Christmas Fairs, dinners and decorations.

Well, that's another fortnight gone by!

All jewellery charity shopped.

Our walk on Wednesday was excellent. We walked from North Crawley to Chicheley and back; 7 miles. I'd never walked in this area before.  I've often driven past Chicheley Hall but although I tried to take a photo to show you; the planting around the house and gardens was so  prolific it was difficult to even discern there was a house there....another time maybe. It was a cold day with a bit of a breeze. 

Driving the youngest grandson back from school; a green parakeet flew across the road in front of us. I've known we had parakeets in Bedford as I've seen them near the grandson's old school and have been told there was a nesting pair at the marina. When I told someone later they told me they had seen parakeets in Leicester! They're definitely spreading north from London...

Thursday, on the other hand, was bitterly cold but sunny with a very chill wind. I went for a swim, nevertheless, and managed 48 laps - 1 mile. I went to help out at the food bank in the afternoon - more making up of hygiene bags plus putting away 6 crates of toiletries. I got dressed in a hurry as the swimming session started at 9.30 am so I grabbed one of my remaining 4 blue dresses (I had 6 at one point but gave 2 away). This one is by Apricot and was charity shopped somewhere; jacket by M & Co also charity shopped. Blue velvet leggings by M&S and boots both retail. 

There's still some colour in the garden back and front. I'm surprised that some flowers are still blooming given we've had a hard frost - it's all been recorded in garden notebook so I can compare this year to next year.

Top left; Shasta daisies which bloomed late in November; top right Chrysanthemums which also bloomed late in November; bottom left flowering on the Delphinium spike and bottom right some Osteospermum which also bloomed recently.

Top left; Geraniums still blooming back and front; top right newly bloomed Snapdragons - just in the last day or so; bottom left Verbena which has been blooming for months and bottom right the last of the Stocks.

And look at my pink Trandescantia! I've taken more cuttings to be potted up. I need to cut back the trailing Geranium just above the Geranium and the Pyracanthus berries have turned red. They started out as yellow...

After the foodbank it was off to Lidl to do the food shopping. I also bought a Christmas tree. I hoped OH would put it up on Sunday; then I'll decorate it bit by bit to my satisfaction! I made dinner after unpacking the shopping and cleaned out the fire and lit it early as it was so cold.

I had a laid back Friday. I got up at 9.30 am which is very, very late for me but I had slept extra well in the spare room. As my bedroom faces the street, the traffic always wakes me from 6 am onwards; or the council van that empties the public rubbish bins along the stree. It was good not to be woken up at 6 am for a change. I chose another blue dress to wear on Friday: this one by Tu worn with a short kimono by M&S; both charity shopped. The wine coloured woollen tights were also charity shopped and have a plaid design. I can't remember where the boots came from.

After getting ready I went to B&M for some bits and bobs. I made a list; I took the list with me and when I got home realised I'd forgotten the most important item of all - loo rolls! I spent the rest of the afternoon catching up with blogs and writing my own and finishing my book. No cooking - we had an Indian takeaway; my favourite - fish biriyani.

All jewellery charity shopped.

It was another busy Saturday. I went back to B&M for the loo rolls and then set off for the Christmas Fair in Great Denham where I was helping out at the Barnardo's stall.

This was our stall in the village community centre.  We were one of 22 stalls in total plus a Santa's Grotto. By the time I took this photo we had sold a lot of items. Lucille; at the back in the black Christmas jumper made a lot of home made items: gift bags, wreaths, Xmas trees and her mum potted up tiny house leeks in a range of pretty containers. The rest of the stuff was donated to the shop and the Deputy Manager (in the green) saved it all for the stall and the Christmas gift display stand in the shop. We did pretty well raising over two hundered pounds for Barnardo's.

 

We'd been asked to dress festively and as I don't do Xmas jumpers I wore red and green. Dress charity shopped in Co. Longford charity shop; red boots online retail and tights were a present.

All jewellery charity shopped.

