Rewind - a visit to the palace...

I managed to cobble together another post...

Hello again. This is a shortened version of my original post which Blogger ate. Nuff said! 

When we got back from Ireland less than 3 weeks ago the weather had changed to autumn. I love autumn as I like to wear layers; luckily so far it hasn't been cold enough to wear coats, which I don't enjoy. A mac is a good compromise. This was a Vinted buy during the first lock down in 2020.

I went swimming on Thursday swimming 46 laps. Then it was off to see my son followed by the weekly Lidl shop. I wore this Oliver Bonas dress charity shopped via Barnardo's; tights by Snag and the charity shopped red boots are a regular feature on the blog now. All jewellery charity shopped.

One of my most favourite things about autumn are the wonderful changing colours of the trees. I spotted this one on my way to the swimming pool on Thursday morning.

This one was on my walking route on Sunday through the village of Biddenham. Why is it, though, the most spectacular and beautifully coloured trees are always along busy roads or dual carriageways where one can't stop and take photos?

On Friday, I led my Bedford Blue Plaque walk of 8 miles. There were 7 of us altogether and everyone said how much they enjoyed it. A couple of the group had lived in Bedford for more than 50 years and didn't know of some of the plaques. The plaques included actors; athletes; musicians; comedians; polar explorers; astronomers; inventors; educators and artists. Here are 2 further artists who, I think, deserve a plaque in Bedford. I found this information on an information board at the junction of St. Peter Street and Goldington Road; both buildings are still in use today.

No, I didn't lead the walk dressed like this! I wore this outfit on Saturday evening as we went for a meal to celebrate my brother Mark getting his state pension. He treated us to the meal; bless him. We went to The Hare in Loddington which he likes and as he was paying who were we to argue?

Everything including jewellery was charity shopped except the leather moto jacket which I found on Vinted. It arrived while we were in Ireland and the first thing I did when I got home was to go the local parcel shop and collect it. My daughter bought me a similar jacket years ago as a Christmas present but the pleather on the collar had begun to peel so I got rid of it. The silver pleather skirt was a recent find from the Keech Hospice charity shop in Newport Pagnell. On Saturday morning OH and I went for a rummage in Newport Pagnell and I found a tunic on the sale rail in Keech for 1.25.

Here we are. We had a lovely evening.

I wore this on Sunday when I went out for a 5 mile walk bright and early. Everything charity shopped except boots from a Tu sale at Sainsbury's last year. Joggers by M&S; top by Laura Ashley and brown leather jacket from a Lucan, Co. Dublin charity shop. I discovered recently Lucan was where my paternal grandmother was born and lived for some of her life before she married my grandfather. She also worked as a maid in the house of Eamon De Valera (3rd President of Ireland) so family lore has it...

I wore this on Monday to volunteer at Barnardo's. Having missed 2 Mondays I was keen to get back and have a rummage!  The tunic was Saturday's find; trousers bought in a La Redoute sale; boots as before and top was an old retail buy. All jewellery charity shopped. The green suede jacket was a Barnardo's find last year. The shop wasn't terribly busy but there were a lot of donations to process and put out on the rails. I went to get my eyebrows done in the afternoon. I get them waxed and tinted every 5 -6 weeks. As I was close to the Daycare Hospice shop I popped n for a look and found a green dress by Cos for less than 5.00 which I was very happy with.

During the course of last week and spread over 2 afternoons I took down my winter stuff from the loft and put some of my other clothes away for Spring.  I had just enough space in the wardrobes to fit everything in - as long I don't buy anything more I should be alright! I also managed to fill 2 plastic sacks with items to donate. I counted 25 knee length dresses which would keep me going for the best part of a month. Do I feel a challenge coming on? If so, at least I've worn 2 so far...

This is the Cos dress referred to above. The coatigan was also charity shopped as were the knee length boots and the Zara polo neck worn under the dress. All jewellery charity shopped.

Now, I did go walking in this outfit on Friday. I changed my boots for my walking boots and wore a waterproof mac which was just as well as we got caught in a downpour. Everything I wore was charity shopped as well the earrings and beads.

I walked with 5 other group members in Buckden, Cambridgeshire. I didn't know of its existence but Buckden has a palace -  it was home to the Bishops of Lincoln from 1186 to 1842. The estate is known as Buckden Towers and is home to several other organisations as can be seen below.

Once through the gates this is the view of the palace that greets you. Either side of the stone arch entrance was the original moat that encircled the palace and its grounds.

These are some of the historical visitors and residents of the Bishop's Palace.

View of palace from the rear.

This was a tiny chapel at the rear of the palace. The spire in the distance was the spire of St. Mary's church which we visited on our way back.

Another rear view of the palace.

