be a number of streets involved and the money raised would go to a range of charities. A win, win all round I'd say! Roll on Sunday...
Scarf and all jewellery charity shopped.
I then visited our local jumble trail which had 40 stalls in total but confined my visit to two streets. I bought another plant, an Ajuga; a preserving pan to use as a planter; a ceramic Buddha to add to my front garden and a cheese grater. Pleased with my purchases it was back home to do the housework and cook dinner. OH planted up all the newly bought plants and tidied up the garden whilst I cooked.
I went for a swim in the afternoon and swam 45 laps (1.5 km). I needed to go to town as I had errands to run but decided to go on Wednesday after my group walk instead. I read for a while and caught up with blogs before making a casserole for dinner. We started to watch 'When the Dust Settles' from Walter Presents; a Danish thriller and it was pretty thrilling. There were 10 episodes to watch in total.
You may have noticed I haven't mentioned or posted photos of my weekly flower displays. That's because the food charity where I always stopped to pick up bunches of flowers was closed down suddenly overnight by Bedford Council; a few weeks before we went to Ireland. I don't know why and I miss them. The premises are shuttered and I've heard that it may reopen but at a location that is not on my route into town. It was good while it lasted.
On Wednesday the walk started at Paxton Pits near St. Neots. We walked 7 miles mostly along the river Great Ouse. In or two places the winds had blown branches, and in one section a tree down. We were able to get over the fallen tree and cut back (lots of us carry secateurs) smaller branches and obstacles. The weather was fine; breezy but bright and sunny and it was a most enjoyable walk.
I wore this top with walking trousers and just added the leggings and cardigan when I went into town to do my errands. Everything charity shopped and I wore charity shopped black pumps with it. The weather this week required cardigans and layers and I need to start thinking about bringing my winter stuff down from the loft quite soon.
After putting the shopping away I had a dental appointment and had my teeth cleaned thoroughly. Oh, it did feel good. I had two dental check ups during the lockdown but as I didn't require any treatment they wouldn't clean them as they would normally do. I didn't need any treatment on Thursday but the teeth cleaning was back as routine - thank goodness.
Middle grandson came to dinner. From next week both grandsons will come for dinner on Wednesday and I'll drop the Thursday dinner slot. My daughter has started an MA at the university I used to work at and her day at uni is on Wednesday. So that she can stay on and study in the evening; I will be collecting the youngest grandson from his dad's house; making him dinner and taking him home after. It therefore made sense to have both grandsons to dinner or Wednesdays. They also come for dinner on Sundays but the youngest grandson won''t be staying overnight anymore. Thursday evening was pretty chilly; I think we'll be lighting the fire soon.
I had another lazy day on Friday. I went to Barnardo's in the morning as I'd left my umbrella there on Monday; I also had a couple of books for the deputy manager. She's a crime book lover and the two books I had just finished were pretty good. Whilst I was there I picked up a long denim dress which, with discount, came to 3.20! I am looking for a denim skirt with pockets and belt loops; I have a dark, plain, dark blue denim skirt but want a lighter blue one. Normally on a free day like today I would have got into the car and driven to a nearby town for a rummage but the petrol situation was still a bit tricky where I live. When OH came home from work he said he had tried to get diesel at Morrisons but they had run out although they had petrol and there were NO queues. I can't tell you how fast I ran to my car and when I got to Morrisons there was a queue but it didn't take long to get filled up. Phew! Ok for the next couple of weeks. We lit our fire for the first time in the evening but at least we waited until it was October - just!
Left; the entrance to a one time inn; right Huntindon's War Memorial.
I found some wide legged, cropped denim trousers by Toast for 6.00 and a pair of grey ankle boots for 5.50. I also found some brand new towels for 2.00. I didn't find a denim skirt or a red cross-body bag; two things I need but I will keep looking. We finished watching 'When the Dust Settles' on Saturday evening and highly recommend the series; although I did wonder about the sheltered accommodation for the elderly - anyone and everyone wandered in off the street willy nilly! Most places like this have security doors and codes etc so this part didn't ring true to me. Nevertheless, it was just a minor flaw in a great series.
There was great excitement in the garden as all week I had been seeing a rat. It was after the bird feeders in the hibiscus tree outside the backdoor so I moved them up higher and out of reach. It still kept hanging around and on Sunday I showed the rat to my youngest grandson; who kept up a 'rat watch' for most of Sunday, whilst doing his homework. OH had baited some traps. The clever rat managed to remove the Mars bar bait but didn't trigger the trap! I do not like rats at all although I don't mind mice. At the time of writing this post I hadn't spotted the rat again...
I didn't need to cook on Monday as OH and middle grandson were going to the cinema to see the new Bond film and were going to get a takeaway meal. I spent the evening finishing off a very gripping Swedish thriller called 'The Sandman' by Lars Keppler. Very gory!
We were a woman down at the foodbank so I spent my time there making up food parcels; lots of food parcels. The donations kept coming in thick and fast. That's because they were Harvest Festival donations and we get lots from schools and organisations at this time of year.
In the afternoon I went for a swim and swam 42 laps (1.4 km). I'm leading a walk on Wednesday and am praying for decent weather. Wish me luck!