 Soon after I got back from the fair we set off for Burton Latimer to meet up with my brother's ex-partner and all their children and partners for a 60th birthday meal in an Italian restaurant. It was lovely to see my neices and nephews again and their families. Two of the neices have children so that makes me their Great Aunt. Great Aunt Veronica, it has a certain ring to it...There were 19 of us in total and the food was delicious.

Sunday was a wet and miserable day. I didn't fancy going out in it for a walk but I did have to go to town to Iceland to pick up a few groceries I'd forgotten on Thursday. I made dinner for the grandsons and OH;  I also made some 'Mincemeat Crumble Slices'. The mincemeat I had was suitable for vegans and I had vegan butter so I was able to give some to my daughter who liked them so much; she asked me to make them for her Christmas Day dessert! I also ate the last of my vegan Shepherd's Pie and it tasted much nicer. I think it's one of those dishes that taste better if it's not eaten on the day it was made. I will make it again now that I know that.

Monday's weather wasn't a lot better although it was colder than Sunday. We took lots of donations at Barnardo's which kept me busy until it was home time.

Ooops - Charlies dead! (Petticoat hanging down). It kep hanging down and the Deputy Manager said to me 'Charlie's Dead' on more than one occasion. On Sunday, whilst doing the housework I checked one of the storage drawers under the spare bed and found more of my winter clothes that hadn't made it to the loft when it was time to do the big clothes change over. This dress was amongst the items; by Store 21 and charity shopped. Boots by Manteray from my Barnardo's and the jacket by Liz Claiborne was from a 1.00 rail quite recently. The polo neck by John Lewis was also charity shopped.

All jewellery charity shopped.

As much as I didn't want to go out when I got back from Barnardo's; I had to collect a parcel from the parcel shop. I've started my Christmas shopping but luckily don't have to buy too much; almost everyone has asked for money including the 2 eldest grandsons. I only buy for my children, my grandchildren and my children's two ex-partners and OH; within the immediate family we do Secret Santa. This year I drew my brother in the Secret Santa so I know what to get him.... I went to the library to pick up some books making the most of being out in the miserably cold weather. Then it was back home; sort out the fire light it and make dinner. I spent the evening catching up with blogland.

Storm Barra was set to hit us in Tuesday and it was a very cold day that became increasingly windy as the day went on. It was freezing in the food bank and I didn't take my coat or scarf off. Just as well as I wore yet another dress I found in the drawer. I don't know why I bought it; other than it must have been from a 1.00 rail; it has an asymmetric hem which I'm not a fan of and it was in uninspiring shades of brown. Never fear, it has gone into the bag of charity shop donations. Here it is and here I am in all its horror:

Why? I'd thought I'd learned my lesson about asymmetric hems but clearly I hadn't!

At least it gave me an opportunity to wear my psychedelic tights which were a lucky charity shop find and my brown suede ankle boots.

The cardigan (charity shopped) was added for warmth.

The manager who had Covid was back and looking very peaky. She said was taking things easy and proceeded to work like a navvy! There were lots of donations and two major drives on at local supermarkets planned at the weekend. Goodness only knows whether there'll be room to move next week!  I was so busy I didn't have time to unpack toiletries and I was asked if I could go in again on Thursday for a couple of hours. Of course I could and  next week we should be back up to a full complement of staff and volunteers and I won't be needed on Thursdays again...

I went swimming in the afternoon. The pool was pleasantly uncrowded; probably due to the weather. Only 4 of us in the slow lane. I did my 45 laps. Home to hang up washing, cook dinner and sort the fire out. By the end of the day I'd finished my John Le Carre book. I found another John Le Carre at Barnardo's on Monday but forgot to pick it up. I'll try to get back there on Thursday or Friday to collect it; meanwhile I have 2 library books to be going on with and shelves and shelves of my own library so I'll never be short of reading material. Not having anything to read is a fear of mine and probably accounts for why I keep buying more books!

Can you spot me?