The red brick building to the left of the photo above is home to the Claretian Missionaries. Founded in the mid 19th century by Anthony Mary Claret; who was canonised a century later. St. Claret is the patron saint of weavers.

Within the palace grounds were 2 magnificent trees including this wonderful plane tree. We asked Ruth to pose in front of it to show how wide the trunk was.

Also within the palace grounds was Queen Katherine of Aragon's garden. The gate included her adopted emblem of a pomegranate - a symbol of fertility. She lived at Buckden for 10 months in 1533 moving here from Ampthill Castle in Bedfordshire.

Laid out as knot garden it also had a canopied walkway; a herb and medicinal bed and a large vegetable garden.

Our walk was meant to be 8.5 miles but once we had left Buckden marina the heavens opened and as we didn't want to get caught again we took a shortcut back to Buckden; making the walk 5.5 miles in total. On the way back we stopped at St. Mary's church. Recorded in the Domesday book although most of the church dates back to the 15th century with some parts dating to the late Norman period. If you'd like to find out more see HERE.

I loved the angels helping to hold up the roof... in the south aisle the angels are depicted with unique musical instruments. Described in the church guide as the 'angel orchestra'; the instruments include a dulcimer; a lute; a viol and a hurdy gurdy. I also learned the meaning of 'relict' having read it on a plaque in the church. It was used on the plaque to describe a woman in relation to two men; one her father and the other her husband; it's an archaic word meaning a widow! We finished our walk with coffee and cake at the George Inn, in Buckden. The George Inn was originally an old coaching inn and a place for refreshment and relaxation for travellers on the Old North Road between York and London.  A grand way to spend a Friday!

Everything charity shopped. The shirt was bought on Monday from Barnardo's. The belt is by Diesel and was donated by my daughter. All jewellery charity shopped.

This was the outfit I wore on Saturday when we had visitors for the day. My aunt (my dad's sister) and cousin from Burton-on-Trent came to spend the day with us.  We had a great time and took them out for a tour of Bedford and the surrounding villages.  We stopped at 'The Three Cranes' in Turvey for a pint and then went for a late lunch at a local restaurant.  I had my 60th birthday meal at this restaurant and I'd been there for a Mother's Day afternoon tea a few years back with my daughter.  My son had his 29th birthday meal here, too. It had undergone changes of management and changes in the quality of the meals served over that period. I had jack fruit for the first time - in tacos. In fact, we all thoroughly enjoyed our meals and we all had something different.   After lunch we went back to our house for tea and cake (I baked a Victoria sponge especially) and looked through my old photo albums and chatted. Before we knew it, it was time for our visitors to catch their train back home. 

Sunday was the usual Sunday; swimming, house cleaning and cooking Sunday dinner. The pool has stopped the nine am morning swim;  this time I went to the midday swim session but probably won't make this a regular thing. It's quite difficult to find another suitable time for a regular swim unless I revert back to Tuesday afternoons...I shall have to think about it some more. 

I wore this to volunteer at Barnardo's on Monday. I bought this dress in Ireland in a Co. Derry charity shop; boots and jewellery charity shopped. The kimono was a present from my daughter eight or nine years ago.

I lost one these stud earrings and one of the pair I wore on Saturday. I particularly liked the ones I wore on Saturday; they were a pearl earring wrapped in wire and a recent charity shop acquisition. I'll just have to find a replacement pair!

It's half term this week and as well as a trip to London on Tuesday with daughter and the grandsons; I'll be spending the weekend in Devon with Hilary. So, I'll leave you with my blooming gladioli and see you in a fortnight.

 

Sorry!

Hello and apologies. Blogger managed to delete my most recent post which I was just about to publish! Tomorrow I'm off to London with the middle and youngest grandsons (it's half-term here this week) and wouldn't have been around to publish as usual on Tuesday. I don't know how it happened; one minute I had almost two weeks worth of entries and photos and the next minute I just had the last two letters of a word I'd just typed in! I am spitting feathers and just don't have the heart to re-write it all. There are times when I hate Blogger...

 

Back to business

I'm back!

Everything I wore was charity shopped. Skirt by M&S; jacket by M&Co; top no label; boots as before. All jewellery charity shopped except earrings online retail.

I was very pleased to get my car back quite early on Wednesday morning a fortnight ago -  it had also been washed and polished! As the car came back nice and early it enabled me to go to town in the morning to get my flu jab before we left for Ireland. I then went for a quick browse at the local Hospice shop where I had recently dropped off a bag of donations. I did the drop off on a Friday when they were closed but I handed the donations into the admin centre at the front. It was strange to see almost all of my donations on the rails or hanging on displays of earrings and necklaces! I resisted the temptation to buy anything back but I did find a vibrantly coloured top and a rich green coloured pair of trousers. Then it was off to Aldi to do some food shopping and home to catch up with blog land.