It was Wednesday so that meant walking. I walked with the group in the morning; a 5.5 mile walk in cold and muddy conditions; it was followed by very welcome Christmas lunch at Stagsden Golf Course. The food was very good and the service was excellent. Normally we sing carols but thanks to Covid 19 a decision was taken not to sing so we had a Christmas Quiz instead. Our table didn't do that well; we only got 13 questions right out of 30! To be fair a lot was based around Christmas pop music and movies e.g. 'Home Alone 1' and 'Home Alone 2' neither of which I knew anything about!

 

I changed into the outfit above in the car after the walk. I wore the leggings (M&S retail) under my walking trousers and just had to remove my walking tops and replace them with this Biba dress and orange scarf;  both charity shopped at Barnardo's last year; I added my Gerry Webber leather jacket; also charity shopped and put on my daughter donated boots and some beads and I was ready. I did get some strange looks from some of the golfers getting into and out of their cars but I just ignored them...From there I went to Aldi to buy items for dinner and collected youngest grandson. He did his homework while I cooked dinner and I took him back home in the evening.

Another busy Thursday. So busy in fact I didn't bother with doing the food shopping. I put it off until Friday as I knew I would probably be too tired on Thursday. I started out with a 9.30 am swim; swimming 45 laps. Then I came home and got ready and went to Sharnbrook Farm shop for coal and kindling. Then it was off to the foodbank where I made up lots of hygiene packs and put half of the crates of hygiene products away. Then it was into town to pick up another parcel; off to the library to collect some book reservations. I went to the new B&M in town that opened last week and bought some bird fat balls. By which time it was time to come home, make dinner and sort out the fire...

I hadn't planned to but I wore dresses for 8 days in a row! Two of the dresses were new to me but one I didn't like and I don't really like this Joe Brown one above either; so two have gone into the donations bag. I wore my yellow chunky cardigan over it for warmth which I bought online; boots by Manteray charity shopped at Barnardo's. Yellow tights online retail. The light was awful so apologies for the dodgy photos.

Friday was a quieter day but the cold weather remained; there had been an icy wind all day on Thursday which had gone by Friday. I wore this latest new to me dress. When I saw it in Oxfam last Friday I immediately said to myself; this is an Ann (of 'Polyester Princess') dress! HERE I loved the pink and the geometric design and as I don't have much pink in my wardrobe it came home with me for the very reasonable price of 4.99. I had to hem it as it was too long. It's a home sewn dress so there's no label.

Luckily I had some pink titghts to go with the dress and paired the dress and tights with green accessories. The boots were charity shopped as was all the jewellery.

As the dress has some fawn panels in it; I added this boiled wool jacket for warmth; charity shopped in the Willen Hospice shop a few years ago; my animal print scarf and pink leather gloves, when I went out. I wasn't warm enough and should have worn a coat. At least I was in and out of the car and not walking about. I went to Lidl and Sainsbury's for the food shopping then drove to Rushden to the Salvation Army charity shop. I bought 4 side plates that look like Burleigh plates; I think they came from Wetherspoons - there's one in Rushden. I'm always dropping plates so try to have extras for back up. I do have a genuine Burleigh cup and saucer that goes well with the plates. I also found a red pinafore dress by New Look and a silver necklace. 

I didn't dare look at the books as I had a nice pile of library and paperback books on my TBR (to be read) pile.

 

I'd finished the Claire Fuller 'Unsettled Ground' when I took this photo. Recommended by Gail of 'Is this Mutton' HERE and a very enjoyable read it was, too.

On my way home I collected the middle grandson and took him for his second vaccination jab so he's sorted now.

We started watching a new 'Walter Presents' called 'Angel of Death' in the evening.

On Saturday, I woke up to find the washing machine wasn't working. I managed to arrange for someone to come and look at it on Monday afternoon after I get back from volunteering. I was hoping it was repairable as it was a Bosch machine and they're pretty long lasting. If not I'd have to buy another one as a washing machine is an essential item as far as I'm concerned. I spent too many years of married life without one to ever manage without one again! I made a butternut squash and sweet potato soup and then went over to my daughter's to use her washing machine. OH's work clothes needed washing ready for the week ahead. Whilst I was there I went out for a 3.3 mile walk around the footpaths that encircle my daughter's estate. I got quite wet as it rained almost non stop but I did come across a skip with two solid wood kitchen stools and a natty little suitcase. I knocked on the door and asked if I could take them and they came home with me along with the wet washing. My daughter had made some rye baguettes with pumpkin seeds and gave me one to have with my soup; she'd also made her own version mincemeat crumble slices; of which I also had a couple of slices. Both were delicious.

I bought another denim skirt in The Children's Society when I took the grandson for his second vaccination on Friday afternoon. I thought it was more A line than this, but I'll keep looking. I consigned my black denim skirt to the donations bag which was rapidly filling up again. The skirt was by Oasis; the top by Misslook; also charity shopped. The cardigan was a present from OH several Christmases ago.

Turquoise tights by M&S charity shopped; navy boots online retail.

All jewellery charity shopped.

When I got back home I decorated the mantel piece. I was supposed to decorate the tree which OH put up last Sunday and put the lights on; I thought I'd do it on Sunday instead and get OH to cook Sunday dinner for a change. He went to London for a school reunion. He and his friends meet up a few times a year at King's Cross and go for a drink...

You can see my bowl of soup and baguette waiting to be eaten. I just need to find some winter greenery  to complete the mantelpice when I'm next out for a walk....

The stools I found in the skip will be very useful. I can eat my 

breakfast sitting on one using the counter top as a breakfast bar;  also I can sit down when I'm preparing the vegetables and give my back a rest.

We did the usual housework on Sunday and I decorated the Christmas tree. I was going to go for a walk but by the time I'd decided to do so it began to ran. It was lovely not having to cook the dinner for a change. We carried on watching 'The Angel of Death' which has turned out to be a good series - if a little bit predictable. 

Back to Barnardo's on Monday where I spent the morning decoding the entire women's wear section. I wore the pinafore dress from New Look picked up on Friday at the Salvation Army. The top is one I've had for a few years but it was also charity shopped as were the tights and  the boots as before. 

It's not very practical wearing a mask with a headscarf;  but my hair needed cutting.  I've learnt to put the mask on; then my scarf and then pull the mask down under my chin until I need to put it over my mouth and nose again. I am always very relieved to finally take the mask off when I've finished.

All jewellery charity charity shopped.

I spent the afternoon waiting in for the washing machine engineer who never turned up...

Aaaargh!

I  got to the foodbank 25 minites late on Tuesday morning. There was a huge tailback of traffic which was due to the amount of people trying to get to the vaccination centre which is at the bottom of the road the foodbank is on. The reason why the engineer didn't arrive on Monday was he had been given the wrong address and the wrong phone number but he finally arrived at 2pm onm Tuesday and fixed the machine. It was the brushes that had gone (a common problem on washing machines) and I now  have a working washing machine again.

I found this navy blue knitted skirt (1.00 rail in the summer) in the drawer in the spare room and wore it with thick woollen tights underneath; a Primarni long sleeved tee and a Jigsaw short sleeved knitted top picked up at Barnaro's on Monday from the 1.00 rail. OTK boots ensured I was toasty as the concrete floor in the foodbank warehouse can be very cold.

All jewellery charity shopped.

Once the engineer had finished repairing the machine I headed into town to pick up some batteries and other items and to collect a parcel from the parcel shop. I came home the long way round and did a 3 mile walk to compensate for the loss of the swimming session. It will be after Christmas when I next post so for those of you who celebrate the season or even if you don't;  have fun, stay safe and stay fabulous!

London visit; a birthday; snow and Omnicron!

 Hello!

I can't believe how quickly the fortnight goes by and before I know it, it's time to post on my blog again...

The top was bought from the 1.00 rail at Barnardos last Monday. It's by Manteray and what I like about it it's fully reversible. The other side is blue striped and both sides have pockets! Jeans by Next; charity shopped as was the scarf; boots online retail. Not much jewellery as I didn't bother with ring and bangle or even a necklace - see below why...