I went for my final swim on Thursday morning before going to Ireland. I swam 40 laps and got out 10 minutes early as I had a hairdresser's appointment and the Lidl shop to do as well. After unpacking the shopping I prepped and made dinner; trying to use up as much veg as I could. I bought very little in Lidl as we we would be away. For some time now I've had a Lidl Plus card which had quite good rewards. Once you had spent 100 you received a 2.00 off voucher and again when you spent 200.00 within a certain time period; you received a 10.00 off voucher. Now you have to spend 250.00 to get 10% off your shopping - in other words spend more to receive less. Isn't that just a sign of the current times?

This was the colourful top by Mistral I bought at the Hospice shop; jeans by Laura Ashley quite old now; the cardigan is by a Canadian company and was needed. I've been wearing a vest for the past 3 weeks as well; boots as before and all jewellery charity shopped. In the evening we watched the final of 'All that Glitters' and we picked the winning contestant. Just waiting for 'The Great British Pottery Throwdown' to start up again.

Friday was the day I was leading the bus walk. Only one other person turned up! I expect the later than usual start (10.50 am when it's usually 9.30 am or 10.00 am at the latest) put people off as did the waiver about brisk walking. We could have just gone and had a coffee somewhere and forgone the walk but we didn't. The walk was enjoyable and we caught the bus back in good time. I wore this outfit; just swapping my red boots for walking boots and a mac. The rain started after I got home, thank goodness...

Everything charity shopped. Jeans by East; top by F&F; cardigan by Masai. Beads and earrings also charity shopped as were the red boots.

No cooking on Friday but I made halloumi and salad for dinner for mysef and started a new Perspehone book. I have about 8 or 9 left to read in my collection so might need to request some more for Christmas...

Everything charity shopped. Top by Marimekko; skirt by Rebellion and jacket by Chico's. All jewellery charity shopped except earrings bought online. I dug out the rest of the boots I had under my bed and the ones I was wearing were a Sainsbury's sale buy.

I was determined not to do too much on Saturday as we had an early start on Sunday morning. I got up and pottered about packing up two black plastic sacks of lightweight summer wear that wouldn't be worn until next year. After breakfast I got ready and walked into to town to run a few errands and drop off a birthday card to middle grandson's little brother who was 5 on Saturday. Then I came home and spent the rest of the day finishing off my packing and reading my book. We started watching ' The Lorenskog Disappearances' on Netflix on Friday evening and watched more episodes on Saturday evening; but I hated the dubbing. It put me off watching 'Kleo,' too. I'd much prefer sub-titles.

We had a really nice time in Ireland although it went by too fast. It rained everyday for most of the day and there were high winds.  No surprises there! We had one day with sunshine and a couple of light showers; the best weather of the week so we went for a beach walk at Portnoo in Co. Donegal.

Where I spied this! I think it's an Airstream and it's used in season as part of a local restaurant; probably serving drinks or take away meals...

 We visited family in Mullaghmore and Grange in Co. Sligo and more family in Co. Roscommon and Co. Leitrim and went to Derry for a day out; where I bought myself a green pair of boots in the Children's Hospice shop as well as a yellow plaid dress and pair of pjs BNWT. We also (at the third attempt on my part) managed to walk the walls of the city of Derry; which were originally built by the Irish Society between 1613 and 1619. See here for more information about the walled city.

Seen from the Derry walls.

I spotted 2 plaques. The one on the left was outside a shop selling Derry memorabilia.

These 2 photos were taken in the Derry craft village which we had never noticed before on our previous visits to the city. And in Co. Donegal in our local community charity shop in Killybegs I found these:

Not one but three Fred Vargas books I hadn't read! I finished the last one on the plane home. I also found a knitted Julien MacDonald dress and a summer skirt whilst I was away; I always find good stuff in Ireland.

We arrived home on Monday evening to quite a chilly evening so we lit the fire. That will be a daily occurrence from now on I think.

Of course the next day being Tuesday meant  food bank volunteering. I wore this plus a leather jacket and a scarf which I didn't take off whilst I was there. Everything was charity shopped. I think the boots were a Barnardo's buy as was the knitted top; the red cardigan by Betty Barclay, was a previous Irish charity shop 1 euro rail buy; the skirt by Red Herring was found in a Bury St. Edmund's charity shop. It was the first time I'd worn wore long boots since earlier this year. They replaced my old pair of black knee boots which I thought I had donated to the charity shop but I found them and my brown knee boots under my bed when sorting out my summer stuff! I sorted out all my knee and OTK boots when I got home after the food bank and now have them all together. I still have more ankle boots to take down from the loft but don't feel ready to do that just yet.

Another busy week ahead of me which I'll share with you in my next post and in the meantime I'll be catching up with your blogs and commenting.