The walks I led on Wednesday (7 miles) and Thursday (5 miles) were well attended and enjoyed by everyone including me. We had truly brilliant weather on Wednesday; warm and sunny with just a small breeze. When we stopped for our break we were basking in warm sunshine - in the middle of November! The weather was equally as good on the Thursday walk but it was breezier and became cloudier as the day went on. I wore what I have on in the photo above on Thursday; just added walking boots and socks and wore my new to me red showerproof jacket. Thursdays are busy days and I wanted to be able to go straight out to do the shopping once I'd finished leading the walk. Shopping done I went to collect a parcel from the sorting office only to find they couldn't find it! It was a book from Amazon that I'd ordered with the balance I had left on a giftcard and this book was the last copy available. I was told a manager would investigate and get back to me. I made a vegan Shepherd's Pie which was ok but I don't think I'd make it again. My daughter really enjoyed it though!

I picked up a Lidl veg box for 1.50. It's very good value for money. It had a cauliflour, a leek, a punnet of mushrooms; a swede; 3 lettuces; half a dozen small potatoes, 4 bananas and 8 oranges. I'd bought bananas, a cauliflour and mushrooms in the weekly shop; they alone cost more than 1.50. I just took them off the conveyor belt and gave them back to the checkout guy. The veg boxes are by the furthest checkout and easy to miss if you don't know where they are. I got the last one left on Thursday and now I know where to look in future. If there's too much for OH and I, I can always share with daughter and daughter-in-law. I didn't think we would use the lettuces so I put them back in the box once it was emptied out and left it outside side the front door with a sign saying 'FREE' - someone took them!

I love the colours of the trees at this  time of year; the colours seem to be lasting longer this year than they usually do. I took this photo just around the corner from me. The fence you can see behind the trees is a block of flats that has been 7 years in the building and it's still not completed! There has been no activity for weeks. The flats are complete; they have windows and an entrance has been put in but there is still brickwork to finish at groundfloor level; of course I have no idea what the interior of the building looks like. I can only assume that the builders keep running out of money; hence the stop start progress

I had booked a swimming session for Friday morning at 9.30 pm. I was so pleased with myself as I broke my own record and swam 48 laps in 60 minutes. 48 laps is 1 mile - yay!!

After coming home and getting ready properly as above I went to drop off 3 bags of charity shop donations. I went to the Sue Ryder Hospice shop as they are the only charity shop that has parking right outside the front door and the donation bags were full and heavy. I had a quick look round whilst I was there but it's a shop I rarely buy anything from as it is very overpriced in the main. From there I went to The Cat's Protection League to drop off 2 bags of cat litter the food bank had given me to donate and I had a good look around. I bought a tunic 4.00; a pair of animal print trousers 3.50;  an animal print warm scarf 1.00 and some beads 50p. I also bought a raffle ticket for an Xmas hamper; I don't know what I'd do it with it if I won it but I've only ever won a raffle twice in my 67 years so it's unlikely to happen! On both of those occasions I won bottles of alcohol.

The dress was via Vinted (online 2nd hand shopping site I used during lockdown). Brown tights and boots charity shopped. Fur trimmed poncho from my Barnardo's a few weeks ago. I also wore my few items of copper jewellery; the necklace was found in Norwich recently; I'm wearing a copper bangle (not seen) that I've had for about 15 years that was also charity shopped.

Having had an enjoyable rummage I then went to Home Bargains to pick up some bird food supplies and to Lidl again as I'd forgotten to buy olive oil...When I got home my book from Amazon had been delivered. I had no idea what was delivered on Tuesday as I wasn't expecting anything. Hopefully all would be revealed in due course.

Saturday saw a drop in temperature. OH and I went to London to see his family which was lovely; we were home by 5pm but we did find a charity shop in Harlesden. I bought a bunch of padded hangers and OH bought nothing at all...

Well wrapped up against the cold on Saturday.  Wearing animal print trousers (leisure wear I think, made of tracksuit material but very comfortable) by M&S; bought from the Cat's Protection League yesterday, as was the the animal print scarf. The animal print cross body bag was picked up last week at the Daycare Hospice shop. It was clearly an animal print day! And I almost wore animal print boots...the gloves were a present.

Animal print top by Masai; charity shopped. Boots by Papaya also charity shopped.

All jewellery charity shopped except the earrings which were bought from e Bay.

We finished watching 'Guardian of the Castle' and will be looking for something else to watch in the evenings. I finished watching 'The Outlaws' watching the last two episodes on BBC i player.

The cold weather coninued on Sunday but it was sunny was much of the day. I love it when the weather is like this because you can always wrap up against the cold and you soon warm up when you walk. I went for a 5 mile walk in the morning and then did the usual boring housework and cooked dinner for grandsons, OH and I.

Barnardo's on Monday, where I was pleasantly surprised to see the old manager there as well as the new one. She'd come over to sort out some files. I spent the morning decoding women's wear; reducing some items; putting some items on the 1.00 rail and ragging the occasional item.

This is the tunic I bought at the Cat's Protection League on Friday. The polo by Next was bought at the street jumble for 1.00; fleece lined leggings online retail and I can't remember where the boots came from.

All jewellery charity shopped.

I spent much of what was left of the afternoon catching up with blogland; sorting out the fire and lighting it - another chilly day on Monday -  doing two whites washes and cooking dinner. OH and middle grandson went to see 'Dune' at the cinema in the evening. Youngest grandson and his mum had watched it on Saturday evening. I finished the book Vix sent me and have started on my book from Amazon - another country diary.

Off to the foodbank on Tuesday where once again it was very cold. I wore my Donegal Donkey Sanctuary knitted coat and didn't take it off at all. My hands were freezing. As demand for food parcels and hygiene packs has risen so much in recemt months I am going back to the foodbank on Thursday afternoon to help out. I can always do the shopping after I've been back to the foodbank.

Wearing trousers and boots as above. Animal print tie neck blouse was a present from daughter in law. I cannot remember where I got this man's jumper from but it's been in my cupboard for a couple of months now.

Scarf and all jewellery charity shopped.

I went for a swim in the afternoon managing 45 laps or 1.5km. Then it was home to sort out the fire and refill the coal bucket; unfortunately I couldn't light the fire until OH got home as we had run out of logs and kindling. I usually light the fire around 5pm and as OH doesn't finish work until 6 pm I have been lighting it instead; except at the weekend.  I made a chicken stew for dinner which will hopefully last OH for two days. I planned to make a butternut squash and courgette bake for my daughter and I on Wednesday but needed to buy chia or flax seeds as egg substitutes in the recipe which would mean a trip to Sainsbury's after Wednesday's walk. I listened to my first ever podcast (go me!) in the evening called 'No body recovered'; a true story of a little girl's disappearance in 1977 from Cashelard in Co. Donegal. I shall be looking for more to listen to and they would be great for a long drive such as when I go to Devon or when we drive to the ferry port.

The group walk on Wednesday was from Henlow to Arlesey and back to Henlow - about 7 miles. It wasn't too cold but very misty and moisty. I took some photos of me in my walking gear; not very good ones as the light was awful but this was me ready to set off:

The rucksack was a  present from my eldest grandson; everything else was charity shopped. The red showerproof jacket was 2.00 from the Daycare Hospice shop; the thick warm trousers by Slazenger came from Barnardo's. Under the fleece I had a very warm pink merino wool top over a fleece by Cotton Traders; both charity shopped of course. The boots were also charity shops but not my walking socks. When the weather is really cold I add a beret and if it's going to be muddy I add gaiters to my trousers which protect the lower legs from mud.

I didn't need a scarf as the fleece had a high neck but I often also wear a scarf when it's cold.

 From the walk I went to Sainsbury's to buy ingredients for dinner and for the week's vegan/vegetarian dish which was a courgette and butternut squash bake. The recipe called for eggs and as my daughter only eats a plant based diet I needed to buy an egg substitute - chia seeds! Who knew? You mix them with water ro make eggs, but I'm not sure I'll need to make up chia eggs for this recipe. I said in my previous post I get the recipes from IG - that was a lie - it's actually Pinterest! I also bought some dates to make some apricot, date and nut energy balls as well. I collected youngest grandson from school; cleaned out the fire, filled the coal bucket and made dinner for both grandsons, OH and me.

Thursday is always a busy day for me but this Thursday was extra busy as I was going into the foodbank in the afternoon for a couple of hours to help out. I started out in the morning with a swim managing 46 laps (1.5km). I had a chat with a fellow swimmer who told me he was 85 and swam 16 laps everytime he came to pool. I hope I'm able to do the same if I make it to 85!

I had to go to B&M for bird supplies and popped into the Daycare Hospice shop which is close by. I found some cropped wide legged trousers in green so they came home with me.

 Thursday's outfit featured an M&S skirt and an M&S cardigan (don't know why I closed it) both from my Barnardo's. The floral top was from the vintage kilo sale and the boots were donated by my daughter. Those are footless tights charity shopped somewhere.

All jewellery charity shopped.

From B&M I went to the food bank where I made up lots and lots of hygiene bags and put the toiletries away. I was only meant to be there for an hour and a half but stayed for two and quarter hours to get everything finished. One of the managers had just come down with Covid and combined with increased demand from food bank users it was all hands to the pump to meet the demand. From the food bank I went to Lidl to do the food shopping and after unpacking it and putting it away, cleaning out and lighting the fire; I sat down for the first time at 5.45pm! Needless to say I had a late dinner... We had a surprise visitor later in the evening. Our old next door neighbour Dave popped by to say hello. It was lovely to see him and we're looking forward to visiting him and his partner when they've finished their new house renovations.

On Friday, I set off for London to go with cousin Marian to visit Kenwood House. We had a lovely day - tea and cake were involved, naturally. It wasn't too cold but as the day went on it got colder and wetter; I had dressed appropriately for the weather so all was well. I wore my OTK boots (online retail) which was like wearing extra thick tights; wide legged cropped denim jeans by; a polo under my jumper from Tu; and a head scarf to keep my head warm. I wore my yellow coatigan and a thick scarf and gloves as outer wear.

Looking very glum!

All jewellery charity shopped.

As you approached the drive to Kenwood House all the trees and bushes were lit up with different coloured laser lights; blue, purple and pink. It was quite magical.

Kenwood House, on the edge of London’s Hampstead Heath, was probably first built in the early 17th century. Between 1764 and 1779 Robert Adam transformed it into a neoclassical villa for William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield, and the interiors include some of Adam’s finest surviving schemes. Kenwood is now home to the 1st Earl of Iveagh’s renowned collection of Old Master and British paintings, which includes works by Rembrandt and Vermeer. 

The view from the back of the house on the left and below the landscaped grounds by Humphrey Repton.

The entrance

The library and the painting on the plinth is a 21st century painting of Dido Elizabeth Belle. 'Dido was the illegitimate daughter of a formerly enslaved young black woman named Maria Bell and Mansfield's nephew Sir John Lindsay. It was extremely unusual at this time for a mixed-race child to be raised not as a servant but as part of a British aristocratic family'. Dido, her cousin and her aunt lived with the Earl of Mansfield and his wife who were childless, from about 1766.

 

Marian and I had great fun guessing people's characters from their portraits. Marian was very offended by the poor renditions of some of the hands in the portraits. One portrait had a huge index finger of about 8 inches! I know hands are notoriously difficult to draw and paint. The English Heritage volunteers at Kenwood House were both enthusiastic and very knowledgeable.

The British aristocracy are very confusing as they have two names. Their family name - in the case of Kenwood House this was William Murray (1705 -93) but also their title (AND they can have more than one) in this case the 'Earl of Mansfield'. It is most confusing of all, I find, if you're reading an historical novel and the author refers to the person sometimes by their familial name and sometimes by their title. If you didn't know you might think they were two different characters! In the highlighted information above about Kenwood House; it also refers to the 1st Earl of Iveagh (title) who was Edward Cecil Guiness 1847-1927 (family name) heir to the Guiness fortune. He saved Kenwood House from dereliction in the 1920s and 'The Iveagh Bequest Act of 1929 stipulated that Kenwood should be open free of charge to the public with the ‘mansion and its contents … preserved as a fine example of the artistic home of a gentleman of the eighteenth century’ SOURCE

We stopped in Golders Green on the way back and had a rummage in about 5 charity shops; 4 of which were hospice shops. Most of them were very expensive and I bought nothing.

It was bloody freezing on Saturday with high winds; the result of Storm Arwen. There was talk of snow...

I'm wearing green fleece lined leggings (online retail). Zara denim dress and Zara polo underneath; also from Barnardo's. Vintage kimono/jacket via Vinted; secondhand online shop. You might recall I've been looking for a denim dress for a while. I found a maxi denim dress a few months back and last Monday found this one; I won't be wearing it  again as a dress but as a long shirt...

All jewellery charity shopped except the Art Deco earrings from Etsy - bought with birthday money last year.

We were meeting up with my brothers to celebrate Tony's 64th birthday in the evening so on Saturday morning I went into town to buy him a present. In the afternoon OH and I went for a quick rummage to Newport Pagnell; it was a very windy and cold day but we had no snow.  I bought a couple of books and a pretty jug; OH found hinself a warm, padded gilet. We set off for Kettering in the evening where we picked up my brothers and went to 'The Hare' in Loddington for a very nice meal; a drink and a catch up. No photos taken as we were all too busy chatting!

I had a really nice lie-in on Sunday morning and decided on a 'can't be arsed' outfit; one not worth taking a photo.  I also had a make up free day. I spent the best part of the morning in the kitchen making the courgette and butternut squash bake and some apricot and date energy balls. I also did the housework and then made a roast dinner for everyone. The vegan bake was ok but I wouldn't bother making it again. My daughter loved it and as there was lots leftover she took some home and some energy balls, too. It finally snowed in the afternoon. Daughter and grandson were hoping for a 'snow' day on Monday. It didn't happen but there was a hard frost; the first one this year for us. It killed off the pansies on my doorstep and the last of the buzy lizzies, too!

More change at the charity shop. The new most recent manager had been transferred to another shop and we now had the remaining deputy manager; the original manager and one new person covering the shop over 7 days. In future I could be working with any one of the 3...I really don't mind who I work with so it makes no difference to me.

This was Monday's outfit. I picked up the wide legged cropped trousers by White Stuff at the Daycare Hospice shop. The striped tee by F&F was a 1.00 rail bargain and the cardi was bought online. I also wore my yellow scarf all day for extra warmth as it was - 1 degree C when I set off for the shop and only 3 degrees when I got back home in the afternoon. Boots also charity shopped. I made soup when I got home; did a wash and sorted out the fire.

All jewellery charity shopped. Earrings from Bedford Market. We have the Barnardo's stall at the local Christmas Fair in the Community Centre on Saturday and I'll be there to help out. I'd not done the Christmas Fair before so was looking forward to it. Unlike The Boomtown Rats I really do like Mondays. I look forward to going into Barnardo's and I enjoy the feeling once I'm home again that unless I want to go out again I can stay indoors and potter about for the rest of the day!

I was very busy at the foodbank and made up loads of hygiene packs and put toiletries away. I've already been asked if I could do an hour or so Thursday afternoon as we are still two people down this week with one manager away and the other one with Covid. We were also asked to wear face masks in the picking area but luckily where I make up the hygiene bags is in the large warehouse where the doors/shutters are always open so I didn't need to. Face masks are once again mandatory in shops and on public transport thanks to the Omnicron variant of Covid.

I wore my black and red coatigan over this outfit all day but forgot to take a photo. Everything charity shopped; trousers by Yessica; jumper by Simon Jeffrey; polo underneath by H&M. Boots by Topshop and donated by my daughter.

All jewellery charity shopped.

I went for the usual Tuesday afternoon swim managing 46 laps (1.5 km). I'm walking tomorrow in a place called North Crawley which is quite close to Milton Keynes, I think. I'm hoping that our Christmas lunch for the 8th December wont be cancelled in light of the rule changes around the new variant but I'll be able to tell you when I'm back again in fortnight.

Stay safe everyone!